Helmet sale at Mountain Spirit!

Accidents happen, it's a fact of life.

When you are hurtling down the side of a mountain and loose your balance, get caught in an avalanche or have simply forgotten to remove the dog's lead which then ends up hooked on your ski brake, wearing a helmet can make all the difference between skiing back home with or without your brains intact.

In order to help ease your mind at that point just before you perform a spectacular head plant, we at Mountain Spirit have taken 20% off all our ski helmets in store! So when that well-known phrase reserved for particularly bad situations is racing through your mind, you at least will be glad to know that your all important head is that wee bit safer in your new helmet!

Mountain Spirit 01479 811 788

Deer skin Tanning

I recieved a phone call from Old Bridge Inn Chef, Chris, a month back saying that they had just received 3 Sika deer and 2 Red deer from Rothimurcus to use for their Venison dishes, and would I be able to cure the skins for the pub. No problems said I, having done a fair amount of tanning in Backcountry Courses and off I went to pick them up.

The traditional way to cure skins in Scotland is by using the brains of pigs and sheep, or indeed that of the animal that you are tanning to treat the under surface. For the sake of hygiene and a reasonably polished finish I opted for the tried and tested method of using Alum

(Aluminium) Powder, Salt and Borax (an Acid used in the final stages of treatment).

After weeks of scrapping, soaking and stretching the skins all but one had taken nicely. The skin that hadn't turned out as hoped had been riddled with Bot fly larvae. The Bot fly lays its eggs on the under side of the animals pelt whilst it is still alive,the maggots then live and feed as parasites until they are ready to hatch and leave the host. This of course leaves the pelt cover

ed in tiny holes which affects the appearance and durability of the hair. Nonetheless 4 out of 5 aint bad.

As payment for the skins Chris, Gordy and the other guys laid on an unbelievably good feed for myself and the Mrs. 5 courses - including a new dish of his which comprised of roast duck breast on a bed of roast vegetables, North sea Cod, onion soup with truffle oil and locally sourced Salmon. Nice one fellas!

If anyone is interested in Backcountry skins we have a whole load of Roe deer, red deer and sika coming through shortly, all are from local estates and are sustainably farmed.

Thanks Neil

Raft raft raft raft raft raft raft raft lets have some rafting near Aviemore, Kingussie, Grantown, Rothiemurchus, Glenmore,

Rafting in Aviemore, Scotland with G2 outdoor

Rafting Trips will usually start at 10am and finish about 4pm however if you want to start earlier or later we can run a bespoke trip to suit your needs, when the weather is favourable we will stop for lunch on the way down the river so bring a pack lunch with you or we can provide you with a pack lunch for a small cost.

White Water rafting Aviemore, Scotland All you will need to bring is a spare pair of trainers and a towel we will provide you with wetsuit, wetsuit socks, splash suit and all other safety equipment.

Standard price is £40 per person for half day easy rafting trip or £55 per person for standard day white water rafting trip, large group discount available depending on group size please contact for details.

If you are in Aviemore for a few days why not try a few of our other activities such as Canyoning, gorge walking, mini rafting, mountain biking, rock climbing, abseiling or skiing.

http://www.g2outdoor.co.uk/summer-activities/white-water-rafting

Or Call 01479 811008

Takin' it to the Bridge! That's the Old Bridge Inn, by the way

Takin' it to the Bridge!

Yowza Yowza Yowza! And a very good afternoon to y'all.

Last night we were served up a big puff pastry pie of total quality, thanks to the ever stunning Donna Maciocia and fellow Edinburger musical co-horts Paul Gilbody and Stu Goodall. If this were a facebook update, there would be a little thumbs up right here...

...but it isnae! Instead, here's a wee video of theirs, to sooth the pain of whoever missed it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s6Nwd0Yato

TONIGHT THOUGH.....sees the debut of all star highland party starters, BROKEBACK JOCKSTRAP. They'll be doing a wee weekend residency here, covering apres ski duties Saturday and Sunday afternoon / early evening and bringing the full blown ho-down blue grass meltdown, purely for the pleasure of your ears, feet and hips, later on tonight too. So that's 5 bells (ish), both days and 10 bells (ish) tonight.

There'll also be some tunes from your OBI resident DJ, Uncle Funkle, doing his best to put the funk back in your dysfunkctional Saturday night behaviour.

TUESDAY'S VACCINES GIG....as many of you will already know, has been CANCELLED. The poor lad they call a front man has got a sore throat (seems to happen every time he thinks about coming here). Well, we wish him a speedy recovery and good luck with his life.

THURSDAY = Abagail Grey and OBI's first folk sesh-inn (get it?!?!...sorry) of the year.

