Original subtitles

Whoo!

Whoo! Whoo-hoo!

Whoo! Whoo!

That OK, Gill? Absolutely fine, yeah.

As soon as the board leaves the water, everything becomes

incredibly smooth and very, very quiet.

The only thing you really hear

is just the water dripping off your wet suit.

Hello, and a very warm welcome to a bumper edition of

The Adventure Show.

Now, we are living in strange times but, thankfully,

professional film-making is something we're still allowed to do.

Over the next couple of hours

we've got some inspirational people and fantastic action.

And we're certainly not elitist -

there's something for everyone,

whatever level of adventure turns you on,

from extreme skiing to taking a local family walk.

And, like everyone else, we've had to play within the rules

and regulations of Covid-19, which is why I'm keeping

a good distance away from The Adventure Show's

favourite presenter, Mr Dougie Vipond.

Staying apart for me is always a good idea.

SHE LAUGHS They're your words, not mine.

So in this programme, we're seeing exactly what winter has to offer,

winter turning into spring,

and within the current restrictions,

what's possible to get out and explore wherever you are.

And what a line-up we have.

There's plenty of the white stuff, and much more besides.

Dean Dunbar is registered blind, but you would never know it.

I think, in a certain way, I can get more out of an extreme sport

than some other people because,

I mean, even crossing the road for me is quite an extreme sport.

I get to the edge of the road, I'll listen.

I don't bother looking because I can't trust my eyes any more

and what I see. I've waited too many times for parked cars to go past.

Also coming up, we celebrate one of the best winters for years.

Now, sadly, the ski resorts were closed, but that didn't stop

Duncan McCallum meeting up with top snowboarder Hannah Bailey

high up in the Cairngorms for some superb powder.

Now, they had to travel up the old-fashioned way -

with skins on the bottom of their boards.

But just look what they found when they got there.

We live such busy lives, our phones are going off nonstop,

but as soon as you're out there in nature, your mind is just there.

I mean, it's done the world of good for me.

And so I've committed a lot of my work to trying to increase

accessibility and increase awareness of this sport.

Particularly around groups

that are not shown so much in the media.

And, just to be clear, Duncan and Hannah are hugely experienced

in the mountains.

But, nonetheless, we filmed this with a specialist safety team

and within the Government's Covid regulations.

Whoa. In terms of snowboarding days,

I think that's the best you're going to get.

I headed to the lift -

before they sadly had to close - with Patrick Winterton,

who hadn't been on a board for...35 years.

Oh! That was the one they were after.

So that's just a taste of what's to come.

But now we're going to join somebody who definitely knows

what they're doing.

You're absolutely right about that.

In the last couple of years,

there's been a real explosion of back-country skiing

in Scotland. And not just touring -

freestyle and free riding, as well.

Now, if you're not familiar with those terms, fear not,

cos all will be revealed,

because we met up with top young free rider Finbar Doig.

I started skiing at three,

was sort of just dragged along with the family,

never really enjoyed it. It was just cold and...

..in the mountains, you know?

Rather than nice and warm at home.

But then I think there was a time -

I must've been about seven or eight -

I could ski, and I started to enjoy it.

And they had this little jump at the Cairngorms.

I remember getting some air and, you know,

maybe half a foot of air, nothing much.

But just that feeling, I was like, "Whoa, that was so cool."

Because I had to clear a gap in order to make the jump.

And I remember just the whole way home in the car,

instead of sleeping,

I just spent whole time looking at this photo and being like,

"Yeah, look at that. I got some air. How cool was that?

Whoo! Whoo!

That sort of continued,

and I joined the ski club - Cairngorms Ski Club -

and they had a freestyle programme, so rather than racing in gates

and training and being serious,

it's just like build a jump, have fun.

Whoo!

And then there was this event called the Junior Co-cup.

It's a senior freeride event.

It's held in the Flypaper, which is Scotland's deepest run, in Glencoe.

And people jump off these big cliffs. And I'd seen it,

and it was this awesome, you know,

like the pinnacle of Scottish skiing.

In 2015 they held the first junior one.

And it was just going to run on the Sunday.

It was just one day. We were like, "This is going to be great."

And it was probably one of the best days of skiing

I've ever had in my life.

It was like it is today - you couldn't see anything,

the snow was icy.

There wasn't that much of it,

but everyone there was, like, just so excited about going skiing,

and doing this new freeride thing.

