Adventure Blog Scotland

Climbing my First Munro

August 20, 2008 on 3:35 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

It took a good few hours to get to Aviemore from the Borders but the drive up there takes you through some amazing scenery. We were aiming to “bag our first Munro” and what a Munro we chose - the sixth highest in Scotland!

Our day started of well with us taking the car to the base of Cairngorm and then a visit to the Ranger station which has loads of really good information if you are taking a trip up the mountain. Themist ingeniousthing is the Poo Project - a pioneering project launched at CairnGorm Mountain to manage the increasing amount of human waste left behind by winter walkers and climbers particularly those particpating in snow hole activities!

For further information see: http://www.cairngormmountain.org.uk/cairngorm-ranger-service

We chose a route that wasn’t the most strenuous as we wanted to make this the first of many Munro Bagging weekends. When I say it wasn’t strenuous it was still pretty hard going. We did have a few stops for water and to take in the views and of course a lunch break halfway up.

It eventually took us three hours to reach the top which wasn’t bad going. The downhill to the Ptarmigan was a lot quicker. We enjoyed a hot cup of tea and the amazing view from the restuarant then made our way down in the funicular railway.

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in hill walking and a new passion for surfing.

Mountain Biking on Arran

July 4, 2008 on 2:22 pm | In Mountain Biking | No Comments

I was recetly on Arran and took part in a trail quest organised by Arran Adventure Company. Having not been on a bike for about five years I was a bit wobbly to begin with! We had a practice session on the first day - a practice session of six miles! It was all about navigating your way around a specific route and looking for certain points so you could stamp your route card. The time for this route would establish our teams for tomorrow.

The starting line up

I thought I was better on my bike than I actually was and ended up going over the handlebars - not a pretty sight! Therre was a lot of uphill which wasn’t so much fun but coming down the other side was amazing. I did the route with Michael, Louise and Maria and we stuck together as a team instead fo competing against each other which made the journey good fun.

We were having so much fun that we actually rode straight past one of the stamps and only realised when we came to number seven after number five. We had a few mishaps with Michael’s bike as his chain came off about nine times around the route. Grrr!

Mountain biking on Arran

Once we had our last stamp we enjoyed the view back to the adventure cabin. Everyone could hear us coming as we were singing Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now!

Our timing wasn’t bad considering none of us were particularly bike friendly however as our times were similar we weren’t in the same team on the second day.

The second day was much harder and we had three hours to complete the course with markers all over Arran. For our team to gain maximum points there were also extra activities you could complete: aerial assault, sea kayaking and abseiling. Yikes! Our strategy was simple, the two fastest and the two slowest paired up and we did our best to try and get as many points as possible. Unfortunately our team didn’t win but we had loads of fun trying!

The amazing views going downhill

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in hill walking and a new passion for surfing.

Final day of Mountain Bike World Cup 2008

June 10, 2008 on 12:21 pm | In Mountain Biking | No Comments

The Downhill day is the biggest day of the week and sees the largest crowds. It’s a spectacular event and saw 30 ladies and 187 men compete for a chance to get to the final.

The downhill course at Fort William is known as a monster and even the fittest riders have to work really hard. It’s a total distance of 2.82km with a start altitude of 655m. The track is much the same as it was for the World Championships last year.

Laura and I took a ride up int he gondola to see the start (I like hills but this is one big hill)! It’s amazing seeing the speed that these riders travel at, at some point I had to close my eyes as it look pretty extreme to me.

The crowds were worked up by the commentator who made a fantastic job of keeping everyone informed. They all had their cow bells and horns to create an amazing atmosphere in the arena - it really made your hairs stand on end.

The ladies event was fantastic with British riders including Rachel Atherton, Katy Curd and Tracy Moseley. National Champion Tracy was last to ride and by now the arena was at fever pitch, everyone was watching the screen to compare her times to the current leader. When she eventually came in her time was an amazing 5:20 which saw her take the podium in first place.

In the men’s event the riders everyone was watching out for were Scotsmen Ruaridh Cunningham, Joe Barnes and Ben Cathro. British riders also included Gee and Dan Atherton and Steve Peat.

The talent was amazing and the crowds really made the event. Steve Peat was in the leader position but was narrowly pipped by Gee Atherton. It was really tense to see whether GB could make it 1st and 2nd. It wasn’t meant to be and Greg Minaar finally took the winning position.

This was the first Mountain Bike event I have attended. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. A tip I would give is to invest in some Avon Skin so Soft to keep the midges at bay!

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in hill walking and a new passion for surfing.

Day Two at the Mountain Bike World Cup 2008

June 10, 2008 on 12:02 pm | In Mountain Biking | No Comments

Woke up to a bright sunny morning and headed over to the site. Today was the Cross Country and the crowds were starting to form early on.