Abagail Grey are more than likely the sexiest thing ever to happen to folk music. Those who caught them at the Insider will recall having being stopped dead in their tracks at the site of beautiful woman playing harps in silver shimmery lycra. You half expected Dr Spock and Captain Kirk to break out on percussion, having been instantly hypnotised by these evil, intergalactic space suit clad vixens. But no, reality kicked in and instead we were all just wooed by their wonderfully charming music and presence, then we had a falafel.

Their performance on Thursday will be followed by a folk session. Bring your instruments, your gumption, preferably some level of talent and a light hearted smile. We'll provide the rest.

So, for now, in the words of Dame Vera...

we'll meet again,

don't know where,

don't know when,

but I know we'll meet again, some sunny day!

Big love x x

Le soleil arrive

Finally, at the second attempt spring/summer seems to have arrived, the cross country skis will keep the spiders happy for 8mths!!!

Over the past few weeks the Cycling club has been out on thursdays with lights, warm clothing and Mountain/cross bikes. Its time to forget the winter! Mike has finally been able to test his Merida Ninety-Six 1000d (yes, it's a mouthful!), it is his third one in 8 months, as customers have bought the last two, before one was even ridden! This bike is the ultimate mountain bike: light, fast and agile on the downhill, it is a race bred full suss, which has full remote lock-out and is based on the bike ridden by world MTB champ Jose Hermida. If you are tall, mike might let you borrow it! At £1800, it is a bargain for a bike with full shimano SLX, Manitou air forks and carbon rear end.

However, what really brought cheer to mikes face was the chance to ride his new Raleigh SP Race in the sun, this award winning bike was 2nd in the Cycling Plus 50 best road bikes 2011, it is absolutely awesome, and has a spec to die for, full ultegra, BB30, full carbon frame, ITM fork, stem & bars, Sella itallia SKN saddle, Shimano RS20 wheels, and all for £1900. This has got to be the best value carbon race bike on the market. Its so popular that it is almost sold out in the UK. In addition it is bling in the extreme, finished it a retro white colour scheme.

Mikes Bikes prides itself on trying to buy British whenever possible, and it has now taken delivery of a range of the most exciting range of British bikes for 2011. Forme (french for fitness), aim their Road bikes at the Sportif market, their Mountain bikes at the fitness riding market, and their hybrid at the commuting/fitness rider. The bike frames are designed in the UK and manufactured by Kinesis (Makers of Bianchi, Cannondale etc), and the mountain bikes sport fast tyres, bar ends, flat bars and sporty geometry. Come in and have a look!!

As I mentioned the cycling club has continued, and even welcomed new members this winter, Hamish has shown us that years of exploration (Greenland, South America etc, ) & 20 yrs in Mountain rescue have not ruined his talent to get lost in a blizzard, within sight of Aviemore! In addition, the club chairman has honed his skillful avoidance of water, by using every bridge whilst everyone else cycles through the puddles!

Bumps clinic with G2 Outdoor

We live for Bumps on the White Lady

Oh big slushy bump zip line on the lady

That could possibly be a song title "oh big slushy bump zip line on the lady"! Sorry losing it after a great morning smashing the zip line on Cairngorm Mountain on the White Lady just like the Old days except the legs don't last as long!


Check out the video footage of old timer Mike in the Zip line, after which he collapsed in a heap and is currently having reconstructive surgery on his knees as he's old and past it!!





Thanks to the usual suspects for turning out for the G2 telemark drop-in clinics Paul, June, Sarah, Martin and new member all the way from the snowy mecca of Nottingham, Arne (Norwegian name, think that's why he was awesome at Telemarking)

cheers

Mike

G2 Outdoor

Saturday Night Live!

After a truly outstanding week for snowsports (the pub almost had to close at one point because no-one could resist the lure of the powder!) we have some great live music if anyone's looking to get out tonight and enjoy Aviemore's other favourite past-time, drinking with mates in a pub!

First up at about 10pm is Robin Adams - his new soon-to-be-released album has received 4 and 5*****star reviews from very respectable music press such as The Scotsman and This Is Music.

Then headlining is The Last Battle - a contemporary folk 7-piece from Edinburgh who's album was also critically lauded including an 'album of the year 2010' accolade from one of the country's top music blogs!

OBI x

What a great day for G2's Drop in Telemark clinics

What a day on Cairngorm mountain for our drop in telemark clinics

Great conditions for our drop in clinics


G2 Outdoor's wednesday drop in clinic this week were attended by local experts Paul Masson And June Masson showing the young dude's how to smash the powder on the east wall of the white lady, whilst the young dude's Robin Kinaird, Martin Coulthard, Paul Jones, Dave Boffey and Mike Gale(!!!) watch on in amazement!!

