In Mid September I had a week off, and the plan was to drive up the West Coast of Scotland, scouting out bouldering destinations. However my plans usually don’t work out as expected, as so happened on this occasion when, with my car loaded up and ready to go, I had a phone call from a mate in Sheffield telling me to come down - so I did. Anyway, a couple of days later and with a minor detour via Sheffield, I was crossing over the border into Scotland.


The first point of call to head towards was Glen Croe. Which is to the West of Arrochar, near Loch Lomond.

Glen Croe
Glen Croe is probably better known for its cragging, however I had heard about a boulder up on the hillside. This boulder is known as the Kennedy Boulder and is compared to a schist-like Bowderstone in the guidebook. This alone was a good enough reason to go and check it out. By the time I was entering Glen Croe it was already getting pretty late, so I had a quick go on Rake Humour, to tick it off, on the appropriately named Pitstop boulder by the roadside.

I then carted my bouldering and camping kit up the hillside. I knew from the forecast that rain was coming in at some point so I decided to camp up near the boulders to improve my chances of getting an early morning session in, however this was not to be, the rain came in overnight and wouldn’t stop, so no climbing unfortunately. So I ended up walking around the main boulder and the other scattered boulders, scoping out the problems and potential for future visits.

What I can say is that the rock quality is amazing, though of a very rough nature. The landings are pretty much all flat and grassy, so you don’t have to cart loads of pads up the hill, which is a pretty steep slog.

There are a fair number of problems with a good spread in the Font 6’s and 7’s. There are some easier problems on the peripheral boulders. The guide ‘Bouldering in Scotland’ highlights many problems on the Kennedy Boulder itself. However there are other problems on the surrounding boulders not listed in this guide, for more information check out the Wiki Page on Scottish Climbs here.

Next to the Kennedy Boulder is a bivvy under a rock, which would have been great apart from what seemed like a stream running underneath. This was probably due to the large amounts of rain that had fallen the day before I arrived; I expect that it’s not normally in this situ. In a drier spell, this bivvy would save having to walk up with your tent.

In the morning I decided to pack up and drive up to Torridon to check out the next place on my list.

Torridon Overview
The Torridon valley is very scenic; the most striking feature is the banded tiers of red sandstone, which go high up the valley sides.

The village of Torridon sits at the head of the Loch. Here you will find a Youth Hostel, a campsite, tourist information and a phone box in the village. There is a posh looking hotel nearby called The Torridon, but don’t let the grandeur put you off - if you decide to venture in to the bar you won’t look out of place. They have a small selection of bar meals too which are pretty amazing in my opinion.

I stayed on the free campsite in the village, which was great as it had all the amenities required including a toilet block with hot water and even a ‘free to use’ shower. The site itself was a bit wet underfoot in places, but there was plenty of room to find a space. It’s worth noting, the site is pretty sheltered so bring a midge net.

The campsite is a great place to base your self as the boulders and some crags are all nearby. The road leading to Kinlochewe is your typical single lane road with passing places. It’s easy to follow, so getting to other nearby valleys is not a problem either. I enjoyed myself so much that I decided to spend the rest of my time in this area; this is what I got up to…

Torridon Bouldering
Torridon Bouldering was the main goal of my trip - I had been wanting to visit these boulders for a while as I had heard good things about the problems. With boulders like this, how could you not be inspired?

Photo: Malcolm's Arete (from Stone Country blog)

The main focus is a bunch of blocks and walls which make up ‘the Celtic Circle’; these vary in height and are not all as high as the Ship Boulder pictured. There is a good circuit of problems with a good spread of grades right up to Font 7c. The rock is known as Torridon sandstone and is very good quality, it felt very similar to grit. The rock was also very clean, I was half expecting it to be a bit scrittly or dirty, but everything I tried was great. The approach is really easy - the boulders can be seen from the road. It is just a case of parking up at the edge of the village and walking for about 5 minutes.

A good tip that was given to me before I went was to make some informed footwear choices. You see, wellies are the approach shoe of choice in this neck of the woods as the approach to the boulders is pretty wet underfoot. Whilst most of the boulders are on dry bits of ground, the ground around the Ship boulder is an exception and can get pretty sodden, so some large Tarpaulins are useful to help keep your mats dry.

The ‘Bouldering in Scotland’ guide was once again very useful; the descriptions were good, enabling the problems to be found easily. As there is so much rock in these areas there are bound to be more problems than those listed. In fact there is a topo available to buy from the Youth Hostel in the village which slipped my mind when I was there, so there may be more problems described on that (Apparrently this is no longer available no longer available as it was a previous manager who created the topo). Otherwise get your exploring brain in gear - I am sure there is plenty to do on the tiers above the boulders.

