Skye Discovery Easter

Guide - Ian
Customers - Azis, Donata, Ahmed, Ayesha, Robert, Veronica
Conditions - Outstandingly sunny all week - the clouds driven away by the Royal Wedding cupcakes from Mackenzies bakery in Portree

Ben Nevis Easter

Guide - Ali
Customers - Isabella, Juliet, Anjali, Vikram, Manu
Conditions - while the rest of the UK had an Easter heatwave, the summit of Ben Nevis was still winter

Lowther Hill

Guide - Jon
Customers - Kate, David
Conditions - despite the heavy rain on the way down from Edinburgh, it had cleared within 5 minutes of leaving the car - it had totally cleared by the time we were at the Golf Ball on the summit - we could definitely see Arran, Ben Lomond, Ben More & Stob Binnein in the sunshine and I'm sure we could see the Lake District but then there was a big black cloud in that direction. Not a soul on the hill but we did have lots of sheep and grouse for company.

Ben Ledi School trip

Guides - Jon, John-Paul
Customers - 21 students and teachers from a school in Luxembourg
Conditions - howling wind with intense gusts on top as well as 5 hours of constant rain - it was good though! We didnt get all the way to the summit - it was just too windy! However, the group did get to experience the wild side of Scottish weather as well as the good and bad side of Scottish hospitality! - The bad side being the miserable manager of Kilmahog cafe who assumed that 18 16/17 years old would be causing trouble, when in fact all they wanted to do was drink hot chocolate and warm up whilst we waited for the bus home. It was hugely refreshing, to pop down the road to the Lade Inn and get invited in to sit by the fire, drink tea and eat chips - a proper Scottish welcome!

Glen Clova Sunday Escape

Jon, Isabelle, Duncan
We are about to sell the Walkabout VW minibus, so we though we'd give it a proper send off with a trip to Glen Clova, which despite being relatively close to Edinburgh, is rarely visited by us as the access is via Dundee and so is off our regular routes.

It is a stunning glen to visit to see autumn colours, even if you are racing the clouds moving in and the early onset of darkness now the clocks have changed.

We walked up Tolmount via Jock's Road, the old drovers route eastwards from Glen Clova over to Braemar. The views from the top were of many familar places from a new angle; the ski tows of Glas Maol (Glenshee), the back end of Lochnagar, the (still green) Glenshee Hills, last visited on touring skis and the bigger hills of the Southern Cairngorms now speckled with large snow patches. You can see the sea from the summit too, which is cool for a hill which has a definite INLAND feel to it!

A great day which ended a pint and chips in the Glen Clova Hotel

Awesome Arran

Guides: Jon, George, Isabelle
Driver: Mr H
Conditions: Monsoon, followed by a stiff gale then hillfog clearing to brilliant sunshine for the descent of Goatfell and the journey from the island.

Customers: Anna, Cathy, Charlie, Desiree, Eric, Jess, Jim, John, Lisa, Louis, Maria, Marti, Tomas

This was a Pre-Summit Adventure for the Adventure Travel Trade Association annual summit which was held afterwards at Aviemore - we managed coastal walks/flooded road wading, Round The Island Biking, uber-adventurous sea kayaking and a walk up Goatfell as well as castle and distillery visits, Golf!! and local food tastings in three short days

Heart of the Highlands September

Guide - Peter
Customers - Dan, Erin, Kristina - with Elizabeth and Jane for single days
Conditions - autumnal!

Big Highland Tour September

Guides - Peter, Ian
Customers - Emma, Eve, Elizabeth, Frances, Graeme, Greer, Jaqueline, Julia, Sreya
Conditions - Usual mixture!

Skye Discovery September

Guide - Ian
CUstomers - Anne, Mhairi, Patrick, Kerry, Kathleen, Virginia, Paul
Conditions - usual Skye mixture

Carn Liath (Blair Atholl Munro) by train

Guide - Jon
Customer - Jenny
Conditions - Mostly dry but overcast with a cold wind on the tops
A good escape from the hustle and madness that is the Edinburgh Fringe! Blair Atoll has the nearest clump of Munros that are reached by train from Edinburgh (two hours each way) and despite a route marching pace and 24km distance, we still had time for a pint and a whisky in the Atholl Arms afterwards.

