Walhampton School's annual Roses Project Residential on Mull.

Walhampton School returned to Tavool House this week.

It was fantastic to see 33 enthusiastic year 7 pupils all having a blast at Tavool House on Mull this week. We have worked with the school for many years and every year we challenge the pupils just a little more. Over the years we have climbed Ben Moore, gorge walked, rock climbed, canyoned and coasteered and of course team built and discussed leadership styles.

This year we rock climbed and coasteered and yesterday we were gorge scrambling on mass!

Thanks to everyone for making it an adventurous and a fun few days with many smiles and giggles. See you next year.

George Heriots School Morocco Expedition 2015.

We have just finished an outdoor residential out on Mull so we are a little late with posting images from the recent High Atlas Trekking Expedition we guided for George Heriots School.

It was a tremendous trip to the Atlas Mountains with 16 pupils and 2 teachers trekking over 3650m passes and standing on the summit of Jebel Toubkal 4167m. It was a massive experience for all the 14 and 15 year old pupils and of course for us as guides too. It is a wonderful country and the rugged mountains offer so much scope and variation throughout the seasons.

The young team were brilliant to work with and the local Berbers were so generous and hospitable.

The weather was very kind to us. Beautiful conditions with little wind helped us all acclimatise and enjoy camping out at over 3000m and the vast summit vistas across the Sahara Desert.

Dunedin School come canyoning today.

It continues to astound me even after 26 years in the industry, the power of outdoor education and the experiential benifits of taking risk.
Today we were guiding a group of school kids down  a beautiful and challenging canyon near Kinlochleven.
It was a humbling day as the young people put so much effort and personal emotion into their journey.
Helped by stunning early

summer conditions and a warm breeze the day was a joy to be part of.
The landscape on the west coast at present is so green. It potentially is the most lush and colourful early summer I can remember.
Just a fsbulous day with a wonderful bunch of young people.

Steiner School come to Mull.

Over the last week HPL' s team have been working with a large group of pupils from a Steiner School who are based in Edinburgh. A mixed weather bag this week but they still had loads of outdoor learning and adventures. The pupils have been taking part in  Roses Project Residential at Tavool House on Mull.  Photos to follow through the week. 

Expedition in The Atlas Mountains, Morocco.

Andy Spink from HPL has just returned from working on an amazing expedition to The High Atlas in Morocco with the fantastic students from UHI, West Highland College, School of Adventure Studies. Many thanks to lecturer and instructor Alex Williams for her brilliant support. Whilst trekking between high huts and camps we ascended four 4000m peaks and a 3680m peak. All the students reached Jebel Toubkal 4167m [ the heighest mountain in North Africa ] and they also enjoyed the full Moroccan cultural experience in the city and the souks. 'A great team to guide and share a magical journey with. Thanks guys it was awesome'. Andy Spink. 

A Mountaineering Course and Guiding over the weekend.

Over the weekend we ran a course for Louise. She was out on the hill with Max Hunter in Glencoe and on Ben Nevis. The two days couldn't have been any more contrasting. Sunny dry rock on Saturday in Glemcoe and full winter conditions on Sunday. Louise said she really enjoyed her days in the mountains and commented on Max's excellent instruction and guiding experience. So winter is still hanging in up on Ben Nevis. If you are heading up please to Scotland and especially Ben Nevis make sure you are equipped for winter conditions or guided by a Winter Mountain Leader as a minimum qualification. It looks like we could be able to run winter courses for some time yet. So if you fancy a mid summer snow climbing experience do call us..

Sea Level Traversing course day 2. Putting it all together.

The last two days have been really interesting for us at Hebridean Pursuits. Charlie and his pals from The Highland Frontier Society, University of Aberdeen asked if we could combine Coasteering [ swimming, climbing and jumping ] and Sea Level Traversing [ useing fixed ropes ]. After all they do like to explore and have adventures. We thought we could offer some input. Day one was spent in Glen Nevis concentrating on the technical rock climbing skills required to set up fixed rope ways on the sea cliffs. Day two, was all about putting it all into practice. What a great couple of days, thanks lads you really made me think! We even had a zip along the coasteering route at Easdale. The sun was out and the swell was such fun. Brains are fried with all the systems but we now have some fun and challenging additions to our coasteering journey.