The Highlands

BBC Scotland is making a documentary about the Munros to be shown on BBC Four this summer. If you are expecting to complete the Munros between now and the end of May 2009, the BBC would like to hear from you!

Please contact the Director, Matt Barrett, at matt.barrett@bbc.co.uk or 0141-422-6110 and let him know when & where you expect to compleat, how you plan to celebrate, plus a line or two about yourself. Please don’t forget to leave your contact information.

The film and photography prizes were announced at the closing session of the 6th Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival at the George Square Theatre on Sunday night. The winners are:

• Tiso Best Film Award - Echo Wall
• Alien Rock Best Climbing Film - Echo Wall
• Go Fast People’s Choice - Grit Kids

If you missed it, Echo Wall is now available to buy from Dave MacLeod’s website. Grit Kids is a chapter of Committed Vol.2, which will be available soon from the Hot Aches website.

The photo competitions were won by:

• A Winter Adventure - Nick Carter
• Pushing My Limits - Lukasz Warzecha

Following on from the success of the last two writing competitions the Fort William Mountain Festival and the John Muir Trust is again running a writing competition for aspiring writers.

With the broad theme of ‘experiences in wild places’, entries are invited which incorporate a journey, a place, an expedition, a mountain or river, a walk, climb, sail or kayak…or whatever wild experience has inspired you!

The aim is to celebrate our landscape and wild places by encouraging new and upcoming writers to write about their experiences and share their stories.

Entries selected for final consideration will be exhibited at the 2009 Fort William Mountain Festival.

• Full details and entry forms

Super7 has arranged a talk by Simon Yates at the EICA:Ratho. Best known as a result of his epic rescue of Joe Simpson, after their first ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes described in the award winning book and film ‘Touching the Void’

Over the last 25 years Simon has climed extensively around the world, concentrating on exploratory mountaineering. He has made many first ascents in the Himalayas and Andes and he’ll bring his tales to EICA: Ratho on Wednesday 15th October 2008. Start: 19.30

Tickets: £9 in advance, £10 on the door.

10 Under the Ben, takes place up in the Nevis Range this weekend.

The 10 hour mountain bike marathon from No Fuss Events will treat riders to an awesome course incorporating sections of the World Championships cross country course, as well as some stunning sections of singletrack and fire roads in the shadow of the North Face of the countries highest mountain Ben Nevis.

This exciting event is certain to pull a large and committed crowd, and we’re hoping everyone has a good, safe, fast run.

Scotland’s oldest mountaineering club for women marks its 100th anniversary by climbing one of the country’s most famous peaks in costumes from throughout its century.

• Watch BBC News item

The Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival is seeking film and photo entries for the 2008 festival, which will run 17-19 October 2008. They are also running a new literary competition in association with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

The literary competition has prizes for both prose and poetry. There are cash prizes totalling almost £500 and the winners in each category will also receive a pair of weekend passes for this year’s EMFF. The closing date for entries is 31 August. Full details.

The categories for the 2008 photography competition are:

1. A Winter Adventure
2. Pushing My Limits

Open to everyone, professional or amatuer alike the prizes include cash, membership of the MCoS and a Harvey’s map of the Cairngorms. And, of course, there is the thrill of seeing your photo in a public exhibition! Closing date for entries is 31 July 2008. Full details.

The film competition will consider any film with a focus on adventure - be that climbing, kayaking, skiing, mountain biking or whatever. Short films and ‘mockumentaries’ will also be considered! Closing date for entries is 30 June 2008. Full details.

A BBC film crew have captured some footage showing it gets windy in Scotland. The shots were included as part of BBC natural history producer Fergus Beeley nature diary from Beinn Eighe’s National Nature Reserve show water being blown back uphill on a windy day in Torridon. They have been picked up by the media as an ‘and finally’ and widely circulated. It’s only take 3 months for this material to surface, front line journalism at its best - keep up the good work chaps!

• See the original article on the BBC website

A note at the end of the article states ‘Secrets of the Highlands is likely to be broadcast on BBC Two in the Spring of 2009, on the BBC Natural World series‘. Watch this space for updates.

A new magazine is being released later this month - Scotland Outdoors is a new quarterly magazine for outdoor adventurers of all ages who want to experience Scotland’s wild places at first hand.

Their aim is to use the best writers and photographers to showcase opportunities to explore one of Europe’s greatest natural playgrounds with features on adventure travel, active outdoor sports, wildlife, ecology, plus the people and issues that shape Scotland’s outdoors.

Rather than being available on the newsstand, Scotland Outdoors will be distributed through targeted partnerships with key outdoors stakeholders, including accommodation providers, Green Tourism Business Scheme members, Wild Scotland members, visitor centres, specialist tour and outdoor retailers.

• For more information see: www.scotlandoutdoorsmagazine.com

Of the things I love in the world Ale, Mountains and Festivals are all close to the top of the list - so the this years Cumberland Ale Keswick Mountain Festival is a must. It runs from Wednesday 14th to Sunday 18th May 2008 with an excellent line up of talks from explorers, climbers, mountaineers as well as mountain bikers, canoeists and photographers. All this plus an array of activities are on offer - in and around Keswick, the ideal base for exploring The Lakes (or ‘The Ponds’ as some north of the border like to call them). Some of the highlights include:

• The Birketts owt on’t Fjalls (Out on the Fells)
• Andy Kirkpatrick - Strange Penchant for the long, the cold and the difficult
• Doug Scott - A Crawl down the Ogre
• Chris Bonington and Tony Riley - Interactive Photography workshop The Everest Years
• The Life of Julia Bradbury - her recent adventures in the Great Outdoors
• Alan Hinkes - The Big 14
• Mick Fowler - Matterhorns of Tibet
• Stephen Venables - Higher than the Eagle Soars
• Full details at www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk