Climbing Forecast › Scotland - Highlands — North West Highlands › Am Buachaille

SCOTLAND - HIGHLANDS — NORTH WEST HIGHLANDS · HARD SANDSTONE · tidal

Am Buachaille weather & climbing conditions

Poor — wet, too windy or closed

Right now

Temp12°C
Wind12 km/h
Gusts18 km/h
Humidity93.4%
Rain 48h0.6mm
Last rain9h ago

Assessment

0.6mm rain forecast
Tidal access: Base is accessed by a 30m swim at low tide only — the channel is impassable at high water. Plan around low tide and be prepared for cold Atlantic swimming
Good friction temperature range for hard-sandstone
High humidity (93.4%) — hard-sandstone friction compromised, particularly for bouldering
Humidity 93.4% — potential fog/cloud, rock may be damp from condensation

Drying Time

53% dry · 12-23h to dry

7-day forecast

Scroll through each day — hourly detail is shown inline.

Today Saturday 31 October
Poor
Temp11°C
Rain0.6mm
Wind22 km/h
Gusts18 km/h
Humidity93%
0.6mm rain forecast
  • Wet sandstone is slippery — let the rock dry before leading
  • Breezy — helps drying
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
09:00 — 0.2mm — — null%
17:00 12° 0.2mm 12 — 93.4%
18:00 11° dry 18 — 93.4%
19:00 11° dry 22 — 90.7%
20:00 10° dry 21 — 90.7%
21:00 10° dry 17 — 89.2%
Sun Sunday 1 November
Poor
Temp10°C
Rain2mm
Wind25 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity66%
2.1mm rain forecast
  • Wet sandstone is slippery — let the rock dry before leading
  • Breezy — helps drying
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 10° dry 31 — 79.3%
07:00 10° dry 32 — 73.7%
08:00 10° dry 30 — 66.7%
09:00 10° dry 29 — 62.3%
10:00 10° dry 27 — 62.7%
11:00 10° dry 26 — 65.7%
12:00 10° dry 26 — 65.4%
13:00 10° dry 25 — 64.4%
14:00 10° dry 25 — 65.6%
15:00 10° dry 23 — 67.3%
16:00 10° dry 23 — 68.5%
17:00 11° dry 22 — 68.3%
18:00 11° dry 24 — 68.3%
19:00 11° dry 22 — 70%
20:00 10° 0.1mm 23 — 75.8%
21:00 10° 0.5mm 24 — 79.2%
Mon Monday 2 November
Poor
Temp11°C
Rain0.2mm
Wind11 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity81%
Only 13h since rain — needs ~27h
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 10° dry 16 — 89.9%
07:00 10° dry 15 — 89.3%
08:00 10° dry 14 — 88.4%
09:00 10° dry 16 — 87.8%
10:00 11° dry 14 — 85.8%
11:00 11° dry 11 — 84.6%
12:00 11° dry 11 — 80.9%
13:00 11° dry 10 — 79.1%
14:00 11° dry 11 — 77.8%
15:00 11° dry 10 — 77.9%
16:00 11° dry 8 — 79.2%
17:00 11° dry 7 — 80.3%
18:00 11° dry 8 — 81.1%
19:00 10° dry 7 — 81.8%
20:00 10° dry 7 — 82.2%
21:00 10° dry 8 — 83.4%
Tue Tuesday 3 November
Good
Temp10°C
Raindry
Wind9 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity88%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 8° dry 8 — 96.7%
12:00 10° dry 9 — 87.5%
18:00 8° dry 4 — 96.1%
Wed Wednesday 4 November
Caution
Temp8°C
Raindry
Wind7 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity90%
Should be dryHumidity 90% — potential fog
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 7° dry 9 — 98.5%
12:00 8° dry 7 — 90.1%
18:00 8° dry 5 — 84.6%
Thu Thursday 5 November
Good
Temp8°C
Raindry
Wind6 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity89%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 5° dry 8 — 97.1%
12:00 8° dry 6 — 88.8%
18:00 8° dry 6 — 87.2%
Fri Friday 6 November
Good
Temp10°C
Raindry
Wind9 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity74%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 9° dry 10 — 76%
12:00 10° dry 9 — 74.2%
18:00 8° dry 8 — 83.3%
Sat Saturday 7 November
Good
Temp9°C
Raindry
Wind4 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity73%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 6° dry 5 — 89.8%
12:00 9° dry 4 — 72.8%
18:00 8° dry 4 — 75.2%
Tidal access
Base is accessed by a 30m swim at low tide only — the channel is impassable at high water. Plan around low tide and be prepared for cold Atlantic swimming

About Am Buachaille

Am Buachaille — 'The Herdsman' — is a sixty-five-metre Torridonian sandstone sea stack standing a mile southwest of Sandwood Bay in the far northwest of Sutherland, first climbed in 1968 by Tom Patey, Ian Clough and John Cleare. Widely considered the most serious of the three big Scottish stacks, the rock is fragile and crumbly on many of the exposed pitches, and gear above the base tier is universally described as poor — the atmosphere and commitment level are what put this route at the top of many climbers' UK adventure lists rather than the technical grade. Facing west into the full Atlantic weather, the stack gets afternoon and evening sun and dries slowly, and swell conditions govern whether the base is even reachable. Access requires a swim across a tidal channel at low water, then a scramble to the start. Approach from Blairmore involves an eight-kilometre walk in each way.

Region
Scotland - Highlands — North West Highlands
Rock type
Hard sandstone
Aspect
west-facing
Altitude
15m
Exposure
medium
Seepage
medium

Other crags in this region

Am Fasgadh (Gairloch)Creag nan LuchGruinard Bay CragsMellon Udrigle CliffsOld Man of StoerReiff (Main Cliff & Pinnacle)Slaggan (Atlantic Avenue)Stac PollaidhStone Valley Crags