In a break from his normal way of taking the course Steve Peat was caught walking the downhill track and crossing the finishing line with his dog!

The cross country course is 25 miles and the heat in Leanachan Forest was around 21 celcius. The mens race consists of five laps and the ladies of four laps of the track which includes berms, single track climbing and fast jumping.

The ladies race was won by Canadian Marie Helene Premont and the mens race by Florian Vogel in 2:06!

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in hill walking and a new passion for surfing.

First day of the Mountain Bike World Cup 2008

June 7, 2008 on 12:26 pm | In Mountain Biking | 1 Comment

We headed up to Fort William on Wednesday to get ready for the 7th Mountain Bike World Cup to be held in the area. With the stand ready and looking gorgeous the first day of the MBWC saw fantastic sushine, enthusiastic crowds and a suberb 4 Cross event.

The day started looking overcast but cleared up and not a hint of rain was seen. In fact the course had to be sprayed with water as it was so dry! It was a relatively steady day with lots of people coming along to try out the trials area run by Cycle Wild Scotland.

Downhill Course at MBWC

At lunchtime I took a trip in the gondola to see the downhill track from the top. The journey up was amazing with some stunning scenery, I would recommend a trip up to take in the views of the area. The event today was the 4 Cross (4X) with the final being held at 19:30. By this time there was quite a crowd forming and the cow bells cetainly added to the atmospere.

Will Longden GBR - Image phunkt.com

It was an exciting race with some big names going out early on. There was also a spectacuar crash between Johannes Fischbach and Cedric Garcia. The finals were eventually won by Jared Graves (Australia) and Jana Horakova (Czech Republic). Fionn Griffiths was the highest placed home rider in the ladies event, coming 9th.

Dan Atherton at the start of the race - phunkt.com

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in hill walking and a new passion for surfing.

Back in the water!

May 2, 2008 on 3:09 pm | In Canoeing | No Comments

The sun was out at the weekend and I was able to enjoy my first open canoeing session of the year. Opening my tent door in the morning, the loch was glassy calm with a still mist hanging quietly over the water. We wasted no time in getting onto the water and enjoyed a wonderful morning, gliding through the water.

It was only a day trip but it’s certainly got me looking forward to the summer. I think that I will try to escape the office and join one our our combined canoeing and hiking trips which explore the North West Highlands, or perhaps the trip which traverses the Great Glen via Loch Ness.

Choices, choices, choices. Roll on the summer!

Stevie Christie
http://www.wildernessscotland.com
Director of Wilderness Scotland & also of the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival. Into most mountain sports, esp mountain biking, walking, climbing and sea-kayaking.

There is something not right about this

April 1, 2008 on 8:34 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

We decided to take a couple of the new mountain bikes (Bike Hebrides) for a trial round the Castle Grounds in Stornoway and all I keep hearing from behind me was ‘There is something not right about this’

Tommy comes from a road racing background and he found he was having to unlearn all of the techniques of road racing. The consiquences were a couple of spectacular falls . I looked back at one bend and the bike was int he middle of the track and there were a pair of legs sticking out of the bushes.

The ground was very wet after all the rain over the last week so it wasn’t just Tommy who was riding without the bike. I ended up running through the undergrowth after pressing the ejector seat on the bike which had decided it wanted to take a close look at a grabby mud hole.

The two things Tommy learnt were; you need to hang yourself off the back of the bike on decents, the saddle needs to be low enough to get your bum over the back wheel and you can’t stand up in the peddles on slippery ground or the back wheel just spins, so on steep slippery accents you need to keep your bum on the seat or at the very least your wieght over the back wheel.

Hopefully the tumbles won’t stop him coming out for another blast.

Tim Pickering
http://www.canoehebrides.com
Living in the world's biggest adventure playground - The Outer Hebrides CanoeHebrides.com - Sea kayaking Expeditions BikeHebrides.com -Quality Mountain Bike Hire

Deer Stalking

March 4, 2008 on 10:58 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

I have returned from running with the deer and ohh how I ache.

I flew away on Thursday and we had a business meeting in Edinburgh, this gave me a chance to nip into the Edinburgh Bike Coop for some bits for the new fleet of bikes we have for Bike Hebrides

Saturday found Jez and I wandering round Glasgow looking for braces and shirts, we also had to pop into Laura Ashley to pick up our waist coats and shorts. After meeting Jamie the team was complete and we laughed our way to the race start.

This is where the organisation of the race started to show a few limitations. We were standing in the queue and getting closer to the desk when they said they were closing until quarter past two. This was because of the 5k race but it would have been nice to tell us so we didn’t spend 30 minutes standing around. It was worth going out to watch the start of the 5k it was hilarious. The start line with the backdrop of Traquair House. Then on the start there was a mad dash up to the first hurdle a line of bales of straw. There was carnage when they all arrived.

