Stone Country

Having been beavering away at autumn projects at Craigmore, we thought we'd produce a guide to the bouldering here which will be available soon, but I was shocked at the amount of problems which have vanished under the moss. Have a look at the two pictures below, the first is of Cammy Bell on Leech Direct, a photo which famously graced the 90's edition of the SMC's Lowland Outcrops, while the second is the same wall today... Cammy Bell on Leech Direct in cleaner days... Leech Direct wall today... I've started a mini campaign to clean up some classics here, starting with Wide Eyed Wall. Hopefully by next spring we'll have rersurrected some neglected classics at this magical little venue. Possibly the growth of trees is shading more of the crag and global warming wetness has maybe encouraged the moss. The blocs in the forest are being left well alone as it's environmentally more important than climbing, but some of the classic crag walls could do with some attent...

We are developing the main Stone Country site into a book, film and topo resource centre for outdoor activities in Scotland & Europe, with new Topos, DVD's and Books for sale in the shop. We are also keen for articles or topos on climbing or bouldering in Europe, so please send anything you'd like published to the edtior John Watson . We can design, price and host your pdf guidebooks, ebooks or articles on our site, so don't hesitate to send us any of those old topos you worked on years ago and we'll give them a facelift. Recent new features are: Glen Lednock, Cowal & Arrochar Blocsport, Monkey See Monkey Do DVD and lots more...

The new edition of the SMT publication 'Ben Nevis' has been published and it's a real treasure trove for the Scottish climber! Ken Crocket has done a great job of updating his sections from the older edition and Simon Richardson has added an inspiring and knowledgeable section on modern winter development. The production levels of the book are tremendous, with full colour photography and illustrations on every page. It's the absolute bible on our biggest mountain and weighs in at a hefty but soild hardback of 416 pages. The book delves deep into the details of misty history and introduces us to an almost-lost character list of rum characters who have climbed on this mountain over the years. Early travellers and mappers are given due introduction and the early Raeburn years are given due credit for their technique and boldness. The book is divided into chapters just like the 'eras' of devlopment on the mountain: the Ben seems to go through fashions and modes li...

Each autumn brings two seasonal imperatives: Autumnwatch and the new Hotaches film. Unlike Autumnwatch, Hotaches give us adventures without wings. The art of a good climbing film, especially in this saturated media age, is to tell a good story. Any film-maker should keep this truism close to heart and Hotaches don't disappoint: the 2009 film 'Monkey See Monkey Do' is a collection of fantastic climbing tales, focusing closely on character and motivation. Every shot is saturated with the emotion of the climber, committed to telling the inner story as much as the wobbling, sickening 'real' world of the climbing. Some sequences in this film had me frozen in disbelief, particularly in the highlight of the four films: Single Handed . The first film is entitled Slate Monkeys and follows three very different climbers to the slate quarries of Wales. Matt Segal, Hazel Findlay and Johnny Dawes attack a classic slate route with a heady mixture of youth, canniness, experience...