Later this year the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) will be holding two first aid courses aimed at hillwalkers and climbers. The two-day courses will be held in the Cairngorms on 11 and 12 May and 28 and 29th September. They are open to members of the MCofS although non-members are welcome to join at the same time as applying for the course. This course is recognised by the MTS as appropriate for their Mountain Leader awards. The course will be run by Eric Pirie who is an active member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team and a qualified First…

With ice and snow covering most of Scotland and avalanche risk high for many slopes, it timely to have a reminder from the MCofS of their 2013 Aviemore and Glencoe winter safety lectures. These will be held at the Mountain Cafe in Aviemore on 13 February and at the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe on 12 February. This season’s speaker will be Heather Morning, Mountain Safety Advisor for the MCofS. Heather has over 30 years experience mountaineering, climbing and skiing in the Scottish Hills. She has also been actively involved with mountain rescue in the Cairngorms for the last 10 years…

Police have named the fourth victim to have died as a result of the avalanche in Glencoe on Saturday as Rachel Majumdar. Dr Majumdar, aged 29, was working at Harrogate District Hospital and living in Leeds although was originally from Merseyside.

Three of the four climbers killed in an avalanche on Bidean Nam Bian on Saturday have been named by police. They are Una Rachel Finnegan, 25, from County Antrim who was a junior doctor living in Edinburgh, Tom Chesters, 28, who was a PHD student at Hull University living in Leeds and 24-year-old Christopher Bell, from Balderstone near Blackburn in Lancashire, who was studying for a PHD in Ocean Mapping in Oban. A fifth climber, a 24-year-old woman from the Durham area, is in a critical condition in a Glasgow hospital with serious head injuries. The following Statement was released…

Queen’s View Visitor Centre is now closed for the winter but work will soon start to prepare the site for the ground works that make up the first part of the Visitor Centre refurbishment programme. Part of the preparations will include some felling work, which will take place over the winter, and site signage will soon be in place to remind people to keep out for their own safety. Hamish Murray, for the Commission’s team in Tay, said: “This is the start of the effort to refurbish the Visitor Centre so all things are go – but it’s important that…

The full programme for the 2013 Fort William Mountain Festival has now been announced. The line up includes speakers made up of top climbers, mountaineers and extreme sports men and women, together with adventure film screenings and mountain workshops. This year’s festival will be staged in and around Fort William from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 February 2013. Mike Pescod, Chairman of the Highland Mountain Culture Association, organisers of the Festival, said: “The 2013 Fort William Mountain Festival is one of the most popular events in Scotland’s outdoor adventure calendar and everyone attending will be inspired, energized and entertained. This…