Deer Stalker start

Bales on Deer Stalker

We checked in and then off to the pub for lunch. Jez and Jamie found the new food of the elite sports person The Sports Burger. Jamie did resist the chips in the name of training.

We doned our tailormade tweeds courtesy of Breanish Tweed suitably refreshed we made our way to the start.

At the start as we walked though to the start line we caused a bit of a stir, one of the comments ‘You have already won the award for satorial elegance’

Deer Stalker start

At the race start we were joined by Dave Wiseman and we decided the best start was to be over the bales as fast as possible and then accept we were going to get over hauled and settle into our own races. The start saw us perfectly positioned and then we were off. Over the bales and then into the corner at which point I discovered I was in serious oxygen debt and I needed to slow down. So, I settled back into my own pace and accepted I was going to get overhauled.

The first obstacle was a muddy ditch and then the start of the accent, the lung busting hill. We just seemed to keep going up. My lungs were bursting and my legs screaming it was time to stop. Finally though, we topped out and there was a fantastic downhill tear through the forest. Into the river and then another up hill, it wasn’t to bad until we rounded the corner and faced the ’stone shoot’. It seemed to go up into the clouds. As I climbed I started to pass people, I decided there was no way I could stop or I would never get started again. Reaching the top I realised it was so dark I had to get out the head torch another down hill and into the forest, slippery and a little less exciting and more scarey. There was an amusing interlude here with flashing lights and dark music a sureal experience in the middle of a 10k mountain run?

It was here the organisation of the race started to see a few more problems. At some of the junctions on the way up the route marking hadn’t been great but as the dark fell the lack of marking made finding our way more difficult. At the junctions there was a distinct lack of waymarking and at one stream we came out and there was no markers on the exit and we had to ask some local kids for directions. Then we went over the river Tweed and again there confusion over where the route went eventually we found it and ran for the finish.

There was a little disapointment when we also discovered there was no free beer as promised on the web site if you came in tweeds.

It was a good run but the niggles, which talking to competitors from last year were the same, let the event down. A little thought and it would have been not just good but fantastic.

Next there was a suggestion of doing the Jura Fell run I will need to see what my legs are saying about it at the end of the week - 16 miles and 2500 feet of accent …

Running like the wind or perhaps running from the hail?

February 24, 2008 on 9:31 pm | In Hillwalking, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Sometimes the Hebrides has the ability to take your breath away both physically and methaphorically.

As the final run in the training for the Mighty Deer Stalker next weekend, I went out with Mike. Mike had just bought a new camera and was keen to take some pictures. So with the blue skies punctuated with vicious showers we decided to go for a run. Mike suggested the West Coast of Lewis from the Gearrannan Black House Village up to Shawbost where we parked my car. Jayne dropped us off and was then going to take the kid’s for a walk.

The wind was a strong westerly so we were in for a push but the thing is westerlies bring showers.

The first hill was a killer and I was glad when Mike stopped to get the camera out.

View south over Carloway to Old Hill

Running on, we rose and fell to reach each headland, time and again we were treated to another stunning vista.

Looking North towards DalMor

The running was varied with very little level ground, I am convinced there was more up hill than down though.

Running over cliffs in Lewis

As we ran, we became aware of an impending sense of doom, each time we glanced over our shoulders there was gathering cloud, threatening to deliver its payload on us.

It was noticable the pace quickened and as we crested the hill above Dalbeag, we were suddenly being pushed along by the freshening wind. First there was a few flecks of rain in the air, then the rain got a little harder, then it got much ‘harder’ as it turned to hail. By this time we were hurtling head long over the bog, we could see the car, all be it about half a mile away. The dogs were haring in front of us, perhaps a sign?

The backs of my legs were stinging, to the point I thought it might cut the skin. Through the pain I heard Mike’s cheery comment ‘Just wait until they get to the size of golf balls’. I ran faster.

The shelter of the car was a welcome restbite and the heater even better.

Thanks to Mike for the pictures, I am looking fowards to more runs with the camera . ‘Oh look there is a great picture … shall we stop for a second?’

The Mighty Deer Stalker Looms Large

February 18, 2008 on 9:42 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

I am into the final week of running like a mad man, until the wind down, in preperation for the Mighty Deer Stalker. So yesterday had a great run through the bogs of northern Lewis just to get in the mood

We have managed to get sponsorship for our tweeds, are are going to be wearing plus fours, waist coats and the obligatory deer stalker. Breanish Tweed here in Lewis have kindly agreed to let us have some of their tweed and it is off at the tailors, being made, as I type. The Tweed is high end, hand woven here in the Isle of Lewis.

I had the sureal experience of being measured up by a tailor in my kitchen !

I have to declare a slight interest here as Anna owns Breanish Tweed and blagging sponsorship wasn’t to hard, but that aside I am glad it is a light weight tweed or I suspect there might be some interesting chaffing.