The conditions couldn't have been better with a fresh 10cm already on top of a fresh 70cm of windblown powder hmmmmmmm nice, needless to say not much talking and teaching went on so we just decided to smash the powder on the Aonach, Lady, the triangle and in Sneachda.

http://www.g2outdoor.co.uk/winter-activities/telemark


Thanks for a great day guys.

cheers

Mike

Friction Fire lighting

Friction Fire

If it came down to it could you start a fire from scratch? No matches, no lighter. One of the most important skills you could ever learn, it could even save your life one day. Read on!

Bowdrillarticle

Mega Snow and some interesting Ski Mountaineering conditions

Mega Snow on Cairngorm Mountain

Another classic Cairngorm weekend ski mountaineering, with nuts load of snow coming in all weekend, saturday we managed to get to the top of Cairngorm with the ski down the Ciste gully being amazing, Sunday we woke up to another massive dump of snow, the hill road was closed so in ski mountaineering fashion we hiked to the top of the hill from the Glenmore snow gates, was it worth it? Absolutely!

 Having lunch on the hill in our emergency shelters

This season has been awesome for the G2 Outdoors team for ski mountaineering with Nick running courses and private guiding most weeks lets see if he beats last years 49 days of ski mountaineering!

Check out the video below of the awesome potential we have for playing in the Cairngorms

Cheers

From the G2 Team

Old Bridge Inn goings on.....

Hello everyone!

Firstly, big thanks to Mike for getting this up and running. Good work. At the Old Bridge we're ("we" being Owen, Kim, Gordie and all the team) delighted to be amongst such esteemed company.

Without further ado, here's what's going on at our end of the village.......

A couple of big ones on the horizon are The Vaccines gig on Tuesday 29th March, and the Scottish Backcountry festival on April 2nd.

The Vaccines look set to go straight to number 1 when their debut album is released in the coming weeks, and are surely the biggest act to come to Aviemore in recent memory! We'll be locking down the pub for this one - Tickets are £8 and selling fast.

The Scottish Backcountry festival will be a celebration of Scotlands less-explored mountains, with workshops and guided days from the guys at G2 and also a backcountry film competition. They are still seeking entrants, check out this great interview with Jamie Johnston for inspiration! There will be live music all weekend from The Banana Sessions, William Douglas and Ord Ban

Here's the lowdown...

***EAT***

This month sees Spring creeping back into our lives and the excitement is palpable in the OBI kitchen as the chefs prepare themselves for the rich bounty that comes with it!

Look out for new seasonal dishes appearing on the menu as new produce becomes available. It will, however, be sad to see the back of the delicious Cairngorm white mountain hare...

Also from the kitchen, we're delighted at the return we've been getting on our recently acquired smoker. Venison, salmon, hare, home-made chorizos and black-pudding, even butter(!) have all been getting the woodsmoke treatment to amazing effect. Look out for OBI-smoked treats on the menu.

***DRINK***

We have some cracking new malts on the gantry. Current pub favourite is Lagavulin PX matured in Pedro Ximinez sweet sherry casks which give an incredibly sweet mellow flavour. For the very brave, Laphroaig Cask-Strength comes in at a peat-laden 58.3% and is definitely one for the connoisseurs.

New Spring-friendly cocktails are being worked on in the lab and will be getting debuted very soon, hang around the bar long enough and you might even get to taste one of the trialists...

***LISTEN***

(We'll provide links to artists/bands' music where possible so that you can do more than just take our word for it. Go listen!)

For anyone looking for some last-minute Sunday night entertainment we have live music tonight at 9pm in the shape of Matt Norris and the Moon, an Edinburgh nu-folk outfit who draw obvious comparisons, from lazy blurb writers, to posh faux-folksters M*mford & S*ns. We wouldn't do that though. Support comes from Joe Black, lead singer of the totally wonderful Washington Irving, playing a rare solo set. A real treat!

Saturday March 19th - 10pm

The Last Battle & Robin Adams

A night of great songwriting - The Last Battle play slightly melancholic folk pop a la King Creosote, whilst Robin Adams combines lush guitar and darkly beautiful singing with a brooding lyrical style.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday March 25/26/27th - 10pm

Brokeback Jockstrap

A wee weekend residency, supplying tongue-in-cheek cajun/bluegrass covers to keep apres-skiers and drinkers entertained. Watch out for them on Cairngorms too as they take their musical message to the mountains for a shred and a jam!

Friday March 25th - 10pm

Donna Maciocia / Paul Gilbody / Stuart Goodall

Three of Edinburgh's finest singer/songwriters are taking to the road for a celebration of of song and companionship. Sounds like an excuse to drink lots of whisky in great Highland pubs.

