Volunteer members of the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) are getting geared up for a busy year of bothy maintenance. The Association, which looks after over 100 bothies for walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts, has a full programme of projects planned for the year ahead including: – new bothies in the Kielder forest in the north of England and the Elan valley in Wales; – the rebuilding of Glen Dubh-lighe bothy near Glenfinnan which was destroyed by fire in 2010; – major work parties at a number of Scottish bothies including Shenavall, Kinbreak, Invermallie, Uags, Strathchailleach, Uisinis, and Over Phawhope; – Faindouran…

Police are appealing for sightings of missing Inverness-based Clive Dennier who is believed to have gone hillwalking over the weekend. Mr Dennier, aged 50, who is a reporter for local paper the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, failed to turn up for work at the paper’s Grantown on Spey office on Monday. Police believe Mr Dennier had spoken about going hill walking at the weekend but no one has heard from him since. There is no information about where he may have gone, although he is known to enjoy walking in the Cairngorms as well as on the west coast. Mr…

The Bristow Group, a company based in Texas, has been chosen to run the UK’s helicopter search and rescue service from 2015. The Department of Transport has confirmed that the US firm has been awarded the 10 year contract, worth £1.6bn, to take over the search and rescue function operated by the RAF and Royal Navy for the last 70 years. The ageing Sea King helicopters will be replaced by 22 modern Sikorsky S-92s and Agusta Westland 189s which will operate out of 10 locations around the UK with claims that the new service will reduce the time taken to…

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) is currently seeking a new Communications Officer and a Club Development Officer. These are full time, salaried and permanent posts with the national representative organisation for mountaineers, hill walkers, climbers and ski-tourers, which has 11,500 members. The MCofS has issued the following details: “Communications Officer / Magazine Editor (37 hours per week, based Perth) Based in our Perth office, this exciting new position will take responsibility for the coordination and editing of MCofS communications, including our award-winning members’ quarterly magazine Scottish Mountaineer. The post holder will also work with colleagues in the administration team…

Carbisdale Castle Hostel looks set to close for good because of the high cost of repair bills. The hostel, located near Invershin and housed in a spectacular castle containing a fabulous hall of marble statues, has been closed for the last two years but was previously very popular with walking groups, families and even wedding parties wanting to explore Sutherland. Owners, the Scottish Youth Hostels Association (SYHA) said the hostel may not reopen because millions of pounds worth of investment was needed and that there were no plans to open it in the foreseeable future but that the SYHA had…