Mountain Lives
A Cuillin Guide on a Skye-high life
Matt Barratt (MIC, MIA, IML) is described as ‘solid and seemingly unfazeable‘ – but which mountains made the man?
“Idon’t think I am unfazeable, I just do a lot of thinking and planning under the surface and then try to look calm!” says Skye Cuillin Guide Matt Barratt when asked about his reputation.
Matt portrays an unshakeable confidence in the mountains, developed over a lifetime walking and climbing in the wildest places on Earth, and having dedicated the last six years to adventure guiding on Skye – a talent that’s been much appreciated by many a disco-legged Cuillin Ridge bagger!
Matt first realised a mountain life was for him when, sat in an exam hall in the first year of his university studies, he spent most of the time staring out of the window wishing he was outside. After dropping out of uni, Matt was eventually drawn north to a charity called Venture Trust, based in the mountainous landscape of Scotland’s Applecross. Matt worked with the charity for several years taking youth offenders and youth at risk out into the wilderness, which would often be a powerful catalyst for change in their lives.
“Aside from the more therapeutic side of the work, we did a lot of walking and canoeing expeditions, spending up to 10 days at a time out on these trips,” explains Matt. “It was amazing to work with a lot of talented and inspirational individuals, and see the positive effect the courses had on these young people.”
Attitude to risk
Now based in the Highlands, Matt found himself working alongside some very keen climbers at Venture Trust, and outside of work every spare moment was spent on rock. It was here that Matt’s love of the mountains and his courtship with the Cuillin Ridge really developed.
“I like the peace in the mountains, having to concentrate on the moment, seeing the passing of the seasons, learning about the history of the mountains and sharing intense and challenging times with others,” says Matt. “I’m a big fan of a reasonable level of risk in the mountains. There are times to be completely safe when the consequences are serious but there’s a lot of reward to be had from accepting that we want to enjoy some risk and embracing that. In good
weather you can be soloing along narrow sections of the Cuillin Ridge early in the morning before the rest of the island has woken up, and it’s a great feeling.”
A world of mountains
From the hills of Scotland, Matt’s mountain life has taken him all around the world on some incredible adventures. “I was lucky enough to do a few expeditions with the British Exploring Society,” says Matt. “We did some fun ski mountaineering with ancient wooden skis attached to our leather boots and saw polar bears. The trips felt pretty demanding at the time and the first trip definitely gave me the feeling that I could cope with quite a lot. I’ve never been so cold and hungry in my life, and physically it was very demanding, but we had an amazing time and it was a great basis for my mountaineering career.”
From there, Matt has climbed in the Congo and scaled Mount Kenya – which involved spending a few hours climbing and abseiling in a blizzard. He also worked as a safety advisor in Kurdistan on a seismic survey. “We had a fantastic and interesting time out there, laying fibre-optic cables and geo phones over some fairly rugged limestone mountains. We set up some quite large Tyroloean traverses which involved using ropes to cross over ravines with some pretty heavy duty equipment – a real test of the kit and anchors. It felt fairly committing as we were aware that there was no possibility of rescue other than self-rescue.”
Matt found Kurdistan to be a place of stark contrast though. “At the time the country was quite an inspirational place to be, the whole population seemed to thoroughly enjoy their freedom and the countryside. The springtime out there was fantastic, maybe the best wild flowers I’ve seen anywhere, the amount of pollen turned our boots yellow when walking down the hills. In contrast, the whole area we worked in was littered with the detritus of war – minefields, fortresses and plenty of old mortars and artillery shells. It was also in an area that Saddam had chemically bombed.”
Committing work
Working in the mountains, Matt has found that the best approach is just to commit to a course of action and then don’t worry about the “what might have happened”. But life has not been without a few reminders of his mortality along the way. Matt had a close call with some crumbling African rock. “I was climbing in Tigray in Ethiopia on rock that looked very enticing but was actually completely prone to falling apart either when you touched it or shortly afterwards. Abseiling back down the remains of your ascent from 30 minutes before was quite sobering.”
Settling for adventure
Having spent so much time travelling the world, Matt has spent the last 10 years settled on the Isle of Skye, where he and fellow guides and climbing buddies John and Sarah set up Skye Adventure.
“The rhythm of life is great up here. There’s a slight Wild West feel out here and you can do your own thing without getting in anyone’s way. It’s a great place to have little adventures, whether it’s in the mountains, gorges or on its amazing coastline, and there’s plenty of interesting people.”
The allure of the Cuillin
For hillwalkers the jagged mountains of Skye have become a Holy Grail for those pushing the limits, and guiding people over the Cuillin Ridge has become a large part of Matt’s day job. “It can look intimidating and frightening from a distance, but if you just commit and approach them then their secrets will be revealed,” says Matt. “At a guess only around 30% of people succeed in their attempt to traverse the whole ridge. That doesn’t mean that there is anything massively technically difficult to do but it is mountaineering not walking, and you
need the weather on your side, plus fitness, climbing skill – and some willingness to suffer! My first traverse attempt as a student didn’t go well. We set off in the dark from Glen Brittle and didn’t even go into the right corrie! Sadly, it was my poor map reading back then that led us to the wrong place.”
In 2014 street trial bike rider Danny MacAskill took his extraordinary skill to the Cuillin Ridge, where Matt worked with him on the gravity-flouting, logicdefying ‘The Ridge’ video which has gone truly viral with 60 million views worldwide. “His skill and persistence definitely made an impression on me!” says Matt. “His balance and strength were absolutely phenomenal, watching him on the ridge both with and without his bike was pretty amazing. He looked so relaxed and didn’t seem to find any of the cycling on the ridge itself remotely difficult. His persistence when doing some of the more technical tricks, particularly by the Fairy Pools, was outrageous. He just kept going long beyond the point most people would have given up.”
It’s not just about getting out on rock though, as Matt has also fallen in love with the history and the charm of the Cuillin. “Some of the route names are just ridiculous! ‘Crack of Doom’ and ‘Crack of Double Doom’ have to be my favourites – you have to climb them just because of their names. If you read the old SMC journals from the early 1900s, it’s obvious how much enjoyment these mountains have given over the generations. Shadbolt and Maclaren stopped to smoke a pipe for 40 minutes during their first ever full ridge traverse – how relaxed is that?”
Sacrifices
With so many experiences already under his belt, could there be any downsides to this mountain life? “Being diagnosed with injury-related arthritis in my knee a few years ago really made me question whether I wanted to throw my health away for work.” Fortunately, Matt has managed to keep the pain to a manageable level through a lot of weight training. He muses that he also might make a lot more money doing other things.
“I love my life though. I wouldn’t want to make the sacrifices involved for a high-paid job. And who knows what opportunities will present themselves next!”