Booking is well underway for next month' Mountain Festival based on the Isle of Arran. The four day event, running from 18 May, offers a huge variety of guided walks and scrambles throughout Arran's stunning hills and mountains. There is a wide choice of routes ranging from wildlife-watching walks along the island’s coastline to airy scrambles on towering granite ridges. Festival organisers say, “The Festival is an opportunity to meet like-minded people, discover a fascinating island and have unforgettable days in the safe hands of experienced local guides. With names to inspire the imagination, such as Ceum na Caillich (Witch’s…

Simon Yates is bringing his The Wild Within tour to Inverness on 27 April. Tying in with the release of his third book in March, The Wild Within covers the last ten years of Simon's expeditions to unclimbed peaks in the Cordillera Darwin in Tierra del Fuego, the Wrangell St-Elias ranges on the Alaskan-Yukon border, and Eastern Greenland. Laced with dry humour, he relates his own experience of the rapid commercialisation of mountain wilderness, while grappling with his new-found commitments as a family man. At the same time he must endure his role in the film adaptation of Joe Simpson’s…

The National Trust for Scotland is hoping to revive the ancient art of charcoal making by offering one of Scotland's few charcoal making courses in 2012. Those interested in learning the skill to create this sustainable fuel source can do so in the stunning surroundings of Ben Lomond, Scotland’s most Southerly Munro. Inspired by the need to tackle the spread of invasive Rhododendron ponticum in the area, the dedicated and inventive ranger team onsite came up with the idea of turning the pest to profit. Using an onsite kiln, the team turn rhododendrons into charcoal which they have been selling…