Lochaber Blogs
Blogs (web logs) provide an ideal opportunity to explore the traditions, culture and wildlife of Wild Lochaber. We have put together a collection of local blogs and provide the titles and text snippets to give a taste of each entry with direct links to the main blog entry on the host website. We hope you will find time to explore the full articles and further information on the host blog sites.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions for blogs you would like to see here.
Wild About Lochaber
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Are you Wild About Ardnamurchan? Surrounded by sea on three sides, this remote and rugged peninsula is a haven for wildlife including otter, golden eagle, pine marten, red squirrel and many a winged wee beastie. A great destination for a Slow Adventure, a family holiday or even a day trip from Fort...
West Coast Mountain Guides
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For Andrew's final day, we felt that we had got every last drop of winter out of Ben Nevis, so we changed tack slightly and enjoyed a springlike ascent of North Buttress on Buachaille Etive Mor. It's a great route at any time of the year, with plenty of mountaineering to get to the 3 or...
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For our fourth day, Andrew and I found winter on Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis. We put crampons on at the foot of the Douglas Boulder and required them for the whole ascent. The East Gully of the Douglas Boulder was still complete, the steep pitch out was on bare rock and we were on a fair bit of snow...
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Despite a bit of thaw happening the Highlands right now, there's still a reasonable amount of snow and climbing to be had. Andrew and I made a bee-line for the SW Ridge of the Douglas Boulder, which seems to have been a popular options over the past few days, as the snow has clearly been...
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Today brought with it a rise in the temperatures, but at least the day started off dry. The great thing about turf is that whilst it can take some time to freeze, once it is frozen, it takes a little while to become soggy again once a thaw sets in. With that in mind, Andrew and I headed to Stob...
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With views up to the summits for much of the day and with cold, calm conditions, it was a great day to be out on Ben Nevis today. I was out with Andrew, who is looking to develop his winter climbing. With the forecast looking to deteriorate a bit over the next couple days, we decided to make the...
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One of the great things about the job that I do is the opportunity to explore new places whilst working, today was one of those exploratory days. I was out with Nick, Allan and Andy for their final day. We've climbed many of the classics, so thought that it was about time to try somewhere...
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The forecasts for today were suggesting similar winds to yesterday, but cooler and drier conditions. After quite a bit of thought, I decided that Nick, Allan, Andy and I should seek shelter on the East Ridge of Beinn a'Chaorainn (with possible descent options of climbing back down the ridge...
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Today, I was out with Nick, Andy and Allan, who I've been out with a number of times over the years. We decided that Western Rib on the west face of Aonach Mor would give us a good mountaineering day out. It also gave us a good deal of trail breaking to get round there! Fortunately, the snow...
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For Peter's final day, we decided to go for a journey and headed up Stob Ban, which translates as white peak, which it definitely is at the moment. We had a thaw last night and into the early hours of today, which stripped some of the lower-lying snow and saturated the snowpack to about 800m...
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Today started off very clear and crisp, with great views right up to the summits. There was a hint of red in the sky, adding to the ambience, but you know what they say… 'red sky in the morning, winter climbers' warning'. Peter and I planned to be on our way out by the time...
Hunter Mountaineering Courses and Guiding
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27th February 2013. Solo on Ben Nevis. Photo taken by Zac Poulton. Sometimes the weather and conditions are terrific and it all comes together. On this day in 2013, I was able to solo Tower Ridge, No.4 Gully, Central Gully and Ledge Route. Brilliant. What will 2019 hold for us all? This is what I...
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9th February 2010. White Shark with Lena Brune Back in 2010 I started to climb with somebody called Lena Brune. Our first climb was on the 2nd Feb, second climb on the 3rd Feb and so this (9th Feb) was our third climb together. Lena and I have climbed a bit since then too! This is what I wrote on...
Abacus Mountain Guides
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After an amazing day on Monday, the temperature rose and it started to rain at all levels. We've had two wet days with the freezing level above the tops and we have lost a lot of ice and all the rime that was on the rocks. It was a bit drier today and it was nice to get back up Ben Nevis to...
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What a wonderful day to be on Ben Nevis. There were lots of people out enjoying a really nice day of weather and climbing conditions on the North Face and Rob, Ali and I had a fantastic time climbing Ledge Route. This was a wee step up for them, something more "ropey" than what they have done...
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More fresh snowfall last night gave Lochaber MRT members a very tough job to rescue two climbers stuck on Tower Ridge. The call out came in last night and everyone got down by 11am this morning after a very long night. Well done to everyone involved and thank you. Dave and I...
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The long walk in to Creag Meagaidh is made easier by the lovely path and the trees you walk through in the lower part of the coire. SNH has been keeping the deer density lower here than in most estates for a couple of decades in order that the trees, heather and everything else growing in...
Lochaber Chamber of Commerce
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You might have noticed that the possible introduction of a tourist tax – or Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) – is back in the news. The Scottish Government’s proposed Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) aims to allow local councils to raise additional income directly from visitors to help address local...
Highland Titles
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Two miles north of the Stirlingshire town of Denny, close to the village of Torwood, lies the ruinous 16th century Torwood Castle. A crumbling shell of what it once was, the lonely silhouette sits quietly in the countryside and the castle is not open to the public. But in recent years several...
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Nestled high above Dollar Glen in Clackmannanshire, the medieval Castle Campbell rises dramatically against a backdrop of the green Ochil Hills. Once called the Castle of Glooms (derived from the Scottish Gaelic word glom meaning chasm) Castle Campbell was the Lowland stronghold of the formidable...