Saturday March 26th - 10pm

Leonard Jones Potential

FUNK! The very first of our new, and as-yet un-named (suggestions please!), monthly Funk nights which will feature live bands and DJ's doing their thing as we go dancefloor daft in the lounge! The Leonard Jones Potential are the Highlands' flyest outfit, keepin' it local, keepin' it funky! Also appearing at a ski resort near you...

Tuesday March 29th - 9pm

The Vaccines - £8

The most hyped band in the country since the last one (the Arctic Monkeys?) this will almost certainly be the smallest gig they play all year, or ever again for that matter! Punky pop rock inspired heavily by Joy Division/The Ramones.

*Dinner Service will finish 8pm on this night to allow for changeover for the gig. From 9pm the pub will be ticket only*

Thursday March 31st - 9pm

Abagail Grey

Kooky, folky Invernessian band who are back for the second crack at the OBI. A lovely excuse to come out on a Thursday night, an informal trad sesh will follow the gig and keep the party going all night!

April and beyond...

Sunday 10th April - Washington Irving/Cattle&Cane/Mike Nisbet

Sunday 24th April - Kitty the Lion/The Injuns/Ben Howard

Monday 16th May - Lau (£14)

Tuesday 31st May - Kan (£12)

***

You can also check out our burgeoning youtube channel here where we'll be posting up music from bands past and present to play in the pub. Watching it is a guaranteed great way to waste an hour or two!

Until we meet again x x

Hello from Mikes Bikes

Hello from Mikes Bikes, Aviemore.

A few quick introductions; firstly Mike of Mike's Bikes - chief mechanic, technical advisor, buyer, seller....basically everything! secondly Jenny - (Mikes wife) - keeps the business ticking over...then we have Callum known locally as Cal - becoming an all rounder working in both the shop and workshop, we also have Dougie and Dom our resident 50 something part time helpers and then finally we have Sally - who mmm decides when she wants to work.

What do we do? - well - we sell mountain, road, hybrid, touring, cyclo-cross, bmx, jump, trials and kids bikes, we have a fully equipped workshop and our shop has a full range of cycling accessories including clothing and footwear....

Situated in the centre of Aviemore with free parking outside the shop.

Anyway enough for now - this is just brief introduction...

You can keep up to date with us also on; www.aviemorebikes.co.uk or on facebook.

Diamondback, Raleigh, Merida, Dawes, Forme, Ridley, Saracen, Onza, Corratec & Mtrax

G2 Outdoor - Rafting, Canyoning, Ski School and Outdoor Adventure Activities Aviemore, Scotland: White water Rafting near Aviemore, Inverness, Gran...

G2 Outdoor - Rafting, Canyoning, Ski School and Outdoor Adventure Activities Aviemore, Scotland: White water Rafting near Aviemore, Inverness, Gran...: "Rafting Aviemore January and February have started off really well for rafting despite it being the winter season and we normal don't raft..."

Snow Holeing

It takes a special type of person to walk/ski into the remote hills in the Cairngorms, armed with only a Bone saw an avalanche probe and a shovel and dig themselves into the snow pack for the night!

This is what we here at Backcountry Survival have been doing over the winter, and especially over the last week. And contrary to popular belief is neither cold, unsafe or uncomfortable - if done right. Why not give it a go with the Bushcraft and Survival experts?

Visit: www.backcountrysurvival.co.uk

Call: 01479 812725


Heres a quick taster vid

Awesome Weather for Ski Mountaineering

What a fantastic weekend 

G2 Outdoor's introduction to ski mountaineering course couldn't have asked for better weather with the good weather gods smiling down upon us.

With a full course and more we had to lay on more staff to cope with the demand, the first day we took our clients round the Northern Corries for some really amazing views.

The next day we did Ben Macdui which was absolutely stunning with the cloud coming and going through out the journey, what a stunning weekend.

G2 Outdoor 01479 811008 or visit our website for details:-

http://www.g2outdoor.co.uk/winter-activities/ski-touring-and-mountaineering

Backcountry Survival

Enjoy a unique experience in the wild and stunning environment of the Scottish Highlands. Backcountry Survival, based near Aviemore, provides tailored courses and packages in wilderness survival techniques and the art of bushcraft.

Bushcraft is about surviving and thriving in the natural environment, and the acquisition of key skills and knowledge to do so. We teach skills well known to our ancient predecessors, many of which are still practiced today as an everyday skill amongst aboriginal and native peoples around the world.

Backcountry Survival is different from other bushcraft companies, as clients have the opportunity to learn skills relevant to a variety of environments – woodland, moorland, mountain, river, loch and sea. Our courses also compliment a variety of outdoor activities, as they provide key survival and navigational techniques that would benefit anyone spending time in a diverse wilderness environment – whether it be walking, climbing, skiing, cycling, paddling or camping.

Regardless of whether you are an individual, group or family, courses are available to all, so why not contact us to book your space on this exiting outdoor activity.