Stac Pollaidh May 2000

Western Buttress Route (Diff.)

Who could fail to be impressed by the site of Stac Pollaidh, looking so isolated, yet so impregnable? On the approach it looks every bit of it's 2011ft., when you're up close it seeems to look much smaller and more compact, but once you're on the steep slopes up to the Western Buttress it starts to feel like a big hill.

As you approach the base of Western Buttress you begin to appreciate it's size and complexity and it suddenly takes on a real mountain flavour. A path leads you to the narrow gap between Baird's Pinnacle and the buttress, climb down through this and find the start of the climb 50ft. further on. Although Baird's Pinnacle and the gap are both obvious landmarks, the start of the climb is less obvious, several options present themselves and we chose the line that looked most likely to be "diff."

It may have been our poor route finding that day, or possibly just the nature of the buttress, but we found ourselves taking a winding route up the buttress constantly trying to find a line that matched the grade and failing once or twice. However, we worked our way up in 3 pitches, the last being quite short, to top out on the summit. To descend, scramble along the ridge to pick up the excellent, newly built path that leads off to the north and then circles around and back to the car-park.

This climb does have a lot going for it! The rock is sound, protection and belays are good, the views are stunning and it tops out on the summit! However, the down side is that the line isn't easy to find (you might have more luck), and anything off-line will be harder rather than easier, but don't let this put you off, especially if you don't mind a few harder moves.

T.S.