Scale new heights at Arran Mountain Festival
Ramblers, runners, climbers and walkers are ready to step into next week’s Arran Mountain Festival which is offering participants more than 20 guided walks and related social activities.
The annual event, which will take place between Friday May 17 and Monday May 20, caters for all levels from complete beginners, to novice hikers or keen mountaineers.
Festival-goers can enjoy gentle wildlife walks, mountain trails and scrambling Corbett challenges which summit all four of Arran’s mountains more than 2,500 feet high - Goatfell, Caisteal, Abhail Beinn
Tarsuinn and Cir Mhor. There will also be three mountain runs led by ultra-runner, and mountaineering and climbing instructor Giles Ruck. These are aimed at road and trail runners. All events are listed with a technical, distance and endurance rating and duration. Following each day’s activities, walkers can enjoy post-event refreshments, including coffee, tea and home-made cakes, at the Festival Hub at Auchrannie Playbarn between 3.30pm and 5.30pm.
In the evenings, there will be opportunities to socialise with drinks and a mountain-themed pub quiz at the Ormidale Hotel, Brodick, on Friday May 17, and a ceilidh at Brodick Village Hall on Saturday May 18. The ceilidh will include a raffle, a chance to win a bottle of Arran whisky and an auction of a mountain painting by local artist and owner of Saltwater Gallery, Senja Brendon.
This year, the festival is also offering a sponsorship opportunity for five people looking to gain their mountain leader qualification. The national qualification will allow those selected to guide people in Britain and Ireland’s highest mountains. Some of the funding for the sponsorships was donated by Kenton Cool, a world-leading mountaineer and adventurer, who spoke at the festival last year.
There are still tickets available for the walks, runs and activities. For full details of the festival programme and to book a place, visit: https://www.arranmountainfestival.co.uk/programme/.