News

Winter Mountain Safety Evenings kick off for new season

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Helen Webster

Mountaineering Scotland’s regular series of winter mountain safety evenings start this week. Mountain Safety Advisor Ian Stewart will share photos, videos, personal anecdotes and adventures, and discussing essential skills for winter navigation, avalanche awareness, route choice, equipment, mountain weather and much more. The events will be held in outdoor shops and cost £5 (except 21 November which is £8 including coffee and cake). All proceeds from these lectures will go to local mountain rescue teams or Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance. Tickets can be booked at the website, dates and venues are: 21 November 2019, Edinburgh. Thursday evening at Craigdon, The…

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Red squirrels move to Sutherland in new project

Posted on October 19, 2019 by Helen Webster

Conservation charities Trees for Life and Woodland Trust Scotland have partnered up to return red squirrels to a Sutherland wood…

Posted in Magazine, Nature, News

Accessing An Cladach Bothy on Islay

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Helen Webster

Following news of the autumn/winter closure of An Cladach bothy including discussions on Walkhighlands, the Mountain Bothy Association have issued this statement: “Dunlossit Estate, the owners of An Cladach bothy on Islay, have asked us to clarify both the parking arrangements for visitors to the building and the arrangements for contacting the estate during the stalking season. We have agreed that the bothy will be closed from 1 September to 1 March each year commencing September 2020.” “The estate have emphasised that regardless of any advice that intending visitors might have been given in guide books or elsewhere, they should…

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Walkers urged to check for deer stalking before Heading for the Scottish Hills

Posted on August 10, 2019 by Helen Webster

Hillwalkers are being encouraged to check online for deer stalking information before setting out during the busiest part of the season. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) manages the Heading for the Scottish Hills website which provides details on deer stalking on estates between July and late October to help walkers avoid disturbing stalking. The website makes it easier for walkers to follow the advice in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code to try and find out where stag stalking is taking place and provides details on who to contact for more information. It also includes routes that are ‘always okay’ and days…

Posted in Access issues, Magazine, Nature, News

Police Scotland launch Bothy Watch initiative

Posted on July 9, 2019 by Paul Webster

Police Scotland has today launched ‘Bothy Watch’ – an initiative to raise awareness of the issues surrounding remote bothies across the south of Scotland. As well as the MBA, this multi-agency initiative includes partners from Forestry and Land Scotland, Local Authorities and Mountain Rescue Team volunteers with a focus on reducing crime in outlying areas, keeping the bothies free from damage and allowing them to be used for the purpose they are intended for. In launching the initiative, Police Scotland said: “For years these buildings have been a valuable and in fact quite a social resource for hill walkers and cyclists,…

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Mountain Writing Comp open for entries

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Helen Webster

Hillwalkers and climbers who like to express their love for the mountains and mountaineering in words are invited to take part in Mountaineering Scotland’s annual literary competition. The Mountaineering Scotland Writing Competition 2019 is looking for the best in new mountain writing, whether fact or fiction, prose or poetry. With more and more people taking art in outdoor activities, there should be no shortage of adventurers ready to put their experiences into words and share what makes mountains or mountaineers, or the act of walking or climbing, so special to them. First prize in both prose and poetry sections is…

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New lease of life for Leacraithnaich bothy

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Paul Webster

Over 50 volunteers from 8 different countries have completed a major renovation of Leacraithnaich bothy in Morvern. The work included the removal and replacement of the existing roof, renovation of the wall heads, lime pointing of both external and internal walls and improvement to the building’s interior. The build took 32 days with varying numbers of volunteers on site at any one time. As well as the UK, volunteers came from Norway, Holland, Germany, Greece, Spain, the USA and New Zealand. For almost half it was their first MBA work party. Peter Rowell, MBA Area Organiser for Southwest Highlands and…

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No Permits planned for Ben Nevis

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Cameron McNeish

I really should have known better. A journalist of my acquaintance rang me to say he’d been chatting to the John Muir Trust about Ben Nevis. Clearly on the scent of a story he told me that 160,000 people had climbed Ben Nevis last year, putting an enormous amount of pressure on the mountain. We chatted a bit about the effects of so many boots on a footpath like the one that runs up the hill from Achintee and he asked me if I thought a permit system should be introduced? I suggested the tourist path on Ben Nevis was…

Posted in Magazine, Nature, News

New Outdoors Award Scheme for Young People

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Helen Webster

Ramblers Scotland has launched a new award scheme to offer young adults a free and inspiring introduction to the outdoors.

Posted in Magazine, News

Path repair begins on popular Munros

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Helen Webster

A £100,000 appeal to fund much needed repairs to Scottish hill paths has reached its target and work has now started on one of two major projects. The Mend Out Mountains: Make One Million appeal, which has run over the last year, is headed by the BMC UK-wide and Mountaineering Scotland north of the border, and aims to raise up to £1 million for pathwork in each of the UK’s national parks. In Scotland the target was £100,000 for work in the Cairngorms National Park and the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. Skilled pathworkers began work in April…

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