Inaccessible Pinnacle
|
|
Template:Infobox british hills
The Inaccessible Pinnacle is the 986 m summit of Sgurr Dearg (Gaelic for Red Mountain) in the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Its chief distinction is that it is the only mountain in the British Isles whose ascent requires rock climbing. This frequently makes it the final hurdle for Munro baggers.
First climbed by Charles and Lawrence Pilkington in 1880, it was never climbed by Sir Hugh Munro himself. Because of its status as the most difficult of the Munros it has now spawned a cottage industry for the local guides who are frequently to be seen escorting parties of four—probably rock climbing for the first, and possibly the only time in their lives. Unlike much of the Cuillin, the pinnacle is basalt not gabbro and thus is somewhat slippery in the wet.
A famous description by an early climber tells of its ascent via "a knife-edge ridge, with the drop on one side infinite and overhanging, and on the other longer and steeper".
As a rock climb, it is now graded Moderate.
|
Missing image In_pinn_2.JPG The In Pinn seen from its "easy" side |
Missing image In_pinn_ab.jpg The abseil with Sgurr Alasdair in the background |