Outdoors

The fate of an island beach hut which has played a key role in the success of two of Scotland’s young surfing stars has been left hanging in the balance.

Many years ago now, after a particularly comedy-fuelled night out during the Edinburgh Festival I bumped into a theatre reviewer friend of mine on the way home. I told him of my night of comedy, and he told me of his night spent reviewing comic theatre. “I’m sick of laughter. Time for some Joy Division” he said.

This winter, I’ve signed up to be a Bookfella for the Scottish Book Trust. The purpose of a Bookfella is two-fold: to raise money for the SBT and to encourage more men to read for pleasure (apparently we’re not as good at this as women). I don’t have space to go into my ill-considered fundraising stunt here, but suffice to say it involves me making a royal fool of myself on top of a hill sometime between now and next April. In an attempt to get more men reading for pleasure, though, I’ve also agreed to list my top 40 outdoors books, both on Twitter and in this column, in the hope that it might inspire a few fellas to seek out some of my favourites. (Yes, I know, women also read books about the outdoors. Realistically, however, I don’t think it’s too controversial to suggest that this list will probably have more traction with male readers than – for example – a list of my top 40 poetry books.)

Of all the Scottish surfers given wildcard entries to the UK Pro Surf Tour event at Thurso at the end of last month, Mark Boyd was perhaps the least well-prepared. “I’ve been working non-stop through the summer and autumn and just managed to get the time off for the contest,” he says. “Actually it felt like I was trying to re-learn how to surf wave by wave during the comp, which isn’t ideal going up against guys who have been surfing and competing all summer.”

THE warmth of a wood stove, crisp mornings and the stunning snow-covered Scottish scenery, who needs summertime when you can camp out in luxury during the winter?

Ever wondered what it would be like to have a birdseye view of the River Clyde or Edinburgh’s Calton hill?

First introduced in 2009, Ski-Scotland’s All Areas Season Ticket has always been good value for anyone lucky enough to be able to head to the hills on a semi-regular basis. As the name suggests, it allows you to access any of the five Scottish ski centres whenever they’re open, which means if you’re willing to do a bit of driving you can make the most of each new snowfall by going wherever the weather and snow cover are looking the most promising. Last week, however, these golden tickets got even better – not to mention about 100 times more exotic – following the announcement that for the 2016/17 season they would also give access to ski resorts in Iceland, as part of a reciprocal deal. Not enough snow in the Highlands by mid-December? Never mind – if you’re an All Areas pass holder you can hop on a plane to Reykjavik and go skiing there instead, at any one of 11 resorts. (The same deal also applies to anyone with a season ticket to any of the five Scottish ski centres.)

PINTEREST is a great site for inspiration and these pins by travel bloggers and websites are a great way to discover the best things to see and do on a trip to Scotland.

SCOTTISH Borders Council’s Executive Committee has approved an ambitious five year strategy for further developing and expanding cycle tourism in the area.

THE latest trend to hit our shores is a Danish import that focuses on cosiness and contentment, here are five of the best places to achieve a sense of hygge over the festive season.

A SMALL loch near Aviemore has been named as one of the best winter walks in the UK by a British travel website.

THE nights are drawing in and the days are getting colder but do not despair! There are plenty of fun events around Scotland for you and your family to enjoy before the festive season kicks off.

AN exhilarating new video posted on social media shows the Aonach Eagach ridge in Glencoe in all of its breathtaking glory.

More than 70,000 people attended Perthshire’s award-winning light and sound show the Enchanted Forest this year.

FROM a single-arched, hump-backed masonry bridge built in the 18th century to the modern marvel currently under construction in the Firth of Forth, bridges have often served important roles across Scotland.

MORE than £30,000 of investment has been used to improve footpaths in Balloch Country Park, allowing families and other walkers to safely explore the Whinney Hill Woods where they can enjoy stunning views of Loch Lomond.

OVER 1,100 runners switched on their head torches this weekend to take on the Scottish Illuminator Run at Glen Tanar Estate in Royal Deeside.

A Danish billionaire is on the verge of becoming the largest landowner in Scotland.

If you’ve ever doubted how much chaos rip currents cause along the British coast each year, try doing a Google video search for “RNLI and rip currents”. Then take your pick from “Family of five rescued from rip current by RNLI lifeguards in Devon”; “Boy heard screaming for help rescued from rip current by lifeguard”; “RNLI lifeguards rescue 24 people from rip currents in Croyde Bay”; and “Six people caught in a rip current at Widemouth beach rescued by lifeguard”. And that’s just a small sample from the first page of the search results. Thanks to the fact that lifeguards now seem to have GoPro cameras fixed to the decks of their rescue boards as standard, the internet must have almost as many films of exhausted, bedraggled-looking people being hauled from the water and paddled back to safety as it does funny clips of cats falling off kitchen surfaces.