The SportScotland Avalanche Information Service will start publishing its detailed forecasts for the Scottish Mountains on Friday 14 December. The six mountain areas covered are Northern Cairngorms, Southern Cairngorms, Lochaber, Creag Meagaidh, Glencoe and Torridon. Each report covers snow, avalanche, and climbing conditions. The reports are available from the website or via mobile phone app. Avalanche hazard forecast will be issued at the weekends for the two highest mountain areas: Northern Cairngorms and Lochaber, in the run up to 14 December if conditions require it. With over 210 avalanches recorded in Scotland last winter the SAIS is again asking any…

A new series of Paul Murton’s Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs starts on BBC1 Scotland at 7.30pm tonight (available on iplayer in the rest of the UK following broadcast). Paul Murton’s Grand Tours series have been running for many years now, exploring Scotland’s lochs, islands, landscapes and history. In this new series of Grand Tours, Paul explores a choice selection of lochs from the 31, 000 that adorn Scotland. Travelling from the wilds of the west coast to the Grampian Mountains, Paul discovers the secrets of these iconic features of the Scottish landscape, which are deep enough in places to…

Patients, families and staff from Glasgow Children’s Hospital in high spirits on the Fairy Hill despite the dreich conditions. For the fourth year in a row, patients, family and staff from the Schiehallion Unit of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Glasgow visited the mountain which inspired its name. The annual family day – a collaboration between the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and the John Muir Trust – took place this year under dreich, grey skies and relentless rain. Despite the conditions, over 60 attended, with half the group climbing the mountain while the rest participated in other activities at the…