1. Crib Goch (Snowdon)

Snowdon’s razor ridge forms half the classic horse-shoe route and is must-do for anyone who enjoys dizzying exposure, but without any serious technical difficulty. The first few metre are often a proper reality check with sheer drops on one side and a less steep but still serious run-off on the other – the best holds are on the sheer side… best bits are the pinnacles, which are best tackled direct.

Scariness rating – 4/5

Highest point

Crib Goch’s highest peak along the ‘knife-edged arete’ is 923 m (3,028 ft) above sea level.

Location

The ridge is situated in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, Wales.

Quote

In the book ‘Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia’ Terry Marsh wrote: ‘The ascent and traverse of Crib Goch is one of the finest ridge walks in Britain, although ‘walk’ is hardly the right word. This is hands-on, and the ridge wants only for more length to make it a hugely different undertaking.’

Walking Crib Goch

Crib Goch is one of the classic British scrambles, but can get horrendously busy as a result. The North Ridge is a brilliant alternative approach to the pinnacled main ridge that neatly side-steps the crowds on the normal route and gives a quiet start from a deserted Cwm Glas before the potential business of the ridge proper. The alternative Grade 3 start up Jammed Boulder Gully is for expereinced scramblers who want to add a bit of spice to the route. The rock is generally good and stable, and drains well.

The North Ridge tends to dry slower after rainfall, and Jammed Boulder Gulley in particular can be wet. The other main consideration is wind, as both the North ridge and the main ridge of Crib Goch are very exposed.

Video taster

This video of a group of keen hikers traversing across Crib Goch is the perfect taster if you every pluck up the courage to tackle the ridge.

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3. Striding Edge (Helvellyn)

Another classic grade one scramble, Striding Edge is the most dramatic way of reaching the summit of Helvellyn. Never as narrow and scary as Crib Goch, but properly ridge-shaped and atmospheric particularly if you eschew the side path and stick to the crest of the ridge. Gets busy, but worth the effort.

Scariness rating – 3/5

Highest point

Striding Edge reachest 863 m (2,831 ft) above sea level.

Location

Striding Edge is a ridge on Helvellyn, linking the summit ridge of Birkhouse Moor to Helvellyn’s summit by what becomes a sharp arête.

Quote

In the book ‘Travels of an Everyday Man’ David Ferguson Elliott spoke of a famous tale on Striding Edge: ‘Some years ago a man climbing Striding Edge on his own fell to his death but his faitful terrier stayed by his body for serveral weeks, some reports say three months, until his body was discovered, proving canine dedication.’

Walking Striding Edge

One of the Lake District’s most popular walks,a circular route taking in the ridges of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. A true Lakeland classic the ascent of Striding Edge makes an ideal approach to Helvellyn in good weather, with panoramic views in all directions, but in rain, high wind, or snow the route takes on a more sinister nature with it’s steep drops to either side.

The return from Helvellyn takes in Catstye Cam and Swirral Edge, a less fearsome ridge than its counterpart on the outward leg.

Video taster

Here’s a nice little video of hikers scrambling across Striding Edge en route to Helvellyn to give you a taste of what the ridge has in store.

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4. Sharp Edge (Blencathra)

The ‘interesting’ way up northern Lakes giant Blencathra, it’s quieter than Striding Edge and more of an ascent than a traverse. There’s only one seriously exposed section where the route traverses some slippery slabs, which needs proper care in the wet, otherwise it’s a fun route on a straightforward rocky crest.

Scariness rating – 3/5

Highest point

Sharp Edge’s finishes on Blencathra’s summit plateau.

Location

The arete runs between Tarn Crag and Foule Crag on one of England’s most northernly mountains in the Lake District, Blencathra.

Quote

In the book ‘The Ridges of England, Wales and Ireland’ Dan Bailey wrote: ‘Tucked away around the back [of Blencathra] – only clearly seen from the east – is the hill’s real start attraction, perhaps the best and certaionly the most famous easy ridge scramble in England.

‘It is indeed a ‘sharp edge’ – knife keen, even. Despite its fearsome profile the summertime difficulties are modest, the main one being an ehilirating sense of exposure.’

Walking Sharp Edge

After all the recent high end routes, we felt it was time to go back to basics: Sharp Edge is a classic grade 1, and probably the most poular lakeland scramble after Striding Edge. Although it’s only a grade 1 route, and as perfect a hill day as you could wish for in summer, it’s an entirely different prospect in wind and rain.

