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My first visit to Arran was in the early eighties when I went there with a group of climbers from the Langside Mountaineering Club (aka the Langy). Me and my climbing partner stayed at the Glen Rosa camp site, a five star camp site even in those days??! The others with better, lighter, dearer gear moved up into the corries to bivvy among the boulders. I shivered in my wafer thin Army and Navy stores sleeping bag which seemed to have a filling of old shredded newspapers.

The weekend was memorable for biker filled late licensed bars in Brodick (a far cry from the sophisticated island capital that it has become), torch lit processions headed by singing girls back to the camp site and amazingly, sunshine. The routes we climbed were Caliban’s Creep - the scariest Diff in Britain, and Sou Wester Slabs - a V Diff up perfect granite slabs and grooves.

Early eighties climber

The picture from that time is near the top of Souwester and shows a typical early eighties climber. I became worried when I realised that I still have some of the gear from that time including the belay gloves (no Stich plates for the Langy) now used in the garden. Unfortunately the flares are long gone.

What I also remember is envy of the Langy hardmen sleeping under boulders and climbing hard routes such as the South Ridge of Cir Mhor. This was a VS and way beyond my capability.

Years later I was belayed at the top of the S crack on the South Ridge with Stuart working on the next. He climbed a short slab to reach the Y crack. This reared above at an overhanging angle. The crack is well protected and Stuart took advantage by cannily placing runners at 3 foot centres. Which was just as well as reaching over the top there was no welcoming hold and leaning outwards he was off and flying. He landed on the slab below and fortunately the protection prevented any further downward progress. Despite a twisted ankle he bravely tried again and again with similar results although I was now able to field him before he made contact with the slab.

South Face of Cir Mhor

Arms totally burnt out, Stuart made way for my attempt. By this time we were conscious of attention from climbers on other routes and we must have been talk of the corrie. I easily cruised up the slab and moved up the crack. As a precaution, I added yet another runner at the top of the crack, leaving just sufficient space between the ironmongery for hand jams. I eased myself back down for a rest before moving up to show Stuart how it’s done. I knew now that in the unlikely event of coming off I would only receive a gentle bounce on the rope.

Three gentle bounces later I decided that cheating was required and stood in a sling to reach up to a vertical break over the top but just out of reach otherwise. Although we got up the remaining pitches, we had failed on the route and would have to return.

We redeemed ourselves a year later in July 1996 during a day of Alpine proportions. Leaving Glasgow before dawn, we caught the first ferry from Ardrossan at 7am, cycled to Glen Rosa then walked in. This time the Y crack was climbed cleanly at the first attempt. The key seems to be to get a good hand jam near the top of the crack, then go for it before the strength starts to ebb. After continuing to the top of the Cir Mhor pinnacle, we yomped down Glen Rosa and just made the 4.40 pm ferry back to Ardrossan.

On an OMC meet in June 1997 we set off early for an expedition along the A Chir Ridge with Ian McCabe, John Dyble and the McPartlin sisters Moira and Liz (now Mrs Baird and one of the outlaws respectively). The ridge is the best ridge traverse in Britain outside of Skye. Although graded moderate, several OMC climbers have failed on it after some 15 hours of effort. Not wishing to cause any embarrassment, I won’t mention names but Davy, Stuart and Ross know who I mean.

enjoying a break on A’Chir Ridge

We made good progress using the rope a few times and the ravens were not the only birds squawking. We all had a great day and finished off by walking on over Cir Mhor and down to Glen Sannox with beers at the pub followed by taxi to Brodick for fish suppers. A classic Arran day.

“Watch the rope!” I shouted half way up a smooth 30m slab of rock at an undercut overlap, I needed to get in some protection. A half size friend should do, but the smallest I had was one and a half. It just would not go in…... The next day for something less taxing we had decided to climb Blank. This is supposedly a severe grade slab climb on the Rosa slabs on the flanks of Goatfell. Well, the granite slabs made for good climbing but it ain’t called Blank for nothing. Last pitch fell to me and luckily not the other way around. Would I move up or try to go down? But the moves could not be reversed. So across the overlap and onto a sea of granite and up it was. In this sort of situation it is difficult to stop the legs from shaking but I did my best to stay calm.

I looked down as the normally idle banter between my belayer McCabe and his attendant, Dyble had become eerily silent. Indeed Ian was even paying attention to the rope as requested. Meantime Dyble was scurrying around the belay ledge arranging additional anchors. This should have been reassuring, but did not add to my confidence as I realised that they were expecting me to hurtle past them any minute. They were trying to ensure that they would not be pulled off in turn. I was committed. Ten minutes, or was it a lifetime, later and 15m higher my fingers curled around a welcome spike of rock on the break above the slab. I was now on easy ground and much relieved. In these situations you hope that the following climbers will also have difficulty, but the belayer and his attendant both skipped up the slab on the top rope. I understand the latest guide gives the route a VS grade.

Later that year we climbed West Flank Route. Stuart and I returned in 1998 to try Mosque but because of showers climbed the nearby but easier Pagoda Ridge. A slightly more successful attempt on Mosque this year resulted in half of the first pitch being climbed and more air time for Stuart before being rained off. So the experiences continue and we will climb Mosque some day – watch this space!

© Colin Baird, September 2003