📌 Black Cuillin, Isle of Skye
★★★★★
Starting up the path towards Blaven (or Bla Bheinn) from the car park in good weather, take a glance at this spectacular massif and you instantly know you’re in for a special day. This is one of the easiest Munros on Skye to ascend after Sgurr na Banachdaich (and possibly Bruach na Frithe). The proper ascent begins at Fionna-choire, with a loose scree slope soon after and one awkward step further up. Views to the Red Hills are soon eclipsed by the wow! moment as Clach Glas suddenly appears to the north, vying with the summit panorama of the entire Cuillin Ridge for the walk’s highlight.
📷 Chronological photo guide
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish on B8083 2 mi west of Torrin, Skye
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NG 560216
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 57.219787,-6.042406
❌ Infrequent bus passes the start but there is no official stop
🚗 Car park
📝 Key info
▶ 8 km / 5 mi | ▲ 990 m | ⌛ 5-6 hr
Features: △ Blaven (929 m, Munro)
⬤ Tough | Excellent path progressively steepens to Fionna-choire. Careful mapwork is then required to follow correct intermittent path (of many), becoming clearer higher up with a steep, loose scree gully that can mostly be bypassed on climber’s left. Near the top, one rock step requires a big stretch, albeit with no exposure.
Download file for GPS➡️ Out-and-back walk: start – Allt na Dunaiche north bank – Coire Uaigneich – Fionna-choire lower end – north, then northwest, then west to Blaven summit – return by outward route
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Solitary raven for company at the summit.
Weather: Blue skies – little wind at start but progressively strengthening, particularly on descent. 20°C at car park upon return, with frontal rain soon after.
August 2015
Outstanding views, indeed. But, what is the column structure?
Thanks for your comment Brendan! The column structure is one of thousands of triangulation pillars (often referred to as trig points) found around the UK. They were built by the Ordnance Survey (the UK's mapping agency) and you'll find them at the top of areas of high or prominent ground all over the country. More info on wikipedia about their purpose: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_station – hope this helps!
Thanks for the reply, Tim. I'm not from the UK, so am unfamiliar with some of the things I'm reading about in your blog. This being one such thing. It's also one of the reasons I'm enjoying your blog so much, I'm learning many new things.
Thanks for all the hard work you've put in, you've done an outstanding job!