Check out the video promo for this year’s Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival, organised by my good friend Stevie Christie.

I spoke at last year’s event and it was a tremendous festival. I commend it to you…

 

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Close to the head of Glen Lyon in Perthshire a little side road crosses pine studded moorland to a huge concrete dam that holds back the waters of Loch an Diamh. On either side of the dam two big hills rise up; Stuchd an Lochain, 3150 ft/960m, the peak of the small loch, and opposite it, across the waters of the loch, Meall Buidhe 3058ft, the yellow hill.

Most Munro-baggers combine these two hills by climbing Stuchd an Lochain, returning to their starting point by the Loch an Daimh dam, climbing Meall Buidhe and returning by the same route. I have to admit I’ve always thought that a rather disrespectful way to treat hills, the method of the list-ticker, but hey, I’ve done it myself and it’s perhaps only when you’ve climbed all 284 Munros that you can afford the luxury of visiting the hills as individuals, taking time to explore their corries and ridges more fully.

I’ve also climbed these hills as part of a circuit of Loch an Daimh, starting and finishing at the dam. This makes a superb circular walk and adds an extra Corbett, Sron a’ Choire Chnapanich, 2746ft/837m to the itinerary. As a bonus, the head of Loch an Daimh is a wonderful spot, splendidly remote and atmospheric. It is a big day though…

Last weekend I chose Stuchd an Lochain for one of my walks on the BBC’s Adventure Show. With the leaves on the trees beginning to turn, the hill slopes taking on a shade of burnished bronze, the wild geese heading south and the red deer stags at the rut, the season is definitely on the turn. I hate to mention it but in less than a month we’ll be turning our clocks back! That means shorter days, and I wanted to describe a shorter hill day day for the series. Stuchd an Lochain was ideal.

The mountain sits near the head of Glen Lyon, Scotland’s longest and, some would say, loveliest glen. From Loch Lyon to Aberfeldy the glen runs for over 20 miles, its slopes rising from green fields, steep and wooded, to over three thousand feet on both sides. And the whole glen reeks of history.

Legend claims the great Celtic hero Fionn Mac Cumhaill (or Fingal) came here in the third century with his band of Fianna warriors. They set up their “duns”, or fortresses, along the length of the River Lyon. Two thousand years ago, Emperor Ceasar Augustus sent an emissary to Scotland, to Dun Geal, near modern Fortingall. The emissary’s wife gave birth to a baby, and they called him Pontius Pilate. He went on to become the fifth procurator of Judea and ordered the crucifixion of Christ.

Stuchd an Lochain can also be climbed from Cashlie at the western end of the Stronuich Reservoir in Glen Lyon via the Allt Cashlie which leads to the plateau between Sron Chona Choirein and the summit, but this route of ascent lacks the character of the north side of the hill.

Better to start from the Loch an Daimh dam, or more correctly, the Giorra Dam. There were once two lochs here, Loch Giorra and Loch an Damh, separated by a large strip of land where there was a farmhouse and a tract of woodland. These were submerged below the waters when the dam was built and the waters raised, turning the two lochs into one. The Hydro Board has chosen to keep the name Giorra for the name of the dam, although the OS appears to prefer Loch an Daimh.

From the south end of the dam a faint path climbs grassy slopes south to reach the ridge above Coire Ban. A line of fence posts can be followed west to Creag an Fheadain from where a descent into a bealach is followed by an easy climb to Sron Choma Choirein. A broad mossy ridge now leads round the cliffs above Lochan nan Cat to the summit where, in 1590, a local laird called Mad Colin Campbell of Meggernie, apparently took a perverse delight in chasing a herd of goats over the edge into the lochan below. But Campbell really earned his nickname as a madman when he tried to throw the shepherd over the edge as well…

If you get as good a day as we did you’ll be blessed with a full 360 degree panorama, with views of hills ranging from the Cairngorms to Ben Nevis, and the Buachaille to Ben Lawers. This summit has to be one of the finest viewpoints in the southern highlands.

