The Cairngorms National Park celebrates its 10th anniversary yesterday (Friday 22 March) with the official opening of a new visitor facility at Blair Atholl. Visitors to Atholl and the Cairngorms National Park can now get all the information and inspiration they need in the new centre, which involved the refurbishment of the ranger base to also accommodate a visitor information hub and education centre. The site also contains the Atholl Museum of Country Life and a café. Local MSP and Cabinet Secretary John Swinney officially opened the new facility today – and also had the honour of cutting the Cairngorms…

Despite the snow and freezing conditions covering much of Scotland, next week sees the annual publicity awareness raising week aimed at preventing tick bites. Encouraging walkers and dog owners to be ‘tick aware’ is the message of this year’s Tick Bite Prevention week which runs from Monday 24 March. “Let’s tackle ticks together by making sure we’re all tick aware”, says Channel 4 ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ science presenter Dr James Logan, who is an expert on ticks. “A tick bite commonly leads to irritation, allergic reaction or localised infection but, in some cases, there can be more serious consequences such as…

The Angus Glens Walking Festival has launched its online booking system for the 2013 event. The four day walking festival, which is in it’s 11th year, is being held from Thursday 30 May to Sunday 2 June, and offers a programme of 27 walks suitable for different abilities. The walks are graded from ‘easy’ to ‘extremely strenuous’ so participants can choose walks best suited to their fitness and ability. There are also three all ability walks which are on level, well maintained paths which are suitable for wheelchairs. “Our walk leaders and Countryside Rangers have been working hard to put together a fantastic programme of walks for…

Police are investigating after a climber died during an operation to rescue him on Ben Nevis. Mark Phillips aged 51 from Spean Bridge, had fallen approximately 50m while climbing in the Raeburn’s Buttress area on the north face of the mountain on Monday (24 Feb). It is understood that he sustained serious injuries during the fall but was still attached to the rope and his climbing partner who was able to call the rescue services. A helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth and the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team attended the scene and at some point during the operation to try and airlift…

Daniel Smith has become the youngest person to climb all the Munros. The nine year old from Glasgow climbed his way into the record books with his final Munros yesterday (Saturday 23 February) Stuchd an Lochan and Meall Buidhe. Recent years have seen a flurry of young walkers tackling mountain challenges. Last year Ben Fleetwood from Cumbria became the youngest person to scale all the Munros, aged ten. He was quickly joined by ten year old Scottish twins Cliona and Nuala McCheyne from Dunoon. Nine year old Daniel started walking with his father Mark in the Campsies and climbed his…