Posts for September, 2021

Bats are truly fascinating creatures and our only flying mammal. Come along and find out what bats eat, where they live and other interesting facts about these wonderful creatures as we wander through Grantown-on-Spey.
As with all ranger walks we will be enjoying fresh air, company and wildlife sights and sounds. There is some rough ground by the riverside. Families, adults and good dogs welcome! No unaccompanied children. Booking essential 24 hours beforehand.
It costs £9.73 per visitor to operate our Countryside Ranger Service. We make no charge for this event but we rely on your donations to help us protect our Highland wildlife and heritage.

Explore the gorgeous Criagellachie National Nature Reserve on foot with your High Life Countryside Ranger.

Activity Description Join this regular local High Life Highland Countryside Rangers green health walk and help reconnect with the natural world. Enjoy some leisurely exercise, friendly company, great views, and fresh air. Different theme each walk – you choose?! All of our ‘short walks into nature’ series are generally flat, approximately an hour or so in length and suitable for all abilities and levels of fitness. Please disclose to your local ranger any medical or additional support needs you may have prior to the walk. Good dogs very welcome. Over 18’s only please. Booking essential 24 hours beforehand using booking reference number: 004184KING

Please come along to our Car Boot and Table Top Sale on Sunday 10th October – who knows what bargains you might find. We will also have a cafe with home baking. In the event of bad weather, we will move inside, into the main hall and lounge.

Join this regular local High Life Highland Countryside Rangers green health walk and help reconnect with the natural world. Enjoy some leisurely exercise, friendly company, great views, and fresh air. Different theme each walk – you choose?! All of our ‘short walks into nature’ series are generally flat, approximately an hour or so in length and suitable for all abilities and levels of fitness. Please disclose to your local ranger any medical or additional support needs you may have prior to the walk. Good dogs very welcome. Over 18’s only please.
Booking essential 24 hours beforehand using reference number: 004183GRAN
It costs £9.73 per visitor to operate our Countryside Ranger Service. We make no charge for this event but we rely on your donations to help us protect our Highland wildlife and heritage

The annual Cairngorm Ski Club Snowsports Equipment Sale offers snowsports fans an excellent opportunity to buy and sell second hand and new ski and snowboard equipment and clothing. Here you can find a wide range of competitively priced equipment to suit all budgets. Goods can be closely inspected and boots tried for fit with ski club members and coaches are available for advice.

We do not accept for sale old skinny skis, boots with obviously heavily worn toe and heel pieces nor skis with obviously broken edges, unrepaired full thickness base damage or very loose bindings. The sale, run entirely by volunteers, is on Saturday 13th November 2021 at Dalfaber Golf and Country Club, Aviemore PH22 1ST.

BUYERS

The sale takes place between 3:30pm and 5:30pm and a queue develops before doors open at 3:30pm. Entrance is 50 pence per adult and children are free.There is an opportunity to closely inspect goods but please do not hoard items you do not intend to buy. Ski Club members will be available for advice. Payment is by cash or cheque with only limited potential for bank transfer.In the past there has been a large queue to pay but an increased number of sales desks now means the queue moves quickly.

SELLERS

You can sell second hand and new ski and snowboard equipment and clothing and some try their luck with other outdoor gear. When deciding what to sell it’s worth asking yourself, “Would I buy this?” It’s not the Antique Road Show! Everyone who wishes to mount a pair of old skinny skis on a bar or bedroom wall already seems to have a pair, therefore we don’t accept “old skinny” skis. We also won’t accept boots with obviously heavily worn toe and heel pieces nor skis with obviously broken edges, unrepaired full thickness base damage or obviously very loose bindings, and a club member will quickly check equipment at check in. Other than these restrictions you can try your hand at selling anything as long as you pick it up if it’s not sold. If you are intending to sell more than 80 items please contact John, the organiser, by email (sale@cairngormskiclub.co.uk), to discuss in advance, otherwise we can’t guarantee to accept all the items on the day. Goods for sale should be dropped in between 9 am and 1:30 pm. Items are detailed, listed and tagged then placed on the sale floor by helpers. It costs £3.00 to enter each 20 items or less. The minimum price for goods is £6, less than this and we’ll accept the item as a donation.

