Mountaineering Scotland – the body which represents Scotland’s hillwalkers and mountaineers – has issued the following statement on its website regarding the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS): “Mountaineering Scotland was influential in securing the original Scottish Government funding, provided through sportscotland, which secured regular provision of Scottish mountain forecasts produced by Geoff Monk since 2007. The agreement was for Scottish forecasts and has never applied to English and Welsh forecasts. “Prior to provision of funding, the forecasts had been produced daily by Geoff Monk free of charge for a number of years but together with many other organisations, we felt…

In a notice posted on its website, the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS), has said it is set to close at the end of 2016 after SportScotland, the Scottish Government sporting body, “withdraws funding and walks away from a key mountain forecast collaboration project”. Geoff Monk, lead forecaster at MWIS said: “The funding withdrawal by SportScotland, following their previous decision to collaborate with MWIS (together with the Met Office), was a real shock and jeopardises the safety of those who use the mountains every day. All we want is for MWIS to continue to provide a consistent, quality service so…

The representative organisation for hillwalkers, climbers, mountaineers and ski-tourers who live in Scotland or enjoy Scottish mountains is looking for a new logo to go with its new name. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland announced last month it was to change its name to Mountaineering Scotland. Alongside the new name, the organisation will be introducing a new logo and visual identity – and it is inviting members and the public to come up with ideas in a design competition. Chief Executive Officer David Gibson said: “Like the name, we want our new visual identity to be simple, clear and reflect…