Cuillin that there are no natural sources of water on the ridge (except for winter snows and melt water), although there are a few high burns just off the main ridge from which water can be obtained. Some believe the ultimate mountaineering experience of the UK is the full traverse of the Cuillin Ridge, especially under winter conditions. The Isle of Skye's position in the warm Gulf Stream makes genuine winter conditions rare, and the very short winter days probably make a 24-hour traverse impractical. The first recorded, over two days, was in 1965 by D Crabbe, B Robertson, T Patey
Scottish island names an anglicisation of "breiðare-øy" meaning "broad beach island". The Norse "holmr", meaning "a small and rounded islet" has become "Holm" in English and there are numerous examples of this use including Corn Holm, Thieves Holm and Little Holm. Etymological details for all inhabited islands and some larger uninhabited ones are provided at Hebrides, Northern Isles, Islands of the Clyde and Islands of the Forth. Based on these tables, for the inhabited off-shore islands of Scotland (and counting Lewis and Harris as two islands for this purpose) the following results apply, excluding Scots/English qualifiers such as "muckle" "east", "little" etc. Scottish