South Ridge Direct

Approach

Walk up Glen Rosa until the path forks below Chir Mhor. Take the left fork, going steeply up until a a flat Corrie floor is reached. Turn right at some lerge boulders where a path goes up to the lowest point on the South Ridge.

Route Description

This is one of the classic routes of the UK and a Hrad Rock tick. Though graded VS there are really only 3 hard pitches.

UK technical grades are shown first, followed by the US grades.

1 - 4a/5.6 Pad up the slab (run out), belaying after about 40m.
2 - 4a/5.5 Go up and right on broken slabs until you reach some small chimneys below the S-cracks. 40-50m
3 - 4a/5.5 Climb the small chimneys then make a dogleg around an overhanging corner (which can be taken direct at 5b, 5.9 with delicate slab moves above). Belay below the S cracks. 40m
4 - 4c/5.8 Climb the S-crack using jamming, bridging and a reach for the "porridge bowl" (a scoop so-called because a University MC once filled it with porridge). Difficult move right at the top. Belay on a large sloping ledge with a huge block (thread/spike runner) below the overhanging Y-crack. 30m.
5 - 5a/5.9 Struggle up the steep Y-cracks (good gear, hard work, watch for jammed feet), haul yourself onto the ledge above and belay well back. 10m

Scramble up and left to a big ledge with boulders

6 - 4a/5.6 Traverse around to the left across slabs just below a big wall to a big corner and a semi-hanging belay. 45m.
7 - 4b/5.7 Either climb the corner in it's entirety or break out right along some small handledges (run-out) before reaching another crack and a big ledge below some jumbled corners. 30m
8 - 4a/5.6 Climb the triple chimneys to the left. There may be a queue as a number of other routes share the pitch. if time is short you can traverse down to the right and scramble up a gully to the top. 20m
9 - 4a/5.5 Pad up slabs to the terrace and the finish. This pitch can be split in 2 to avoid rope drag. 50m

Now do the Rosa PInnacle to reach the summit!

Essential Gear

Normal rack, with a tendancy towards larger stuff. As a guide, 1 set of wires, Friends from 1 to 4, Full set of hexes and the usual slings and extenders.

Miscellaneous Info

This is quite a popular route on Chir Mhor and can get a bit busy. The Triple chimneys are a bit of a bottleneck. South Ridge Original is an alternative if you get to the bottom of the S-cracks and find too many people about, but I haven't climbed it.

From the top of the climb you can either scramble up the terrace or climb the Rosa Pinnacle which provides a 3 pitch excursion to a pinnacle just before the summit followed by a scramble to the summit. It is very worthwhile and a fine way to finish the route.

The following trip report captures the route perfectly:

https://www.summitpost.org/mountains/trip_report_list.pl/mountain_id/1023

Images

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