Life after lodge

 The last couple weeks have been busy on D of E bronze trainings with Bigfoot Advenures. It's been ace to be working with groups again and i've really enjoyed introducing  young folk to the outdoors.
Bigfoot work primarily with Robert Gordons and take many of the students from bronze all the way through to gold. This gives the students a chance to build rapport with instructors year after year and expeditions are adventurous and challenging based throughout the Cairngorms.
 It's been brilliant working with Anna and Greg the last couple weeks as having a familar face around is always nice.
After a couple days of snow and cold temperatures this afternoons warmth was welcome and a golden spring sun was all the inspiration i needed to go and hunt down a trail Jim had tipped me off to, descending from the summit of Ben Newe.
 A ride and hike along the forest track got the lungs going and nearing the summit i spotted the trail. It's been well constructed with drops, jumps and berms. A super long, full-on descent leads almost back to the car park and left me wishing for more travel and body armour!
The next few weeks for me are spent on bronze finals, before heading to the north west sea kayaking with Wilderness Scotland.

View from the top of Ben Newe

Roll on summer

I am currently in the south of England visiting my family before things get hectic over the summer.
I fly back to bonnie Scotland this evening and straight into a block of work with Big Foot Adventures and Wilderness Scotland, which i am really excited about.
 Leaving Glenmore Lodge was hard to do. I made some great friends and had some incredible experiences there, but at the end of the day i always want to be progressing and working as an instructor. A massive thanks to everyone who made my time as great as it was.

 My last stint of time there was spent packing/avoiding packing, but i also had some great days out riding and kayaking. I continually bang on about how good the local trails are, but i hadn't ridden a couple of the uber-local ones for a few weeks, having been sessioning Badaguish and Burnside, and i had forgotten how good they are again! I managed to jump on a TCL training with Glenmore lodge last week, so i hope to assess ASAP.












Thursday saw Joe, Mick and myself back at Badaguish for a blast in the morning and then meeting Stewart on his split shift for a run down Findhorn gorge. Biking in the morning, kayaking in the afternoon. Does life get better?!

Joe with some air time on "Canadian Trail"

Joe on "Canadian Trail"

Mick at the view point

Stu about to drop into "Triple Step"

 This summer has me self employed for the first time and is a big adventure in itself. Already it's been a super steep learning curve and simple stuff gets lost among the storm of things flying around in my head! 

 With my habit to bite off more than i can chew, i am sure i will learn some hard lessons along the way, but i am really excited for this season and the adventures it will bring!

 

The six year curse

 Within the last six months several very experienced paddlers i know and folk who are much better than I am i a kayak, have swam for the first time in around six years, giving rise to what has become known as the six year curse. With my sixth year approaching i knew it was coming!
 Now spring has sprung and the nights have gotten longer it's given the opportunity for adventures long into the evening and with the combination of ligament damage to my finger after the break and wet weather stopping climbing, kayaking has been on the cards. With split shift runs down the Findhorn gorge and a good session after an admin day Monday, it was time for a change of venue. I was keen for some air time so we headed over to the Etive. The granite bedrock slides and drops of the Etive give unique paddling more akin with the rivers of Val Sesia or Corsica than the Highlands of Scotland, and the snow capped peaks gave a stunning back drop. This is a perfect training ground for bigger drops and the rapids give excellent boof and flare lines, enough to give anyone their airtime fix!

After an ace session we head back to Fort William for a fast food fix and decided a quick blast down the Spean gorge was in order on the way home.
 A low level made the rapids technical and a combination of fatigue and being complacent meant some errors were made. Reaching "constriction" i ran first, clipping a rock normally covered in higher water i was pushed into the fold. The water forced me and the boat under the water and pinned me, fully submerged, between the rocks. I wasn't hanging around and popped the deck ending my swim free period! Luckily the force of the water filling the boat was enough to flush both me and the kayak from the pin and nothing damaged but my pride!
Despite the dunking it was an awesome couple days and another reminder why Scotland is the place to be for all outdoor sport!