Top 5 VS Routes in Scotland
Whether you’re looking for a grand day out on rock or are seeking some quality routes for your logbook, sometimes nothing beats a solid VS pitch. We asked Kirsty Pallas, freelance Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and Mountain Safety Advisor for Mountaineering Scotland, to tell us about her favourite Very Severe routes across Scotland to help inspire your next trad climbing adventure.
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- Shangri-La – Sron na Ciche, Isle of Skye
High on the biggest mountain crag on Skye, this route manages to feel tucked away and still like an adventure. Each pitch builds on the last, finishing with a tricky few moves over ‘The Damoclean Sword’! Climbing this, followed up with Vulcan Wall made for a day full of great pitches and tender fingertips, but who doesn’t love gabbro!
- Olden Glory – Carn Goraig, North Highlands
Between a cycle in, a river crossing, and then a bit of a walk, Carn Goraig feels remote, despite being relatively straightforward to access for the area. A lovely dome of Lewisian Gneiss gives lots of great routes, but this VS feels like it packs a bit of everything in, including a beautiful hand traverse on the top pitch. Combined with the view over the Fisherfields, and a southerly aspect, it’s a stunning place for a Spring day.
- Raven’s Edge – Buachaille Etive Mor, Glencoe
This route had been on my radar for a long time, purely from the wild sounding description, and every time I walked under it towards Rannoch Wall area, I always tried to pick out the line. It’s not the cleanest route around, with some scrappy grass and choss to get established, but the 4c pitches more than make up for it. Climbing through an old (although may be occupied some years) raven nest to pull around the corner and suddenly be hanging above the gully is a situation you don’t get easily. Plus you can almost guarantee you’ll be the only team on the route, a rarity on the Buachaille!
- Midas Touch – Neist Point, Isle of Skye
As the only single pitch route on my list, it’s fought its way onto here, but for a long time, was my favourite VS around! A long pitch with a tricky start that soon gives way to glorious laybacking and heaps of gear, it’s earned a place on the list. And the location can’t be improved, especially a sunny (but slightly breezy!) evening, where the sun just sets the dolerite on fire right along the point, plus maybe a pod of dolphins pop by too!
- Whispers – Stac an Fharaidh, Cairngorms
It doesn’t get much better than being high above the Loch Avon basin on a sunny day, other than also being on a sticky granite slab. This route has the typical slab traits of being about friction, slightly bold, and a steep little crux, that’s harder if you’re short! But that’s the joy of climbing slabs, and with another lovely severe on the crag too, you can get a great day’s climbing for a relatively easy walk in.
All of these routes can be found in our book Scottish Rock Climbs and also in Rockfax Digital.
Images
Raven’s Edge. © Mark Chambers
Shangri-La, climber Morna Bailey. © Kirsty Pallas
Carn Goraig. © Sarah Crowsley
Raven’s Edge. © Mark Chambers
Carn Goraig. © Sarah Crowsley