A Fantastic Achievement by Paul Bloe

CMT United Kingdom - The "Ben Nevis" Challenge - Click here to read the full story>>
I am sure that many of you considering Ben Nevis as a challenge will be inspired by Paul Bloe's account of his successful ascent of Ben Nevis in August. Paul makes light of what was a huge personal challenge and in many years of working with clients in the mountains I have never seen anyone dig so deep to achieve a personal goal.

It was a great honour to help Paul and his friends achive a seemingly impossible goal. When we started the climb I thought it was highly unlikely that we would summit (I didn't share this with him at the time) and it was only through Paul's bloody mindedness and his friends unstinting support that we were successful.

I found it hugely inspiring to be involved with Paul's Ben Nevis Challenge and I hope that we can team up again soon for some further adventure. Until then!

West Highland Way Photos from Alex Elrick

Photos
Alex Elrick was kind enough to share his photos from his recent West Highland Way trip with us. He walked in early October this year and as you can see from the photographs he was blessed with absolutely lovely weather.

I hope that you enjoy viewing Alex's photos as much as I did and it gets you inspired to get training for your next adventure.

For more info on our West Highland Way packages visit our website here..

Happy Viewing.

Challenging & Successful Coast to Coast

A big thank you to all who made the May/June Coast to Coast such a success. With a truly multi national team and some hugely varied weather this made for a memorable trip.

A couple of good days to Laggan where followed by two spectacularly wet days - just how wet can be seen from Crispin's photos which are linked to elsewhere in the blog.
Flooded rivers, tracks that looked more like rivers and some truly character builing riding.

As always our perseverence and after changing all our brakeblocks in Tomintoul three days of glorious weather followed as we headed to Ballater, Edzell and then to the coast at Montrose.

In the end all 13 riders made the complete crossing and it's certainly a trip I won't forget in a hurry. Thanks to all of you for making an outstanding trip. I can't wait for the next one in July. We are now also running the Coast to Coast as a self-guided trip so if you and some mates would like to tackle the ultimate Scottish Off-Road Trip give us a shout. (Check out the photos here>>)

Happy peddling.

Intermediate Trail Riding in the October Sunshine

 

What a great weekend! Two days of Intermediate Skills in the October Sunshine. Check out the pictures now and get yourself ready for your winter riding.

Here's what Paula had to say:

Neil,

We really enjoyed our skills course last weekend! Thanks.
A couple of comments for you - just so you know...

1. Keith did a great job as our guru. He pitched the skills teaching and riding spot on.

2. The website got you our booking - clear, informative and, most important, up-to-date with current availability.

I won't hesitate to recommend you!

Paula Mayland

Winter Mountaineering in the Cairngorms

Cairngorms Weekend 4 March 07

The Cairngorms delivered its best and worst winter weather as last weekend saw Peter, Ali and I head to the Cairngorms for a weekend of Winter Mountaineering.

Saturday was one of those truly glorious days which make you happy to be alive. The sun shone all day, the condiitons were perfect and we enjoyed an awesome day of climbing in Fiacaill Couloir in Coire an t-Sneachda. The Cairngorms just doesn't get any more spectacular than this and there were plenty of walkers and climbing teams out enjoying the spectacular conditions.

Sunday showed the other side of the Scottish Highlands. After struggling against high winds on the walk in to Coire an t-Sneachda we were finally turned back at the rescue box when storm force wind made mobility impossible. Most climbing teams seemed to suffer the same fate as we had plenty of company on the walk back to the car park.

Overall the weekend was a great success and I'm looking forward to getting back into the hills again soon.

Winter is Here!

Winter is certainly here! Just back from a successful weekend in Lochaber with a great group. Saturday was spent on Aonach Mor learning essential skills. The morning was extremely windy but we managed to find some shelter tucked in behind the Nid for those essential self arrest skills and snowpack analysis. Afterwards we popped over the top to face the full force of the wind and perfect our crampon technique.

An early start on Sunday was rewarded by low wind speed and plenty of new snow which continued to fall throughout the day. The deep snow made for hard going from about 800m upwards and the summit plateau was pretty wild with full whiteout conditions. A northerly wind brought far colder conditions on the descent. Our whole party summited in the tough conditions and this made for a very successful weekend. Thanks to all those involved. Neil

Trekking in New Zealand - The Tongariro Circuit

November saw Ali and I head to the other side of the world for three weeks in New Zealand. A fantastic destination with world class walking and cycling. Rather than relax and lie on the beach like most honemooners we tackled a couple of adventures. First was the Tongariro Circuit - one of New Zealand's Great Walks.

We managed to hit a very Scottish couple of days of weather but despite this thoroughly enjoyed the three day hike through the Tongariro National Park and would have no hesitation in recommending it. I hope that you are able to experience this wonderful landscape soon.For more images from this walk please visit my Picasa Gallery here