Heart of the Highlands August

Guide - Niall
Customers - Anna, Karin, Maria, Marion, Richard, Tamar
Conditions - mostly good!
Special note: our ultra reliable minibus had its first breakdown but this did not affect the programme at all

Highland Railways & Hills August

Guides - Gary, Isabelle
Customers - Bob, Georgina, Jacqueline, Ken, Mary, Osnat, Virginia
Conditions - mostly good

Skye Discovery August II

Guide - Ian
Customers - Catherine, Carolyn, Dale, John, Marc, Marina, Nancy, Tracy
Conditions - mostly fine

Ben Nevis Weekend August

Guide - Ali
Customers - Carl, Caroline, Claire, Geraldine, Kevin, Vera
Conditions - Good

Skye Discovery August I

Guide - Ian
Customers - Alice, Clare, Eitan, Gary, Jonathan, Shona, Silke, Veronika
Conditions - mostly fine!

North West Highlands July

Guide - Shaun
Customers - Alexander, Elizabeth, Nicola, Kathy, Ranney
Conditions - Wet!

Big Highland Tour Custom July

Guides - Joe, Peter
Customers - John, Kathy, Cynthia, Gary, Olivia, Amanda
Conditons - mostly wet!

Schiehallion Day Tour

Guide - Jon
Customers - Finnish Biologists and Anders
Conditions - We hadn't been up Schiehallion for a while so headed up there for a sunny Friday day trip - great views, not too warm, no midgies - ace!

3 Peaks Challenge July

Guides - Niall (Ben Nevis), Jon (Scafell Pikes, Snowdon)
Driver - MJ
3 Peaks Adventurers - Jia Nee, James, Jonathan, Matthew, Mike, Sally
Conditions - Slightly damp on Ben Nevis, sunset on Scafell Pikes turning into thick hillfog in the dark followed by a biblical deluge on Snowdon
Three Peaks trips (especially big events) are more than slightly controversial with the amounts of large groups on the hills at the same time - however for small groups of friends, the Three Peaks is a great challenge and achievable adventure

Highland Railways & Hills July

Guide - Gary
Customers - Maurita, Oliver, Marianne, Nathan, Daniel, Adam
Conditions - Scottish Summer!

Big Highland Tour July

Guide: John
Customers: Peggy, Mariangela, Lane, Emilie, David, Peter, Elizabeth
Conditions: Mixed

Skye Discovery July

Guide - John-Paul
Customers - Elena, Kathy, Ali, Ken
Conditions - Damp-ish

North West Highlands June

Guide - Peter
Customers - Dagmar, Eva, Nigel, Kim, Beatrice, Tom, Rida, Peter

Sense International Inner Hebrides Trek June

Guides - Peter, Mr H, Jon, George the Dog
Customers - Ana, Daryl, David, Ed, John, Miles, Noleen, Richard

Walkabout were on hand to provide logistical support and midgie hats for a small group of charity walkers supporting Sense International - http://www.senseinternational.org.uk - the route took in Islay, Jura, Mull and Iona (transferring from Jura to Mull by RIB past the Corryvreckan whirlpool). The weather was amazing and the midgies were unusually benign.

Western Lochs and Highlands June

Guide - Geordie
Customers - Bruce, Judith, Frans, Kim, Marie, Karen, Roberta
Conditions - Hot and dry

Ben Vrackie by Train - Saturday 19th June

Guide - Ali
Customers - Barbara, Benjamin, Itzhak, Gilli, Sam, Trish
Conditions - Warm!
The trip was swapped to a Ben Vrackie by Train from Ben Lomond due to transport issues

Skye Discovery June

Guide - Ian
Customers - Donald, Deborah, Lise
Conditions - fine

Highland Railways & Hills June

Guide - John
Customer - Judy, Ken, Virginia
Conditions - fine

Ben Nevis weekend June

Guide - Jon
Customers - Alan, Emma, Janet, Jo, Nichola, Sue, Tom
Conditions - Hot and thirsty trip uo Ben Nevis on the saturday followed by (for the first time in ages) the Buachaille on the Sunday, under increasingly darkening skies.

