Not skiing related but thought some of you might be interested in my sabbatical from all things snow related until the white stuff returns.
Posted here as there is more of an audience than in the Bothy.


The quality is certainly better if viewed Fullscreen and 1080p (if your Broadband connection will allow) Default seems to be 720p.

Scotland - Western Isles & West Coast Cycle Tour
[youtu.be]

The cliffs on Mingulay could make for some "interesting" ski descents if they ever received enough snow

Enjoy...

Hi Rustler

Excellent film. Did you plan the magnificent weather? and what happened to the convoys of campervans. We are off to Barra and South Uist early Sept.and would be happy for even a dash of good weather. Cycling in the rain is fine but not day after day

thanks for your inspiration
Jim

Some stunning photos there, looks like you had a good time.

How long did it take you? You must have racked up a fair mileage?!

Jamie

Great photos. Been most of these places, some by bike and camped some areas. Enjoyed your photos very much and glad you got such good weather. No cars anywhere!

Neil

Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated.

hector,

It was a 15 day trip and I cycled 640 miles - works out about 40-ish miles per day, not a lot really in the grand scheme of things. Plenty of time to enjoy the scenery which is world class in every way.

Hi

Nice pics. Excellent weather!

I did similar in 2006 on the outer Hebrides, and in 2008 on the inner islands. 'twas magic. I could happily go live on Tiree, take up painting, and just watch the world go by!

Try Shetland/Orkney next year. We thought Shetland was brilliant: [www.veletron.com]

Outer Heb: [www.veletron.com]
Inner Heb: [www.veletron.com]

Nigel

Apologies for dredging up an old thread that is not remotely ski related.... I thought everyone deserved a break from the dreich summer we've been having..

Following on from last summer's trip to the islands I decided to return last month, encouraged by the great weather the NW and islands have been having since April

Trip Highlights included:
- Visiting Mingulay and St Kilda
- Only one small rain shower in two weeks!

Enjoy.....

[youtu.be]

Thanks for sharing that HR, so many memories from my own wee trips. St Kilda is such a unique place, one of the few places to truly take my breath away! How did they exist in those wee shelters for so long?

I'm quite envious about the settled weather you had. I've seen the flip side too many times!

Fantastic pictures.

Your route last year was very similar to ours in 2010, although we were light weights and used the car. Our kids were 8 and 6 at the time and want another camping holiday in the Outer Hebredies.

Our trip culminated in a trip to St. Kilda which has to be one of the most magical places I've ever been. St. Kilda should not be a "once in a life time" visit. Next time I'll time my visit with the Puffins. We missed them by about a week.

Keep the trip reports coming.

Great photos and trip. You are privileged to get over to StKilda, often peoples trips get cancelled due to bad weather.

tupp - those tiny shelters were used to store food - mainly seabirds they caught for oil and food.

Thanks for the comments everyone

Heading back to the Western Isles after last year's excellent trip and getting even better weather this year is the stuff of dreams. So many special places and some of the beaches compare with anywhere IMO. St Kilda was the highlight though - edge of the world feel to the place, the highest cliffs in the UK, the history of the community who lived there and the amazing colonies of seabirds that dominate the landscape.

Tupp, as Telemarker said, the tiny shelters (Cleits) were built with the openings predominately facing away from the prevailing south westerlies, allowing wind to flow through but keeping out rain and they were used to store anything from food to ropes to peat. There are literally hundreds of Cleits (Wikipedia quotes over 1,200 ruined or intact Cleits) on the island, some facing in different directions, which I'm assuming were used when the wind came from directions other than from the SW.

BBC are currently repeating their Lost World series on St Kilda on BBC 4 which is worth a watch. The first episode is on iPlayer until Tuesday 24th. The second episode will be shown on BBC4 on Mon evening and repeated on Tues.

Here is the link for those who are interested
[www.bbc.co.uk]

Aye, it's a surreal place. I've been fortunate enough to visit twice. The first time was on a sunny day with just a wee breeze. I had a good look around that time. The second visit was vastly different! After several attempts to get there, (sometimes landing on other islands and waiting 6 hours for the chopper to come back) I arrived on a white St Kilda. The Heli wasn't turning and burning but I didn't have much time on that visit. A quick job then back off before the weather window closed. White St Kilda was not as inviting as green St Kilda.

I had thought that the larger Cleits had been lived in. I'm sure that I read that the livestock were kept at the doorway to help keep the heat in and that often there would be a mound of dung built up there. The street was quite a new development in the islands history. This is all from memory, from three years back so might be nonsense!

Tupp wrote


The buildings that look like large "Cleits" are traditional Hebridean blackhouses which the islanders lived in until the 1860's. The blackhouses were designed to keep the wind out whereas the Cleits were designed to let the wind through. You're right about the animals, they were kept inside the blackhouses with the family.

Landing on the heli pad at St Kilda sounds like fun!