Adventure Sports

IT'S GREAT OUTDOORS

Above: Newton, North Uist; below: Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye

In recent years, the range of outdoor activities happening on and around the west coast and islands has taken on some new dimensions – often featuring bright trainers or a wetsuit, and sometimes both. From wild swimming and trail running to triathlons and adventure races, Ailsa Sheldon dips her neoprene-covered toe in the water

Hill walkers in the Highlands and Islands have got company. While there’s nothing new about jumping on a bike or swimming in a loch, running up a hill or getting muddy, new combinations of outdoor adventure are offering locals, visitors and urbanweary Scots a chance to experience the rugged landscape in dynamic new ways.

Glencoe-based Girls on Hills was founded in 2018 by Keri Wallace and Nancy Kennedy with an aim of empowering women to run in the mountains. Keri explains that while women's participation in trail races has increased, ‘it is nowhere near 50:50’. Girls on Hills is helping women to gain the skills and confidence to enjoy hill running with a motto of ‘You can run free’. They’ve seen a huge demand for their courses, on which you can learn how to safely cross a river and ‘run like a child’, bounding over heather and scree without twisting an ankle, plus mountain safety and navigation training. In memorable scenery, with great camaraderie and white-tailed eagles circling overhead, trail running couldn’t be further from a sweaty treadmill in an urban gym and that’s why people love it.

This popularity is reflected in the increasing number of competitive running events, joining the traditional hill-races that have long been popular in the area. There are half-marathons on islands like Coll, Mull and Skye, marathons in Glencoe, Arisaig and on Harris, and technical sky-running challenges around the peaks of Lochaber. ‘Ultra races’ see athletes willing to attempt extreme distances – from 74 miles at the Skye Trail Ultra to the 400km-long Cape Wrath Ultra, billed as the UK's answer to the Marathon des Sables. Rural races have a different atmosphere to large city marathons – Marathon Hebrides finishes with a ceilidh on the machair at Seilebost. The unpredictable weather, variable terrain and integrated scenery are all part of the package.

Mountain bikers come to Fort William for the UCI Downhill World Cup and 10 Under the Ben, while long-distance riders enjoy the challenge of The Caledonia Way or The Hebridean Way. Cycling races are diversifying too: in Wester Ross, Bealach Mor challenges cyclists to pedal 144km with 2100 metres of sweaty ascent including up and over the notorious Bealach na Bà to Applecross.

Outdoor swimming has claimed many new devotees in recent years, who find a bracing dip in the turquoise waters of Luskentyre or chasing waterfalls on Skye a very different experience to a chlorinated pool. Vicky Allan and Anna Deacon’s book Taking the Plunge is packed with stories of people discovering the joys of swimming outside in Scotland, often yearround. As Allan explains, ‘One of the reasons the Highlands is so amazing for swimming is the range of different spots and the absolute drama of the locations.’ She believes a reason for the rise in popularity is that, ‘people are now looking to find things that are properly an experience – and don’t involve getting in an aeroplane. Wild swimming is really transporting. You get in the water and you feel like you are in another place. It gives you a different perspective.’

For many people, running, cycling and swimming in the Highlands and Islands is less about getting the fastest time and more about finding an adventure. Allan calls wild swimming, ‘a form of microadventure. You can do something that feels really dramatic and heroic and you don't have to be some pumpedup athlete to do it.’ Triathlons and adventure style multi-sports events also offer this feeling of an adventurous journey. The Craggy Island Triathlon starts with a swim across the Sound of Kerrera before the race continues on the island. ITERA challenges teams to run, bike and kayak 600km in teams. Whether careering down a hill in the lashing rain or breaking the ice on a loch, adventure sports are a way to connect with and explore Scotland and, as Allan says, ‘it’s a laugh too. It feels childish, silly and ridiculous and I think in these times we need that as well.’

For wild swimming safety advice, see wildswimming.co.uk. For links to activities and events mentioned, go to list.co.uk

CalMac Clothing by

Social Recluse recently designed a line of merchandise for CalMac, which was launched earlier this year. The brand's designer and founder, Robert Chambers, who has built up a following world-wide, talked to us about good design, good shoes and good Hebridean neighbours

If you visit the Social Recluse website, it introduces you as: ‘…Lovers of the Beautiful Game. The Number 10. Casual. We are Bowie. Blondie…’ Robert, tell us more about why you love them and how they influence your design? I love music, football and fashion. Social Recluse and our designs are a crossover of each of these. As a youngster, my art teacher threw a book of record cover designs in front of me. At that age, all I ever wanted to do was football. Hamilton Accies wanted to sign me, but after seeing that music book I decided to follow a path in design. I loved how those designs created an identity for the bands. That’s what started things off for me. What do you hope someone thinks and feels when they buy one of your designs? We’re all tribal. Most of us will identify with something – running, music, whatever. My designs are an overlap of that. I design what I like and I’m lucky others like it. I’m still blown away that people buy things from my shop and that we now send our products worldwide – from Liverpool and London to Argentina, Los Angeles and Japan.

How did people first begin to find out about your designs when Social Recluse began? Some of our best-known designs marry a song with a classic pair of trainers. Years ago, I heard about an event called ‘Laces Out’ in Liverpool. Knowing absolutely nothing, my friend and I drove down the M6 to the event. We pitched up in this warehouse and my designs proved popular. There were already people drawing Adidas trainers back then, but what I do, where I link them to a band or a song – that was the first time someone had done that kind of design, and it worked for people.

CalMac Clothing by Social Recluse

Why shoes? Clothing can define people. If I’m in a corporate meeting, I love looking at what people wear on their feet. Although everyone there is probably wearing a suit, if I look at their feet, I can often tell a little more about them. That became a project for me. I drew shoes and linked them to celebrities or music. The first ones I did were Adidas trainers. There are now some Social Recluse prints of Adidas trainers hanging in the Adidas offices in Portland, USA.

Tell us how you went about designing the CalMac range? I picked up on that same tribal element. If you’re on a CalMac boat for leisure, you’re probably looking for adventure or an experience. So, the designs are all about those adventures, their stories and the people who enjoy them, from hiking or climbing to music or cycling. I wanted those who wear the designs to see they’re part of something bigger – they’re part a group of people who love the islands. Do you love the islands? Yes. I grew up in Lanarkshire. Our neighbours were a family from Barra, the MacNeills. They were at the centre of the street and somehow, with them involved, any celebration lasted a week. I loved that. That experience is a bit similar to a wedding I went to on Jura. The bride was Scottish, and the groom was Irish. It was a wedding you definitely wanted to be at. They got married in the distillery, the reception was in the village hall, with the old wooden floor. You could really feel the spirit of the place and the whole thing lasted for three days.

Finally – is there a story behind the name ‘Social Recluse’? I’ve had the name since I started working in design, and it still suits me. I’m outgoing but also shy. I don’t like getting my own picture taken, I prefer the products to do the talking – and that’s also reflected in the name.

Visit shop.calmac.co.uk to see CalMac’s new clothing range, featuring exclusive island designs by Social Recluse.