Heart of the Highlands - May

Guide - May
Customers - Allen, Claudia, Dolly, Edward, James, Janice, Robert C, Robert P
Conditions - Mostly fine with one downpour day and a whiteout on Ben Macdui

Ben Nevis Weekend May II

Guide - Jon (Ben Nevis), Gary (Glen Nevis)
Customers - Candace, Marisa, Matthew, Suzanne
Conditions - Hot and muggy on the way up Ben Nevis, cold on the summit, baking on the way down followed by a better walking day in Glen Nevis

Custom Skye Trip May

Guide - John O
Customers - Lyn, Carl, Jeanne, Norbert
Conditions - Overcast but dry(ish)

Big Highland Tour May

Guide - Geordie
Customers - Alison, Anthony, Billie, Susan
Conditions - Colder than usual for May

Ben Vrackie by Train Day Tour

Guide - Jon
Customers - Eli, Kelly
Conditions - Everything including constant hail on the way down before a quick half of Moulin Light at the Moulin Inn followed by a dash downhill to Pitlochry station with 10 minutes to spare

Ben Nevis Weekend May

Guide - Gary
Customers - Christel, Jurgen, Susan
Conditions - Gloriously sunny both days, with a good covering of snow still on Ben Nevis. The skinny dipping in Glen Nevis on the Sunday was slightly extreme!

Terry's Skye Munros

Guides - Martin followed by Andy
Customer - Terry
Conditions - Everything from morning ice melting away in early Summer sun followed by rain and wind for 10 out of the 11 Cuillin Munros

Alison's Last Skye Munros

Guide - Ian
Customer - Alison
Conditions - Great day Monday followed by challenging weather for Cuillin scrambling

Skye Discovery May

Guide - Peter
Customers - David, Ellen, Frank, Kristine, Mary, Rachael, Trish
Conditions - Usual Skye mixture!

Blaven - Monroe on a Munro

Guides - Jon & Isabelle
Cutomers - David, Ellen
Conditions - Great sunny bank holiday Monday walking up the steep and spectacular "other Skye Munro"

Ben Nevis Day Tour

Guide - Jon
Customers - Jo, Jess, Rob, Sam
Hard to believe (but not really) that just a week after the blizzard, white-out kilt-wearing Tartan Army fundraiser I would go back up there in glorious sunshine, with awesome views of the surrounding hills, most still capped with snow. Ace!

Tartan Army Kilt Walk

Tartan Army Kilt Walk
Jon walked with Andrew Ness, Andrew Cook, Chris Duffy, Paul & Simon Johnston plus Ramone and a load of Scottish football fans (The Tartan Army)

20 miles on the West Highland Way starting at the top of Glencoe, up and over the Devil's Staircase in the dark to Kinlochleven followed by the long walk over to Glen Nevis before an ascent of Ben Nevis, still with full-on winter conditions on the summit

An ace (and challenging) trip in aid of the TACC Children's Charity

http://www.justgiving.com/tartanarmyness

Lowther Hill Half-Day Tour

Guide - Jon
Customers - Emily, Katja
Conditions - Cloudy

This was the first ever half-day tour to Lowther Hill, Scotland' Highest Pub Walk. You would expect the highest village in the country to be somewhere in the Highlands, Tomintoul perhaps, but in fact Scotland's highest villages are Wanlockhead and Ledhills in the north-east corner of Dumfries & Galloway, 50 miles south west of Edinburgh. It is great walking up a 700meter mountain with wide ranging views, however on this day Emily, Katja and I had only thick hill fog for company. And a load of white mountain hares.