Ho-ho!

That was probably the biggest moment in my skiing.

I was like, "This is what I want to do.

"I want to be around people like this, and just having fun."

From an early age, Finbar fell in love with skiing jumps and tricks,

and it's a passion that today drives him deep into the

Scottish mountains, seeking out an adrenaline rush that began

with the more formal freestyle...

..but has developed into freeriding.

Freestyle is where all the jumps and stuff come from,

it's usually done on perfectly shaped park jumps,

and they're all the same.

And the competition format for that's all very similar.

You've got your rails and then you've got your jumps

and you do two runs, three runs.

But the freeride is, you get a face.

So it's a lot better for what we've got in Scotland because

we don't always have the conditions to build perfect jumps and stuff.

So we just have a face the way it is naturally.

And you get to look at it, and then you can ski it.

And that's how the competitions run,

and that's how skiing normally happens.

You look at something and you go and ski it.

Three, two, one. Drop in.

And if there's a natural jump, you might try and integrate some

freestyle tricks and stuff.

Oh! That was scary.

It's the way it works best in Scotland,

with the terrain we've got

and with the people now that are getting into it,

and you can all go up and do the same thing,

but do it a little bit differently.

And that's just why it's so much fun.

Today, Finbar spends much of the winter working in the Alps,

but for him, Scottish skiing still takes a lot of beating.

Some of the best skiing

is some of the stuff that's harder to get to.

And maybe it's not even better skiing, but it just feels a lot...

You get a lot more from it

if you've actually climbed all the way up the gully

and you've spent a whole day getting to it and a whole week planning it,

and it makes it feel way, way better.

Some of the best runs I've ever skied in my life

have been probably on Ben Nevis, and there's no lifts up Ben Nevis.

It's quite an operation when you've got skis and stuff.

OK. Drop in.

But, yeah, once you get skiing something that you've earned,

it's always better.

Oh, my God!

Oh! Oh-oh. Whoo!

When you're around people who do what you love,

it just amplifies the fun and the passion for the skiing.

And just going skiing every day is... It's a dream come true.

Oh, my God!

Oh! That is, like, the best thing I've ever skied in my life!

Ah!

Just to be clear - don't try that at home.

My legs have gone to jelly just watching Finbar.

Now, I've been known to go off-piste before.

That was many years ago in the Alps.

To say I didn't find it easy is a huge understatement.

Oh, Blimey O'Reilly.

HE LAUGHS

Right, come on, ski.

Remember how to do that?

Ah, hey-hey!

That's called a faceplant.

Oh, jeez.

Well, that was then, and this is now.

A bit of an unsatisfactory ending to my ski touring in the Alps,

but the weather's been so good this year, I thought I'd give it

a go here in Scotland - in the Cairngorms, more specifically.

I'm not the only one who wants to conquer my fear

of going off-piste.

Like many skiers, Cairngorm-based Zoe Laird finds no problems

on the groomed runs.

But it's another thing when she leaves them behind.

So on the basis that a problem shared is a problem halved

I've invited her to join me to get some tips from one of Scotland's

top ski instructors - Alison Thacker.

And I'm wondering if Zoe is as apprehensive as me.

I'm pretty scared, actually. I've never done this before.

So it's a new experience.

And I've heard lots of scary stories about things that can go wrong.

So I'm nervous. Nervous. Yeah.

I'm a wee bit nervous. In fact, a big bit nervous, as well.

So, Alison, what can we expect today?

We're going to head up the hill and try and find an ideal location.

We're going to look for somewhere that's a bit like a piste -

not too steep to start with, and reasonably firm snow

so we're not sinking in too deep.

But first of all, let's go and check the kit. OK.

In my rucksack today, I've got ice axe. As I.

Got my crampons. Yes. There you go.

I take a helmet. OK, I've got one of those.

I've got my sunglasses for skinning uphill.

I've got ski goggles for coming down in bad visibility.

I've got some food for the day. Food is in there.

My food is slightly bigger than your food.

I'm carrying quite a lot. You're bigger than me.

Well, yes, I... I'm going to burn a lot of calories today.

Spare clothes and a warm jacket. Yeah.

All of that stuff is actually still in there in a poly bag.

Yep. Honest. And I've got my shovel. Shovel's there.

In bits, at the moment.

