Continue reading »]]> Ben Hope had beautiful powder and a white out to go with it on Sunday 18th December. Unfortunately my ski descent coincided with the whiteout. It was so bad that I fell over twice on the descent due to a strange unbalancing effect encountered when believing I was still moving but had actually stopped!

Powder on the upper slopes of Ben Hope

Lovely powder snow on a firm base, possibly the best quality for skiing I’ve seen on Ben Hope in 12 winters of regular ascents. This was taken during a break in the snowfall on my ascent about 50 metres below the summit. Whilst on the summit the weather closed back in from the north west providing some very dense conditions for the descent and definitely spoiling the skiing.

Ben Hee south from Ben Hope down Strath More

Around 10cm of snow had fallen on the lower slopes whilst I was up high. The sun cast this beautiful light across Ben Hee (centre left) and Strath More as I descended back to the strath.

Very mild conditions have ensued since Wednesday 21st, it won’t be looking like this now. Hopefully cooler weather will be back soon.

Jason Bonniface 22/12/2011

Continue reading »]]> The weekend of 26-27th November brought deep depressions off the Atlantic bringing a fair bit of rain and some strong winds to the Highlands. There was a coating of snow to low levels on the Friday night which receded on Saturday before lowering a touch again on Sunday. The weather on Sunday wasn’t exactly inspiring for the tops so I decided to head for the west coast and see if there were any wild coastal views. Travelling through Ullapool and Assynt I ended up near Lochinver and decided to make for the famous Old Man of Stoer, a stack I’ve not seen since childhood. The sea was wild though perhaps not quite as wild as I’d hoped for.

The Ullapool - Stornoway Ferry, Loch Broom

The Cal Mac Ullapool – Stornoway ferry heads down Loch Broom towards stormy seas in The Minch. Beinn Ghobhlach towering behind. Probably quite an entertaining day for it.

Wild sea, a view south across Achmelvich Bay and the mouth of Loch Inver from nr Clachtoll

Wild seas off the Assynt coast across the mouths of Achmelvich Bay and Loch Inver from Lewissean Gneiss crags just south of Clachtoll. Soyea Island is the island in the middle distance on the right.

Sun and spray near Stoer Lighthouse

Waves crashing onto the rocks just south of Stoer lighthouse. The sea was much more fierce than some of the photos would suggest. The tide was low at the time and this has probably had an effect.

The car park just south of the lighthouse is the best place to start the walk along the cliff tops to the Old Man of Stoer.

Stoer Lighthouse from the north

A view back south to Stoer lighthouse from the cliff tops on the way to the Old Man. A boggy path marks the most trodden lines along the coast.

The Old Man Of Stoer from Cirean Geardail to the south west

On the walk along the cliff tops from the lighthouse to the Old Man I was frequently blasted by spray from waterfalls flowing uphill in a landward direction!

The Old Man from the cliff edge

The Old Man of Stoer from the cliff tops directly above. The cliffs are fairly steep down to the foot of the stack and in the blustery wind I didn’t hang around for too long before heading towards the Point of Stoer further north to get better angles for photos of the stack.

The Old Man Of Stoer from the north east close to the Point of Stoer

Right on the western slopes of the point I found two different perches to soak up the wild atmosphere with the westerly wind blowing strongly and the waves thundering in. I must have spent about an hour here watching and photographing the sea and the light changing as the sun descended behind clouds on the south westerly horizon.

The photo above was taken from an exposed, elevated position on the cliff edge and that below from a Torridonian Sandstone terrace much lower down and closer to the waves, gained by an atmospheric easy scramble. I can’t decide whether I prefer the lighting of the view above or the better angle and greater expanse of sea in that below!?

A second view of the Old Man from the Point of Stoer

Continue reading »]]> I had an entertaining hour or so playing around on the South Ridge of Sgor Chaonasaid, Ben Loyal on Sunday 9th October, a breezy overcast autumn day when I didn’t want to travel too far and the bigger hills probably wouldn’t have been too much fun. The ridge is a grade 2 scramble according to the SMC’s Highland Scrambles North and provides some fine scrambling along syenite (similar to granite) tors on the summit plateau of Ben Loyal. A map and several photos illustrating the route follow:

Sgor Chaonasaid South Ridge - An Caisteal the summit of Ben Loyal behind

The scramble starts at the foot of the rocks at the bottom right and follows the crest of the first tor until a gap in the ridge forces a jump. A quick look around didn’t offer up any obvious alternative.

South Ridge Jump

The gap requires an approximately 2 metre jump, slightly downhill. It should provide an adrenalin rush!

Sgor Chaonasaid South Ridge - A view back north along the ridge to Sgor Chaonasaid.

A little beyond the gap a descent westwards is required at the end of the first tor before further tors provide some good scrambling.

Sgor Chaonasaid - From An Caisteal with Sgor a' Bhatain on the left.

Jason Bonniface 01/11/2011

Continue reading »]]> I stumbled across a couple of apps for stitching together photos into a panorama recently. Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) and the related Microsoft Photosynth for “capturing and viewing the world in 3D”, or rather stiching together loads of photos into a 360 degree panorama that can be explored interactively. Microsoft ICE works better than any other panorama maker I’ve used, though I haven’t felt the need to try many! Photosynth takes things to a different level entirely. See what you think, I reckon we might be making more of them.

This was my second real attempt at a photosynth. Its of Harrow Harbour near the Castle of Mey, on the shores of the Pentland Firth, Caithness. The images were captured on Friday 23rd Sept 2011 during a period of several hours brightness between bands of rain. I should have taken even more photos as the software hasn’t quite joined them seamlessly, but its better than my first effort!

