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The Cuillin () is a range of mostly jagged rocky mountains on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The main Cuillin ridge is also called the Black Cuillin to distinguish it from the Red Cuillin ( na Beanntan Dearga), which lie to the east of Glen Sligachan.R. Anderson & Tom Prentice. The Grahams & The Donalds - Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide, pp. 304–309. Published 2015.
The peaks of the Black Cuillin are mainly composed of gabbro, a very rough igneous rock which provides a superb grip for mountaineering; and basalt, which can be very slippery when wet.D. Bennet & R. Anderson. The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers Guide, pp. 258–275. Published 2016. The rocks forming the ridge of the Black Cuillin (and outliers such Blà Bheinn) are dark, particularly in the shade, but when in sunlight the Black Cuillin can appear grey to brown. The main ridge forms a narrow crest, with steep cliffs and scree slopes. The ridge is about long (from Gars-bheinn in the south to Sgùrr nan Gillean in the northeast), and curves in an irregular semi-circle around Loch Coruisk, which lies at the heart of the range.Ordnance Survey Landranger 1:50000, Sheet 32 The highest point of the Cuillin, and of the Isle of Skye, is Sgùrr Alasdair in the Black Cuillin at .
The Red Cuillin are mainly composed of granite, which is paler than the gabbro (with a reddish tinge from some angles in some lights) and has weathered into more rounded hills with vegetation cover to summit level and long scree slopes on their flanks. These hills are lower and, being less rocky, have fewer scrambles or climbs. The highest point of the red hills is Glamaig at , one of only two Corbetts on Skye (the other being Garbh-bheinn, part of the small group of gabbro outliers surrounding Blà Bheinn).R. Milne & H Brown. The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills - Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide, pp. 262–263. Published 2002.
The scenic beauty of the Cuillin has led to it being designated a national scenic area, one of forty such areas in Scotland. A NatureScot review of the special qualities of the Cuillin stated:
The Cuillin provide classic examples of Glacial period topography and were the subject of an early published account by James Forbes in 1846 (who had become a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh aged only nineteen).Forbes, James D. (1846) Notes on the topography and geology of Cuchullin Hills in Skye, and on traces of ancient glaciers which they present. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal No. 40. Pages 76–99. He partnered Louis Agassiz on his trip to Scotland in 1840 and although they subsequently argued, Forbes went on to publish other important papers on Alpine glaciers.Forbes, James D. (1846) On the Viscous Theory of Glacier Motion Abstracts of the Papers Communicated to the Royal Society of London, Vol. 5, 1843–1850. pp. 595–596. In 1904 Alfred Harker published The Tertiary Igneous Rocks of Skye, the first detailed scientific study of an extinct volcano.McKirdy et al. (2007) pages 164–5 and 280.Harker, Alfred, (1904) The Tertiary Igneous Rocks of Skye. Geological Survey of Scotland Memoir.
The Cuillin encompasses a wide range of habitats, changing with altitude. At the base there are conifer plantations, coastal and areas of Calluna moorland and rough grassland. The lower slopes are covered by various different types of bog, with grassland on the better-drained slopes that are found above . Higher up, the rocky hills are largely bare, with exposed rock and scree. The entire area is designated as a Special Protection Area under the Natura 2000 programme due particularly for its importance to . The site is of European importance for these birds, and holds one of the highest-density populations in Britain, having an unusually high breeding productivity. Eleven pairs were estimated in 1992; this representing about 3% of the breeding population in Great Britain at that time.
The Cuillin are protected as a national scenic area, defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The areas protected by the designation are considered to represent the type of scenic beauty "popularly associated with Scotland and for which it is renowned". The Cuillin Hills National Scenic Area covers , of which is on land, with a further being marine (i.e. below low tide level).
The Norse held sway throughout the Hebrides from the 9th century until after the Treaty of Perth in 1266. In the post–Norse period the most powerful clans on Skye were Clan MacLeod, originally based in Trotternish, and Clan Macdonald of Sleat. Following the disintegration of the Lordship of the Isles, the Mackinnons also emerged as an independent clan, whose substantial landholdings in Skye were centred on Strathaird. The MacDonalds and the MacLeods were bitter rivals, and two major battles of this period were fought between the clans at Harta Corrie and Coire Na Creich in the Cuillin:
James Boswell and Samuel Johnson visited Skye during their tour of the Western Isles in 1773, and observed snow falling on the summits of the range in September.S. Johnson & J. Boswell (ed. R. Black). To the Hebrides: "Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland" and "Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides", pp. 257–258. Published by Birlinn, 2007. Boswell described the Cuillin as "a prodigious range of mountains, capped with rocks like pinnacles in a strange variety of shapes".