And my probe. Probe, yep.

And it'd be better if you take

the probe out of the bag, we'll get rid of the bag,

and that'll save you time if we were to need it on the hill.

No, of course. Yes, of course.

OK, so that's the rucksacks checked. What's the next thing we have to do?

We just need to make sure we're happy with how to use our shovel,

transceiver and probe. Okey-dokey. So I've got my shovel.

That goes together nice and easily with the press studs.

And my probe, so I'm right handed,

so I take the majority of it in my right hand,

left hand on the end, and throw it away from me,

and then pull the cord for it all to go together.

I'm just checking your transceiver, Dougie, is working.

BEEPING

Which it is. And I'll just check yours, as well, Zoe.

BEEPING

And that's yours working. All set.

So far, so good. Fingers crossed

we'll not need to use the avalanche transceivers for real today,

but they are a vital piece of safety kit.

And later in the programme, Alison will demonstrate what to do

if the worst should happen.

Right now, though, we can't head up on the hill without putting skins

on the bottom of our skis to stop us from sliding backwards.

Make sure you brush all the snow off your skis,

so there's no snow on them at all.

And then checking which end of your skin goes on first.

Some are the back, some are the front.

You want the stretchy end to go on last.

So you do it flat out? Yeah. OK.

And just gently pressing it down as you go.

That's it. Just making sure it's nice and smooth.

There's no wrinkles in it.

The joy of skins. And how do you know?

Do you rub your face against it to see which way is the pelt going?

And then the last thing you do... Oh, I've done that.

..you switch the back bit over.

That's it. Yeah.

And just pull.

And then we're going to skin to the chair lift, are we?

THEY LAUGH

I should be so lucky!

From here in Glenmore Forest,

it's uphill towards Meall a' Buachaille, in search

of some beautiful - but hopefully easy - downhill runs.

So, Alison, let's talk about off-piste skiing,

and how easy is it for people to move from the pisted sort of snow

to something like we're going to be doing today?

Well, I suppose, practically, it's very, very easy,

because we just step the other side of the markers.

But that's where the real challenge is, and that's where it becomes

difficult to ensure that we've got the right skills to be able

to do that safely.

I've no idea what I'm doing.

Lifting - what I shouldn't be doing.

Just keep weight pressed down through your heels. That's right.

It's having the right skiing skills, but it's also having the wider

mountain knowledge, being able to navigate in winter conditions.

It's easy, but it's difficult to have all the relevant skills.

We've got great things today cos, although it's clear,

it's quite flat light, and that's quite common in Scotland.

Currently the sky and the snow are the same colour,

so it's going to be interesting

if you try to look for holes in the snow. If you go flying.

Yeah, exactly. THEY LAUGH

Ski by feel. Exactly.

So, Zoe, you mentioned that you find off-piste skiing

slightly intimidating.

What is it about the off-piste skiing that you find intimidating?

I've heard lots of scary stories about people crashing in different

conditions, and I'm particularly worried about crashing into rocks

and trees and off cliffs, and all of those kind of things.

Getting bundled down the hill in an avalanche, maybe.

So, for me, it's a kind of dangerous place,

so I don't go there.

And, Dougie, what about you?

Are there things that you find apprehensive about this?

Sorry for not taking part in the conversation.

I'm just actually trying to breathe!

It's quite a steep wee hill, isn't it?

I don't want to be the one at the back that's going,

"How do I do this again?"

It would be really tedious.

Zoe, tell me, you've got your own sort of off-piste skis,

cross-country skis.

I know, and might sound a bit silly to have bought them

before I knew what I was doing, but I figure in Scotland,

if you don't grab and go the day the weather's good,

you're not going to get out.

And I like a journey, rather than an up and down, and being able to go

to places that are near home that are different,

maybe smaller hills than some of the big mountains,

and just a bit of exploring, as well.

So we're getting to our high point for the moment,

and then we can put in some turns.

So what we'll need to do is transition to downhill mode.

Remember to take your uphill ski off first.

And just pop that off.

OK. And then pop the lower one on.

You're better to stand beneath your skis on the downhill side.

OK. And we can sit down,

so we've got, like, our work bench, again for taking our skins off.

OK, so I've got two jobs to do.

I've got to change my bindings back into downhill mode,

and I've got to get my skins off.

And, again, we're really lucky today, it's really calm.