Map: OS 1:50,000 Sheet 51

Distance: About 6 miles

Approx Time: 3-5 hours

Start/Finish: Loch Giorra Dam (GR 510436)

Route: From the south side of the dam follow a track for a short distance to where a cairned route leaves the track and climbs up the slopes of Coire Ban. Continue climbing this muddy and eroded path to reach the ridge above the corrie. Follow the ridge, and old fence posts, to Creag an Fheadain, then SSW to Sron Chona Choirein then W and NW to the summit slopes of Stuchd an Lochain. Return the same way

The new look TGO Magazine will be in the shops next Thursday.

Away back in February we started looking at some changes, contacted a number of readers, produced our Reader Survey, went through all the ensuing results with a fine tooth comb and came up with a strategy for what, we hope, will be the magazine that the TGO readers have asked for.

We’ve actually changed the look quite radically, moved to a different paper stock, changed all the fonts and devised a new style which, I think, looks a bit more earthy and backwoodsy than the old style. We’ve also produced a bunch of new features and introduced some new writers, like singer/songwriter Roddy Woomble and environmental lawyer Jamie Whittle. Ex deputy dawg John Manning joins our gear testing team. 

Included in the first new-look-new-feel issue is a spotlight on the North-west of Scotland with my own Sutherland Trail, a description of Quinag and a look at Foinaven. We have a wonderful photo-essay of Europe’s latest, and most spectacular via ferrata and a great profile of two young men who became the youngest Brits to climb Everest. Following their epic climb they made a self propelled journey between the poles. 

Don’t forget - the November issue of TGO will be in the shops next Thursday and if anyone fancies buying a subscription we still have our fantastic subs offer of a Nanok sleeping bag, free with every new subscription!

The Nevis Partnership is seeking to reduce environmental damage and improve visitor orientation on the slopes of Britain’s highest mountain. And we (I’m Chairman of the NP) want to know your thoughts on the matter.

Following consultation with landowners, local user groups and path specialists, the Partnership has produced a proposal to reduce environmental damage between the outflow of Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe (the Halfway Lochan; NN 145732) on Ben Nevis and the upper car park at the start of the Allt a’ Mhuilinn track (NN 148750). It’s hoped the proposed work will also help reduce the incidence of visitors making the mistake of taking the wider and better surfaced lochan path in the belief that it is part of a route to the summit of Ben Nevis or, alternatively, back to Glen Nevis.

The proposed work will entail reducing the width of the constructed path that joins the “mountain track” at the 653m contour, and reducing the width of the path that joins up with the North Face link path.

In addition, 50m of additional path will have to be built; ATV markers/mountain rescue team posts will be removed; and a gate/stile will be constructed on the lower deer fence.

Full details of the plans are available by visiting The Nevis Partnership website at www.nevispartnership.co.uk and feedback on the proposals are welcome. We will consider any comments/feedback at our Board meeting on December 15, so those wishing to comment are asked to do so by email to info@nevispartnership.co.uk before November 30, to allow time for the comments to be collated and studied prior to the meeting.

I’ve been writing a weekly column in Scotland’s Sunday Herald newspaper for about 8/9 years so I thought I’d reproduce them, once published in the paper, here on the website. Here’s the first one, to a unique geological phenomenon that I first visited as a youngster…

The Whangie

Having moved away from the dear green place of Glasgow half a lifetime ago it’s always a pleasure to return to the city from time to time and appreciate again the abruptness of the dividing line between suburbs and glorious countryside.

For years I’ve maintained the best thing Edinburgh has going for it are the Pentlands, and similarly Glasgow has the Campsie Fells, that lovely, steep-sided and sprawling massif that used to dominate so much of my attention when I was a schoolboy. It was here I used to wander, lonely as a naive and innocent youngster with little notion of navigation or Gore-Tex waterproofs or safety skills or the potential consequences of a twisted ankle. It was here my pals and I climbed with old washing-line rope and slept under a tarpaulin wrapped in tartan blankets pinched from the house. We carried everything, including our bottles of Tizer, in an ancient Bergen that made our shoulders ache.

