Di Gilbert, Mountaineer, straight from completing her 7th Summit, presents

“A List Of Mountains That Even Sir Hugh Munro Would Be Proud Of”

on Sunday 11th September at Deeside Community Theatre, at 7.45, cost £10 or family ticket price £25.  To Book, tel: 013398 86222

Only some 300 people have completed this mountaineering feat, so Di – who started mountaineering while living at home in Aberdeenshire – has achieved a lot.  As she says “Scotland is the best training ground you can ever imagine.  The hardest, most extreme, coldest and wettest environments you will ever experience.”

 Karen Darke, inspirational speaker and paraplegic adventurer, presents

“Dizzy Fingers”

on Tuesday 14th September at the Deeside Community Theatre, starting 7.45 pm, price £12.  To book, tel: 013398 86222

We expect Karen to tell the story about crossing Greenland, kayaking in Patagonia, and some of her bike trips (Himalayas etc) and for something completely different – a wee bit about trying to get to the Paralympics.

 Adrenaline Junkie Film Night:

“The Best of Kendal Tour”

A collection of the best action and adventure films from the 2010 Kendal Film Festival covering mountain biking, cycling, climbing and skiing - soemthing for everyone!

Deeside Community Theatre on Saturday 18th September from 7.30.  To book,  tel 013398-86222.

Armchair mountaineers would be interested in hearing Andrew Greig (he has been described as the uncrowned poet laureate of the mountaineering community) at the “Meet the Author Event” at Finzean Hall on Sunday 19th Sept at 5pm.

Full details on  www.activeaboyne.co.uk and phone enquiries for activity events go to Mid Deeside on 013398-85222 (mornings only)  but theatre bookings to go direct to the Community Centre on 013398-86222.

Active Aboyne is less than a month away now and a long list of events are now available on their website.  The events include long distance walks that they call ‘Big Hill Days‘ to Family Fun activities.  The full list of events are list on their events page.

Lawrence Clark from BushCraft Ventures will set up camp outside our doors this Saturday in Aboyne.  Lawrence is a bushcraft expert who plied his trade with Ray Mears and was only one of three people in the UK  to receive the prestigious ‘Ray Mears Instructors knife’ -an acknowledgement of his highly developed skills. As part of his work he spent time in the Arctic living with the Psami (Lapps) peoples of Northern Sweden.

On display will be clothing and equipment used in bushcraft and wilderness survival, including; clothing made from cotton, wool and furs, and cutting tools.

Demonstrations will take place on traditional fishing hooks manufacture, fire lighting , wood carving and simple steam bending.

Many bushcrafters are aware of Hilltrek Ventile products such as the Braemar Smock  and the Ventile poncho. Our staff will be on hand  to discuss the properties of Ventile and some of our new innovations including Cotton Analogy.

Looking ahead to the summer months, this years Active Aboyne will be held from Saturday 11th September to Sunday 26th September.  The full programme is yet to be published but watch the site for the mix of walks, bushcraft, other outdoor pursuits and not forgetting the social activities put on.  The special guest this year is Karen Drake.  A true adventurer and sought after speaker.

The first Bike Balmoral event takes place on June 13 2010. The event is charity based and is for Mountain bikes, more details on their website.

We will be holding a sale at our shop in Aboyne this weekend when we will be offering great discounts on some of our end of season winter retail stock including Rab Down Jackets, Helly Hansen, Patagonia, Páramo, Craghoppers, Cross Ski Wear etc. Included will be gloves, socks, jackets, ski salopettes, winter trousers, childrens ski clothing etc etc

We will have  deals on Helly Hansen baselayers, Paramo Torres Insulators etc

In the spirit of ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be oot’  we have an offer of a combination Helly Hansen HH®Warm™ Prowool Long Johns and Freeze Prowool half zip top with £20 off, normally £90. We are basking in early Spring sunshine but…….who knows what is round the corner? This offer is naturally open until the end of May.

 I’m afraid that it is a retail sale only and not offered over our website -you have to visit us in beautiful Aboyne!

We will be holding a club discount evening for rambling, walking, mountaineeering and nature clubs on Thursday 25th March. 

During the club evening Alan Melrose from Walk Deeside, a Deeside based outdoor activity company, will be present to discuss their forthcoming Scottish activities and international expeditions. For more information see www.walkdeeside.com.

 Our neighbours ‘At the Sign of The Black Faced Sheep’ will be serving evening meals during the evening. To book a table contact 01339887311. For more information see  www.blackfacedsheep.co.uk

If you are a club in the North East of Scotland please contact us by email sales@hilltrek.co.uk or telephone 01339886062 to register.

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.