Annual northwest extravaganza

This has been one of our most adventurous of the annual OE programme trips for the fifth year running, and all in our own, sunny back yard. This September weekend was no exception.

Having camped on the sea cliffs, we climbed all day at Reiff. Alexandra cruising a tough E1 as her warm-up!

With Lara taking her turn next

Aisha warming up on a corner climb, and looking very relaxed about it too!

 Freddie wapping the steep crack climb

Monkies

 AdK getting started on an undercut arete

Doing what we do very well - lunching at every opportunity, in style and with one spoon between us

AdK

 Ben nearing the top of the steep slab

 Not a bad setting

 Theo atop the sea stack

Alexandra nimbly tackling the sea stack slab

AdK demonstrating good balance and the amazing friction properties of the rock

Smiling as ever

Ben just chilling at the top

 And we're done

The shuffle back to the bus

 This is why we go northwest. The spikiest peak on the skyline is Stac Pollaidh.

A quick fine dining stop before...

 ...heading up Stac Pollaidh

 Making friends with a newt

Aisha is first up on our rather stunning sleeping platform

Room with a view. I love my tent! I've slept on that sliver of an island, and on a separate Glasgow Academy trip, climbed Suilven on the left of the horizon

 Theo of the catalogue pose

 Ben's catalogue pose

And then we found ourselves on an island far, far away...cooking once again

 Ben's warm-up exercise

Aisha's balancing act above the waves

AdK doing cool stuff

Final fling in to the depths of the Etive

This team is supremely skilled at cooking up a storm given a moment and a layby with a view - the rustle of food bags and out comes a miraculous meal, usually of more than one course. Thanks for a great trip guys n gals.

Let the Games begin

It's been such a pleasure this year to have three ridiculously keen Outdoor Education Games groups every Wednesday afternoon. The groups rotate so that each week one group is outside while the others learn the ropes at GCC and to boulder at TCA. After experiencing the dank depths of the Devil's Pulpit on their first session (yup, a three week repetition for me: luckily I love water), full immersion for everyone, each following week pupils have vied for a place in the outdoor session.

This week we went to a local quarry where pupils learnt the rudiments of climbing ropework.

The site of the first three weeks of Games sessions

 Climbing warm up

 Ben at dizzy heights on his first outdoor climbing session

 Theo and Alex learning to place gear

Owen nearing the top of the challenging crack climb up the prow. Even harder when it's soggy apparently - who'd've thought!

Auchinstary looking much more balmy than it felt yesterday with a distinct autumnal cut to the air

 Jack working on his balance

 Climbing warm down

'Training' (= selection) weekend

We have another major expedition scheduled for summer 2016 and in order to get the team started we hold a weekend of training (actually more of a selection really). So as to recreate some of the intensity of being away together for a month in a remote area in just one weekend, it's a ll a bit of a surprise for them. But what we've discovered so far is that they seem to thrive on it, rising to the challenge, looking after each other and even enjoying the whole thing! And by selection we mean that each pupil will have a good idea by the end of the weekend, whether they'd like to undertake such an adventure together.

 The devil's breakfast

 A well-earned reakfast for the team

 The depths of the gorge

How generous: the team even had a tent and woodland beds

 Leading one another

 Emerging from the depths

 A long wander north