The Nor

The Nor’ West Sgurramblers (NWS)

is a small group of mountain walking enthusiasts who have been dedicated for over 25 years to:

making the mountains and other high hills of Scotland accessible

in spring, summer, autumn and winter

at an affordable cost

to anyone (over 18) living anywhere in the United Kingdom who is able to walk

5 or more hours a day.

The programme of meets caters for all hillwalking capabilities from “ambling” to

“scrambling” up the Sgurrs (rocky peaks). Non-members are invited to attend a

meet as guests before deciding whether to become members.

A typical days walking will be between about 5 and 8 hours, with between about 6 and 12 miles of walking and 2500 and 4500 ft of ascent, this varies depending on the terrain, weather, snow conditions if any, time of year, and personal preference. Some members may do considerably more than this on occasions. We are not rock climbers or ice climbers and we don't do any roped climbing except on the odd occasion when we have hired a guide on skye or in the Alps. Meets are very informal with no fixed programme - people are free to walk where they want, transport permitting.

Occasionally scrambling is required to reach a summit although this is by far the exception, with most of the tops being accessible by a walking route ( excluding winter conditions), with the notable exceptions of the Skye Black Cuillin and the Aoanach Eagach. A reasonable amount of the walking is on glen tracks, well engineered stalking tracks, and hill paths although there is far more rough and untracked terrain than in the mountains of England and Wales, especially on the Corbetts which see fewer visitors than the Munros.

Occasionally we will use bikes to ease access to the remoter hills, using landrover tracks

(bikes and bens meets)

Obviously in winter, conditions are more demanding due to snow cover, more extreme weather, and fewer daylight hours. Potential new members wanting to come on a February, Newyear or Easter meet, who have never done any winter hill walking, may wish to attend a short winter skills course to familiarize themselves with ice axe and crampon use before attending a meet.

It's great to reach a summit on a days walk although if the weather is bad we're not averse to a low level walk, and if the weather is really awful even a visit to the nearest tea shop/pub/gear shop (Nevisport in Fort William combines all three)

Members of the NWS live in many areas of England, Scotland and Wales and each year they arrange 6 “hillwalking meets” (spread over spring, summer, autumn and winter) in Scotland (Highlands photos). The meets range from weekends to a full week or more, and you can attend for part or the whole of that time. In addition an “Annual General Meeting” weekend meet is held in the late autumn of each year in a mountainous area of England or Wales. Costs are kept to a minimum by sharing transport, cooking communal meals and booking accommodation to match the pockets of those participating, however, those who prefer to stay and eat in more luxurious surroundings are free to make their

own accommodation and catering arrangements. For over 15 years the NWS have also arranged an annual walking trip in the Alps or Pyrenees for those craving the scenery and thrills of walking the high mountains of Europe. See Europe Photos

The club and its members are affiliated to the British Mountaineering Council, with attendant insurance cover and access to the huts of numerous other clubs.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED

During the last year Individual members have been engaged in numerous other mountain and hill-walking activities, ranging from weekend strolls in the Lake District to major treks in the UK and overseas. Noteworthy amongst the latter are the latest endeavours of the "world traveller" and the "bionic man"

This year our "world traveller" spent his "hard-earned" (so he says!) cash visiting Peru to

walk the Inca Trail. Having "coped with" bears in the Antarctic, bandits in Ethiopia and

primitive loos in Tibet, we think he may be in danger of running out of uncomfortable and remote mountainous places to visit. It is probably only a rumour that he is planning to learn Russian and Chinese.

Our "bionic man" continues to find new mountain and hill walking challenges to tackle in aid of various charities. In recent years he has walked from Lands End to John o’ Groats via every summit over 3,000 feet; to the summits of all the Munros in one continuous winter trip, and to the tops of an African version of the "the Three Peaks" challenge (Margherita, Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro – see world photos). This year he set himself to complete the "10x10 Challenge" - 10 challenging UK mountain/long distance treks in 10 days. An average day involves walking over 25 miles and an ascent of over 8500ft. Sadly, at the end of the third day he had to abandon the attempt when injured in a car crash en route to his next venue. Happily he has recovered fully. His less energetic (ie lazy) fellow members look forward to reading about his next exploit from the comfort of their armchairs. It must be stressed that most Norwest Sgurrambler members have only a fraction of the stamina of the "bionic man" .