But, actually, I want to have good practice

for if it was a really windy day.

So when I take my skin off, I just take a little bit

of it off, and then I just roll it up.

So I roll it up as I go,

and then it's not going to blow away anywhere.

One down, one to go.

Better not to rush it, and just do it little bit at a time,

Pull a bit off, roll it up. Pull a bit off, roll it up.

Ooh!

Ready! So just a couple of things to think about before we set off.

Just do a double check that we're definitely in ski mode

on our boots. That's quite a common thing to miss.

And then I just take a moment to think about sort of warming up

mentally and physically for going down the hill.

OK, feel that you can bend your ankles,

that you can bend your knees,

and you can bend a little bit from the hips, as well.

And, Zoe, just watch, just look ahead.

Look ahead, don't look at my feet.

Yeah, that's right. Exactly.

Keep your head up. There we go.

Suddenly my heart is racing.

It's suddenly really scary with all these people watching! OK, Zoe.

Oh. See, that looks nice.

That's fine.

Oh! Ah!

Oh, good to have a helmet on.

You all right, Zoe? I'm fine, thank you.

VOICEOVER: Oh, no. This is beginning

to feel a bit like my Alps experience.

I'm definitely a bit wobbly.

There you go. That's that inside edge.

Let's have a chat through what happened there

and how we can make it a bit better, a bit easier for you. OK.

So, first thing, if we just think back to when you learned to ski

and snowplough, it is absolutely essential

right through the whole of off-piste skiing, OK?

And don't be afraid to use it, OK?

If we can get that ski on its edge,

then we can plough that snow out the way as we come round the corner.

And that will make a huge difference for both of you.

One other thing I'll mention at this stage,

is when we come around the corner,

what we don't want to do is get caught leaning into the mountain.

OK? And a really simple thing you can do to help

you when the snow is difficult

is just think about your lower hand being towards your knee.

OK? So snowplough to start.

Hand to knee.

Snowplough to start. Hand to knee.

Snowplough to start. Knee...

Snowplough to start... Oh, dear. Hand to knee.

Whoo! Icy bit.

Well, that was better than last time. That's better.

So, little secret - you might think when you've watched

really, really good skiers

that they're always in balance. They're not.

What they're good at is constantly regaining balance,

and they know where that balance point is.

Yeah. All right!

Oh, my God. Smooth!

OK.

Good. So that was more stable than the first time.

Excellent. Good.

Completely different from being on the piste. Completely different.

Oh, my God.

Ah!

Whoo! Woohoo!

SHE LAUGHS

Yeah!

I'm trying to step round,

instead of letting the snowplough happen.

Whoo! Nice.

Well done.

That felt like skiing, it was really exciting.

I really liked it.

I nearly stopped to have a "whee!"

and I thought, "That's too dangerous."

People often talk about being centred on their skis.

But you think, well, what do they actually mean?

It's that you want your shins touching the front of your boots,

but not necessarily pressing - touching -

and then your heel, the sole of your heel,

you want that pressing down in your boot.

And if you've got shin and heel,

that means that you're bang in the centre of the boot.

I almost find the more you use the snowplough,

the less it's actually there.

Whereas if you try not to use it, you'll end up with lots of it.

So actively use it at the start, and then it's not there.

So here we are, back at our starting point.

Well done.

So have you each got one sort of key point that you can take away

from the day, that you can take forward to next time you go skiing,

off-piste skiing, and you know that if you do that one thing,

you'll ski much better than if you didn't do it?

For me, it was the hand to the downhill knee,

which kept my balance a lot better

than, obviously, it was when I started.

Well, for me, it is all about embracing the snowplough.

It worked when I was younger, and it still works.

It's a great thing. Don't be afraid of it.

Use it, and stay safe.

My experience 12 years ago back in the Alps,

it wasn't a good experience, and it finished -

I was exhausted and felt really uncomfortable,

and I lost my confidence and all that. So what a world of difference.

It was amazing. Yeah, it was really good.

And right here in our own back yard.

Where I live, there's a few small hills that I could probably

comfortably go there now.

I loved it.

Well, that truly was a fantastic experience, and I'm really looking

forward to exploring our back country on skis.

And although we've had some of the best snow for years this winter,

not everyone is attracted to skiing.

Take blind adventurer Dean Dunbar,

who's experienced a whole variety of adventure sports,

in spite of losing his sight as a youngster.