Skye Discovery April

Guide - John O
Customers - Jane, Mark
Conditions - Usual unpredictable mixture

Ben Nevis Weekend Easter

Guide - Gary
Customers - Akbar, Bruce, Keith, Lucy, Peter with Louise & Jo along for Ben Nevis
Conditions - Mixed wintry for Ben Nevis Saturday, gloriously sunny for Glen Nevis Sunday

GARY'S BLOG

Skiing the Pentlands

Not a Walkabout trip - but we were just having fun on the hills you can see from the office

New Year to Spean Bridge and Invergarry

Guides - Jon, Ian
Customers - Elvan, Nina, Sally, Ranald
Conditions - Winter Wonderland!
Day 1 - Devil's Staircase in Glencoe and a Hogmany celidh in the evening
Day 2 - Creag Meagaidh
Day 3 - Buchaille Etive Beag/walk in the woods
Day 4 - Glen Nevis


Winter Skills Course with Ian at Buachaille Etive Beag

Guide - Ian
Customers -Claire, Lulu, Mike, Martin, Steve, TipTop, Tamsin, Ville
Conditions - Wintry
This was a beginner's Winter Skils day covering ice axe arrest and walking with crampons - however they also ended up igloo building and looking at avalanche danger

Winter Skills Course with Gary at Nevis Range

Guide - Gary
Customers - Andy, Al, Duncan, Jen, Lindsay, Simon, Sophie, Tony, Victoria
Conditions - Great winter's day, slightly overcast with a wind that strengthened in the afternoon
Gary's blog

Blacks and Millets on Ben Lomond

Guide - Geordie
Customers - Chris, Dan, Joe, Nick (Directors and Area Managers of Blacks Leisure Ltd)
Conditions - Wintry

Ben Ledi Half-Day tour

Guide - Jon
Customer - Meg
Conditions - First snow of the winter on the summit of Ben Ledi
This was one of those trips we run because we need a break from the office too...it was ace!

University of Copenhagen trip to Ben A'an 2

Guides - Jon, Isabelle
Customers - Smaller group of international students
Conditions - Autumnal blue sky day

University of Copenhagen trip to Ben A'an

Guides - Jon, Isabelle
Customers - International students from University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Conditions - Autumnal and great

Ben Nevis weekend October

Guides - Jon, Richard
Customers - Farrah, John, Katrine, Steph
Conditions - Windy!

Heart of the Highlands Sept

Guides - Ian, Isabelle
Customers - Angie, Amy, Cathy, Deb, ,Jane, Jill, Kay, Kirsten, Mary C, Mary L, Sally
Conditions - Autumn has arrived!

Custom - September

Custom 5th - 11th September
Guide: Ian
Ronald, Karen, Alan, Kathy.
Conditions: mixed

Glencoe and Ben Nevis Weekend - September

Glencoe and Ben Nevis Weekend 4th - 6th September
Guide: Ali
Sandra, Robert, Smita.
Conditions: very windy and cold.

Skye High - August / September

Skye High 30th August - 5th September
Guide: Ian
Robert
Conditions: rain

Isle of Skye Discovery - August / September

Isle of Skye Discovery 30th August - 5th September
Guide: Dug
Catherine, Susan, Frank, Jonathan, Tracey, Ursula, Christine, Tiggy.
Conditions: rain.

Assynt - August / September

Assynt 30th August - 5th September
Guide: Peter
Raymond, Ann, Ineen, Judy.
Conditions: wind, rain, sun.

Monarch of the Glen Weekend - August

Monarch of the Glen Weekend 28th - 31st August
Guides: Ali and Richard
Patricia, Petra, Jim, Sandy.
Conditions: rain and sunshine.

Walk Across Scotland - August

Walk Across Scotland 26th August - 6th September
Guide: advice Jon
Debbie and Jean.
Conditions: rain, wind.

North West Highlands - August

North West Highlands 23rd - 29th August
Guide: Andy
Petra, Wolfgang, Anita, Thomas, Gail, Anita, David, Donald.
Conditions: rain and wind, sun came out for 10 min on Stac Poliadh.

Heart of the Highlands - August

Heart of the Highlands 16th - 22nd August
Guide: John
Katherine and Adam.
Conditions: mixed

Highland Railways and Hills - August

Highland Railways and Hills 15th - 22nd August
Guides: Gary and Isabelle
Martha, Margaret, Cristy, Robert, Susan, Carol, Juanita.
Conditions: rain and wind.

