‘The oldest living thing in Europe’

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Ben Dolphin

I’ve travelled a fair bit around the world and the one thing I keep encountering again and again, no matter what country I’m in, is the superlative settlement. That is to say, those tiny towns or villages with superlative claims to fame. The tiniest church, the longest slide, the highest chimney, the angriest lama. Often they’re dreamed up or made in a deliberate attempt to get people to stop in a town, but some lucky wee places are blessed with the genuine article. Fortingall in Perthshire is one such place but frankly you’d never know it if you were just…

Posted in Features, Magazine

St Kilda wind reaches 144mph

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Paul Webster

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…

Posted in Walkhighlands news

John Muir Trust appoints new chair

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Paul Webster

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…

Posted in Nature

Scottish Avalanche forecasts begin for winter season

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Paul Webster

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,…

Posted in News

Lower drink drive limit now in force

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Helen Webster

Scotland&apos’s drink drive limit has been lowered and comes into effect today (Friday 5th December). The new limit will bring Scotland in line with the rest of Europe, lowering the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The new lower limit means that some drivers could be over the legal limit after only one drink and more drivers may still be over the limit driving the next day. Police Scotland estimate that they stop over 80,000 vehicles each month, with around 20,000 offences detected every month. The Police say being…

Posted in Uncategorized

Winter gear round-up

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Peter Macfarlane

Finally there’s some snow on the high tops. This time last year I’d already used ice axe and crampons a few times and I was starting to get worried the past few weeks. Wouldn’t it be nice if the snow just appeared on a certain day every year so you can plan for it? Mind you, that would take the joy out of those perfect white and blue days when they do arrive as a big surprise. Whenever the snow comes we have to be ready for it and that means some changes to our kit list. Hats and gloves…

Posted in Accessories, Gear reviews, Jackets, Magazine

Walkhighlands Winter Skills Course

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Helen Webster

The unique challenges and unrivalled rewards of the winter mountains require a whole host of skills including the correct use of crampons and ice axe, and avalanche evaluation. Walkhighlands is offering a Winter Skills weekend, run by experienced and qualified guides from Scot Mountain Holidays and based near Aviemore in the Cairngorms. Extend your hillwalking skills to tackle winter mountain days safely alongside other Walkhighlands users. The weekend course costs £245 including all accommodation and delicious, award-winning food. Learn new skills and make lifelong friends while enjoying two practical days in the stunning Cairngorms scenery. Pick up/drop off is available…

Posted in Magazine, News, Walkhighlands news

Win one of 3 Mammut Creon Pro rucksacks

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Helen Webster

Enter our Christmas competition now for your chance to win one of three Mammut Creon Pro rucksacks worth £149.90 each. The Mammut Creon Pro is a technical hillwalking rucksack that sets new standards with its rich range of features and 4 STREAM Butterfly Vario™ suspension system. Ventilation on all sides helps to prevent perspiration, a twistable butterfly™ frame allows the upper body complete freedom of movement, the Vario system converts the air space suspension system into a full-contact back and the back length can be adjusted. Simply enter your details below and answer the question ‘Who compiled the original Munro’s…

Posted in Magazine, Walkhighlands news

BBC to showcase classic Cairngorms book

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Helen Webster

A forgotten literary masterpiece celebrating the majesty of the Cairngorm mountains will be the subject of a new documentary presented by travel writer Robert MacFarlane. The Living Mountain – A Cairngorms Journey will be shown on BBC2 Scotland on Tuesday 2 December at 10pm and will be available more widely on the BBC iPlayer shortly afterwards. The Living Mountain, written by Scottish poet and novelist Nan Shepherd in the 1940s, recounts her experience of walking in the Cairngorms during the early years of the Second World War. When Robert MacFarlane first discovered it he found it to be one of…

Posted in Nature, News

Wild land conservation – taking a new tack

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Cameron McNeish

“CELEBRATING achievement in Scottish conservation.” That’s what the recent RSPB Nature of Scotland Awards are all about, but please excuse my obvious cynicism when I ask the obvious question – what achievements? Now it may be that someone has done a fantastic job in protecting some Natterjack toads, or perhaps a school group somewhere has built a really impressive bug-house in the playground. That’s all great, and I’m all for protecting Natterjack toads, but what’s been done to halt the current swathes of high-level bulldozed tracks that are appearing all over the highlands; who is sorting out the access problems…

Posted in Features, Magazine, Nature