Cuillin

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Sgurr nan Gillean and the Pinnacle Ridge from Basteir gorge

Panorama of the Black and Red Cuillin from Sgurr Dubh Mor

This article is about the Cuillin of Skye. See Rùm for the Cuillin of Rùm.

The Cuillin (Scottish Gaelic: An Cuilthionn) are a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The true Cuillin are also known as the Black Cuillin to distinguish them from the Red Hills across Glen Sligachan. The Red Hills are lower and, being less rocky, have fewer scrambles or climbs.

The highest point of the Cuillin, and of the Isle of Skye, is Sgurr Alasdair in the Black Cuillin at 992 m (3255 ft).

1 Black Cuillin
2 Black Cuillin Traverse
3 The Red Hills
4 Major peaks
5 Cultural references
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Black Cuillin

The Black Cuillin are mainly composed of basalt and gabbro, the latter being a very rough rock which makes for superb grip for mountaineers. It is from the dark colour of the gabbro that the Black Cuillin receive their name. The summits of the Cuillin are bare rock, jagged in outline and with steep cliffs and deep cut corries and gullies. All twelve Munros on Skye are Black Cuillin peaks, though one of them, Blaven, is part of a group of outliers separated from the main ridge by Glen Sligachan.

The main ridge

The scrambler can access most of the individual peaks by their easiest routes. Only the Inaccessible Pinnacle is a graded rock climb (moderate) by its simplest line but several of the other summits require rock climbing skills.

There is no source of water on the ridge, meaning all water has to be carried.

[edit] Black Cuillin Traverse

In addition to climbing individual peaks, there is the challenge of a full traverse of the ridge. Although only 7 miles in length, the average traverse is likely to take 15-20 hours from sea level at Glenbrittle to the bar of the Sligachan Hotel owing to the difficulty of the terrain and route finding problems. The first recorded traverse in under 24 hours was in 1911 by L Shadbolt and A McLaren. The record for the full traverse, set by Es Tresidder in May 2007, stands at 3 hours 17 minutes (though this time is from Gars-bheinn to Sgurr nan Gillean and does not include the initial ascent from Glenbrittle or the final descent to Sligachan).^[1]

On the Cuillin Ridge

A longer traverse of the Black Cuillin, (including all the Munros, though omitting some gabbro outliers) is the Greater Traverse; this involves continuing on to Clach Glas and Blaven. This traverse was first done independently by two parties, in the summer of 1939, with I Charleson and W Forde claiming precedence over W. H. Murray & R G Donaldon a few weeks later. - (see Bill Murray's book for details of his traverse).

In many ways, the ultimate mountaineering experience of the UK is the full traverse under winter conditions. The Isle of Skye's position in the warm Gulf Stream makes genuine winter conditions rare, and the very short winter days probably make a 24-hour traverse impractical. The first recorded, over two days, was in 1965 by D Crabbe, B Robertson, T Patey and H MacInnes.

The Cuillin is perhaps the only range in the United Kingdom to approach in sheer jagged rawness (though not of course in height) the mountain experience of such ranges as the Alps or Rockies.

[edit] The Red Hills

Marsco in the Red Hills

The Red Hills (Am Binnean Dearg in Gaelic) are sometimes known as the Red Cuillin though this is not a local name. They are mainly composed of granitic rock which is paler than the gabbro (with a reddish tinge from some angles in some lights) and has weathered into more rounded hills with vegetation cover to summit level and long scree slopes on their flanks.

The highest point of the hills is Glamaig, one of only two Corbetts on Skye (the other being Garbh-bheinn, part of the small group of gabbro outliers surrounding Blaven).

[edit] Major peaks

Here are listed the Munros, Corbetts and Grahams of the Cuillin. This listing excludes peaks such as Clach Glas which in hill walking/mountaineering terms are considered of significance.

	Peak	Absolute height (m)	Relative height (m)	Cuillin
1	Sgurr Alasdair	992	992	Black
2	Inaccessible Pinnacle - Sgurr Dearg	986	182	Black
3	Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh	973	c. 123	Black
4	Sgurr na Banachdich	965	c. 114	Black
5	Sgurr nan Gillean	964	c. 204	Black
6	Bruach na Frìthe	958	c. 125	Black
7	Sgurr Mhic Choinnich	948	c.56	Black
8	Sgurr Dubh Mòr	944	c. 89	Black
9	Am Basteir	934	c. 55	Black
10	Bla Bheinn - Blaven	928	301	Outlier
11	Sgurr nan Eag	924	c. 127	Black
12	Sgurr a' Mhadaidh	918	c. 71	Black
13	Garbh-bheinn	808	172	Outlier (Blaven group)
14	Glamaig	775	c. 480	Red
15	Marsco	736	413	Red
16	Beinn Dearg Mhòr	731	152	Red
17	Belig	702	246	Outlier (Blaven group)

[edit] Cultural references

Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

One of Sorley MacLean's best known poems is the epic, "The Cuillin".
The band Runrig recorded the song, "Nightfall on Marsco".
According to legend, the Cuillins take their name from the Gaelic hero, Cúchulainn, although this is probably a folk etymology. Legend has it that Cúchulainn learned martial arts from the warrior woman, Scáthach, who was said to have a school in Skye.