Highland Railways and Hills - August

Highland Railways and Hills 8th - 15th August
Guides: Gary and Nobby
Vincent, Rebecca, Gerard, Sheila, Marian, David, Robin, Juliet, Michelle, Michael, Elizabeth, Arthur.
Conditions: fine

Skye Discovery August

Isle of Skye Discovery 9th - 15th August
Guides: Georde,Isabelle
Robert, Luutje, Ans, Nick, Sue, Anne, Robert, Sheila, Bryony, Martin, Helen, Carla.
Conditions: mixed

Wilderness Camping Adventure - August

Wilderness Camping Adventure 14th -16th August
Guide: Martin
Vicky, Matthew, Jaime, Pamela.
Conditions: storm, rain and wind.

Ben Nevis weekend August

Guide - Martin M
Customers - Kathryn, Mary, Richard, Vivek
Conditions - mixed

Isle of Arran August

Guide - Scott
Customers - Danielle, Elizabeth, Gregor, Helga, Ineen, John, Mary, Susanne
Conditions - fine

North West Highlands July

Guides: Peter B, Gary
Customers: Christian, Christopher, Danielle, Elizabeth, Gregor, Helga, Ineen, Lieselot, Katrina, Marion, Mr F, Mrs F, Regina, Rosalyn, Rosie, Siri
Conditions: Mixed

Highlands Railways and Hills July

Guides: Gary, Isabelle
Customers: Johanna, David, Dorien, Esther, Jenny, Julia, Lukas, Margit, Mickey, Nancy, Peter
Conditions: fine
Gary's blog.

Big Highland Tour July

Guide: Scott
Customers: Ana, Benoit, Brigit, Hetti, Ildefonsa, Ligia
Conditions: mixed

Skye Discovery July

Guides: Pamela, Isabelle
Customers: Anne, Beth, Ian, laina, Kaario, Mervi, Simo, Shulamit, Stephen

Ben Nevis weekend July

Guide: Fran
Customers: David, Janet, Jonathan, Samantha

Glencoe & Skye

Guide: Peter B
Customers: the Draffins
Conditions: mixed

Highlands Railways and Hills June

Guide: Gary
Customers: Andrew, Anne, Amanda, David
Conditions: Mixed

Weston Lochs and Highlands June

Guide: Peter K
Customers: Arne, Irina, Julie, Laura
Conditions: that was it for the Summer!

Skye Discovery June

Guides: Geordie, Isabelle
Customers: Alan, Bruce, Chantal, Dorien, Kara, Karen, Kellie, Marie

Ben Nevis weekend June

Guide: Peter K
Customers: Bryn, Deirdre, Gina, Mark, Seriane, Susan, Thankam
Conditions: Mixed

Heart of the Highlands May

Guides - Ian, Isabelle
Clients - Ann, Ash, Beatrice, Carol, Craig, Gail, Keith, Linda, Tom
Conditions - one rainy day, fine the rest of the week

Big Highland Tour May

Guide - Peter with Isabelle on a scouting trip to the B&Bs
Clients - Jane, Stephanie
Conditions - Glorious start to the first week - especially at Arrochar and on Ben Nevis, a bit gray later on Skye and at Kinlochewe

Highlands Railways and Hills May

Guide - Niall
Clients - Caroline, Charles, Eric, Sandy
Conditions - fine

Skye Discovery May

Guide - Ian
Clients - Alice, Caroline, Charles, Eugen, Frances, Gonny, Ingrid, Kristina
Conditions - Noah's Ark building weather

Pitlochry Weekend May

Guide - Geordie
Client - Stacey
Conditions - better than in the West!
This was a private guiding rip for one of our returning customers - accommodation in Pitlochry, travel by train - with Geordie guiding his local hills - Drummochter Pass on Saturday, Ben Vrackie on Sunday

Ben Nevis weekend May

Guide - Ian
Clients - Bill, Ekaterina, Lyta, Paul, Margo, Niels, Oskar
Conditions - Rain on Friday, fog and snow on the summit of Ben Nevis saturday

West Highland Way Adventure

Guide - Niall
Clients - Vogelzang Family from the Netherlands
Conditions - Rain. A lot of rain!