Torridon Trad

In Glen Torridon lies Seana Mheallan, which is high up on the western side of the Len. Andy and I headed to the Western Sector after a steep approach. The western sector has its crags on one level though they are broken into small sections. The rock was very clean and we discovered that it dried very quickly after a passing rain shower. The buttress that we climbed on was probably one of the shorter outcrops. However the bunch of routes we tried were all very interesting, including:

Dolphin Friendly E1 5b - a short but sustained corner.
Bleached Whale E2 5c - a bouldery start over a roof to good but easier wall.

There are plenty of routes up on the hillside, and if you had a full day you could start on the western section and warm up in the morning sun before heading round to the bigger Glac Dhorch sector, which is conveniently on the same level of crags.



Photo: Bleached Whale E2 5c - Seana Mheallan




Gairloch Trad
Gairlock is the next glen north, but its crags are within striking distance if you fancy a change from the Torridon Sandstone. Andy and I went cragging again and visited two areas, the Loch Tollaidh Crags and the Stone Valley Crags.

Loch Tollaidh Crags:
An easy approach across the usual boggy ground gets you to the rocky hillside which comprises of groups of small cliffs. We initially headed to Dinosaur Wall, which is vertical wall, with good holds and good gear. The climbing was very pleasant too – consisting of about 20m high sections of Lewisian Gneissz rock. ‘In the Pink’ HVS was a good route, a bit tricky to get established, but then very enjoyable climbing up a slight grooved feature.

Stone Valley Crags:
This is another area with a hillside covered in crags. It’s a bit more of a walk than the Loch Tollaidh Crags, but most buttresses’ are within 30-45 minutes. The rock is very clean and quick drying.

We only did the one route here which was ‘Bald Eagle’ HVS 5a. This was a clean slab of rough gneiss, with a stunning outlook high over the hillside. Whilst we didn’t we didn’t attempt 'Open Secret' the HS to the left, it is well known for being a Crag Classic.

Liathach Traverse (Torridon)


On my final day, my body was feeling the effects of the full regime of climbing and my skin had certainly seen better days. So a non-climbing day was in order, and as I was in Scotland in an area I had not explored before, adding a couple of Munros to my tick list of accomplishments seemed a good idea. On the north side of Torridon Valley is the Liathach – my choice of hill range I planned to conquer. All week the tops had been drifting in and out of cloud, its presence dominating over the valley.

Getting up to the top on the ridge requires a substantial up-hill slog from the east - but the path is a decent one and easy to follow. When you hit the top you may as well go east and bag the summit of Stuc a' Choire Dhubh Bhig, which apparently has unrivaled views across to Beinn Eighe (although not for me as the cloud was in the way).

Then it’s a case of following the ridge in a westerly direction over the top of Bidein Toll a'Mhuic towards the highest point on the ridge, the summit of Spidean a'Choire Leith (1055m).

The next section is the most interesting. As you make an exposed scramble across the Am Fasarinen Pinnacles, depending on the route you choose, you can make a few more rock climbing style moves. This scrambling section can be avoided by dropping down the hillside though you still have to follow a very exposed path.


The ridge then changes into a much gentler slope to the south, with a drop to the North into the Corries in sight. The final summit before descending is that of Mullach an Rathain (1023m) the second Munro on the Liathach. Then it’s a case of making the decent, which is via scree at first, then joining the path that meanders its way down and around rocky terraces until you are back on the road.



This took me about 8 hours in total, and is well worth doing. Although having a clear day would have been a spectacular sight, I did get a decent impression as the cloud lifted every now and again.

For more info and photos on a clear day have a look here.

General Info
Fill up with petrol in Glasgow or Inverness, as petrol is a lot more expensive in the area I stayed.

Driving time: it took me about 8 hours to get from Torridon to Lancaster, with a few short stops, but a clean run. This was coming back via Inverness before heading South on the Quicker roads on the East side of Scotland

As previously mentioned, wellies, tarps for your bouldering pad and a midge net are a must.

Guides
Available to buy from Rock + Run
Bouldering in Scotland
Scottish Rock Volume 2 North
SMC Guides Northern Highlands South covers Torridon but for the Gairloch Crags you need Northern Highlands Central

External links
The Torridon Inn
http://www.thetorridon.com/inn/

There is a blog post on StoneCountry Blogspot which is worth a read.
http://stonecountry.blogspot.com/2007/05/torridon-classics.html

From Scottish Climbs
http://www.scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Glen_Croe
http://www.scottishclimbs.com/wiki/Torridon