Sgùrr Dearg

Sgùrr Dearg is a mountain in the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is topped by the Inaccessible Pinnacle, a fin of rock measuring 50 metres along its longest edge. The top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, which at 986 m is the highest point of Sgùrr Dearg and the only Munro with a peak that can only be reached by rock climbing. This makes it the biggest hurdle for many Munro baggers. First climbed by Charles and Lawrence Pilkington in 1880, the Pinnacle was never climbed by Sir Hugh Munro himself. Because of its status as the most difficult of the Munros it has now spawned a cottage industry for the local guides, who are frequently to be seen escorting parties of novice climbers. Unlike much of the Cuillin, the pinnacle is basalt not gabbro and thus is somewhat slippery in the wet. GeographySgùrr Dearg lies on the main Cuillin ridge at the junction of Coire Lagan, Coire na Banachdich and Coir'-uisg. It is the second highest peak in the Cuillin, and faces the highest, Sgùrr Alasdair, across Coire Lagan. Although the name Sgùrr Dearg refers to the mountain as a whole, references to the "summit" of Sgùrr Dearg are, unless otherwise qualified, generally taken to indicate the 978 metre top immediately below the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the north-western side. For reasons that remain unclear, this summit was listed as a Munro in the first (1891) edition of Munro's Tables, while the higher Pinnacle was listed as a subsidiary top; this situation was reversed in the first revision of the tables in 1921. Below the Inaccessible Pinnacle to the east is a smaller pinnacle called An Stac (954 m); this name originally applied to the 'In Pin' itself, and appears to have been transferred to the smaller top in error.

Sgùrr Dearg is a mountain in the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is topped by the Inaccessible Pinnacle, a fin of rock measuring 50 metres along its longest edge. The top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, which at 986 m is the highest point of Sgùrr Dearg and the only Munro with a peak that can only be reached by rock climbing. This makes it the biggest hurdle for many Munro baggers. First climbed by Charles and Lawrence Pilkington in 1880, the Pinnacle was never climbed by Sir Hugh Munro himself. Because of its status as the most difficult of the Munros it has now spawned a cottage industry for the local guides, who are frequently to be seen escorting parties of novice climbers. Unlike much of the Cuillin, the pinnacle is basalt not gabbro and thus is somewhat slippery in the wet. GeographySgùrr Dearg lies on the main Cuillin ridge at the junction of Coire Lagan, Coire na Banachdich and Coir'-uisg. It is the second highest peak in the Cuillin, and faces the highest, Sgùrr Alasdair, across Coire Lagan. Although the name Sgùrr Dearg refers to the mountain as a whole, references to the "summit" of Sgùrr Dearg are, unless otherwise qualified, generally taken to indicate the 978 metre top immediately below the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the north-western side. For reasons that remain unclear, this summit was listed as a Munro in the first (1891) edition of Munro's Tables, while the higher Pinnacle was listed as a subsidiary top; this situation was reversed in the first revision of the tables in 1921. Below the Inaccessible Pinnacle to the east is a smaller pinnacle called An Stac (954 m); this name originally applied to the 'In Pin' itself, and appears to have been transferred to the smaller top in error.