Yearly Archives: 2018

Review: Petzl Actik Core headtorch

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Helen Webster

RRP: £50 Weight: 82g (including supplied rechargable battery – slightly more with standard AAAs) Petzl – which began life as a caving gear company – made its first headtorch in 1981 and has been refining and expanding its range ever since. The last Petzl torch I used, bought in a hurry to replace a lost one, broke after fairly light use and the experience put me off the brand. Testing this new lightweight model over the last few months for winter walks and regular night runs has changed my opinion – this is an excellent, reliable torch with many useful…

Posted in Accessories, Gear reviews

The Common Frog: Hopping for a good spring!

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Ben Dolphin

The first frogspawn of the year usually takes me by surprise. It shouldn’t of course, because it’s an annual event as reliable as the first green shoots of grass rising from the barren, brown hillsides. But when I see those first clumps of jelly I am usually on a cold and windswept hillside, bent double into a raging gale, perhaps trying not to slip on week-old ice, or more likely eyeing-up the sky for the first tell-tale snowflakes of an incoming cold spell. Spring therefore feels like it is still months away……but then there it is, crammed into a puddle…

Posted in Features, Magazine

The Swiss Cheese

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Heather Morning

A thoughtful reflection on lessons learnt from accidents during the winter of 2018 by Mountaineering Scotland’s Mountain Safety Adviser Heather Morning. There is no doubt that this winter has been memorable. Extensive snow cover, combined with low temperatures has provided us all with an exceptional winter playground. Whether it’s hill walking, mountaineering, ski touring or climbing the opportunities have been endless. And there has been no shortage of us getting out there ‘doing our thing’ enjoying the great conditions. Social media and the outdoor press have been awash with inspiring adventures and stunning photography. I guess it’s always going to…

Posted in Features, Magazine, News

Haven

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Karen Thorburn

I stood on the shoreline at Laig, surveying my surroundings. The coastline was peppered with large boulders known as concretions; hard rocks eroded out of the softer cliff face over millions of years; a timescale incomprehensible in my world of sunrises and sunsets captured in perhaps a thirtieth of a second. Behind me, the scattered settlement of Cleadale was dominated by the near-vertical black crags of Beinn Bhuidhe. Across the water, the mountainous profile of the Rum Cuillin was shrouded in a blanket of cloud. Waves gently lapped at my feet and distant calls of cuckoos echoed from the cliffs…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Photography

Avalanche Forecasts to end Sunday 15 April

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Helen Webster

The Scottish Avalanche Information Service will issue its last daily avalanche forecast for this winter on Sunday 15 April. However due to the large amount of snow still on the Scottish mountains the SAIS will continue to provide general advice on potential avalanche risk until necessary. This year more than 210 avalanches have been recorded by SAIS. Conditions on the mountains are likely to remain in winter conditions for quite sometime yet. Check the SAIS website before planning your route and check out the Walkhighlands winter safety information for further tips.

Posted in News

Shooting the Breeze – Beka Globe

Posted on April 8, 2018 by David Lintern

Our occasional series of interviews with landscape photographers living and working in Scotland continues. David Lintern talks with the singular Harris based artist Beka Globe. Tell us about first arriving on the island. Why did you go there as a child, and what made you come back later in life? My parents took a lifestyle choice; my artist father Steve Dilworth needed to be in a place that fed his soul, and allowed him the time and space to explore and create. I returned for similar reasons; to focus on my work, to be a photographer in the sense of…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Photography

Stuart Younie named as new Mountaineering Scotland boss

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Helen Webster

The body which represents climbers, mountaineers, hill walkers and snowsports tourers in Scotland is to have a new hand at the helm from Monday. Mountaineering Scotland has appointed Stuart Younie as Chief Executive Officer, replacing David Gibson, who is retiring on Friday after more than a decade at the head of the organisation. Stuart Younie comes to Mountaineering Scotland from Live Active Leisure in Perth, where he was Business Development and Programming Manager. He brings a wide range of senior management experience, including strategic planning, business development and operational delivery. He is also passionate about the outdoors, having skied and…

Posted in News

Gear Review: Rab Blizzard Mitt

Posted on March 28, 2018 by Helen Webster

RRP: £80 Weight: 235g per pair (small) When is a mitt not really a mitt? With the Rab Blizzard, the mitt outer conceals a glove-shaped inner supposedly to give the best of both worlds; I’ve been testing it over the winter. This is a gauntlet-style mitt with box wall construction in a pre-formed shape with single finger inserts. I found them to be close fitting – the women’s small really is small, particularly in width and unlike normal mitts the finger inserts mean there is little extra room inside. However the fit is well-designed, giving good articulation and being comfortable…

Posted in Accessories, Gear reviews

Saving Red Squirrels

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Ben Dolphin

Back in November I wrote a piece for Walkhighlands about pine martens, in which I referred to a study that was underway at the time into their intriguing relationship with both red and grey squirrels. The results of that study were published last week and made headline news, so now seems a good time to revisit the subject. Many of you are doubtless familiar with our squirrels but I think it’s still worth going back to the very beginning of this fascinating story. The red squirrel The red squirrel is the only squirrel native to the British Isles, i.e. it…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature

Can we live with lynx?

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Dr David Hetherington

A landmark new book, The Lynx and Us, is being published next month by Scotland: The Big Picture. Here the author of the book Dr David Hetherington, the UK’s leading lynx expert, asks what it would be like to live alongside lynx. Until just a few years ago, the lynx was virtually unknown as a former native of Scotland. Beavers and wolves dominated discussions about reintroductions. Nowadays though, it seems you can barely open a newspaper, magazine or website without meeting the intense, feline stare of a lynx as the prospect of their return is very publicly raised once again.…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature