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Glentress & Ben Nevis 22-24 Oct 06

"I've just had a very busy but rewarding few days. On Sunday i was down in Glentress delivering a intermediate mountain bike course and then Monday and Tuesday took me to Ben Nevis for some private guiding.
Given the fact that it is October we had absolutely fantastic weather and thanks to everyone who participated with such enthusiasm and good humour. You may be interested in viewing some of the photos from the weekend.

looking ahead the weekend is looking pretty good - pumping surf on the East Coast of Scotland on Friday and Saturday and great wind on the Wets Coast. making the decision between surfing and kitesurfing a tough one.

Whatever you choose to do this weekend I hope that you have a great one.
Cheers
Neil

Macs Adventure Walking Holiday Dates & Prices 2007

Macs Adventure Walking Holiday Dates & Prices 2007

Good news! All dates and prices for Macs Adventure Walking Holidays, Weekends and Mountain Biking Adventures are now available on our website.

We have more daes than ever before and you will be pleased to hear that we have managed to keep almost all our prices at 2006 levels. Making our adventures even better value than before.

The West Highland Way is proving even more popular than ever before and dates in May 2007 are filling up already so if you are considering tackling the Scotland's finest long distance walk next year please get your booking in soon.

To all of you who travelled with us in 2006 - Thank you for a fantastic season and please bring all that lovely weather back in 2007.

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Plan to move end of 95-mile Highland walk route wins support

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Plan to move end of 95-mile Highland walk route wins support

Those of you who are interested in the West Highland Way might be interested in the above story. In my opinion an absolutely fantastic idea - over the years I have had more comments thanI can remember concerning the dreary last two miles of the way along the busy Glen Nevis road.

I only hope that they will keep individual interests out of the decision and do what is best for the walk and walkers. In my humble opinion I would suggest keeping the route off the road and following the Cow Hill Track above Braveheart Car Park Etc and then dropping into Fort William from the side of Cow Hill. A great finish to a world class walk rather than a dispointing 2 mile trudge along a noisy road.

Please do what is best for walkers!

Kite and Wind surfing in Tiree

The Isle of Tiree has long held legendary status among wind sports enthusiasts in th eUK and last weekend saw four of heading to the isle in search of wind and waves. Matthew, Dougie and Dan were looking for some epic windsurfing action while I was hoping for slightly lighter winds for some kite action.

The forecast was terrifying - gales and huge swell all weekend - and the conditions did not disappoint. We had a mixture of short periods of lighter winds combined with nuclear winds and waves from every direction. Matthew and Dan made light work of the 4m weather on Saturday and Dougie and I sneaked in a session later in the day once the winds moderated a little.

By the end of two and a half days of action all of us were totaled and had had more than enough sailing to last us until our annual fix next year.

For anyone into wind, kite or just straight surfing I can't recommend Tiree enough. Supposedly the windiest and sunniest place in the UK blessed with numerous huge sandy beaches, a thriving scene and all easily accessible. If you haven't experienced Tiree or any of the Outer Hebrides get planning! Enjoy and don't tell too many people about it.

A couple of useful hints
Kit Hire and Tuition - Wild Diamond - Will
Accommodation - Tiree Lodge
Ferry - Calmac

Surfing at Machrahanish

A fantastic forecast sent us to Machrahanish this weekend in search of waves. On arrival at we were greated by huge glassy waves - closing out on the most part but still a fantastic sight on the West Coast of Scotland. A quick late evening surf followed - largely unsuccessful but still an excuse to enjoy a couple of bevvies.

An early start on Saturday - and a much reduced swell - saw us heading back to WestPort - where I floundered around in the white water for a while.

Greg, Ali and Barry later went in for a session at Tangy - hooking into a couple of nice waves as the swell dissapeared.

For more photos visit this page -

Neil Survives 10 under the Ben

10 Under The Ben??? Yes you may well wonder what on earth that is!

A ten hour mountain bike race in Leachan Forest in the shadow of Ben Nevis. yes and it is as painful as it sounds. I signed up in a post new year haze on the assunption that it would motivate me to do some training and finally get rid of that winter blubber. Needless to say that the training never happened. Just one desperate week of mad riding on the Coast to Coast to teh amusement of everyone at the last minute.
The race started in pouring rain, which stopped shortly afterwards and was swiftly replaced by a swarm of midges intent on sucking my blood! And that was the good part! No in all seriousness the course was absolutely fantastic, interesting throughout with just the right mix of singletrack and blessed fireroad.
Organisation was first class so a big thank you to the organisers for a first class event and especially to the marshall at the wall who was beseiged by midges non-stop for 11 hours.

How did I do? i certainly didn't excell myself - 6 laps (60 miles) in 9:18 and 67th solo overall - but i did have a fantastic time and the atmosphere was first class. I am already in training for next years event and more specifically Relentless - the 24 hour event in October on the same course - see you there.

 

Outstanding conditions on Ben Nevis CMD Arete

Wow! I'm just back from guiding a group on Ben Nevis over the weekend and I've never seen such good conditions on Ben Nevis.

We tackled the mountain by the CMD Arete - the best walking route by far - and enjoyed blue skies and unbelievable visibility throughout the day. From the summit of the Ben we enjoyed views as far as Skye, Jura and Schiehallion.

The CMD is a challenging route and should only be attempted by experienced walkers. It involves over 1600 metres of ascent and the ridge is very exposed in places. if you would like more information on our guiding on the CMD Arete visit our Ben Nevis pages or give us a shout. 

New TCL & MBL Dates

Our Trail Cycle leader and Mountain Bike Leader courses have been selling incredibly fast and we have added several new dates to satisfy demand. We have a MBL training course running over the weekend of 15/16 April and a combined TCL training, assessment and MBL training course running from 1-5 May. If you have considerable MTB experience and are looking to fast track your training this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries on this.

Great Winter Conditions on Ben Nevis & more on the way

We have just enjoyed an absolutely suberb weekend of winter climbing in Lochaber. Beautiful blue sky conditions and perfect snow conditions.

We had five clients on our winter Ben Nevis Adventure and all enjoyed a demanding day of winter skills on Aonach Mor followed by a successful ascent of Ben Nevis in almost perfect weather conditions.

We are on our way up to Aviemore for a Cairngorms winter walking adventure this weekend and the way the snow has been coming down this week there is going to be no shortage of the white stuff.

Such a big dump of snow sets us up well for the remainder of the winter, putting down a good base and ensuring good conditions well into April. (Fingers crossed).

We do still have availability on our Winter Ben Nevis Adventure departing on 10 March 2006. And are offering 25% off. So if you are interested in getting some last minute winter walking book your place now. 

Successful Winter Ben Nevis Adventure

The first winter Ben Nevis Adventure for 2006 was a great success despite seemingly poor snow conditions and a pretty awful weather report.

Alison, who was leading the group for the weekend found some superb sliding conditions at Nevis Range which were perfect for honing those ice axe arrest skills. This was followed by an ascent of Aonoch Mor and a fraught descent after Donna injured her ankle.

As Sunday dawned the five remaining adventurers were already on the trail up Ben Nevis accompanied by winter gales and a forecast for heavy rain. Thankfully the gales died and the rain didn't appear so Alison plus Clay, Eric, Michael and Michelle (guided by Alison) all acheived the summit whiteout condiitons just before 1pm.

Thanks to all for a great weekend and I am certainly looking forward to the remaining winter trips with the forecast for the next week looking fantastic.
neil 

Snow in Fort William

Fresh snow has fallen in the western highlands and more is forecast for the end of the week. Just in time as our first Winter Ben Nevis adventure kicks off on Friday. This weekend has been fully subscribed for some time but we do have places available for our February and March trips. Hope to see you there and looking forward to a great weekend.

May Bank Holidays almost full.

Availability over both May bank holidays and specifically the half-term weekend over 27/28 May is now very limited on most of our guided and self-guided walking holidays. So if you are thinking of either the West Highland Way, Hadrian's Wall, the Coast to Coast please get your booking in as soon as possible or we may not be able to accommodate you.

Don't hesitate to contact us if you hav any queries.
Cheers
Neil

Cycle Touring in Western Cape, South Africa

Yes, there has been an eerie silence from this blog for sometime. But there is a reason Ali (my better half) and i have just spent an awesome month cycle touring in South Africa.

There is some absolutely fantastic touring available but there are also some downsides, such as a high crime rate and a general lack of respect for cyclists on the road.

Enough of the negatives, the attached photo was taken descending the Swartberg Pass in the Little Karoo. An epic 20 kilometre descent from over 1600m to just over 500m (if the memory serves me correctly. We did a two day tour from Outshoorn, over the Swartberg Pass to Prince Albert and then returned via Meiringspoort to Outshoorn, about 190km over the two days. You will find more pictures on a very basic website here.

If we were a bit more organised and feeling fitter at the time I would recommend the following as a first class cycle tour of the region.
Start George - cycle over the old Montagu Pass to Outshoorn, overnight.
Outshoorn to Prince Albert over Swartberg Pass (80km)
Rest day in Prince Albert (Don't miss the Bush Pub - awesome food)
Prince Albert to De Rust via Meiringspoort - awesome day not sure of distance.
De Rust back to George in one final push or more sensibly break the day in Outshoorn.
Happy touring this route is awesome.

We did a couple of other routes around the garden route as well as down the Cape Peninsula so don't hesitate to get in touch for any advice on touring in the Western Cape.

More news on the Scottish winter to follow soon.