Sgùrr Alasdair is the highest peak of the
Black Cuillin, and the highest peak on the
Isle of Skye and in the
Inner Hebrides, and indeed in all the
Scottish islands, at . Like the rest of the range it is composed of
gabbro
Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...
, a rock with excellent grip for
mountaineering. It is named after
Alexander Nicolson
Alexander Nicolson (1827–1893) was a Scottish lawyer and man of letters, known as a Gaelic scholar and sheriff-substitute of Kirkcudbright and Greenock, and as a pioneer of mountain climbing in Scotland.
Life
The son of Malcolm Nicolson, he w ...
, who made the first recorded ascent in 1873. Prior to this the mountain had been locally known as Sgurr Biorach.
Ascent
As with other hills of the Cuillin, a
head for heights
To have a head for heights means that one has no acrophobia, an irrational fear of heights, and is not particularly prone to fear of falling or suffering from vertigo, the spinning sensation that can be triggered, for example, by looking down fro ...
and
scrambling
Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing (as a “scrambl ...
ability are needed to attain the summit. The least technical route follows a feature known as the "Great Stone Chute", a
scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...
gully that leads up from the
corrie of Coire Lagan to a
bealach
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migra ...
just below the main ridge. From this col, a pleasant scramble (Grade 2 standard) up the well scratched east ridge leads to the narrow summit.
[The Islands of Scotland, Scottish Mountain Club Guidebook (1989 edition).]
Other routes require scrambling ability or
rock climbing; 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, a Grade 3 scramble that begins up a scratched chimney which can be accessed from the summit of Sgùrr Sgumain or from Coir' a' Ghrunnda; there is also a slightly easier route from the top of this chimney directly up a shallow gully on the south face. The summit of Sgùrr Alasdair can be attained by a short detour (from Sgùrr Theàrlaich) off the main ridge by climbers undertaking the full traverse of the Cuillin ridge, or by those following the circuit of Coire Lagan.
References
External links
* Computer-generated virtual panorama
Sgùrr Alasdair
* 360 Virtual Tour
360 Routes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sgurr Alasdair
Munros
Marilyns of Scotland
Mountains and hills of the Isle of Skye