We've been following his exploits for a number of years,

and they never fail to amaze.

I think, in a certain way,

I can get more out of an extreme sport than some

other people because, I mean,

even crossing the road for me is quite an extreme sport.

I get to the edge of the road, I listen.

I don't bother looking because I can't trust my eyes any more,

and what I see. I've waited too many times for parked cars to go past.

So now I stand, I listen. If it sounds clear, then I go for it.

So the heart starts pumping just crossing the road.

So it's even more remarkable that in the 25 years since he started

to lose his sight, Dean has set an equal number of world firsts.

And here's just one example.

He was the first person - blind or otherwise -

to paddleboard the 40 miles to St Kilda in 2017.

It's an incredibly dangerous and committing journey

out into the Atlantic, where any rescue would be a major undertaking.

Back then, our own Patrick Winterton accompanied him in a kayak,

and he's caught up with Dean to reflect on that epic achievement.

They met on a beach near Oban.

That was some trip to St Kilda. Good memories or nightmares?

I think there's a combination of both.

But, you know, the thing with these adventures

is the bad memories soon fade, but the good memories,

they just last forever.

OK, well, let's dig into the bad memories, if we can.

What about that trip put you out of your comfort zone?

The hardest part for me was most definitely when we got to Haskeir,

and you told me to stay where I was on my board on the water,

and you were going to head off and look for somewhere for us

to land, a safe spot to land.

And at that point I'd been comfortable because you weren't that

far away from me. Well, I thought you weren't that far away from me.

But now, all of a sudden, I felt I was on my own.

And with the noise of the waves crashing off of Haskeir,

off the rocks around her, then the sound of the birds flying

above my head and diving into the water, it was...

All of that just added up to not seeing, not really hearing,

and, I'll be honest, that really kind of freaked me out.

So, Dean, St Kilda is an amazing place, but you don't see much,

so what do you get out of it?

I do see some things.

I don't see the clarity that you see of the cliffs and that.

But I get to see the big lumps. I get the sounds.

I mean, the sounds are amazing, with the birds and the waves,

and just the feeling of knowing that you're out in the middle of nowhere.

That's just amazing on its own.

Now, every couple of years - or sometimes every year - I get

a phone call from you, with

another daft idea of an adventure

you want to do, a race you want to get involved in or a sport

that you've just discovered.

And I'm sitting on a board that I've never seen before.

So what's the latest?

So this is prone boarding.

This is my latest passion that I've got into over the last year or so.

Prone boarding is, for me, it's lying down in the water,

front crawling, powering through the water.

If you're on the sea, you get waves thrashing over your head.

If you're on the lochs, it's just being that close to the water.

It's an amazing sport. We're going to find out.

Let's have a go. OK, let's do it.

It's very straightforward. Most people, if you can swim,

you can prone board. The basic idea is lying on the board,

get yourself central.

For me, I lie on my front and I'm doing front crawl.

I also do butterfly.

And many people will actually kneel, rather than lying down,

and just butterfly almost kneeling down. It's so straightforward -

like I say, you'll pick this up in ten seconds.

What is it about this that appeals to you?

For me, I can do it on my own.

I don't necessarily need a guide for it.

I can go out on lochs that I know, such as Tummel, Tay,

my local one, Cluanie.

I can go out there on my own and just go out and have fun.

It's just having that independence, which I can't do

if I'm biking or I'm doing many of the other sports I do,

I need to have someone with me - this I do on my own.

Saying that, I still occasionally get lost,

even on places that I know.

Cluanie Loch, I've been paddling, swimming, kayaking on there for

ten-plus years and now I'm lying on these boards,

you're much lower to the water,

so I'm seeing much less of what's around me.

And even recently I've been getting lost on Cluanie Loch.

But your vision, you can sometimes distinguish between dark and light,

the horizon and the sky.

Not today.

You can sometimes see movement if it's brightly coloured.

How on earth are you navigating when you're out

in the middle of Loch Tay?

That's a big stretch of water,

and that is perfect for me to get lost on.

So what I have is I have a piece of kit called Endomondo,

and it talks to me and tells me every kilometre,

and how fast I've done.

So if I'm going out, I'll make sure that, say I'm doing a 10K trip,

I'll do 5K up, five back.

So when it says my 9th K out of ten,

I know I'm a K within my end - hopefully I am.

