This is a 24 hour 'rock and run' challenge taking in 60 Cuillin tops on the Isle of Skye. It involves running and scrambling across a distance of some 60km while ascending over 7500 meters to take in a dozen Munros plus a dozen more Munro tops (including Knight's Peak). Although no technical climbing is involved the route does include sustained exposed scrambling up to about diff standard. The challenge is to complete the route as an un-roped scramble. Rob Woodall advises anyone requiring roped assistance to consider taking the route at a more leisurely pace: a sub-24-hour completion is probably only feasible un-roped.
The tradition of long days in the Cuillins dates back at least a century starting with the Cuillin Main Ridge (1911), followed by the Greater Cuillin Traverse (1939) and the Sligachan Horseshoe (around 1981). In 1998 Rob Woodall and Paddy Buckley devised the Cuillin Round as a new 24 hour benchmark challenge. It was first completed by Rob in 23 hr 28 min in 1999 followed by Yiannis Tridimas in 2000 in 21 hrs 22 min who added in the extra top of Sgurr a' Bhasteir. While relatively short on distance compared with the UK Big 3 challenges Rob considers the Cuillin Round to be no less an achievement due to the challenging rock terrain.
