Sgurr Alasdair is the highest peak of the Black Cuillin

Cuillin

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

, and the highest peak on the Isle of Skye. Like the rest of the range it is composed of gabbro

Gabbro

Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....

, a rock with excellent grip for mountaineering

Mountaineering

Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

.

Ascent

As with other hills of the Cuillin, a head for heights and scrambling

Scrambling

Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hillwalking and rock climbing. It is often distinguished from hillwalking by defining a scramble as a route where hands must be used in the ascent...

 ability are needed to attain the summit. The least technical route follows a feature known as the "Great Stone Chute" – a line of scree

Scree

Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...

 that leads up from the corrie

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

 of Coire Lagan to join a col

Col

-Things:* A col, a mountain pass or saddle* A col, region of lower air pressure between two high pressure areas: see trough -Languages:* col, ISO 639-3 language code of the Columbia-Wenatchi language* Col language-Abbreviations:...

 on the main ridge. From this col, a pleasant scramble (Grade 2 standard) up the well scratched east ridge leads to the narrow summit.

Other routes require scrambling ability or rock climbing

Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

; while there are rock climbs directly up the flanks, the only other way of reaching the summit via a ridge is the south-west ridge from the summit of Sgurr Sgumain, a Grade 3 scramble that begins up a scratched chimney. The summit of Sgurr Alasdair can be attained by a short detour (from Sgurr Theàrlaich) off the main ridge by climbers undertaking the full traverse of the Cuillin ridge, or by those following the circuit of Coire Lagan.

External links

• Computer-generated virtual panoramas Sgurr Alasdair Index