Buachaille Etive Mhor 29th April

Guide - Niall (with help from Dougie from Make Tracks)
Clients - Adirondack Mountain Club
Conditions - Mixed

Ben Lomond - Saturday 25th April

Guide - Jon
Clients - Adirondack Mountain Club
Conditions - Blue sky day

Skye Discovery April

Guide - Ian
Clients - Annie, Maggie, Priscilla, Wing
Conditions - Gorgeous April weather throughout!javascript:void(0)

Easter Ben Nevis Weekend

Guide - Andy
Customers - Amy, Douglas, Orlena, Susana, Sylvia, Tanya

Pentlands in the Sunshine

Guide - Jon
Driver - Dave from Macbackpackers
Customers - 17 people from Briggs Engineering Ltd
Route - Balerno to Flotterstone Inn (5 miles)

This was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day - felt more like May than March... The plan was for a half-day's walk including transport from Dundas Castle, so although we only travelled six miles to the start of the walk at Harlaw, it was hard to imagine that you are within spitting distance of half a million people.

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Ben Lomond

Guide - Richard
Customers - Paula, Roy
Blue sky - cold and sunny in Edinburgh but wild and windy over at the hill

Ben Ledi - Students Day Tour

Ben Ledi - Antwerp University getting fresh air

Guide - Gary
Customers - 17 students and teachers from Antwerp University
Conditions - Snow on the summit, zero visibility

Camping and ski touring

Meanwhile....

After meeting the guys in the Bridge of Lochay Hotel, I drove eastwards on moonlit snowy roads past Loch Tay and over to Blairgowrie where I'd arranged to meet Nobby in his Mazda Bongo campervan - the plan was to head up to Glenshee, camp in the carpark and be first on the slopes in the morning... Al & Lindsay were coming up too but they saw sense and got a room at the Spittal of Glenshee hotel. It was midnight when we reached Glenshee - the final pull up the pass was like driving in winter Norway, hard compacted snow on the road and white out conditions (so that's what snow poles are for at the side of the road)

Nobby slept in the van - but I prefer a tent so we pitched the tent in the lee of Glenshee ski centre buildings - by this time it was a whiteout with 60mph winds so I improvised and weighted the tent down with heavy road cones. The Big Agnes Seedhouse tent is a lightweight backpacking tent which we use on the summer wild camping weekends - it doesnt have snow vallances on the flysheet and the inner is mostly constructed of mozzy mesh - this meant that the wind constantly drove a small, powdery and increasingly expanding drift in - but I was really warm in my two down sleeping bags and two sleeping mats - and slept well until woken up by the piste bashers and snow ploughs preparing the car park at first light.

The wind put all piste skiing plans on hold and the now shut snow gate on the Glenshee road prevented Al & Lindsay from meeting up, or from actually getting anywhere in a hurry at all - so Nobby and I headed northwards down to Braemar village where the wind had certainly abated - walking up the northern slopes of Morvern, the 800m lump which overlooks the village (skinned up the first part but found that the heather was catching the skis too much so we found that it was more efficient to carry the skis for most of the ascent - meeting two walkers (who conveniently broke trail) and one descending cross country skier all day. After three hours of snow bashing to get up, the descent was a mere twenty minutes or so by snowed-in landrover track before a final couple of miles flat x-c skiing, surrounded by snow covered hills back to the village. Ace!

February Winter skills with Gary

The 2nd Winter Skills course of the year - this time we didn't have to wait for the snow, though at lower levels there was still considerably less than the foot or so which had kept the commuters at bay down south all week. Conditions at Killin were pretty wild on the Saturday, with a strong wind blowing the snow but Sunday was one of those legendary blue sky winter days which get talked about in years to come.

Guide/Instructor - Gary
Customers - Gordon, Dave, Tim

Walking Up Lowther Hill this time

Set out down to Lowther on Saturday to actually ski the hill in daylight - however when I got out of the van, as well as being bitterly cold, it was pretty obvious that the wind had blasted a lot of the snow away which had lain the week before - the few remaining patches, in the gullies and slightly more sheltered hollows, looked barely skiable. I debated in my head, whilst listening to the first half of Stoke vs Man City, the merits of taking the skis with me, just to have a go at the largest gully, just down from the summit - but just before Stoke scored, I turned off the radio, donned normal walking boots and headed up the rock solid Southern Upland Way.

