November and December are a quieter time of year for me, time for catching up with friends and some personal hillwalking adventures. I'd arranged to meet my friend Jon Foden (Nettle) on December the 4th for a day on the hill. He's a man of many talents: a paramedic, marine, ski-mountaineer, climber, mountain biker, fell …
Category: Winter
Ben Macdui
Ben Macdui is Scotland’s second highest mountain (1,309m) and is a big hill day at any time of year, but particularly in winter. Last Sunday (1 April) I met up with four clients with the aim of reaching the summit and practicing some winter Skills on the way. The forecast was great: cold air temperatures …
Snowshoe Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Expedition
This February six 17 year olds from Shrewsbury School became Duke of Edinburgh's Award pioneers, undertaking the first ever snowshoe expedition. Normally expeditions happen between March and October, avoiding the winter. Our expedition however, after a great deal of planning and preperation, took place high in the snowy Cairngorm mountains in February. Here is an account …
Continue reading Snowshoe Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Expedition
What to take for a winter hillwalk?
Here's an overview of my winter kit for hillwalking in Scotland. In working out what works for me I learnt alot from others, particularly instructors at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland's National Outdoor Training Centre. This blog article is intended to give you ideas so you can decide what winter kit and equipment works for you. There are …
The Coldest Bothy in Scotland
Bothies vary a great deal in terms of cozieness. I like to apply the following criteria in determining whether a bothy has that 'hygge' feel: First, does it have a fire place? If it doesn't - Carnmore in Fisherfield or Callater Stables in the Eastern Cairngorms are examples - then it doesn't get of the …
Sunrise on Snowy Ben Venue
The forecast for Sunday was to be still, cold and sunny. With snow covering the mountains there was a prospect of fantastic wintery views. So I left the house at 6am with a plan to catch sunrise on Ben Venue, at around 8:38am. Ben Venue is a popular hill in the Trossachs. Most people either …
Lochnagar
It's been another great weekend of winter hillwalking, this time in the Loch Muick, Lochnagar area. Our base was Glas Allt Shiel bothy, which occupies a room in the 'Widow's Lodge', a big granite hunting lodge built by Queen Victoria in 1864. A light dusting of snow, icy winds and sunshine were the conditions we …