Uniquely for a group of Scottish mountains there are no records of the majority of the Cuillin summits having been climbed prior to the start of mountaineering as a leisure activity in the Victorian era,Ian R Mitchell, Scotland's Mountains Before the Mountaineers, p. 159. Published 2013, Luath Press. a situation reflected in the fact that around half the summits had no recorded name prior to this period, although names for corries and other features were in existence.Ian R Mitchell. Scotland's Mountains Before the Mountaineers, p. 171. Published 2013, Luath Press. Many of the summits are thus named after early climbers such as John MacKenzie (Sgùrr MhicChoinnich), Alexander Nicolson (Sgùrr Alasdair), and Norman Collie (Sgùrr Thormaid).
The Strathaird, Torrin and Sconser Estate lies on the eastern side of Glen Sligachan, encompassing the Red Cuillin and Bla Bheinn: it is owned by the John Muir Trust, a charity that seeks to protect and enhance wild places. Strathaird Estate was formerly owned by musician Ian Anderson, the frontman for Jethro Tull, who sold the estate to the trust in 1994, for around £750,000.
The scrambling can access most of the individual peaks by their easiest routes. Only the Inaccessible Pinnacle is a graded rock climb (Moderate) by its simplest line but several of the other summits require scrambling skills. Navigation on the ridge is difficult due to jagged terrain and magnetic abnormalities that make compass reading unreliable. The majority of scramblers heading on to the Black Cuillin do so via routes from Glenbrittle (where there is a campsite and a youth hostel) or Sligachan for the northern peaks: due to the remoteness of Loch Coruisk, which can only be reached by boat or a walk from Elgol, routes starting from this side are less frequented.
In addition to climbing individual peaks, there is the challenge of a full mountain traverse of the main Black Cuillin ridge. Although only in length, the average traverse is likely to take 15–20 hours from sea level at Glenbrittle to the bar of the Sligachan Hotel, owing to the difficulty of the terrain and route-finding problems. The first recorded traverse in under 24 hours was on 10 June 1911 by Leslie Shadbolt and Alastair C. McLaren, in 12 hours 18 minutes top to top (16.75 hours in total). The record for the full traverse, set by Finlay Wild in October 2013, stands at 2 hours, 59 minutes and 22 seconds (though this time is from Gars-bheinn to Sgùrr nan Gillean and does not include the initial ascent from Glenbrittle or the final descent to Sligachan).Colin Wells, Running in Heaven . Sunday Herald (accessed 14 June 2007). A further issue for those attempting the full traverse is the fact that there are no natural sources of water on the ridge (except for winter snows and melt water), although there are a few high burns just off the main ridge from which water can be obtained.
Some believe the ultimate mountaineering experience of the UK is the full traverse of the Cuillin Ridge, especially under winter conditions. The Isle of Skye's position in the warm Gulf Stream makes genuine winter conditions rare, and the very short winter days probably make a 24-hour traverse impractical. The first recorded, over two days, was in 1965 by D. Crabbe, B. Robertson, Tom Patey and Hamish MacInnes.
A longer challenge, known as the "Greater Traverse" includes all the Skye Munros, though omitting some gabbro outliers: this involves continuing on to Clach Glas and Blaven totalling some distance and ascent. This traverse was first done independently by two parties, in the summer of 1939, with I. Charleson and W. Forde claiming precedence over W. H. Murray & R. G. Donaldon a few weeks later (see W. H. Murray's book for details of his traverse).
Extending the Greater Traverse even further is the Cuillin Round. This takes in most of the major peaks of the Black and Red Cuillin, totalling , ascent and 12 Munros. The fastest time of 16 hours 46 minutes was set by Mark Shaw in 2002.
The Trans Cuillin Challenge is yet to be completed in under 24 hours. It is an east-west traverse of every Cuillin top between Gars-bheinn and Beinn na Caillich, totalling some , ascent and 70 tops.
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