We are lucky to have a local walking holiday business called, Walk Deeside, that specialize in outdoor activities and walking holidays on our door step.  Whether you are looking for guided tours of local hills or the Cairngorms they provide a complete package from accommodation to skills expertise. They even provide international expedition leadership again as a complete package from guide to accommodation, next year both Kilimangaro and Peru are scheduled.

I was reading this Patagonia blog post on their review of the Outdoor Retailer trade show.  The no.1 one theme being picked up upon was ‘sustainability’.  As their brand ambassador put it

“sustainable business practices, like manufacturing with recycled materials, making products more durable, and trying to lessen their impact”

This is encouraging to read.  A lot of those guiding words are included in the values behind the Ventile fabrics.  A natural use of the properties of cotton used to protect us against the elements.

With the grouse shooting season getting underway last week, hill walkers have an added danger to be aware off.  Best keep to the right of ways and if there is a shooting party out, maybe find another hill to walk.  Oh, yes bright coloured clothing may help you look less like a grouse!

With the second half of the summer being particularly unsettled weather wise then the chances are you will have been walking a lot in the rain recently?  Especially on longer distance walks, I head in to Glen Tanar from Aboyne the other weekend and it rained for 3 of the 4 hours I was out walking.  It was a muggy and humid day and the Fungle, felt more jungle like but my CragHoppers and t-shirt were keeping me cool enough, but on leaving the tree line behind the open heather moorland brought steady and heavy rain, and a bit of wind, nothing to strong but enough to dramatically lower the temperature.  A few years back I got a pair of made to measure water proof over trousers.  With no lining they are light to carry and easy to roll up into a pocket, zipped at the bottom to save you taking off your boots, but you still need to have good balance to get them on quickly.  I also had a shell outer jacket.  I was wrapped up from both the wet and the cold wind.  I had not been for a long-ish walk in the rain for ages, no views to take in or Buzzards soaring in the sky to watch but it was enjoyable enough, especially guessing when the could might break.   Then it came time to descend and the valley bottom was a lot warmer, the rain became more showery and I could remove the over trousers.  The day became warm before a big shower ensured I finished my walk in the rain as I returned to Aboyne.

Walk Magazine issued its reader awards for 2010 earlier in the year and the best overall walking brand winner was Paramo.  The Hilltrek store in Aboyne and the online store stock a wide range of products including the Gold Winning walking trousers.  This walking trouser gives a hill walker a lot of adaptability to changing weather conditions, warmth on cold days, vents to open on hotter days, lots of zips that work reliably even in poor weather conditions.   The Walk Magazine have published this video from the event.

Walk Reader Awards from Athar Abidi on Vimeo.

The calendar said 15th June but high on Ben Avon and in its gullies winter was still hiding.

The walk to the summit of Ben Avon is best characterised as three long plateau walks, the valley floor walk-in, then the moderate climbed through Fairy Glen to the moorland plateau before things get a lot steeper as the gully climbs the side of Ben Avon to the long flat top of Ben Avon.  I found it a gentle and less threatening walk compared to those around Ben Macdhui however, there was a still a lot of risk around.  Mainly, whether to trust the snow bridges that were clearly being used by other hill walkers?  There were three occasions where the path took a snowy turn.  The first couple looked safe enough as the main stream was some distance way, but I did get a ‘post hole’ on the way down.  However, the last snow bridge was a straight burn crossing.  Plenty of foot prints and boot dirt stretched over the snow but I opted to follow the stream up a side gully and to cross on some expose bare granite, no fear of that collapsing.  Safety first. The weather on the summit was OK but it started to rain and add in the wind, it was not a day for hanging around in the great outdoors.  I could have opted to put on my rain jacket on but I decided for a quick descent to the mid plateau.  I wore my Hilltrek made to measure venture trousers that were ideal for the walk up and half the way down but the lower valleys had heated up a lot.  A quick change into the CraigHopper shorts made for a more comfort.  A 20 mile, 7 hour summers day when winter thinking was still required.

I am starting the planning for my walk up Ben Avon this week.  The weather forecast is where I usually start my preparations and things are looking promising for Tuesday onwards.  About this time last year I walked to the summit of Ben MacDhui and it was a hot day in the hills, so thoughts on what jacket to bring were more along the lines, will I need an outdoor jacket at all?  Of course the answer is always yes.  This year the weather is a lot cooler, the freezing level reported at 1200m at the weekend past, that is cold enough for snow on the summits in the Cairngorms.  It is going to be 20 mile walk so that is going to be a bit of an energy spend and the hike up the steeper slopes will no doubt keep me warm.  So what jacket to wear?  Two things, one the need to keep the rain off and two, to keep the wind out but I suppose thirdly, but not at the price of overheating.  For me that means, the outer shell of my winter ski jacket with a breathable shirt below and a further t-shirt below if warmth is needed.  If some warmth is need and the weather is dry I’d go for just the inner lining of my ski-jacket with the outer shell packed in the rucksack.  Given those choices I was looking around the hilltrek online store and selected the following items:

Gairn Windproof Smock for those cooler summer days when the rain and wind is likely.

Naturally Páramo Reversible shirts Explorer Light Pull on with the new lighter weight materials this versatile jacket provides maximum flexibility for cooler to warmer day use.

Made to Measure Braemar Single Ventile Windshirt for those that want want exact fit comfort and performance.

In many ways choosing a summer outdoor jacket is a harder job than a winter one but for sure one should be packed in a rucksack.

Heriott Watt fashion technology student Alison has recently completed a year’s work placement at Hilltrek.  Here’s what she has to say about her experience:

“To gain necessary hands-on experience within the technical clothing industry, I was placed by my university in Hilltrek’s Clachan Yell workshops.  Aboyne might not be the most obvious hub of technical clothing innovation, but it was there I cut my teeth gaining practical knowledge of new fabrics and cutting patterns, developed my sewing skills, and – as well as manufacturing garments - worked on a diverse spectrum of repairs which came into the workshop. I doubt any big brand companies would have been able to provide as varied an experience; one day I’d be repairing tents and flysheets, the next adjusting school bags and motor biking gear!  The team at Clachan Yell also involved me in the cutting stage of many of Hilltrek’s garments, which allowed me to become more experienced with an array of popularly stocked fabrics.  I picked up various new techniques involved at the preliminary stages of garment design, and, as well as familiarizing myself with Hilltrek’s patterns, I even helped to produce new ones:  see the Kintail Ventile shirt http://www.hillgear.com/acatalog/Kintail_Ventile.html for an example of my work!

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Hilltrek who helped me throughout the year; from my experience at the Clachan Yell workshops I gained indispensable knowledge and vastly improved my skills and confidence in garment manufacture.”

Scotland has plenty of hills and now with services like Twitter, there is plenty of tweeting going on in the hills too.  While you can look at weather forecasts and maps nothing beat listening or reading the stories from those out actually in the hills.  George Henderson tweets at the popular WalkScotland twitter account and even the guys at Cairngorm Mountain are keeping us up to date with condition in the Cairngorms.  So, before heading out in the great Scottish outdoors, remember to check out the latest from the tweeters.

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.