I couldn’t help smile at the memory when my wife and I drove out through Bearsden last weekend with the Campsies dominating our views. Out past Carbeth Inn, heaving with middle-aged bikers on a warm Sunday afternoon, and on towards the Stockie Muir with the car park at the Queen’s View full of well equipped and “properly” dressed walkers heading for the Whangie. Because our walk was a spur of the moment decision we were dressed in casual shirts, jeans and trainers – hope I’m not accused of setting a bad example…

By this time I was in full nostalgia mode – gazing across the Blane Valley to the great rounded upthrust of Dumgoyne and the rolling Campsies, across the flatlands of the Stockie Muir and the Carse of Stirling to the Highland Line with Ben Lomond rising dramatically from its island-studded loch. By this time we were plunging along a very wet and boggy path but one whose every turn and twist came back to me despite the gap of twenty-odd years since I last tramped here.

The Whangie is a geological phenomenon – a section of rocky hillside that has been pulled away from the main slope, resulting in a yawning ravine. It is, in fact, the result of “glacial plucking”. When the Stockie Muir and Auchineden Hill were covered in ice a glacier, moving ever so slowly, gradually pulled the frozen crag from the hillside, causing a fracture to form. In effect, the glacier tore the hillside apart, creating a long cavern between the two sections.

Today, the cleft is about a hundred metres in length and rises on both sides to a height of over a dozen metres. At one point the two walls are less than a metre apart. In less affluent days when young rock climbers didn’t have the means of travelling to the highlands, they climbed here on the steep sides of the Whangie. I climbed my very first VS (Very Severe) route here and for a short period of my life the Whangie seemed like a second home.

Like rock climbing routes, certain walking areas become fashionable from time to time, but I was surprised at the large number of people who were walking here. The Whangie was a popular destination for ramblers throughout the early 20^th century and at the end of the 19^th century a columnist in Glasgow’s Evening Citizen, Hugh MacDonald, described the phenomenon as a “vast section of the hill that has been wrenched asunder, leaving a lengthened and deepened chasm yawning along the line of separation. The projections of one side (of the ravine),” he continued, “correspond with singular exactness to the hollows of the other.”

There were no rock climbers around when we reached the walls of the Whangie and it didn’t take me long to realise my old rock climbing skills, such as they were, had abandoned me, but it was fun to clamber around on the easier routes for a hour or so enjoying the views out to Loch Lomond and across Dunbarton Muir to Durncrooks Reservoir. The Whangie is simply a great place to be on a warm Sunday afternoon.

We returned by the lower path, recalling the less prosaic description of the Whangie’s origins. After hosting a particularly successful meeting of warlocks and witches somewhere on the Kilpatrick Hills, Auld Nick was flying to another meeting when, feeling rather pleased with himself, he flicked his tail in joy, tearing apart the hillside over which he was flying. And thus, The Whangie was created…

Map: OS 1:50,000 Sheet 64

Distance: 3 miles

Approx Time: 2 hours

Start/Finish: Queen’s View car park on the A809 Drymen road

Route: Leave the car park, cross a stile over a wall, cross the burn and follow the duckboards uphill. Continue climbing on the broad path until you reach a dilapidated ladder stile. Cross the stile and continue uphill, following the higher level path to the summit trig point of Auchineden Hill. From here continue in a NW then W direction to reach the end of The Whangie. From here a path returns on a lower route to the old ladder stile and the outward path from the car park.

I’m greatly concerned that one of Scotland’s most successful environmental campaigning groups could soon be wound up because of a lack of volunteers to run it.

The Scottish Wild Land Group’s officials are standing down at their next AGM and the organisation will be wound up if no successor volunteers come forward. The current Steering Team Co-ordinator, Treasurer/Membership Secretary, and Wild Land News Editor are all standing down and not seeking re-election.

The Group has been active (with others) in many key issues in Scottish wild land protection, including protecting Knoydart from a proposed army training range; campaigning against ski developments in the Cairngorms; arguing for Land Reform including community buy-outs and access legislation; fighting tax-break forestry in the Caithness Flow Country; pressing for only smaller / community controlled renewable energy developments, not megaprojects; and,opposing the massive impact of the planned Beauly-Denny power-line project.

Alistair Cant, the Co-ordinator of the group which was formed in 1982, told me: “We have all served for 14 years or more and it is time for new blood to come in and refresh SWLG. We have planned a handover period and everything is going well, but we need fresh volunteers to run this well-respected body.”

