Orion M.C.

With a huge grey cloud over the Cullins for most of the weekend it was only Craig, Neil, Dom and myself who were brave enough to go to Skye. After setting off on the Thursday night, Craig and Neil were gifted with the only dry day of the weekend. They seemed to have a long but beautiful day on the dubhs ridge - I am sure they will both fill you in with their delightful stories soon........

Pretty sunset taken from Broadford on Friday night...


Dom and I arrived in Glen Brittle on the Friday night and although it was dry when we arrived, torrential rain began to fall at about 1am. Since this rain refused to stop we had to settle with a pub/tea-room crawl on the Saturday with most establishments in Portree, Carbost and Sligachan being beneficiaries of our custom. We even managed to take a break from our drinking with a walk up to the Old Man of Stor in pishing down rain.

After a great bonfire on the Saturday night with 12 hairy, drunken bikers – very entertaining, we were pleasantly surprised that on Sunday morning we did not only have torrential rain but also some beautiful gale force wind?? With no more tea-rooms on the island left untouched there was no other option but to climb a hill. Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh & Sgurr a' Mhadaidh were the chosen targets! We managed to drag fair-weather Neil out of his tent and after much deliberation set off – it was pishing down! Sgurr a' Mhadaidh wasn’t too bad. Because of the wet rock we only had to rope up for a short downclimb at An Dorus. For me Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh was a little bit more tricky. With the wet rock, the cold hands and zero climbing experience I struggled to climb the first section from An Dorus. Luckily Craig was belaying because after my size 11’s slipped on the rock I went flying out towards a steep gully on the wrong side of the mountain. woops That rope stuff sure is handy!

Dom, downclimbing from Sgurr a' Mhadaidh



(no description required)



On the summit of Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh



A very different Craig trying to warm up his wine???




A few more beers in Carbost on the Sunday night…a spot of lunch in the Nevis sport café in Fort William and were home early last night. I personally needed that time to dry all my gear and clothes.

Great weekend had by all. Craig/Neil thank you again for your rope-work and patience!

The burdz...

Thank god I didn't come along...I've had enough wet Skye weekends to last me a lifetime



Dam...a few times in the past I have organised to do the Dubhs with N & C but it has been cancelled for some reason or other. Hope I can talk them into doing it again, although I think Silke is keen



Wouldn't bet on it...they rarely post on the forum

Yes, a brilliant weekend. Thanks to Gordon for verbally slapping me into going and to everyone for covering for my deficiencies in the bringing of both alcohol and climbing gear . My two or three pics to follow later...

Well done chaps, sterling effort

Cracking photo of Craig - looks like he will be drying out for the rest of the week!

I doff my hat to you guys,especially Gordon, for going up in that weather

I reckon I would have gone for round two with the tearooms

Yep, that looks like well soggy rock!! You sure you're not a climber at heart, Gordon? Gwan, gwan, gwan...

Dom, whaddya mean you forgot to bring gear (and wine!!)?

And I have never known Neil to be 'fair-weather', in fact his levels of enthusiasm seem to grow the more it rains, in my experience. Which is just as well, in our present climate.

Well this is a quote from a grumbling Neil we dragged up Marsco on yet another wet Skye day a number of years ago...."it's morally wrong to go up hills in the rain"

Packing in a bit of a rush, and feeling guilty from past overindulgences, I somehow concluded that a) I wouldn't need my climbing gear on Skye, and b) I would happily go the whole weekend drinking tea. Consequently I packed about 30 teabags and no alcohol. I have learned my lesson - this shall not happen again .

I decided that life was generally too wet and cold to take my camera out much on this trip. Here are my photos for what they're worth...

Pretty reflections off the water at sunset:


A picture of some rain with the Old Man of Storr in the background:


My kit drying in (and stinking out) my room :

Ooch, that Ske weather looked pretty grim ... glad I was sitting in a pleasant patch of sunlight near Sheffield. Description to follow ... eventually.