If you really want to make the most of a day on Blencathra then think about combining this route with a descent of the easier, but still grade 1 scramble, down Hall’s Fall Ridge.

Video taster

Here’s a quick video showing a couple of keen hikers tackling the infamous Sharp Edge scramble and assuming the camera wasn’t holding itself, a great effort by the camera man also.

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6. Aonach Eagach Ridge (Glencoe)

Like Crib Goch on steroids, the Aonach Eagach runs along the skyline of Glencoe and is a steep-side roller-coaster of precipitous rocky pinnacles, sheer rocky steps and knife-edge ridge walking that just keeps on giving. Often rated the best ridge on the UK mainland, it’s a proper bucket-list must do for any keen walker or scrambler.

Scariness rating 5/5

Highest point

The highest point of the Aonach Eagach Ridge is Sgorr nam Fiannaidh at 967 m (3,172 ft) above sea level, one of two munro peaks along the ridge.

Location

The ridge lies to the north of Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands, stretching 10km from Am Bodach down to the Pap of Glencoe, which means just what you think it does.

Quote

Renowned outdoors journalist Chris Townsend wrote in his book ‘Scotland’: ‘Walling Glencoe to the north is the long, serrated Aonach Eagach, whose name means ‘the notched ridge’ and which strikes fear into the hearts of hillwalkers, as it’s both the most sensational and the most difficult ridge on the mainland.

‘Only the Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye and A-Chir on the Isle of Arran are as narrow, exposed and thrilling.’

Walking Aonach Eagach Ridge

The Aonach Eagach, or “Notched Ridge”, is without a doubt – probably – the finest ridge traverse on the British mainland. A full traverse is an all day undertaking, and once committed to the ridge there’s no turning back.

The knife edge crest between Am Bodach and Sgorr nam Fiannaidh is totally exposed, with stunning views down into Glencoe and across to the Three Sisters, and there’s no escape route. Watch out for the aptly named Crazy Pinnacles and be wary in winter when the route is a grade II winter climb, though difficulty varies with the level and nature of the snow cover.

Video taster

A couple of Scottish adventurers attempt to mountain bike their way across Aonach Eagach Ridge using a gopro. They say it seemed like a good idea at the time…

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7. Carn Mor Dearg Arete (Ben Nevis)

Stuff the tourist route on the Ben, the CMD Arete on a fine day is the best way to the summit for normal walking folk with a panoramic view across to the north face of the mountain and classic lines like Tower Ridge. It’s not difficult or particularly exposed, but the views more than make up for that.

Scariness rating – 1/5

Highest point

The CMD, as people like to call it, reaches a massive 1220 m (4002 ft) at its highest point, the sixth highest munro in Scotland.

Location

Carn Mor Dearg lies on the east end of the horse-shoe ridge of the western Highlands, which includes Britain’s highest mountain Ben Nevis.

Quote

‘The Carn Mor Dearg Arete curves gracefully round the head of Coire Leis to a broad boulder covered slope that leads up to the summit of the Ben,’ Chris Townsend wrote in the book ‘Scotland.’

‘The views and situation are spectacular, and this is one the finest places in the Scottish mountains.’

Walking Carn Mor Dearg Arete

With the long days here it’s time to really make use of them with a big mountain day, and they don’t come much bigger than the classic CMD Arete route up Britain’s highest mountain.

It’s a long haul with almost 6000ft of ascent from Glen Nevis, but there’s no better way to see the impressive north face of the Ben than from the ridges of Carn Dearg Meadhonach and Carn Mor Dearg.

Video taster

Some great views across Britains highest valley from the perspective of a group of hikers tackling the Carn Mor Dearg Arete ridge in remarkably good weather conditions.

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8. An Teallach (northern Highlands)

Further north than anything else here, An Teallach, ‘The Forge’ is more than worth the trip for a full traverse of the mountain. It has everything from graded climb ascents of rocky buttresses through to tip-toeing along foot-wide ridges with sheer drops on either side. A proper walk in the clouds day, though occasionally terrifying with it.

Scariness rating – 5/5

Highest point

The An Teallach munro is comprised of two main peaks, Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill standing  at 1062 m (3484 ft) and Sgùrr Fiona 1060 m (3478 ft).

