Issue 6. December 2000
Safety and Training NewsThe Scottish Winter Experience Lectures 2001This year the Mountaineering Council of Scotland is running winter lectures in collaboration with TISO. But if the word "lecture" reminds you of dusty schoolrooms then think again. For the coming winter the talks have been revamped so that you can expect a highly entertaining and informative evening that will give you food for thought and answers to your questions. Using a variety of media, the talks will include independent advice from qualified experts; practical demonstrations and workstations; the opportunity to try and buy (with a discount!); free popcorn and a quiz with prizes to test your brains. The evening talks will be delivered by Stuart Johnston and Pete Hill, authors of the recently published "Mountain Skills Training Handbook", both qualified and active mountain instructors.
The dates of the talks are as follows:
Tickets are £2 and available for each lecture at the respective shops ONLY *The Edinburgh Scottish Winter Experience lecture will focus on winter climbing as its theme –the other lectures will be looking at more general winter skills. Supported by the Scottish Mountain Safety Forum, which helps fund and promote mountain safety initiatives throughout Scotland.
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Clachaig Lectures, Glencoe 2001And if you are up around the West Coast in February and March time, waiting for drooling ice to come into nick or firm neve on the Aonach Eagach, check out the winter lectures at the Clachaig Inn on Tuesday evenings between February 13th and March 13th inclusive. The lectures on 13th and 27th February focus on winter mountaineering skills and safety, but NEW for this year, the talks on 20th February and 6th March will be looking at avalanche assessments and safe travel. So if you have ever wondered what 'depth hoar' is, or 'sastrugi', or how to get to your route the safest way, come along and find out. These lectures are FREE and you can turn up at the door, buy a beer and sit yourself down. The Clachaig lectures are supported by the Scottish Mountain Safety Forum and the British Mountaineering Council.
Avalanche Education Programme February 2001This coming winter, the MCofS are collaborating with "Avalex" to pilot three "avalanche awareness" courses aimed at the general winter hill goer. The courses are non-certificated and would be suitable for anyone wishing to increase their understanding of avalanche hazard; how to travel safely and the use of available technology. Each course will consist of a two-hour evening theory session (integral to the course) followed by a practical day on the hill. The courses will be delivered by experienced and qualified personnel at a ratio of 1 tutor to 6 participants. Basic winter skills will NOT be covered during the practical session, as it will be assumed that all participants will be familiar with, and equipped for, operating in full winter conditions. At this stage it is intended that one course will be aimed at snowboarders and off piste skiers. Two courses will be run from the East, based at the Cairngorm ski area; and one on the West based from Nevis Range ski area. The provisional dates are February 3/4th, 10/11th and 17/18th consisting of a Saturday evening theory session and a Sunday for the practical session. Costs will be in the region of £40 per person. All these courses are non residential and participants will be responsible for arranging their own accommodation. These details should be firmed up by the time the magazine hits the stands so please contact the MCofS office for more details and to make an application.
New Year Winter Skills Courses at Glenmore LodgeThis is a reminder to MCofS members of the winter skills courses running at Glenmore Lodge in the New Year. Two types of course are offered – introduction to winter hill walking (£95) and introduction to winter mountaineering skills (£135). The courses are residential and fully catered and will run on the following weekends: December 29-31st, January 5-7th, 12-14th, 19-21st. See previous issue for further details. Remember that bookings can only be made on MCofS application forms and should be made direct through the Lodge and not the MCofS office.
Winter Skills Weekends for University StudentsEver with an eye to the youth of today, we have managed to negotiate an exceptionally good deal for university clubs. Alan Kimber is offering winter skills weekend courses at £60 per head. This includes two days instruction, two nights self-catering accommodation, and use of crampons and ice axes. Plastic boot hire if required is available from West Coast Leisure and you would need to budget for a gondola ticket at £6.80ish. These courses are only open to the poor and impoverished students of MCofS affiliated clubs (now there's an incentive to join!) and only 18 places are available per weekend. The weekends set aside are December 16-17th 2000 and January 13-14th 2001. If your club receives no assistance from your Sports Union for training/ safety purposes, the MCofS may be able to subsidise students at £10 per head. Contact Fran Pothecary at the MCofS offices for more details of the course, availability and subsidy.
