S1 & 2 Lomond weekend

Twenty-four pupils embarked on an adventure on loch Lomond and we couldn't have asked for more beautiful conditions. I think the photos speak for themselves on this one...

The team prepares to set sail from Balmaha.

 Chocks away.

On the first island we explored, and had lunch on, some of the girls developed a range of cosmetics from the things they found around them, in particular, different rocks that they found that gave them a range of colours. Clever girls.

Meanwhile, the boys developed facial hair and patterns with charcoal. Jonathon's was particularly convincing! Clever boys.

The delights of filling your boots in the baking sunshine.

The girls with their Lomond cosmetic range.

 Ready for action.

Re-embarking for the great voyage to our overnight island.

 Quite a fleet!

Ben Lomond in the background of the girls' dabble from our island.

'Our' idyllic island.

The girls sing for their supper!

Our instructor for the weekend, Mick Hunter, sampling my beautifully handcrafted bowl.

An outdoor lesson in how to operate the stoves.

Creatures in the woods: the lesser striped and the spiny backed somethingorothers...

Each team cooked their own evening meal. There were some interesting creations, apparently an exciting process.

The amazing assistants were getting peckish.

Fireside evening with marshmallows and lots of amazing home baking (thank you parents) - a lovely combination.

 Another perfect morning.

 'Our' island in the background.

Trough time again....no small feat with thirty or so mouths to feed!

 Good to dip your toes in!

Nicola takes the plunge.

Snow palaces on the rise in the Cairngorm National Park

Every winter we attempt to go for a snow-holing expedition. Unfortunately this requires very specific conditions which rarely occur on the weekend we've set the date for. This year things were different: perfect snow conditions and a good, stable forecast. So, off the team go, to the beautiful Cairngorm National Park.

The team select their site and start construction...

...Which involves a great deal of digging and clearing.

Digging.

 And more digging.

 James sporting a frosty do.

And someone else sporting with the classic winter look, incognito.

Finally, a place to call home for the night. It wasn't the most comfortable of nights, but it certainly was memorable!

Ratho, east side excursion

Back in the depths of winter the P6 & P7 Teams had the opportunity for a day trip to the enormous climbing wall at Ratho, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. This climbing wall is really inspiring and the site of many an international climbing competition.

The big warm up with plenty of room to move: the best way to describe Ratho is as a quarry with a lid on - that's actually what it is!

Ratho's walls are HUGE with routes up to 30 metres high (that's nearly 7 double decker buses) and some overhang more than any our pupils will have seen.

Staring the almighty 25 metre wall....so high that the ropes are static rather than the usual dynamic ropes we use.

 Successfully overcoming the roof.

 Still happy even at this height!

The girls showing pre aerial assault course terror....

...The girls were actually far more relaxed and over-excited about the course!

 Fun, fun, fun!

All intact and raring for a second go at the end of the assault course.

Games, play, adventure, games

Continuing in the same character as usual, we had a particularly good Games session recently. Always in search of a bracing adventure, we decided on a quick dip in Loch Lomond, stone skimming and then running up and down a hill in the name of team sledging. Well of course!

HUSKIES (and ski mountaineering)

We had aimed for skiing the Northern Coires and plateau of the Cairngorms, accessed from the Glenmore/Cas ski road, but with 70mph winds forecast, we scanned a little further and found that the eastern Cairngorms were forecasting a little lighter on the winds and maybe a smidgeon of blue sky too.   



 

Lunch in the sun. Ski mountaineering is all about journeying through the mountains and that means that you need ski up hill too. This is done by fitting a 'skin' to the bottom of the skis. It's just like fur - smooth in one direction, bristly in the other. Surprisingly, these bristles are enough to hold the skier's weight as they tackle a slope. If it's icy underski then you clip a ski crampon on too - rather like blades that slice in to the ice or neve while still allowing the skier to slide their ski upwards.  

Theo, Sophia, Catriona and Scott on the summit of Carn Ealasaid, the Cairngorms rolling on in the background.

The team strip the skins from their skis in a huddle before the descent.

We might have felt that we'd earned ourselves some lovely 'back country' powder...apparently not. Looks nice though.

Theo gets some air time



Huddling again before the final descent.

On Sunday we were lucky enough to see a little of the annual husky racing event at Glenmore.  

Oh my. I'm a bit nervous of dogs.

Absolutely petrified here.

We did manage to tear ourselves away from these husky pups and got some good skiing. Despite a prolonged thaw overnight the skiing was GREAT. We had a breezy (!) ski uphill and then a rewarding descent. Cat did fantastically well - it was her first time on skis and even though the snow was less than perfect over the weekend, she remained upright almost all of the time (just as challenging going up hill in those winds at times). It seems that we have some new recruits for the delights of ski mountaineering.


It can take you places like this.....: