Skye's great black ridge — Britain's most serious mountain ground — with rounded red hills alongside for gentler days
The Black Cuillin are made of gabbro, a coarse dark rock that grips boots and hands like sandpaper, which is one reason climbers love them. The rock is also magnetic in places, so a compass can’t be trusted on the ridge. This is the hardest mountain ground in Britain. The main ridge involves roped climbing, and most of its summits, Am Basteir among them, are beyond ordinary hillwalking.
The National Scenic Area runs to 273 square kilometres. Bruach na Frithe is about the only Cuillin Munro a fit walker can reach without a rope, and even that wants a clear head for heights. Blabheinn stands off on its own to the east and has one of the finest views in the range.
Across the glen the Red Cuillin, like Glamaig, are granite, their rounded slopes and rust-coloured screes far kinder to walkers. Go in settled weather, carry a map you can trust, and turn back early if the cloud comes down.
