MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS

EWEN MCNEICE

Ewen on Ben More

What do you do when you don’t lead walks for the Arran Mountain Festival?
Socially I walk, climb, mountain bike, kayak and snowboard with family and friends. I also work in Health IT.

Why do you volunteer as an Arran Mountain Festival walk leader?
To help encourage others to experience the wonderful mountains on this island that I was lucky enough to grow up with.

Tell us about a favourite mountain moment.
Getting the end of the Liathach traverse in one piece.

What is your favourite Arran walk?
To the standing stones on Machrie Moor for a picnic, the whole family can enjoy it.

Which piece of kit would you not head into the hills without?
A map and compass.

What is your favourite breakfast before a long day out in the mountains?
Boiled eggs in a cup with toast and a cup of coffee.

Ewen is leading the Three Beinns horseshoe, Cioch na h-Oighe & Goatfell, Cir Mhor and Witch's Step & Castles walks.

MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS - JOHN KITCHING

MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS 

JOHN KITCHING

What do you do when you don’t lead walks for the Arran Mountain Festival? 

Lead geography field study sessions and outdoor activities for Lochranza Field Studies Centre.

Why do you volunteer as an Arran Mountain Festival walk leader? 

I enjoy being on the hills, leading gives me a chance share know environmental knowledge and allows me to pass on information about being safe in the hills.

Tell us about a favourite mountain moment.

Every time I’m on the hill.

What is your favourite Arran walk? 

The Castles up Glen Easan as its pretty much straight out my back door.

Which piece of kit would you not head into the hills without? 
My big warm duvet jacket. 

What is your favourite breakfast before a long day out in the mountains? 
Porridge with lots of fruit on top.


John is co-leading the Cioch na h-Oighe & Goatfell and the Gen Sannox horseshoe walks.

MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS

ANDREW BINNIE

What do you do when you don’t lead walks for the Arran Mountain Festival? 

I manage the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST). With community support we have created Scotland's first No Take Zone in Lamlash Bay and a large marine protected area around the south of Arran. In my spare time I like to cycle around the west coast of Scotland, paint and draw and grow vegetables.  

Why do you volunteer as an Arran Mountain Festival walk leader?
I've always loved the drama and beauty of the hills and the adventures they offer right on our door step, not to mention the wildlife. There is lot's of time to chat and get to know people and the festival is always great fun. This is my fith one.

Tell us about a favourite mountain moment.
Getting to the top of Ben Nevis for the first time ever via the Long Climb.

What is your favourite Arran walk?
Cioch na h-Oighe is a wee cracker of a ridge if you have a head for heights. Great views and a pub and tearoom at the bottom.

Which piece of kit would you not head into the hills without?
Boots. Unless you are used to going barefoot and have soles like leather you wont get far.

What is your favourite breakfast before a long day out in the mountains?

Normally poached egg on toast with a bit of cheese for good measure.

Andrew is co-leading Friday's Witch's Step & Castles walk and the Holy Isle walk.

Find out more about the Community of Arran Seabed Trust on www.arrancoast.com

  

MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS
 
ADELE PENNINGTON

What do you do when you don’t lead walks for the Arran Mountain Festival?

I am a full time Mountaineering Instructor busy at work on the Mountains of Scotand and when not working sea paddling, skiing and generally enjoying my time in the mountains.

Tell us about a favourite mountain moment.
Ahh a difficult one as there are so many moments...  Topping out on Ben Nevis after a winter climb is always great and especially on Christmas day last year.
 
What is your favourite Arran walk/climb?
Has to be the South Ridge Direct, Rosa Pinnacle.

Which piece of kit would you not head into the hills without?
Map, compass and sandwiches

 

What is your favourite breakfast before a long day out in the mountains?
Sausage buttie with tomato sauce.


Adele is leading the A'Chir ridge scramble and the Witch's Step climb. 

Find out more about Adele on her website www.adelepennington.co.uk.

MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS

JOSE NAVARRO

www.josenavarro.co.uk

What do you do when you don’t lead walks for the Arran Mountain Festival?

I run NNAS outdoor navigation courses, write about mountain and outdoor photography, teach photography and lead outdoor photography workshops in Iceland.

Why do you volunteer as an Arran Mountain Festival walk leader?

To share my passion for wild places with other people, to enthuse and encourage them to go out there. It is also an opportunity for me to get to know Arran better.

Tell us about a favourite mountain moment.

Last year up in the Carneddau of Snowdonia. Glorious winter day. Good, consolidated snow underfoot. Beautiful, crisp winter light. Ideal conditions for photography. I was so busy looking out, down and ahead of me, photographing the landscape, that I forgot to look up. My partner did. Just as well because otherwise we would have missed an incredible solar halo right above us - see attached pic. Memorable.

What is your favourite Arran walk?

I look forward to doing the Three Beinns Horseshoe. Awesome terrain with far-reaching panoramic views over the mountains of Arran.

Which piece of kit would you not head into the hills without?

A spare copy of my map. Have you ever seen your (only) map fly away in the wind?

What is your favourite breakfast before a long day out in the mountains?

Can't beat traditional Scottish porridge... with custard.

Jose is co-leading the Castles & Witch's Step walk, The Three Beinns walk and the Through the Glens walk.

MEET THE ARRAN MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL WALK LEADERS

The next in our series of volunteer walk leaders profiles is Alistair Hume.

Ali (on the right) co-leading last year's Mountain Festival A'Chir walk

ALISTAIR HUME

What do you do when you don’t lead walks for the Arran Mountain Festival?


For relaxation, I play the bagpipes with the Isle of Arran pipe band, I am also a keen sea kayaker and try to play golf as often as I can.

I also work part time for World Challenge, a company that specialises in taking groups of teenagers to mainly third world countries for up to five weeks at a time to experience other cultures and assist in project work such as toilet block construction.

I have also been a member of the Arran Mountain Rescue Team since 1976 and a lot of my time is spent training with them and being on call 24/7.


Why do you volunteer as an Arran Mountain Festival walk leader?

I like to try and help others experience the wonderful mountains of Arran and pass on any local knowledge and history and ensure that they have a memorable time.


Tell us about a favourite mountain moment.

There have been many favorite moments!!! But for feel good factor it must be a time in Northern Peru while descending from a high 4.500 meter pass and at -10 I came across a young local lad, his face full of snot and minus some fingers and toes from frostbite - he was wearing shorts and sandals.


I will never forget the way his face changed when I gave him my cosy warm mountain rescue buffalo jacket that I had cherished for some 20 years.


What is your favourite Arran walk?

Don't really have one, I love them all!!!


Which piece of kit would you not head into the hills without?

A whistle.


What is your favourite breakfast before a long day out in the mountains?

Anyone I can persuade my wife to make!!!


Ali is co-leading the A'Chir ridge traverse.

2011 Arran Mountain Festival A'Chir Ridge Walk

I had never set foot on Arran before, which is shameful considering I live in Glasgow, but I have always heard it is good for walking and climbing. My friend, who has been on Arran several times, heard about the mountain festival and saw there was a guided walk along the A'Chir ridge which he had bypassed on previous walks and thought it would be a great chance to walk it.

We just made it to the outdoor centre in time to get a quick instruction on how to put our slings on, which is when I thought it was going to be more extreme than any scrambling I had done before.

The walk started in Glen Rosa and the weather was perfect, warm morning sun and blue skies. The group walked up Glen Rosa at an easy pace giving the group the chance to get to know one another and hear the guides point out places of interest and tell some stories about the area. We stopped for some lunch just below Cir Mhor where we were told that if we didn't fancy the ridge we could turn back.

A short climb took us to the the start of the rock climbing section where the guides set about putting a safety rope up. It was just as well they did, I was the second person to go along the section and had a wee slip but managed to get to the end of the section safely. There were plenty of other moments where the ropes were in use and I think the group was thankful for that especially at the bad step on the ridge. This was only a gap of half a metre which had to be jumped, but with vertical drops on each side the exposure was something else.

By the time we had reached the top I was a lot more tired out than what I would have expected, mostly from using muscles that aren't usually put to the test. But the wonderful views from the top made it worthwhile and I quickly forgot about my aches and pains. We could see Jura and even all the way over to the Antrim coast.

After the top it there was one more section which required the rope then it was a steady walk back down to Glen Rosa to catch our lift.

Having lacked any previous rock climbing experience i knew this was going to be an exhilarating, challenging and at times apprehensive walk. But with the guides always there to reassure you and advise you along the way everyone got passed the trickiest sections with no problems. I will certainly be back to Arran to walk the rest of the hills and ridges after this.

I must say a big thanks to the guides, Ali and Mick. They were full of knowledge and stories of the area and their times on the hills and you felt in very safe hands with them helping you along the hardest sections of the walk.

Gregor

Girls' night out on Arran!

A Friday in January, four girls headed out on a girlie night out.  It was very wild, wet and windy .....

..... but we didn't head to the pub ....

..... no, we chose a nasty night to go out on a night navigation exercise ....

..... and got home safe and sound!

JoT

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Can we have more of the white stuff please?
I'm definitely enjoying cold and snowy winters more than the usual stormy and rainy ones...

Corinna

Amazing mountains in amazing weather!

The weather has been incredibly kind to us here on Arran for the last few weeks. Sunshine and blue skies galore! So out into the hills it was for me, this time tackling Cioch na h'Oighe, majestically towering above Glen Sannox. A steep and long scramble up its northern slope was rewarded by incredible views out across the Firth of Clyde and its islands and sea lochs, the hills on the mainland and on the islands of Jura and Mull. The switchback ridge that leads from the summit of Cioch na h'Oighe towards the next peak of Mullach Buidhe is an absolute delight, with breathtaking views down the vertical granite walls of the Devil's Punchbowl. Head for heights definitely required! Passing the site of the Goatfell Murder at Coire nam Fuaran, I headed on towards North Goatfell. Another brilliant ridge to follow: The Stacach with its granite tors makes for more scrambly fun on the way up to Goatfell. There's always the option to by-pass the trickier sections on lower paths, but on a peachy day like that... And I hadn't met a soul until I reached this ridge! After that, the Goatfell summit seemed busy, and I didn't linger long, having had more than my fair share of great hill time for the day!
Fingers crossed for equally amazing weather during the Mountain Festival in September!

Corinna