IF YOU DO ONE GRADE IV BEFORE YOU DIE...LET IT BE THIS

At its very best Scotland offers adventures to compare with anywhere in the world. Add in a blanket of snow, a dash of rime and set the
temperature just below freezing and you have something truly special...

Diamond Buttress - Andy Nisbet's Best Grade IV

Length: 180m
Grade: IV, 4
Crag: Sgoran Dubh Mor

Description: A steep turfy zig-zag leads to a fine pinnacled crest. Better on a clear day as the approach is a Grade I descent.
Conditions: Needs only the turf to be frozen. The more snow the better the atmosphere, but the harder the walk-in.
Guidebook: The Cairngorms (original line) pub SMC. For a descriptions of Nisbet's line see (P54) http://www.smc.org.uk/Downloads/New20Climbs202008.pdf
This uncut diamond of Cairngorm mixed climbing is the retiring but grand granite ridge descending from Sgoran Dubh Mor towards remote Gleann Einich. The summer rock is soft so J.H.B.Bell's ascent in 1932 received no great plaudits. But he must have liked it, as he was back in 1940 for a steeper start. Nothing more for 46 years, then two came at once. Not buses, winter ascents! Both modest ascents too, so no writeups bursting with enthusiasm, although both now say how great it was.

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