Location

The mountain and ridges lies to the southwest of Dundonnell, a remote village in the north west of Scotland, in an area commonly known as the “great wilderness’.

Quote

In his book ‘Scotland’ Chris Townsend wrote: ‘One of the great peaks of the Highlands, An Tellach (1062m) is a magnificient and complex mountain with sandstone spires, deep cliff-girt corries, shapely peaks and huge buttresses. It’s distinctive outline is identifiable from nay places near and far, but it looks grand from the A832.’

Walking An Teallach

If you’re a beginner be weary as the ridge walk has a lot of exposure especially on the north-east side where the drops are around 400 metres. The direct ascent involves a steep scramble which can be avoided by going left (if heading from south to north). There are lots of wee paths made by walkers looking for a suitable bypass route but not all are any good.

If you only want to climb the Munros you can do so from Dundonnell without walking the main ridge although you will miss most of the excitement. If you want to do the ridge go with someone who has scrambling skills or hire a guide.

Video taster

Another look at the classic ‘Munro Show’ from all those years back, which this time has an in depth look at An Teallach.

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10. Cuillin Ridge (Skye)

The best British ridge by a mile of narrow, crenellated, pinnacled lunacy. Skye’s Cuillin Ridge is a 12km monster of twisting ridginess with no fewer than 3,000m of ascent and 11 Munros. The ultra-grippy local gabbro rock lends a helping Velcro-like hand, but if you want to tackle the entire ridge including Britain’s hardest Munro, the Inaccessible Pinnacle, you’ll need to be able to climb up to V Diff standard and you can still make it harder if you want. Tackling the entire ridge in a day is one of the great British mountain challenges, but there’s plenty of scope to take smaller sized bites out of the route. Bliss.

Scariness rating – 6/5

Highest point

The highest point of the Cuillin, and of the Isle of Skye, is Sgùrr Alasdair of the Black Cuillin group of peaks standing at 992 m (3,255 ft).

Location

The Cuillin ridge runs along the Black Cuillin mountain peaks on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Its called the Black Cuillin due to the colour of the igneous rocks which form the top peaks.

Quote

In the book ‘Scotland’ by Chris Townsend he wrote: ‘The Cuillin Ridge offers climbers and scramblers a lieftime’s worth of exploration. The complexity of the small slice of jagged mountain landscape is astonishing.

‘Every corrie, every ridge, every crag, every gully is different. It’s all just rock and water, yet the variety is immense.’

Walking Cuillin Ridge

Arguably, Britain’s greatest ridge walk that many say is an extremely satisfying experience with the main route taking you from the South to the North.

The most popular route can be tackled in one day in around 12-14 hours from Glen Brittle to the Sligachan Hotel, which incorporates over seven hours spent on the ridge itself from the summit of Gars-bheinn in the south to the summit of Sgurr nan Gillean in the north.

Video taster

A good introductory video of the Cuillin Ridge by a few scramblers all kitted out with the ropes, harnesses and helmets while taking on the ridges most extreme rock faces.

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11. Bubbling Under – Other Great Ridges

Picking just ten ridges wasn’t easy – there are plenty of other brilliant options out there. Stuff like Tryfan’s North Ridge, above, is one of the best easy grade scrambles anywhere, but it’s more of a buttress than a proper narrow arete and its next-door neighbour Bristly Ridge is just a little bit too short.

In the Lakes, Swirral Edge is a little overshadowed by its more glamorous neighbour and there’s little else on the outstanding ridge front that we’ve not included.

Which brings us to Scotland again and, to be honest, it’s littered with aretes that would be absolute classics were they situated a little further south. One omission from our list is the awesome Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis, not because it’s not amazing, but because we’re trying to keep our picks within the scope of most walkers and scramblers and it’s a tougher than most day out.

Not far away is the Devil’s Ridge in the Mamores, which is part of the Ring of Steall and on similar lines to Tower Ridge is Curved Ridge on Buchaille Etiv Mor.

More like the Aonach Eagach or the Cuillins is the A Chir Ridge on the Isle of Arran, 1500m of rocky, technical scrambling with a climbing grade of Moderate and unavoidable difficulties. Check out also the Forcan Ridge on The Saddle and, for easy access and two Munros, the Ballachulish Horsehoe at the northern end of Glencoe.

There are others too, but we’ll leave those for another day’s planning and ridge dreaming.

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