With the first serious snow of the winter now hitting the Scottish hills, the dates have been announced for this year’s Mountain Safety Lectures. This year’s line up of speakers for the popular evenings include 7-summit mountaineer Di Gilbert, Mountain Rescue veteran David ‘Heavy’ Whalley, and MCoS Mountain Safety Officer Heather Morning among others. The evenings are free and will be running at each of the following locations with the first kicking off on 28 December. The Clachaig Inn, Glencoe (Tuesday evenings) The Mountain Cafe, Aviemore (Wednesday evenings) Various Tiso Stores (Wednesday/Thursday evenings) A spokesperson for the Mountaineering Council of…

Police are appealing for information after a second attempt was made to topple the Duke of Sutherland’s statue near Golspie. The huge statue, known locally as The Mannie, stands on Ben Bhraggie and commemorates the duke who was responsible for some of the most notorious and cruel Highland Clearances in Sutherland. Police say that stone on the plinth has recently been damaged and removed in places and they are appealing for further information. A Police spokesperson said that tools had been used, implying that the vandalism was planned. An earlier attempt was made to dynamite the controversial statue in 1994.…

Following the success of the first Isle of Harris Mountain Festival, dates have been fixed for next year’s event and it looks set to become an annual fixture in the walking festival calendar. The new event ran across seven days from Saturday 24 September to Saturday 1 October. Ann-Marie Hewitt from the North Harris Trust reported: “The main crowds were drawn on Wednesday 28 September when Cameron McNeish gave an evening presentation titled ‘Mountains: Earth’s Enduring Monuments’. Cameron took his audience on a tour of the world’s famous mountain ranges, beginning and ending in the famous, Scottish, Nevis range. “On…

Despite November being on course to be one of the mildest on record, wintry conditions can only be just around the corner. The MCofS are again running a series of winter skills courses for folk who are interested in expanding their summer hill walking skills to be able to enjoy the winter hills safely. The MCofS has a choice of a 2 day course running in December and four one-day courses in January. All the courses are run in partnership with Glenmore Lodge, near Aviemore, and all specialist kit is provided as part of the course price. See the MCofS…

Rowchoish bothy on the West Highland Way will be closed for the weekend 26 – 28th November due to filming. The bothy, which is situated on the east shore of Loch Lomond north of Rowardennan is a popular overnight spot for walkers tackling the West Highland Way. The bothy is found located on a rougher lochside path which is bypassed by many long distance walkers who are not planning to visit the bothy as the main West Highland Way route follows a much easier, if less scenic, section of forestry track at that point. The bothy, which is maintained by…