And from that point on, I count my strokes.

When I'm lying down, I'm front crawling, I know it takes me

500 strokes to cover 1km.

So I'm constantly counting.

So, again, I know when I'm getting close to that kilometre,

and I'm normally within 40 strokes of that.

And hopefully when I get to my tenth kilometre,

if I have gone past where I'm supposed to finish,

I'm only going to be 20 or 30 metres, maybe 50 metres from it.

There's always a chance, certainly in Scotland, that the weather

conditions are going to change.

Usually it's for the worse. Yes.

If you're then lost, the weather's changed,

it's started snowing.

I know you dress light, cos I've seen you in action!

Yes.

Have you ever been in a position where you think, "I've had it"?

I have - fairly recently, in fact,

whilst prone boarding on Loch Tummel.

I'd read the forecast,

everything looked fine for my abilities.

When I started off, it actually was supposed to be 15mph winds,

but it must have been all of five. Everything was great.

I got halfway up the loch, the rain came in, a storm whipped up.

I couldn't see past my deck bag, which is a foot and a half

from my face, so I couldn't see the end of my board.

That started getting scary.

I knew because the wind was picking up, the waves were then picking up.

I had to try and straighten myself, so I was going straight in.

Any angle against the waves would have rolled me, so I had to go

straight. When the rain stopped,

I found myself in the middle of the loch

instead of at the side of it.

That was scare number one.

Scare number two was when I had to then try and turn around

between the waves without getting rolled.

Whoa! Ah!

I managed to do that, very luckily.

Then I had scare number three.

The waves were picking up behind me,

and I was just getting launched down them.

Every time I looked over my left-hand shoulder,

there were bigger waves and bigger waves.

And, yes, on at least two occasions at that point,

I thought I'd maybe not get home.

And you keep coming back for more. I do.

HE LAUGHS

I certainly do.

Well, that was actually a lot more fun than I thought.

But I'm going to wait till the summer before I give it a go again.

I want now to introduce Dean to a really challenging sport.

It's brand-new, it's very exciting, it's very fast,

it requires a lot of balance.

And it's so new it's got about five different names.

We're going to call it wing foiling.

And we'll show you that later in the programme.

And while Patrick's perhaps happier on water, it's time now to join

experienced snowboarder Duncan McCallum.

Now, Duncan's been doing that sport for more years

than he cares to remember.

And back in 2006, between editions of The Adventure Show, he went

on one of the first snowboarding trips to Kashmir -

an exploratory and amazing journey.

What we're doing here is we're skinning up from 3,500 metres

to just over four, and I've got a snowboard that splits in half

that you can put sealskins on, so you can walk uphill.

And behind us is the whole of the Indian Himalaya.

It's absolutely extraordinary. But it is a hot one today.

Top of the world, about to go down.

It's really hard to believe that that trip was almost 15 years ago,

and my passion for snowboarding still continues.

Now Duncan is sharing that passion with one of Scotland's

top snowboarders, Hannah Bailey, whose interest in the sport goes way

beyond simply getting down a hill quickly.

And, as a photographer,

she also often points her lens at other related sports.

I actually took up snowboarding about 14 years ago,

so when you were over in Kashmir.

And I didn't grow up in the mountains,

I grew up in Edinburgh,

and I wasn't aware of snowboarding when I was younger.

I didn't partake in any winter sports, actually,

but I was very passionate about sport and I was also

very passionate about nature.

It wasn't until I left school

and, you know when you have that moment, you're thinking,

"What am I going to do with my life?"

And I decided that I wanted to go out and just do some travelling

and meet some people and see some things with my own eyes.

And that introduced snowboarding to me.

And it took me a long time to properly learn,

where I felt like I was experienced and confident to then go into

the back country.

And from there, I've taken up splitboarding, which ultimately

is going to more of a ski place, with the two skis into a board.

Hannah, 15 or 20 years ago, when I took up snowboarding, I remember

going to resorts and being told I couldn't go there

because I was a snowboarder.

So it did seem to have a much wider demographic.

It was everybody from a housing estate to a lord,

whereas skiing seemed to be quite a narrow thing.

Was that part of the community thing that you liked?

I think it is, yeah.

I felt like it was a very accessible place and a very welcoming place.

And I felt like, "This is great."

It's a good thing for the world because everyone is invited.

This is where it will get a little bit tricky.