Access and Conservation NewsNational Parks ConsultationsBy Mike Dales The detailed structure of Scotland's first National Parks are likely to emerge from two separate National Park consultation exercises that are just getting underway. That is why the MCofS is encouraging all its members, individuals and clubs, to consider this issue seriously and to take part in the consultation exercises. Please read this article, obtain the consultation papers and make your views known. The MCofS, along with many other recreation and conservation bodies, has long campaigned for Scotland to have National Parks. Now that the National Parks (Scotland) Act has been passed we could claim a level of success for our work in getting them onto the political agenda and through to the verge of reality. Despite the satisfaction of being part of the momentum that has helped the nation get to this point, we must now keep on pressing for the type of National Parks that we believe will offer genuine protection to these special areas, for them to be properly administered and, importantly, for informal outdoor recreation to be regarded as a social benefit rather than a problem to be solved. Scotland is one of the last countries in the world to get National Parks, and this is undoubtedly because of the powerful vested interests which until now have resisted their introduction. Even now, however, there is a real danger that those who campaigned against National Parks, might get to play an influential part in deciding what type of National Parks we eventually end up with. National Parks covering constricted geographical areas, that aren't their own independent planning authority and which regard economic development more highly than conservation and outdoor recreation would be a step backwards at a time when we should be taking a leap forward. There is potential to be worse off than we were before, so in that respect we have still not achieved anything. The real crunch is now. We could well look back on these consultations as being the ones that really counted.
SNH to act as reporter SNH has been asked to report on issues such as the area to be designated, the desirability of designating the area as a National Park, the functions of the National Park authority, the likely annual costs and expenditures and other such matters by July 2001. The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park consultation paper was released on November 6th, and the Cairngorms National Park consultation paper will be released on December 12th. We expect the consultation periods to be for 12 weeks, so do watch out for deadlines for responses. Copies of the consultation papers can be obtained from the following sources:
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
Cairngorms National Park. In addition, on-line debate is accessible at the www.think-net.org website. The MCofS View At the time of writing, the consultation papers were not available, so we are unable to give our views on them in this newsletter. Once the papers are available we will post our comments onto our website. Anyone who is unable to visit our website could send an A5 s.a.e. to our office and we will send a paper version of the same information. We would welcome your early comments for possible incorporation into the MCofS Response. Or you may wish to respond directly, in which case we would welcome a copy here. Take care to keep responses very precise. Supporting material may be appended if necessary.
Lingerbay Superquarry refusedby Mike Dales In his first day in office as the new Environment Minister, Sam Galbraith ended years of dithering and turned down the application for a superquarry at Lingerbay on the Island of Harris. Redland Aggregates applied in 1991 for permission to remove 600 million tons of road stone from the site over a 60 year period. The MCofS, along with other voluntary organisations, objected to the plan and a public inquiry began in October 1994 lasted for 12 months. It then took until April 1999 for the inquiry reporter to recommend that the project go-ahead. Sarah Boyack, (then Transport and Environment Minister) delayed making a decision. Following legal action from the developer Ms Boyack came under pressure to make a decision when Lord Hardie ordered her to end the scandalous delay. She never did, but with the announcement of Henry McLeish's Scottish cabinet her department was split. Sarah Boyack kept her Transport brief, but handed the Environment part over to Sam Galbraith. The decision ends years of uncertainty for Harris in a way which the opposite decision might not have. Had the superquarry been given planning consent it is likely that the developer would have waited for an upturn in the world aggregates market before starting work. This could have been 10 years, 20 years or perhaps never at all. At least now, barring any appeal, the future of Harris is a clearer. The MCofS believes that the superquarry would have led to a boom and bust future for the island, generating employment for a period, then leaving disappointment behind it. With the threat to the landscape of Harris now removed the Western Isles can plan for a tourism industry that does not need to fear the consequences of having its distinctive image tarnished by the destruction of its scenery. Small businesses can plan for a better future now, and investment in tourism will not carry the level of risk that existed in the shadow of the superquarry.
