Sunday 11th May saw the Hillwalking Club in Glenshee on a Munro-bagging trip. Staff and pupils had a really good fun day out: Alana Georgeson of 1BM had this to say about our day:


"The Hillwalking Club has done another walk but this time they did two hills. The first one was called Carn an Tuirc and the second was Cairn of Claise. As three staff and four pupils walked and walked up the hills, we made some great discoveries like some weird looking bugs which were black and orange. They were very weird and they were hiding under some (dried out) guts. Walking up the hill, Mr Webster's next step was going to land on a bird called a ptarmigan laying on a nest of eggs. He said that when the eggs hatch that the mother will act like she's hurt and then when a predator comes, they will go after her instead of the chicks. At the top of the hill Alana started to scream, "Mr Webster, what is that?". He said it was a Cairngorm Death Wasp so she ran and screamed because he said that if it stung her she would not even have time to say "Ouch!". 10 minutes later, though, he said that it was just a fly! Later we had a snow fight and made a snowman in the middle of spring."

We are now looking forward to our next meet on Sunday 22nd June.

Hazlehead Pupils Tackle Tough Conditions
Following the traditions of all good mountaineering clubs, the Hillwalking Club sallied forth on Good Friday to attempt the ascent of Carn an t-sagairt Mor, a Munro lying a little to the South West of Lochnagar. A group of nine staff and pupils braved the challenging weather forecast, laden down with warm clothing, food and winter equipment.

A light covering of snow gave an enjoyable and sheltered walk through the ancient Caledonian pinewoods of Ballochbuie with fine, though limited, views towards Lochnagar. The group made good progress and soon found themselves commited to the open track beyond where they received their first taste of strong winds and driving spindrift typical of a Scottish winter. Indeed we were all happy to gain the shelter of the small stable at Faindallacher where we could enjoy a bite to eat.

Suitably rested the group continued onto the high moorland path where the going started to get really exciting. The wind increased steadily, buffeting our group from the side and making progress difficult and even the peregrine overhead seemed to be having a hard time of it. Blasts of spindrift obscured everything for periods and eventually we made the decision to turn round; perhaps lesss than an hour from the summit. There were no complaints, however, as we could all see the snow plumes blasting from the col above and the group did well helping each other back down the track to the stable for more sandwiches.

Back down in the forest we were lucky enough to see a vole scuttle across the track; no doubt the meal the peregrine had been hoping for earlier on! We contented ourselves with the remains of our packed lunches back at the minibus before heading home for tea and medals after an excellent introduction to the Scottish winter mountains.
 

Hazlehead Pupils gain some Winter Mountaineering Experience
On Sunday, 10th February an intrepid trio joined Mr Webster for a Hillwalking Club first: a day of introductory winter skills. The group's previous experience had all been of summer hillwalking so it was important to learn some of the technical skills vital to safe travel in winter. From initial stumblings on the snowy slopes of Glenshee the group quickly progressed (chased from our snow patch by screaming sledgers) and our three winter novices were soon mastering the art of good foot technique up, down and across the snow. We moved on to ever steeper slopes and looked at using the ice axe to "self belay", that is to prevent a slip turning into a fall, before cutting steps and pausing to eat our sandwiches. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon practising the vital art of ice axe self arrest: using the ice axe to stop a slide. Literally a life saving technique in the winter mountains.
Click here for a video of this interesting technique!
Starting slowly sliding feet first the group gradually increased in confidence and speed until they were successfully braking from a very fast slide head first and on their backs! No easy feat and a huge leap in terms of skill and confidence. Let's hope we have greater numbers for our March trip.