Choose your steps wisely.

But I think, especially through splitboarding, I'd love to help

more people get into it, get the access to splitboards,

and the confidence to get out there.

And you don't have to go to the highest peak

or you don't have to go down the steepest gully.

But you can just enjoy a nice, slow uphill,

and a nice cruisy downhill.

This is going to stretch the early morning technique, eh?

Yeah, I know. We're breaking trail over the burn here.

Let's hope this goes smoothly.

Oh, man, I've got to manage to do that, as well.

Well, you've got a bigger board to have to account for, so...

That was...

All that yoga paying off!

HE LAUGHS

Those big trees are fab, aren't they? Out in the left.

Absolutely beautiful. I wonder how old they are.

Think of all of the tours they've seen, and the hikers

over the years. Yeah.

So when you're trying to work out how many metres or kilometres

you're doing per hour,

do you have a calculation you use?

Not so much. I mean, I might do these walks during the summer,

and knowing how long it takes then.

And also speaking to people who've done the route before.

But you have a calculation, don't you? I'm a wee bit more nerdy.

You're a bit more mathematical than me.

Yeah, I kind of reckon if it's really deep snow

and you're going slowish,

maybe 2.5K and 350 metres, if it's really deep,

or 400 metres of ascent in an hour.

So I think, looking at the paper map,

I think we're just below the C on corrie.

Do you want to have a look on your phone and give us

an exact spot?

We've got the route, the GPX that you sent me before

on the route that we're aiming to do. Really handy here.

Zooming in, though, I see that we're just after the first burn crossing.

So we're not quite at where you're saying - the second burn.

So I'm 500 metres too optimistic up the hill.

500 more to go.

But, yeah, no, it's great having it on this app, and I actually brought

the paper map, of course, as well.

The phone doesn't last all day, so it's great to have it

in the traditional sense on a map.

And it looks pretty safe to get up there.

So we've checked all the reports and feeling confident about it.

I don't think I've ever been in the Cairngorms

and it's been like this. This is like Icelandic beauty.

It's fantastic. It's incredible.

And now we're breaking trail.

This is really what splitboarding is all about.

You look down and just see your splitboard

making the first tracks.

It's really therapy to get out onto the hill,

slow down, and just be taking each stride.

And I think that is so, so valuable about it.

It is a shame that the barrier to entry -

the financial barrier - is quite high.

I wonder how we can try and solve that.

Well, it's difficult if you've not tried the activity,

to then go out and buy all the gear.

Yeah. It's hard to find and it's expensive.

So, yeah, one idea I had recently was building up a stock

of splitboard set-ups, just to allow people to be able

to borrow them and kind of give it a try,

and just giving people the opportunity to get out there,

see if they like it, see if they want to invest.

One of the things that you're a great advocate of

is increasing the diversity within mountain sports.

You know, I believe that everyone should have the right to access

this, and to have this feeling that we get from snowboarding.

I mean, it's done the world of good for me.

And so I've committed a lot of my work to trying to increase

accessibility and increase awareness of this sport, particularly around

groups that are not shown so much in the media, because I think

it is very channelled to show only a certain type of maybe

Alpinist or adventurer,

and there's so many people that can get out there.

So you just managed to secure a grant to do a whole project

on female skateboarders.

Of course, the Olympics next year will include skateboarding

for the first time, and for me and my work, and with

my photography as well,

it's very much about using these opportunities,

that the spotlight is on these sports,

whether that's skateboarding,

whether it's splitboarding or snowboarding,

to use that spotlight to show these other people

that are doing it, to show these other faces, and whether that's

in a way of diversity, gender, shapes, eyes, hair colour,

whatever it may be,

that's really, like, the aim of my work.

And there's all these stories that are out there already.

And for the past ten years, I've met these women that snowboard

and skateboard in quite difficult countries and difficult places.

So, really, my camera is my way to spread their story.

And I'm kind of like the middle human in this

to get it out there for them.

Look at that.

It's definitely living up to its hill name

of the Windy Hill, isn't it?

Yeah, the Windy Peak. Exactly.

Oh, it's so spectacular.

Not such a big cornice yet, but it's building up, isn't it?

Yeah, you definitely have to be wary.

It's suddenly when you're kind of on a nice rounded slope and you come

up here and you get that enormous feeling of space and vertigo.