The group’s AGM will take place at 7.30pm on Saturday November 29 at the Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling. After the usual business, if there are no new nominations for the official posts then a motion will be proposed to wind up the group. If approved, all remaining assets would be distributed to charities with like-minded aims.

Alistair also said: “The new post-holders could come from our existing membership, or from supporters, or other committed individuals. So please, if you wish to work to protect and enhance wild land in Scotland, come along to our AGM - all are welcome.”

With so many threats to the wild land areas of the UK we simply can no longer afford the luxury of remaining silent. I would encourage anyone reading this to become involved and fight for these areas that give us so much pleasure and solace. We are seriously in danger of losing many of these areas and we need as many people as possible to stand up and fight for them. Remember the words of John Muir; “Do something for wildness, and make the mountains glad.”

My old mate Chris Townsend will feature in this year’s Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival, talking about his recent ski touring adventures in Yosemite, staying in self-constructed igloos along the way!

Britain’s best known mountaineer, Chris Bonington will deliver the keynote speech, focusing on some of his great climbs away from Everest, including his infamous escape from The Ogre with Doug Scott and first ascents in both the Arctic and Antarctic.

I had the pleasure of speaking in Edinburgh last year and it was a fantastic event with a very enthusiastic audience. This year, the three-day festival will attract more than 2500 outdoor enthusiasts from across Scotland and the North of England keen to enjoy awe-inspiring lectures and a showcase of 22 action-packed films from Scotland and around the world. The festival aims to promote mountain culture by providing a platform for adventure film-makers to showcase their work.

Stevie Christie, Director of Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival, said: “This year’s Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival is set to be the best yet aiming to entertain, enlighten and inspire. We have created a diverse programme of films from Scotland and around the world that show the highs and lows as well as the thrills and spills of mountain adventures. From extreme sports such as BASE Jumping to more traditional sports such as climbing, kayaking and skiing, all are included ensuring there is something for every outdoor enthusiast. Magnificent scenery has a starring role in all the films whether it’s the wilds of Alaska, waterfalls in Mexico, Icelandic glaciers or the mountain peaks of Scotland.”

Other speakers include Mark Beaumont, the Scot who shot to fame earlier this year having cycled around the world in a world breaking time – 18000 miles in 194 days; Justine Curgenven – one of the world’s top sea-kayakers who will recount her recent circumnavigation of New Zealand and other adventures, and Niall McNair, the Edinburgh-based climber who has charted his own route to becoming one of the UK’s top traditional climbers, his deafness proving no obstacle to his achievements

The sixth Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival takes place over the weekend of October 17-19. See for full details. Tickets and programmes are now available from Tiso stores and from Alien Rock 1 climbing centre or call Tiso on: 0141 552 6642

From what I can gather, Hugh Fullerton-Smith, Paul Lister’s right hand man at Alladale, has been told in no uncertain terms what members of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland think of his plans to surround the estate with a 9ft tall electrified fence.

Fullerton-Smith was a guest of the MCof S at their AGM at Glenmore Lodge at the weekend and after his presentation I’m told there was a considerable amount of feelings raised over the issue. I missed the event myself - had intended on being there, but because of an unforseen event I had to pull out.

However, Fullerton-Smith made the point that there had been very little opposition to Lister’s proposals. Perhaps it’s time for hillwalkers and climbers and those who love the wild places of Scotland to write to Lister and tell him we don’t want to see the Land Reform Act compromised and the highlands of Scotland is no place for a 9ft high electric fence around 30,000 acres.

After watching the recent television series about Lister I have my doubts about his true intentions, but Fullerton-Smith appears to be a pretty decent type. I suspect he might be willing to compromise a little. I’ve written numerous times that if Lister drops his plans for the big fence then organisations like the Ramblers and the MCof S will work with him on his reintroductions scheme. Maybe it’s time there were some meaningful discussions with Lister?

The latest in the series of Five-Minute Mountains, Emily Rodway, deputy editor of TGO Magazine, climbs Bidean nam Bian in Glen Coe

 

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Cameron outlines the contents of the latest issue of TGO - including the special TGO Challenge section with next year’s entry forms.

 

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