I started my Hard Rock journey in 1987, almost 40 years ago, with Helen on an ascent of Gimmer Crack. Here’s the entry from her climbing journal of 29 September…

That first tick in Ken’s Big Book was a milestone in my nascent climbing career, but I had no ambitions to do the lot. That urge only started to percolate through my brain about six years ago, when a dry spell prompted an ascent of The Groove on Llech Dhu, and an idle shufty in the index revealed I only had about twenty to go (out of sixty). A bit of organisation, and much indulgence by generous partners (thank you Jim T, Jake, Paul, Andy, Jim B, and George) had me homing in on the finish line. As the “To Do List” dwindled, Helen and I hatched a plan that she would accompany me on my final “tick”, as she had on my first, and we’d save South Ridge Direct on Arran for the grand finale.

My penultimate Hard Rock tick, Ken’s “that’ll stop the puerile tickers” route: The Scoop, hung over much of summer 2024, waiting for fickle weather and events calendars to coincide. This was eventually despatched on Bill and Dom’s Excellent Adventures Episode 14 (huge thanks for Bill’s generosity!), with just a few days to spare before Helen and I headed for our end-of-year trip to the States.

The Scoop, Sròn Uladail or (Strone Ulladale)

Meanwhile, I was encouraged to write up my “Top 6 Hard Rock” routes for Summit Magazine, which in hindsight was another bit of self-inflicted pressure to complete the set! (You should be able to read this, even if you aren’t a BMC member, as it is not currently behind a pay wall).

https://btpubs.co.uk/publication/?i=842715&article_id=4945467&view=articleBrowser

April 2025 arrived as one of the driest and sunniest on record, but we were busy with more important things. Then news came of the tragic wildfire in Glen Rosa, which would have kyboshed any plans.

The premature “summer” gave way to more unsettled weather, and I started to wonder if we’d missed our opportunity. Brodick was installed as a “favourite” on all my weather apps, and the hint of a window saw the van packed on the off chance.

The omens weren’t promising as our ferry approached Brodick…

… but a welcome committee of dolphins (you’ll have to take my word) perhaps hinted at improving fortunes?

Sure enough, the next morning at the lovely Glen Rosa Campsite dawned glorious.

However heavy rain was forecast for the evening and overnight, so we postponed our plan to amble up for an evening bivvy, and instead set off on a circumnavigation of the island to occupy ourselves. A whif of mobile reception and a chance glance at the Met Office site led to a hasty end to lunch watching seals. The forecast had perked up and we should be heading up the hill after all. Plans for stone circles and the Arran Brewery could wait – we’d got a route to tick!

The guidebook suggests 2:30hrs from the campsite, and we were also carrying bivvy gear and food for a couple of nights in case we were late off the hill.

There are various online mentions of a dull and boggy walk up the Glen, but that’s a massive disservice to a spectacular piece of geology, with the towering granite pyramids of the Rosa Pinnacle and Chir Mor constantly drawing the eye. Completely dry under foot too.

The destruction caused by the fire is all too evident, but thankfully it didn’t manage to jump across the river, and the damage is confined to the slopes of Goat Fell (on the left of the photo below, looking back down the Glen.

Heartbreaking to see the burnt remains of countless saplings planted as part of a reforestation campaign.

As we drew nearer, we started to scan the Pinnacle for the famous “S” and “Y” cracks that are the chief landmarks on the route.

We found a magnificent bivvy spot, complete with a partial stone wall and a convenient boulder to shelter us from the chilling southerly wind. Here are the coordinates 55.635226° N 05.224658° W in case you are up that way.

Cosy for two in the bivvy tent…

We allowed ourselves a leisurely start the next morning to give the sun time to take the worst of the chill off the crag. Even so, it won’t have made it into double digits all day, and even in thermal, fleece and belay jacket it remained chilly. Not that we were complaining as we gazed down from the start of the route, with the whole of the Rosa Pinnacle to ourselves under a near-cloudless sky.

Spot the bivvy…

The various guidebook descriptions are all a bit vague and dismissive of the first 100m or so, approaching the “S” Crack. “At most VDiff”… Not sure if we took an unnecessarily direct line, or if we weren’t warmed up or attuned to the granite, but I found myself thinking: “Hrmm – if that’s VDiff then we might have a bit more of a fight on our hands further up”.

As it was, we both found the “S” Crack pretty amenable, and fair at VS 4c. It would definitely be a 3* route in its own right.

The “Y” Crack was a different prospect – only 10m but genuinely steep at its top. A proper granite grunt!

There follows a long, easy traverse leftwards…

… to the third of the notable difficulties – the Layback Crack. This was the highlight of the route for both of us – an absolute belter:

This brings a junction with Sou’wester Slab to climb the Three Tier Chimney. Supposedly VDiff, we thought it just as hard as the “S” Crack!

The crest of the ridge is now in reach, and 50m of steady traversing deposits you on the Terrace beneath the summit pinnacle.

Strictly speaking, that’s the end of the route, but the day was young and it seemed a bit of an anticlimax not to top out. Another three pitches and a hundred metres or so “of good quality climbing of a VDiff standard that should not be omitted”.

This encouragement prompted a decent attempt to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory – one of those occasions when you distort the available rock features to fit the guidebook description until it becomes blatantly implausible and you have to admit to going off route. I think we may not have traversed far enough before launching onto the upper pinnacle, and encountered a couple of stiff VSish sections as a consequence. Here’s the Upper Pinnacle, but don’t ask me where we went, or where we should have gone!

Back on track for the final pitch and a half, with an exposed traverse onto the East Face before an easy slab to finish.

… and finally topped out on the route after 395m and 6 hours (and the book after about 7,000m of climbing and 38 years!)

Stunning vistas…

Celebration beers back at the bivvy

… and a long trudge back to the campsite, by which time blue skies had given way to rain.

Not much appetite the following day for another route (there’s a dearth of roadside cragging on Arran – in fact nothing much less than a 90mins approach) so we decided to use the remaining good weather to take a scenic route home via the Mull of Kintyre.

Ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig…

… with a last view of the granite pinnacles…

… and another dolphin guard of honour (you really will have to trust me with this one!)

Goodbye to distant views of Arran…

… and on to a well-earned sundowner against a backdrop of Islay and Jura.