Five people were caught in an avalanche today on Ben Nevis, but all escaped. Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team reported that the avalanche resulted from a cornice collapse in No. 4 gully. All the people involved managed to walk out, and there was only one minor injury. The rescue team was assisted by helicopters from Prestwick and Lossiemouth, whilst an emergency medical team from Paisley was mobilised along with Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team and the ski patrol from Aonach Mor.
Eas Daimh flumes provide safer access to Ben Lui
Flumes installed at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) river gauging station at Eas Daimh will give walkers a safer way to access Ben Lui from the nearby Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) car park. The project, which was conducted in collaboration with both FCS and Network Rail, and with input from British Transport Police, means that there is now an alternative to trespassing on the mainline railway. A weir was originally installed at this location by the River Purification Board in the 1980s as a control for the gauging station at Eas Daimh. The weir raised the water levels under…
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Posted in Access issues, News
Our pick: 16 picturesque Scottish villages
Walkhighlands features over 2,100 walks in all corners of Scotland, as well as more than 3,000 places to stay. Here’s our quick pick of some of Scotland’s most beautiful villages. Killin, Loch Tay The popular village of Killin lies at the western end of mighty Loch Tay, but as if that isn’t enough it also has the beautiful Falls of Dochart, where the road crosses the bridge over the cascading rapids of the river. The village has plenty of pubs and B&Bs and is a popular place for holiday cottages. Other attractive villages in the area include Kenmore at the…
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Turbine development could blight Rob Roy Way
Responding to a public consultation which closed this week, the John Muir Trust has lodged an objection to the proposed Crossburns Wind Farm in Highland Perthshire, pointing out that the scheme would disfigure one of Scotland’s Great Trails. West Coast energy has submitted a planning application for 25 turbines, each 115 metres high, to be built across the Ardtalnaig to Aberfeldy leg of the walk. The turbines will also be on the route of the Scottish National Trail. If approved, this section of the Rob Roy Way, considered one of the highlights of the entire walk, will be re-routed during…
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Our pick: 16 shots of Festive Scotland
Need to get into that festive frame of mind? We’ve put together a gallery of wintry scenes from across Scotland to inspire you to venture out and explore before settling down by the fireside on these long evenings. A ballet is one of the collective nouns used for a group of swans, well-suited to this group of Whoopers alighting from the River Spey near Grantown. With a white-out on the summits, there’s still sometimes the chance of a stunning winter walk on the lower slopes and foothills. Winter also gives the chance to try out other ways of getting around…
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Trust completes £60k footpath repair work on Skye’s Blà Bheinn
Contractors finished restoration work this week on the 3.8km footpath that rises 928 metres to the spectacular summit of the ‘Blue Mountain’ on the edge of the Cuillin. Earlier this year, the John Muir Trust, which looks after Blà Bheinn, won £24,000 in an online poll organised by the European Outdoor Conservation Association towards the costs. The Trust followed this up with an appeal among its members and supporters to raise the balance to fund the project. Chris Goodman, Footpath Manager for the John Muir Trust said: “This was a substantial piece of work that included building 100 metres of…
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First avalanche forecasts of season show ‘considerable’ risk
The Scottish Avalanche Information service has begun its forecasts for the 2014-15 winter season. The forecasts began on Thursday, covering North and South Cairngorms, Glencoe, Lochaber and Creag Meagaidh; the Torridon service will begin on the 24th Dec 2014, this will cover holiday periods and weekends throughout the season. With considerable snowfalls this last week, the forecast for all the regions includes areas of ‘considerable’ avalanche risk for this weekend, so be sure to check the detailed forecasts on the Scottish Avalanche Information Service website. Link: SAIS
Posted in News
St Kilda wind reaches 144mph
The UK’s windiest place has today recorded a wind speed of 144 miles per hour, one of the highest ever recorded. St Kilda, which is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, experiences gales on 75 days of the year, however, conditions today are even tougher than ‘normal’. As the whole country is battered by gales, a wind speed at the top of the hill on Hirta, the largest of St Kilda’s islands, approached 150 miles per hour. The highest wind ever recorded in the UK was 173mph on the summit of Cairngorm back in 1986. St Kilda…
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Posted in Walkhighlands news
John Muir Trust appoints new chair
The wild land charity, the John Muir Trust has just appointed a new Chair, Peter Pearson, to replace the outgoing John Hutchison. Peter, who lives in the shadows of the Ochils, has for decades explored Scotland’s hills and mountains. He has also travelled further afield to the Himalayas, Karakorum, Greenland and Spitsbergen – where anyone travelling outside the island’s settlements is required to carry a rifle as a last line of defence against polar bear attacks. Peter rose to national prominence in the mid-2000s as a pivotal figure in Stirling Before Pylons, the campaigning group which helped spearhead the fight…
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Posted in Nature
Scottish Avalanche forecasts begin for winter season
The Scottish Avalanche Information Service will begin producing daily avalanche forecasts for the 2014-2015 winter season from this Thursay, 11th December. Separate forecasts cover the main five operational areas – Lochaber, Glencoe, Creag Meagaidh, the Southern Cairngorms and the Northern Cairngorms. The forecast for Torridon will begin on the 24th Decemeber 2014; this will cover holiday periods and weekends throughout the rest of the season. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service is funded by SportScotland; it began operating as the Scottish Avalanche Project in 1988 when it covered two areas, the Northern Cairngorms and Glencoe. As well as the daily forecasts,…
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Posted in News