The view from the summit is a wide one - Tinto to the North, the Moffat Hills, South-East and a highland-looking glen immediately South. I expected to see over to Arran in the West but the frozen lump of East Mt.Lowther and the setting winter Sun stole the view. The wind on Lowther's summit was truly fierce, so I sheltered in the lee of the golf-ball radar station before walking, half surfing the wind down to the lower transmitting tower and the narrow grassy ridge over to Green Lowther - this is where the wind was at its strongest - hood-up, goggles on, this was winter walking at it's finest!

Wanlockhead has Scotland's highest pub (Wanlockhead Inn), so when I got back down to the village (rows of small white cottages with smoky chimneys, windswept, empty streets, a shut lead mining museum and SYHA hostel and a bored looking dog chained to a wall), I thought I'd pay it a visit, managing enough shrapnel for half a McEwans 60 - the beer was nice but the tartan carpet was giving me irrational panic attacks and the sudden desire to leave!

First ski tour of the year

Lowther Hill is the highest hill in Dumfries and Galloway, but being just off the M74, 40 miles SOUTH of Glasgow it's almost in Lanarkshire and the Borders but at 725meters high, it large enough to have snow on in the winter. So I escaped the office, tazzed down down the Biggar road in the fading afternoon sunshine (snow on the Pentlands' tops and on Tinto Hill), crossed the motorway and took the potholed road up to Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland. (Believe it or not, but the highest villgae in Scotland is actually 1 whole meter lower in altitude than the highest village in England - Flash in that wild place known as the Staffordshire moorlands yet neither are in the truly mountainous areas).
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With a rapidly setting sun, I donned the plastic telemark boots and walked up the damp and melting Lowther Hill track from Wanlockhead for about 1km, after about 520m in altitude the snow was deeper and more stable, with a definite icy crust - Lowther Hill's not-so-secret is the cold war golf ball on the summit complete with perfectly asphalted access road - which makes for quick hill ascents. However, it was perfectly dark with zero moonlight when I started my headtorch-lit run back down. It was a rusty, thigh-busting, side slipping, out of control nightmare - but it was ace!

Winter Skills Course with Gary at Killin

First winter skills course of 2009 - a dusting of snow on the tops on Friday but snowing on Saturday and a full on blizzard on the Sunday.

Gary, of course, knows where all the good snow spots are on Ben Lawers since he lives at the foot of the hill - Killin is an ideal base for winter skills courses - since we usually have the hills to ourselves, unlike at the ski centres.

Guide - Gary - tarmachan-mountaineering.com

Clients - Bruce, Anthony

The Most Boring Munro in the Land?

At Drummochter Pass, the high point after the long pull up the A9 from Blair Atholl is a good place for winter munro bagging becasue teh starting hight of 400m leaves half the job done in terms of altitude gained - the west side has Geal Charn, A Mharconnich and Ben Udlamain - which have great views out over Loch Ericht but somehow the east side's big flat topped lumps, somehow have never held the same attraction - I was wrong! I found myself at a loose end on saturday afternoon, so instead of tidying the bunkhouse, I headed up a landrover track up the frozen heathery slopes of A’Bhuidheanach Bheag with Alex and Sophie for some blatant Munro bagging - the track all the way to the summit was a bit of a cheat but the wide open views of the wintry sunset were definitely inspiring! Walking up hills is never dull!

Happy New Year 2009

We saw out 2008 cooking Haggis, Neaps and Tatties for 44 people at a bunkhouse at Laggan in the Central Highlands - the first real walk of 2009 was 2 days later (allowing for the traditional hangover to dissipate) - Meall a Buachaille, overlooking Glenmore, Loch Morlich and the freezing Cairngorm plateau. The trees were covered in thick hoar frost and we even had an attempt at an impromptu curling match on the thoroughly frozen blue lochan on the way to Ryvoan Bothy before the first uphill of the year punished us for the previous week's overindulgence. The view, above the freezing fog hanging around Strathspey and Rothiemurcus was well worth the effort!