Between 7:15 and 8:30 pm sellers can pick up their unsold items and collect their money. Changes introduced recently should ensure payout is quicker than before, and on arrival sellers will be given a list of their sold and unsold goods. Unsold items not picked up will be disposed of. 15% of sale price is retained by Cairngorm Ski Club to cover the cost of the sale and subsidise the club’s ski training programme.

Sellers can choose not to attend payout but have a cheque sent to them or a bank transfer for items sold provided they are happy to donate unsold items to Cairngorm Ski Club.

DONATIONS

The club accepts donations of ski or snowboard equipment or clothing. These should be handed in between 9am and 1:30 pm. Donations are sold with all proceeds going to the club and if donations do not sell the club disposes of them. We reserve the right to decline donations we think are very unlikely to sell but will accept almost any equipment.

A wonderful new ‘digital guidebook’ has now been created for the Badenoch area – really useful for visitors and locals alike – ‘Badenoch The Storylands App’. It’s a free smartphone app, and comes with highly recommended tours for driving, cycling and walking as well as a customisable map with accommodation, restaurants and great places to visit in the area.

It also doubles as a Badenoch entertainment jukebox – featuring music by local performers and over 7 hours of local fascinating local heritage stories written and narrated by well-known local folk musician Hamish Napier.

The app also includes a pioneering new feature for travel apps of this kind – stunningly detailed 3D artist impressions of what the local castles and stone circles would have looked like back in their heyday. See Ruthven Barracks and two local hill forts as they might have looked centuries ago.

Whether a visitor to the area or local this is a chance to hear more about the App, its content and how it works, presented by Hamish Napier and hosted by The Badenoch Great Place Project.

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils have agreed a two-year deal to host the Tour of Britain, now beginning with the final stage of the 2021 race on Sunday 12 September. The Aberdeenshire coastal town of Stonehaven will play host to the stage start, with the route also featuring a much-anticipated ascent of the famed Cairn o’Mount climb in the opening kilometres. Full details of the route will be unveiled in due course, although it can be revealed that the successor to Dutch sensation Mathieu van der Poel will be crowned in Aberdeen city centre following a day of racing largely set in the stunning Aberdeenshire countryside. Not only will the 2021 stage mark the first time the Tour of Britain has visited the region, it will also be the furthest point north the modern edition of the race has ever reached.

To kick things off, we are showing ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ at 7pm on Friday 10th September 2021.
6.30PM Entry and Mix & Mingle Safely
6.45PM Take your Seats
7.00PM Let the Show Commence
9.00PM The Show Closes

Supported by Deviate Cycles (www.deviatecycles.com), the showcase of the UK premiere of The Big Bike Film Night, a collection of short and documentary films that has everything a cycle-centric audience could want – action, drama, humour, and plenty of inspiration; the evening is unashamedly designed and devised the two-wheel devotee!

eguide Scotland (www.eguidescotland.com) offers ebike rental and guiding in the heart of Royal Deeside and the Cairngorm. They will be with us on Saturday 11th at their Gazebo on the Green offering general information,
demonstrating some of their skills, and running two specific sessions.

Morning session introducing to e-biking:
An easy ebike guided ride around Ballater and its surrounding countryside.
Suitable for ebike novices.
Ratio 1:6 £25 per person (ebikes available to hire for the session – £30 extra).

Afternoon Session of big ebike fun:
An intermediate to advanced guided ebike ride around Ballater taking in some
of the best trails the village has to offer. Suitable for for ebike/ mountain biking
regulars.
Ratio 1:6 £25 per person (ebikes available to hire for the session – £30 extra).