hilltrek

I was out freeskiing at the weekend, Carnferg to Aboyne, full story on my blog.  As it was a relatively warm day, I didn’t want to wear my ski pants so I opted for my ventile Cabrach made to measure trousers.  I had never skied in them before and thought they might be a bit stiff but I was proved wrong, totally flexible and they fitted round my ski boots perfectly.  This was also my first test of the ventile waterproofing technology.  While not raining, the snow was real wet from the mornings rain and it was up to my knees and beyond at times, so plenty of moisture to test out the trousers.  They certainly got wet but the water was kept out.   Near my boots the fabric got frozen and this made the material real stiff but just the last couple of inches, the snow temperature was still below freezing.  I was impressed on how well the material also dried out, the classic example being sitting down in the snow for a rest or to have some lunch.  You could feel the cold on your bumb and the material was clearly soaking in the water (ventile works by the fibres expanding and thus making a barrier to prevent the water leaking through) but within a few minutes of walking again, they were dry.  I expect I’ll choose my Cabrachs a few times in what is shaping up to be a long Spring season of free skiing on Deeside.

The Scottish Game and Angling Show is a new event run by The Scottish Gamekeepers Association at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh from March 6th to 7th.

We will have a stand at the event showing our Ventile and Cotton Analogy Clothing Ranges  and also the Naturally Paramo range from Paramo Directional Clothing

For many years we have been supplying off the shelf and made to measure garments for gamekeepers, stalkers, ghillies, wildlife managers and rangers from Hilltrek and Paramo clothing ranges.  

We also work closely with local gamekeepers and rangers to trial our designs to ensure that they stand up to the toughest conditions across a wide range of activity and exertion.

Susan, who does our clothing designs, has been working hard over the winter months on our first venture into specific field sports clothing which we will exhibit at the show. – the Dee Wading Jacket.

The Dee Wading Jacket is a chest wading jacket named after the River Dee, one of the most famous salmon rivers in Scotland, which flows through our village.

It uses Cotton Analogy which consists of a Ventile outer and Paramo Pump Liner inner – a combination which is tough, waterproof and highly breathable.

We look forward to your feedback and see you at the show. 

Striking a catalogue pose whilst road testing the Patagonia R1 Fleece on Bennachie

There is a saying that goes along the lines that a girl can never have too many hats, bags and shoes… I work on the principal that you can never have too much outdoor gear!
With the day light hours getting longer and as we are move closer to spring, now is a good time to head to your local outdoor shop and snap up some bargains.

At Hilltrek we have several excellent promotions currently running.

Paramo are offering a free Torres Gilet in Moss (worth £77) with every Men’s green Alta II jacket or Ladies Alta II jacket in lentil/moss purchased.

You can buy a Velez or Velez adventure smock and we give you two cambia base layer tops free.
Alternatively buy an Explorer pull on and get an Active Travel shirt for £5, a saving of £46!

We also have a range of Patagonia shell jackets which we are offering as buy one get a Patagonia technical fleece free, whilst stocks last.

You may have been thinking of getting a soft shell, then come and look at our Helly Hansen range.

Bill, Bryan and I would love to see you, please call in we really enjoy hearing about your outdoor adventures and if you are really lucky we might even have the kettle on!

What a difference a week makes. From the hard packed snow and blown powder of last weekend to plus 3 degrees and wet granulated snow today.  At least the wind was minimal – better than 40 mph gusts. 

Pressendye, the most easterly Graham,  at 620m, was my destination this weekend. I intended to climb to Pressendye and ski along the ridge.   It is a hill I regularily climb as the views across to Lochnagar and the Mounth are usually superb.  Alas today it was misty and drizzly and hence the lack of photographs on the blog. Pressendye could be the location of a wind farm, which would spoil a perfect location, however the planning application has been rejected at the local Aberdeenshire Council level.

Today I replaced my Paramo Alta 2 jacket with a Hilltrek Cotton Analogy Foinaven Smock. Cotton Analogy is our own invention which uses a Ventile Cotton Outer and a Nikwax Pump Liner inner. All of our Cotton Analogy designs are approved by Nikwax Fabrics and tested by Leeds University. With a Paramo Reversible shirt underneath, the Foinaven Smock was perfect for the wet humid conditions and its breathability ideal for the hard work.

The track up the hill passing below Pittenderich was patchy and with the wet deep snow it was hard work skinning up and awkward skiing down. Still its better to be out on the hills than sitting inside watching Scotland being gubbed by the French.

For details of Grahams and how to get to Pressendye see  http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/grahams/pressendye.

Sunday was a perfect day in Deeside for testing my new Åsnes Nansen Mountain Skis, called Fjellski in Norwegian. The sun was shining and fresh snow had fallen on the hills. My destination was Cairn Leuchan, a small hill in Glen Muick, following a track from Ballater over to Mount Keen. This a great mountain bike track in summer, dropping into Glen Tanar and downhill to Aboyne. Today the track was icy, with hard packed snow, and some powder blown across from the moor. Difficult to walk up but perfect to skin on the skis. It was a very cold day just below freezing  but with strong north winds and frequent snow squalls it felt like minus 20.  So as well as testing my new skis I also tested lightweight Paramo Velez trousers for these conditions. They are much lighter than Paramo’s Cascada Trousers, as they use a lighter Nikwax outer and pump liner inner, and are designed for summer walking -not these conditions. The lightness of the Velez trousers is a great advantage for ski touring and cross country skiing and they were fine on the move but a little cold on my lunchstop behind the Cairn. I should have taken some new Torres Insulator Trousers to pull on ……still it was a day for skiing not for sitting around testing new gear!

The river Dee opened for fishing today, the BBC where on location along with Billy Connolly and a wee splash of whisky.

A repost from one of our made to measure customers.

Aboyne Mid Deeside, originally uploaded by ecotorch.

First outing for my new Cabrach ventile ‘made to measure’ walking trousers from Hilltrek.co.uk this afternoon. A cold and high wind chill day and I am please to say the new trous kept out the wind. A wee bit of powder snow around and that sometimes blew up my legs, maybe an inner elastic finish in future designs? This is my first ventile material product. I like the feel of the finish, felt like I had been wearing the trousers for months. My last pair of hiking trousers were more high tech and involved washing them to keep them waterproof, while I;m yet to see these trousers in the wet they work in a more natural way, the fibres expand thus preventing the water from getting to you. This appeals to the eco in me, sort of fits in with the natural environment I like to be part of. So, bring on the rain through it looks like it will be more snow. . .

One of the best backcountry local skiing and ski touring communities is on the WinterHighland website. Last week a ski tourer made their way from Lochnagar to Glas Maol at Glenshee via the White Mounth plateau.  That is a fair few miles and looking at the photos they scored for great weather, a blue sky morning.

We will be holding a sale at our shop in Aboyne this weekend when we will be offering huge discounts on some of our retail stock including Helly Hansen Shell Jackets, Patagonia Shell Jackets and Fleeces and Paramo Jackets and trek clothing.

Included in the sale are deals on Velez Smocks, Alta Jackets, Reversible shirts and so on, as a participating retailer in Paramo’s Happy New Gear Promotion.  The Paramo website gives an overview of the deals available. See  Paramo New Gear.  Sadly we cannot offer these over our website. Its against the rules folks – you have to visit us in beautiful Aboyne!

You can also pick up some excellent bargains in Hilltrek fleeces in colours we no longer stock, discountinued Golite stuff and many more.