4 minute read
AWESOME ARÊTES
FIVE MORE EPIC UK TRAVERSES
The Cuillin might be the all-time classic, but it’s far from the only alpine-style traverse worth tackling in the UK. Here are fi ve other ridgeline routes from across the British Isles, from popular - but still potentially deadly - to extremely remote. These arêtes represent a range in terms of technical diffi culty, but all of them involve some serious scrambling - get ready to get your hands dirty.
AONACH EAGACH - GLENCOE SCOTLAND - GRADE 2
Even from a distance, it’s easy to see where Aonach Eagach, which means ‘the notched ridge’, gets its name. This jagged row of rocky outcrops running along one side of Glencoe, looks like a crenellated castle wall - except a castle wall would probably be easier to climb. Rated a Grade 2 scramble, the ridge includes two Munro peaks and some serious exposure, particularly on the downclimb just after the summit of Am Bodach. Once you’re on it, there’s no way off - you either fi nish or go back to where you started.
PINNACLE RIDGE - LAKE DISTRICT ENGLAND - GRADE 2
It might not be as famous as nearby Striding Edge, but traversing the Pinnacle Ridge on St. Sunday Crag is arguably a greater achievement. On paper this is rated a Grade 2 scramble, but if you stick to the top of the ridgeline the whole way, it’s defi nitely more like a Grade 3. You’ll want to pack a 20m rope, slings, cams and nuts, especially if you’re planning on abseiling down from the fi nal pinnacle. But unlike Aonach Eagach there’s pretty much always an easier alternative to the trickiest sections.
AN TEALLACH TRAVERSE - NORTHERN HIGHLANDS SCOTLAND - GRADE 3
With climbing grade ascents, 400m vertical drops off its steep northeast face, and knife-edge sections of scrambling, An Teallach, or “The Forge” has everything you want from a ridgeline traverse. It lies southwest of Dundonnell, a remote village in the northern Highlands, and includes two Munro peaks, the 1,062m Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill, and Sgùrr Fiona at 1,060m. These can be reached without traversing the ridge, but that would mean missing out on all the fun.
It might be a stone cold classic, but Crib Goch’s popularity doesn’t change the fact that this is a challenging and dangerous scramble. The local Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team are called out to two fatal falls a year on average - as well as multiple incidents of people becoming ‘cragfast’, or too scared to continue. At its scariest point, the arête is barely more than a foot wide, with sizeable drops off either side. Grade 1 it may be, but Crib Goch is not for the fainthearted.
Straddling the gap between Grade 3 scrambling and rock climbing, the Cyfrwy Arete on the northern fl ank of Cadair Idris is one of the longest routes of its type in the park, and rarely - if ever - attracts the kind of crowds you can fi nd on Crib Goch. Involving an awkward down climb, corners and even a short chimney, this is a great test of climbing skills. You’ll want to use twin ropes, and pack nuts, hexes, slings, and screwgates, as well as a couple of cams.
