After a very speculative punt on a Cuillin traverse in less-than-ideal weather, Ric and I had bailed from Skye to seek sun and dry rock in the Cairngorms. Following a late start to recover and dry our kit, we needed a venue that would serve as a “quick afternoon hit”. I had never climbed on Stac an Fharaidh and the classic duo of Whispers (VS 4c) and Pipet Slab (S 4b) get a good write-up. That combined with the ninety-minute approach and sunny south-facing aspect sealed the deal.
The pleasant weather and bone-dry plateau facilitated an easy approach over point 1141, round the southern flank of Cairngorm and north of point 1082 to the rim of the Loch Avon basin. Unfortunately, despite the recent drought, the descent to the foot of the East Flank of Stac an Fharaidh involved sketching down some wet and gungy slabs and steep heather.
By the time we made it round to the start of Whispers it was nearly 1pm, so we didn’t hang around and got straight to work on the rounded, flared cracks of the first pitch. Ric did a fine job of leading the slightly bold pitch, but as I followed, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed at the amount of vegetation and gravel in the cracks. One could argue it didn’t overly detract from the climbing, but it’s no Grimsel Pass…
You’d have thought that route-finding would be easy, but with multiple cracks and the guidebook line* not obviously in the cleanest one, we just followed our noses and stuck to the best rock. This may have resulted in some trickier moves and weaving in and out, but was worth it to avoid the grass and gravel!
Pitch two continued in much the same vein (pun intended) as the first, with some moderately runout climbing up the cracks and slabs interspersed with the odd bulge. Again, the guidebook line didn’t follow the best rock and showed the route overcoming the bulge on the very left edge of the slab, when clearly the move is to step back right to the clean(er) crack via the pocket.
The belay at the end of the second pitch is a spectacular stance from which to observe the ensuing drama of the impending crux: A traverse across a huge flake saw Ric deposited beneath a steep, rounded bulge, whereupon just enough gear was arranged to allow commitment to the irreversible slopers and small footholds required to surmount it. With minimal gibbering, Ric calmly executed the (arguably 5a) moves to a better stance on the slab above. Further bold climbing, including a tricky mantel, led to the top of the route.
Seconding the pitch was great fun and the route redeemed itself by more than making up for the scrittly cracks below! We still had time for a second route and high-tailed it around and down through the slippy slabs to the base of Pipet Slab. I climbed direct up cracks to start the first pitch, avoiding the grass-choked diagonal crack shown on the topo, but it was a similar story above with cleaner sections of slab interspersed with grassy, gravelly cracks. The second pitch is much cleaner, with some fine traversing moves and rock-overs onto overlapping slabs. The third pitch is fairly bold and I was unfortunately stymied by a carpet of black gunge and running water towards the top, which I felt was unjustifiable to try and sketch through.
The next day was very warm, so we sought shade on the arch-classic The Magic Crack (HVS 5a) in Coire an t-Sneachda. We first climbed this route in 2014 but I found it a real struggle, especially battling up the eponymous laser-like finger crack on the third pitch. This time around was a much more relaxed affair, with both of us calmly cruising up the perfectly clean rock. Take note Pipet Slab – this is what a 3* climb is really like!
*We used Scottish Rock Climbs by Wired Guides, which to be fair is adequate (especially with a bit of mountain sense) for Stac an Fharaidh, but I think the 3rd edition of Scottish Rock Vol 1 by Gary Latter has a better topo.