Sgurr Dearg

Sgùrr Dearg
(Inaccessible Pinnacle)
Sgùrr Dearg and the Inaccessible Pinnacle
Highest point
Elevation	986 m (3,235 ft)
Prominence	182 m
Parent peak	Sgùrr Alasdair
Listing	Munro, Marilyn
Naming
Translation	Red peak (Gaelic)
Pronunciation	Scottish Gaelic: [ˈs̪kuːrˠ ˈtʲɛɾɛk]
Geography
Location	Skye, Scotland
Parent range	Cuillin
OS grid	NG444215
Topo map	OS Landranger 32
Climbing
First ascent	1880, by Charles and Lawrence Pilkington
Easiest route	rock climb (Moderate)

Sgùrr Dearg (Gaelic: "red peak") is a mountain in the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is topped by the Inaccessible Pinnacle (colloquially referred to by mountaineers as the In Pin or In Pinn), a fin of rock measuring 150 feet (50 metres) along its longest edge. The top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, which at 3,235 ft (986 m) is the highest point of Sgùrr Dearg and the only Munro with a peak that can only be reached by rock climbing. This makes it the biggest hurdle for many Munro baggers.

First climbed by Charles and Lawrence Pilkington in 1880, the Pinnacle was never climbed by Sir Hugh Munro himself. Because of its status as the most difficult of the Munros it has now spawned a cottage industry for the local guides, who are frequently to be seen escorting parties of novice climbers. Unlike much of the Cuillin, the pinnacle is basalt not gabbro and thus is somewhat slippery in the wet.

Sgùrr Dearg lies on the main Cuillin ridge at the junction of Coire Lagan, Coire na Banachdich and Coir'-uisg. It is the second highest peak in the Cuillin, and faces the highest, Sgùrr Alasdair, across Coire Lagan.

Although the name Sgùrr Dearg refers to the mountain as a whole, references to the "summit" of Sgùrr Dearg are, unless otherwise qualified, generally taken to indicate the 978 metre top immediately below the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the north-western side. For reasons that remain unclear, this summit was listed as a Munro in the first (1891) edition of Munro's Tables, while the higher Pinnacle was listed as a subsidiary top; this situation was reversed in the first revision of the tables in 1921. Below the Inaccessible Pinnacle to the east is a smaller pinnacle called An Stac (954 m); this name originally applied to the 'In Pin' itself, and appears to have been transferred to the smaller top in error.

While the Inaccessible Pinnacle is the hardest of the Cuillin's summits to reach, the approach to its base is relatively simple by Cuillin standards. Most walkers and climbers start from Glen Brittle, from where the easiest route involves following the faint path to the Bealach Coire na Banachdich via the corrie of the same name; from here the top of Sgùrr Dearg may be gained via a tedious scree slope interspersed with some easy scrambling. A more interesting ascent may be achieved by ascending the screes of Sron Dearg, which leads to Sgùrr Dearg's narrow and rocky south-west ridge, a grade 1/2 scramble.