Funicular - A most unattractive attractionThis summer's construction work on Cairn Gorm has caused the biggest landscape disaster in the Highlands for many years. This state sponsored vandalism, perpetrated by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), has caused irreparable damage. Ironically, it is this permanent damage that is likely to deter tourists from visiting the site. Who wants to pay to visit a degraded building site overlooking line upon line of ugly bulldozer scars? Indeed, the damaged ground is concentrated and most severe beside the car park and especially beside the top visitor centre, the very places visitors are likely to see. This absurd white elephant was forced through the planning system by the likes of Iain Robertson (recently departed HIE chief executive), who totally ignored the anger it caused. In moving to a job with Morrison Construction, Robertson doesn't even have the decency to stick around to attempt to make the funicular work (or oversee its downfall!). The MCofS was recently sent a copy of a Cairngorm Chairlift Company (CCC) internal memo, which indicated how rattled the company is by the ongoing controversy. This leaked memo suggests someone within the company is against the funicular. We have now had help from staff in HIE, Highland Council, SNH, CCC and the Scottish Executive. Why? Because many working in these places know the funicular is fatally flawed. Indeed, we wonder whether the acting chief executive of HIE, Sandy Cummings, is as keen on the funicular as his predecessor in the face of widespread criticism and international condemnation. Then, to add more insult, the safety and economic viability of the project has been thrown into fresh doubt in the aftermath of the Austrian funicular tragedy. The Cairngorm Chairlift Company rejected an alternative even-angled route that would not have required the digging of a tunnel on the basis that the underground section would be part of the attraction. The stark lesson from the Austrian accident is that an inclined tunnel acts like a chimney in the event of a fire. As well as raising safety questions, the MCofS believe that the general public's perception of, and willingness to travel on, such facilities will have affected the economic viability even further. The most recent economic report was never made available to the public (despite being publicly funded) and was widely criticised for exaggerating visitor numbers. The MCofS is now calling for a fresh review of the economic viability and for the results to be made available to the public. Rather than have another Millennium Dome on their hands the Government would be better to back out now and stop wasting public cash.
UPDATES:Access Legislation Delay By Mike Dales The Scottish Executive's draft Land Reform Bill, which is to include: Access, Community right to buy and Crofting right to buy, will not be published until February 2001 - at the earliest. This news was announced in a written statement from Justice (and Deputy First) Minister Jim Wallace. When the draft Bill is produced it will lead to a three month consultation period, so by the current timetable that will take it through to May. The Scottish Parliament's summer recess will probably mean that the Bill will be debated in Parliament after MSP's return to Parliament in September. We will keep you informed of progress, and any further delays, via the Scottish Mountaineer and our website.
Shieldaig Hydro Scheme By Mike Dales We reported in the last issue of Scottish Mountaineer that a new application to develop a hydro scheme in the Shieldaig Forest area of north west Scotland is likely to be submitted in the near future. We now have confirmation that plans are at an advanced stage and are likely to be put forward before the end of the year. There was a tremendous response from mountaineers in 1996 when the Shieldaig 1 (as it is becoming known) scheme was consulted on. We hope that there will be a similar or stronger reaction this time around when the Shieldaig 2 plans are announced. If you would like to help us in the fight to save this wonderful area of wild land then please follow the news on our website, or send us an A5 s.a.e. and we will supply you with details as soon as we have them.
Glen Etive Track - Light at the end of the tunnel? By Mike Newbury The Scottish Mountaineer 5 described this assault on wild land, which is the subject of a retrospective Notice of Proposed Development to two Planning Authorities. MCofS duly responded. SNH have since submitted a deferred Response, which now addresses the full planning context including European conservation obligations. SNH objects to the proposal as submitted, and requests a detailed assessment of impacts on landscape and conservation, with consideration of recreation and wild land values, and specifications for impact mitigation, also long-term management and monitoring plans. SNH ask that the options of encouraging access along the shoreline right of way should be considered in consultation with recreational interest groups.
Coire Fee Track By Mike Dales Work was due to start in October on rebuilding an unsightly and disintegrating track in Coire Fee (Angus Glens), with completion of the project due for late November. The original track was built for Forest Enterprise (FE) a couple of years ago, but quickly attracted criticism for the danger it presented to walkers and its general poor standard of construction. MCofS involvement in the issue has persuaded FE, and SNH as their funding partner, to re-visit the site and do the job properly. The MCofS is monitoring developments to ensure that the work is up to standard.
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