Ben Vorlich (Loch Earn) private trip Saturday 5th May

Guide - John Paul
Customers - Monique and friends

Ben Vrackie by Train - Monday 19th March

Guide - Jon
Clients - Will, Suze & Sandra Dee
Conditions - Overcast, warm-ish low down and wintry wind on the summit
This was our first day tour of 2012 - the previous 3 winters we have still been skiing in mid March (either at one of the Scottish ski centres or touring around the Glenshee hills) - today we had no hint of snow or ice on Ben Vrackie and just a few glimpses of snow stripes over on Shiehalion, Ben a Ghlo and the southern Cairngorms when the icy wind intermittently lifted the cloud base. We wandered off back to Pitlochry by way of the Bealach path before stopping for a tasty pub dinner and real Atholl Ale at the Moulin Inn

Broad Cairn Munro-bagging in the Sunshine

Jon & Fleur

Conditions:
Sunny! Also icy in the shady parts of Glen Clova

I needed some decent hill-time so a sunny Sunday up to Broad Cairn from Glen Clova with Fleur was just the tonic!
We didn't see many folk in Glen Clova but we did meet the ghillie coming down with a couple of working ponies and the local vet joined us for the walk back down.

Conic Hill & Glengoyne Student trip

Customers - 31 students and staff from Danish Institute of Study Abroad (Copenhagen University)
Guides - Jon & Isabelle
This trip was cold and windy with every known type of precipitation, however the views from Conic Hill out of Loch Lomond were as gorgeous as ever - we could also see the first snows of winter on the summit of Ben Lomond and warming up in the Oak Tree Inn and Glengoyne Distillery afterwards was a great way to finish the tour!

Big Highland Tour September

BHT September Hurricane Trip
Guides: Peter, Jon
Customers: Bob, Trish, Howard, Mitzi, David, Carolyne, Karen, Marcia, Paul, Joanne, Jessica, Sandy

This is the trip which started in the September Hurricane and ended in a 3-all draw at Easter Road!

Howard's video:

Private Western Lochs & Highlands for Marc & friends

Guide - Ian
Customers - Marc, Kathryn, Sue, John, Jill, Leslie
Conditions - Hurricane!

Private Skye & Raasay Tour for CK and friends

Guide - Johannes
Customers - CK, Vijay, Updesh, Murali, Madhu, Indu
Trip based on the usual Skye Discovery holiday but with accommodation for the week at Raasay, the smaller island off Skye

Big Highland Tour August

Guide - Peter
Customers - Phil, Mary, Dee-Ann
Conditions - Sunny for a few minutes

Big Highland Tour July

Guides: Ali, Jon & Richard
Customers: Connie, Deanna, Michael, Bertus, Robert, Annemieke, Natasza
Conditions: Great on the Cobbler and Ben Nevis, monsoon at Torridon

Highland Railways & Hills June

Guide - Gary
Customers - Eva, Martin, Lesley
Conditions - fine
The group, with a wee bit of advice from Gary, did a different version of our usual trip and went on some challenging hillwalks during the week: Ben Macdui, Blaven and the Ledge Route up Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis Day Tour

Guides - Jon, Stuart
Customers - Scott, Keith, Elise, Sam, Ray and Smashley
Early start for us as this tour included pick-up from Oban - it wasn't too promissing at the start due to monsoon conditions so we had a bail-out option of walking to the CIC hut instead - however by the time we had reached the Half-Way Lochan, everyone was well up for a trip to the summit. We couldn't see anything of course! We also managed to help remove some of the rubbish which the weekend's charity events had left up there (special prize going to Smashley for carrying a half-full bin bag down)

North West Highlands June

Guide - Shaun
Customers - Kate, Maria, Matt
Conditions - Fine (believe it or not!)

Lowther Hill

Guide - Jon
Customers - Mitch, Angie, Clinton & Brock
Conditions - Cloudy and cold (for June) but with great long distance views over to Solway & the Lakes (to the south), Arran & Jura (north west), Ben Lomond (north), Ben Vorlich & Stuc a Croin (north east) - nice meal in the Wanlockhead Inn (Scotland's highest pub) afterwards

Walking Whisky & Wildlife June

Guide - Peter
Customers - Amy, Chad, Kristina
Conditions - usual Scottish summer mixture
This was first ever Walking Whisky & Wildlife holiday - a big Thank You goes to Peter for inventing it

Skye Discovery June

Guide - Ian
Customers - Ineen, Dominique, Julia, Lindsay, Liz, Guddu
Conditions - Remarkably dry!

Three Peaks Four Ladies Challenge

Guides - Jon, Duncan
Customers - Lucy, Lakshmi. Oozma, Reshma
We don't normally do teh popular Three Peaks Challenges as they are a big cause of the crowds on Ben Nevis - however they are great fun and in a small group can be a real, tough challenge - and this one was one of the best yet - good nosh at the Real Food Cafe and Pete's Eats combined with some dodgy jokes from Jon and ludicrous stories from Duncan kept the girls amused on all three hills. Ben Nevis in hazy sunshine and cloud, Scafell Pikes at night/descent at dawn and Snowdon with sun coming out on the summit, we had some great views too.

Heart of the Highlands May

Guide - Geordie
Customers - Helen, Linda, Tim
This trip started with an overlap with the Munros by Train weekend (so Jon & Roberta joined for Ben Vrackie) - the rest of the week was spent avoiding the gales, floods and falling trees of May in Scotland

Bynack Mor - munro bagging

Guide - Jon
Customer - Roberta
Conditions - complete hoolie!

Big Highland Tour May

Guide - Peter
Customers - Ian, Deidra, Kara, Lyn, Karen, Carrie, Matt, Roberta
Conditions - usual May mixture (and a bit wild at the end!)

Ben Vane 14th May

Guides - Richard, Johannes with Robert the bus driver
Customers - Team building event for Eaton Ltd. of Glasgow
The steep ridge walk up to the airy summit of Ben Vane by Loch Lomond followed by drinks and food at the quirky alehouse that is the Drovers Inn

Skye Discovery May

Guide - Ian
Customers - Joyce, Peggy, Jacqueline

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