It's cold , crisp and crunchy in the Outdoor Capital

Friday, December 21, 2007

Winter sunrise

Kinlochleven view

With temperatures hardly above freezing and clear sunny skies, it's been cracking week here in the Outdoor Capital.

On Sunday I took a few hours out to walk up to Loch Eilde Mor. The walk isn't signed but is easy to find using the 1-25,000 Ordnance Survey Map of the area. Park at the Grey Mares tail car park at the back of Kinlochleven and follow tracks up the hill. Very quickly you get a real sense of remoteness but you are on a path all the way. It is steep and rocky in places. The views are great both down to Kinlochleven and then through to the Mamores.

The weather got colder during the week, with heavy frosts turning the area into a winter wonderland. I couldn't resist taking a quick view of the sunrise on my way into work this week.

If you aren't confident of getting out into the hills in winter - get some winter skills with some of the areas guides. With much of the boggy ground frozen winter walking when it is clear and crisp can be fantastic.

With the weather so cold some of the roads have been icy. So don't forget to check driving conditions before setting out if you are coming up for the New Year or Christmas. Go to the trafficscotland website.

posted by Outdoor Capital of the UK @ 11:06 AM  0 comments

Cracking Outdoor Capital Winter Sunset

Monday, December 10, 2007

What a cracker of a day! This is the view from the Outdoor Capital office and we were rewarded with a spectacular sunset today.

What will it be like tomorrow? Check out these weather links to find out.

http://www.outdoorcapital.co.uk/weather-conditions.asp

posted by Outdoor Capital of the UK @ 5:14 PM  0 comments

Hands up for Trad

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Kintyre Schools Pipe Band in action at the recent awards ceremony

Fort William hosted the Scottish Trad Music awards, and from the 29th November to the 1st of December, and the area was alive with performances from some of Scotlands best musicians.

The gala awards ceremony held at the Nevis Centre on Sat 1st December was a great event with perfomances from the Unusual Suspects, Shooglenifty, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Sylvia Barnes, Kathleen MacInnes, The Marian Anderson Scottish Dance Band, Kintyre Schools Pipe Band, Feis Rois, Catriona Watt, and the Anna Massie Band.

The diversity and quality of performances showed how vibrant the scene is at the moment. With bands like the Red Hot Chilli Pipers (who also won an award) putting a modern take on piping, bands like the Kintyre Schools Pipe Band showing how many youngsters are playing and that they can mix traditional airs with modern interpretations of piping, and a host of new singers coming up such as Catriona Watt (Radio Scotland Yound Trad Musician of the Year) this is great time to get out and listen to Scotland trad music.

For a full list of winners and more info on this event go to.

http://www.handsupfortrad.co.uk/tradmusicawards/index.htm

The Outdoor Capital website has an events listing so keep your eye out for future events.

posted by Outdoor Capital of the UK @ 11:53 AM  0 comments

Slacklining in Glen Nevis

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Top UK slackliner John Ritson launched the 2008 Fort William Mountain Festival progreamme in style by slackliner across the roaring Water of Nevis at the Lower Falls, Glen Nevis today, Dec 4th 2007. Slacklining is similiar to tightrope walking but the rope is dynamic or slack, not taut. This makes balancing much harder but because there is bounce in the rope means all kinds of hair raising tricks can be done. Watch the video to get some idea of who skilful it really is. It was a pretty driech December day up here too - pretty windy and rainy but this didn't put John off.

The 2008 Festival looks to be as dramatic as John's tricks today - with a great line up of lectures, workshops and exhibitions taking place from the 15-23 Feb 2008. Top climber Dave MacLeod will be leading the final evening on the 23 Feb 08: an evening debating the ethics of mountaineering on Everest. He will be joined by Kenton Cool (who has summited Everest more than anyone else in the UK) , and Matt Dickinson a mountaineer and filmaker who was on Everest during the fateful 1996 season. For more info on the festival go to http://www.mountainfestival.co.uk/ or to the Outdoor Capital website news sections

posted by Outdoor Capital of the UK @ 1:56 PM  0 comments

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