Rotary club partners lunch a success
SIXTY Lochaber rotarians enjoyed the club’s annual partners lunch last week.
Partners and guests gathered at the Alexandra Hotel, Fort William, last Wednesday (February 15) for a presentation by Lochaber mountaineer and businessman Ian Sykes.
The club also welcomed Alasdair Ferguson, chief executive of Ferguson Transport and Shipping, and his wife Jill, to the annual lunch.
Fergusons is the club’s principal sponsor and has been a ‘significant force’ behind the Christmas festival with its funding of the Cairngorm reindeer.
Ian Sykes entertained the audience with a talk about his life’s adventures, ranging from his time in the mountain rescue team at RAF Kinloss, his years instructing at the Outward Bound Locheil Centre, to his Antarctic expeditions and, along with his close friend Iain Sutherland, setting up the Nevisport Shop and, ultimately, the Nevis Range ski development.
The project later diversified into a mountain biking course and what is now arguably the best downhill biking track in the world. The World Mountain Biking event last year attracted more than 17,000 people.
Past president Ron Gretton, who has known Ian for more than 40 years, said: ‘Ian has done a fantastic job in the promotion and selling of Fort William. I never tire of seeing these photos and we are glad, after several attempts, to have welcomed Ian to share his experiences with the club.’