Harrow Harbour, near Mey, Caithness

Continue reading »]]> We’ve recently become aware of a large windfarm planned for a site called Allt Duine in the Monadhliath above Kincraig near Aviemore. The plans are apparently for 31 turbines each upto 125m high above land (to the top of the blade tip). The site is immediately adjacent to the boundary of the Cairngorm National Park and in an area of wild moorland. After reading about the planned site at http://www.savemonadhliathmountains.com/ we decided to take a look at drawing up some maps of the Allt Duine site and its surroundings and carrying out some GIS analysis on the possible visual impact of the turbines.

Small versions of 4 static jpeg maps are shown below which illustrate the location of the Allt Duine site, and highlight key features that became apparent from the GIS visual impact analysis carried out. These small versions link to moderate resolution versions which will provide good viewing and adequate printing. Higher resolution versions for higher quality use can be accessed using the links at the end of this article.

These maps are copyright Scotland-Landscapes.com, however we allow the distribution and non commercial use of these maps, as is, without alteration, subject to acknowledgement of Scotland-Landscapes.com. A description of the GIS analysis carried out is presented beneath the maps for those interested.

Allt Duine Windfarm - Location Map

Allt Duine windfarm site immediately adjacent to the boundary of the Cairngorm National Park in wild moorland above Kincraig, Strathspey. 31 turbines each 125m high planned.

 

Allt Duine Windfarm - Key Features - Site Area

Allt Duine planned site consists of 4000 hectares cunningly located over the initial crest of the Monadhliath hills out of site of the main Strathspey valley, just a few kilometres east north east of two of the Monadhliath Munros, A’ Chailleach and Carn Sgulain. The entire turbine heights will be visible from these Munros.

Allt Duine Windfarm - Key Features - Cairngorms Visual Impact

A visual impact analysis indicates a massive impact on the summits of the Cairngorm National Park, the Northern Corries, and the lower slopes of Rothiemurchus and Glen Feshie. The full heights of the turbines will be visible from the country’s 2nd, 3rd and 6th highest summits. Munro summits to be severely impacted include Cairngorm, Ben Macdui, Braeriach, Bynack More, Sgor Gaoith and Mullach Clach a’ Bhlair.

Allt Duine Windfarm - Key Features - Distant Features Visual Impact Analysis

The visual impact analysis was carried out to a distance of 100km around the Allt Duine site. It is quite possible for views from high summits to extend to this distance on high clarity days. The analysis indicates a severe impact on remote Munros and elevated areas in the vicinity of Blair Atholl, Dalwhinnie, Loch Ericht and Loch Laggan, with some of the areas most remote Munro’s in wild areas being impacted by turbine views . Such Munros include Carn an Fhidhleir, Beinn Dearg, Ben Alder and Aonach Beag. Moors in the Moy, Slochd and Grantown areas will be severly impacted by the Allt Duine development. Its likely that views from some of these locations are already blighted by existing developments.

Furthermore, the analysis highlights the potential impact on distant hills. The analysis indicates that the turbines will be visible on high clarity days from some of Scotland’s most remote Munros such as those in the Fisherfield and Fannichs ranges and from the southern Highland’s including Munro’s such as Ben More and Ben Lui. Certain low lying areas of Easter Ross and the Black Isle will also be impacted.

Should you wish to join the campaign against this inappropriate industrial site in the heart of Scotland’s prize asset, its beautiful landscape, then you can sign the petition against it at: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savemonadhliath.

Higher quality jpeg maps for printing are available using the links below. These maps are copyright Scotland-Landscapes.com, however we allow the distribution and non commercial use of these maps, as is, without alteration, subject to acknowledgement of Scotland-Landscapes.com. A description of the GIS analysis carried out is presented beneath the maps for those interested.

1. Location Map

2. Windfarm Site – Key Features

3. Cairngorms Visual Impact Analysis – Key Features

4. Distant Visual Impact Analysis – Key Features

There is also an interactive map illustrating the results of this analysis at http://www.scotland-landscapes.com/maps/allt-duine-windfarm-map/.

Description of GIS Analysis

These maps contain the planned locations of the Allt Duine Windfarm turbines and an analysis of their visual impact across the Scottish Highlands. An analysis of the windfarms visibility within a 100km radius (quite possible on a clear day) is presented based on planned turbine heights. Analyses were carried out using a number of different turbine heights to assess how much of the turbines would be visible from the surrounding area:

• Total height planned 125m above ground (max height – tip of blades)
• Turbine hub height estimated at 85m above ground
• Blade minimum height estimated at 45m above ground
• An effective base of turbine height of 10m above ground

The analysis was based on the OS Opendata available Ordnance Survey Landform Panorama 50m spaced topographic dataset for the UK and was carried out at a topographic raster surface resolution of 250x250m (250m squares given the max elevation value of the OS Landform Panorama 25 input cells), with points of observation being the turbine locations with heights above the OS Landform Panorama surface.

Due to the number of shapefile features limit in ArcGIS.com map viewer (1000), and for performance in general, the analysis results resolution was reduced to 2km squares (this means that where a 2km square is noted as having visibility of the turbines at least one of the original 250m square cells had visibility).

In order to display this information in ArcGIS.com the 2km cell values were converted to a series of 2km spaced points. Locations with no visibility of turbines were excluded and the points with visibilty converted to a shapefile for loading to ArcGIS.com.

A further analysis of Munro Summits (Scottish mountains over 3000ft or 914.4m) was carried out to determine the potential impact on the views from Scotland’s highest mountains. Visibility data from the surfaces created during the first part of the analysis were exported to a point file of Munro Summits enabling categorisation of the Munros according to turbine visibility.

Maps and analyses created in good faith by Scotland-Landscapes.com. We cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy of this information and accept no liability whatsoever for any use of this information.

Jason Bonniface 11/09/2011

All content is copyright Scotland-Landscapes.com