Aviemore bouldering guide

In this exclusive release, Strathspey dark horse Rory Brown shows us theres more to Aviemore bouldering than meets the eye. He's been dusting off old school classics, digging out warm up cracks and cranking out testpieces. Of course this has all been done in true Highland fashion, under the radar. #YouwontfindtheseonInstagram! 

Rory has produced a great bouldering guide to the area. Ive no doubt it will inspire fellow locals and passers by to get involved. Who knew there was a font 7c within a mile of the ski centre!? He takes up the story:

"Bouldering around Aviemore has a mysterious air to it. It's certainly not the first thing that springs to most people’s mind when planning a climbing trip to the area. A quick look at the Scottish Bouldering guide will satisfy a session or two at The Link or Cuca. But what if one desires more? There are whispers of hidden roofs, walls, midges and heathery adventures.

With a bit of searching the old Strathspey guide, produced by Mike Gale et al in 2000, will be found. A great local guide, in black and white. This was then updated sometime around 2010, with colour and pictures. But the rumour has it, there is more to be found.

So, the internet searches become even more nuanced. Pages from Gaz Marshal’s ‘Soft Rock’ begin to appear, and with your browser security turned on, links to pdfs of unusual venues will follow. The enthusiasm and effort put into these guides, blogs and videos is surely enough to get anyone psyched.

A further 10 years down the line this guide aims to bring all that information plus a few new areas into one place and focuses specifically on the boulders local to Aviemore. Although the bouldering may not rival more established areas, there is plenty of fun to be had if the mystery entices you."

The new guide can be downloaded here.

Moray Coast bouldering guide

Ted Collins has produced a fantastic new bouldering guide for the Moray Coast venues Cummingston and Primrose Bay. Its a real labour of love and his enthusiasm for the area really shines through. It includes simple approach descriptions and grid refs as well as some useful info on local conditions. This should be of particular value to those visiting for the first time as climbing here in poor conditions can be disappointing . Newly armed with this knowledge don't be surprised if you turn up on a low tide winters evening to meet other lamp wielding enthusiasts taking advantage of mint conditions! The guide also includes crisp photo topo's and trad grades where appropriate. Ted takes up the story:

"There's been a lack of information for the bouldering at Cummingston. It's been about who you know to pass on the knowledge, watching vids online or piecing obscure descriptions with sections of rock. So many times I've been down there and bumped into folk trying to suss out what is what. The conversation would usually turn to how Cummingston doesn't have a decent guide despite it being a good long-standing venue. After a while I decided to take on the task.

I've been lucky enough to have these wonderful spots close throughout my life. Cummingston has always been great to me, with top-roping diffs with dad as a child to later learning the game of bouldering. Finally sending The Nest 6A after five sessions remains one of my best climbing experiences ever and got me totally hooked! I've also been fortunate to meet friends along the way through sharing an enthusiasm for the area. 

The aim of this guide is just to pass on the info I've learned over the years (although there's plenty I don't know, first ascents of the older classics would be cool to find out). It's been a great process putting it all together. Hopefully you'll find it comes in handy for exploring this amazing coastline, enjoy!

This dropbox link should let you download the guide, it may ask you to create a dropbox account but just dismiss it and go to download."