UKH

Does anyone know the name of the chunky east facing buttress before you reach Fiacaill ridge buttress proper ? Have climbs been recorded on it ?

Folk have climbed there for many years, especially instructors. But the routes haven't been written up. Although I think there's one on UKC, but it had been done before. The rightmost ridge is a good scramble and Grade II in winter. Both good as a precursor to Fiacaill Ridge.

It's in Highland Scrambles South and on UKC as the Twin Ribs start to Fiacaill Ridge. Grade 2 up the grooves direct, with loads of choice of route. As Andy says, it's good, and not all that much harder than the more direct versions of Fiacaill Ridge.

Did you ask me this at the bottom of the corrie yesterday?

Yes, I was chatting to two guys from Edinburgh. Either you or your partner arrived and asked.

On Friday Alan and I climbed the Twin Ribs first and then we found another, larger buttress 60 m further south, just before the start of the steeper part of Fiacaill Ridge.

There we climbed a prominent 25m gully on its right flank, broad at first and then narrowing and steepening to maybe 70 degrees, and finishing on the top of the buttress and the path up Fiacaill Ridge. A nice, maybe grade III climb to access the Fiacaill Ridge.

Yes that's the one - prominent and chunky with deep parallel grooves. We did the Twin Rib route then moved down from the col to do a steep gully on the right flank of the buttress.

Sounds fun. Will have to go and have a look sometime.

I didn't mean the Twin Ribs. I meant the right edge of Fiacaill Buttress. I called it Fiacaill Rib. It will be in the new SMC app for the Northern Corries (winter). Twin Ribs is in too.

What's it like in summer?

Here are some pictures of the gully we climbed and the buttress it is part of.  We would like to put it into UKC.  Do you have a name for it?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ja2vsatjaza0quc/AAAvatwnjpZkmoi6XNrbCcwxa?dl=0

I haven't done it in summer. But I met a couple who had done it several times and thought it was Twin Ribs. In fact I arranged to meet them at Twin Ribs base for a photographic trip. They went there and I went to the real Twin Ribs. So we never met. But they did it that day anyway. It's fairly vegetated but you might be able to take a cleaner line in summer.

I can't tell from your pictures where it is. Is it on a completely separate buttress on the top before Fiacaill Ridge? If you send me your e-mail address, then I'll send you a picture of the buttress. But no, it doesn't have a name. Folk generally don't record winter routes of 25m, unless I misunderstand.

Cheers Andy, will go and have a look once the white stuff has gone.

The climb is on the buttress just before the 5-10m descent to the col before the steep part of the ridge starts.  That buttress is more prominent from the floor of Coire an t'Snechda than the one Twin Ribs is on. My photo 4604 shows the buttress and Fiacaill Ridge in the background.

Only a routelet then? It felt about the same length as Twin Ribs.

I can be contacted though UKC or on hgfahrrad@talktalk.net.  Thanks for your help