It's amazing. The sheer drop. It's huge. absolutely huge.

Is this what skiers call the splitboard faff?

I'm trying not to make it a faff!

We're trying to make it look easy, Duncan.

Yeah, with the wind as well,

it's like I don't want to lose any of this.

Look at you, speeding ahead.

I've just got that, like, thing of having done this so many times

with skiers, and you're always the last one.

They're all eating their sandwiches,

we're just trying to basically build a board.

But isn't it fascinating that we're building snowboards

on top of Sgor Gaoith? I love it. It's so cool.

Do you want to go first? Happy to.

Scoot out, and then straight down. Scoot out and scoot down.

Woohoo. Here we go.

One of the things for me that's really important

about being in the mountains, that you need to be very present.

You need to be in the now. Definitely.

One of the big factors is being in the moment

when you're in these sports.

And it's very addictive in that sense,

because we live such busy lives,

our phones are going off nonstop.

But as soon as you're out there in nature, your mind

is just there.

Whoo! Beautiful.

And I think it's also about being aware of your surroundings,

obviously for your safety, but also just the beauty of it, as well.

It just grounds you because we're in the Cairngorms.

It's such a massive landscape and environment.

We are so tiny within it.

And I think that just brings you back down to Earth.

Great day. Great day. Really amazing.

Scotland delivered, lucky to live here.

Look at those views.

And there's at least another 400 metres of boarding to do,

that should be quite good.

Do you think you've got it left in you, though? Och, aye.

THEY LAUGH

"Do you think you've got it left in you?"

Happy to report that, despite his advancing years,

Duncan made it back safe.

And I guess, when there's so much snow around, and we're in the middle

of a pandemic, "safe" is a pretty important word.

And I have to tell you, I'm pretty worried and scared

about being caught in an avalanche.

Now, of course, we have the Scottish Avalanche Information Service,

who provide regular updates on the internet, and also recently

on a phone-based app.

But what happens if one of your friends gets avalanched?

Well, Zoe Laird and I were taught by Alison Thacker how to use

the vital equipment.

If you unzip your jacket, so you can see your transceiver,

and if you undo that orange clip on the front and take the unit

out of its carrier, we're going to, first of all, learn how to put

it into search mode.

You've got to press down the button on the left

and then move the right-hand button right across to the right-hand side,

so it's in line with the word "search".

Got that.

BEEPING Ooh. And it should start beeping.

I've got numbers and arrows now. And giving you number and arrows!

So what you're going to do is you're going to follow

the arrow. OK.

Ensure that the numbers are going down. Yes.

And the beeping should increase.

Numbers going down. Oh, beeping increasing.

So that's an indication

you're getting much closer to the device.

BEEPING INCREASES

And I've got, like, a... Almost like a cross. Great.

So when you get that cross, you're going to get

down at surface level. OK.

And you now want to ensure you keep your transceiver orientated

in the same direction... OK. ..the whole time.

So I've got here,

and then the next step is to

bring out the shovel and the probe?

Not yet. What we do is we do a fine search,

so that we've actually pinpointed

exactly where we want to put our probe to start with.

What we're trying to do is create a box.

So there's a line there... And then what I can do

is I can draw a cross.

And I know that my closest signal

is right in that central point,

and that's where my first

probe strike is going to go.

And then I can probe out

in a spiral motion until I'm certain

that I've probed something

that's a body.

So if there's a group of people there, when someone, Zoe is doing

this, would someone else be putting the probe and the shovel together?

Exactly.

Your chance of survival decreases significantly if you've been buried

for more than 15 minutes under the snow.

So if you're going to spend another five minutes putting your shovel

and probe together, then you've lost a significant amount of time.

So the quicker you can get that equipment together, the better.

Wow. So I see,

that's why it's really important to practise, because doing

it quickly is... It's got to be, like, automatic, like putting

on a seat belt or something. Exactly.

And if the worst should happen,

we have an amazing system of mountain rescue,

with teams made up entirely of volunteers.

There are 24 teams in Scotland,

and we joined the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue team on a winter training

exercise to see exactly how they work.

And just to be clear, this item was filmed before the post-Christmas

restrictions were put in place.

We're going to just go through some avalanche transceiver stuff here,

sort out some kit and head up the hill.

We're going to work in two separate groups,

with the stuff we built on on Thursday night,

for those that were here, we're going to look at that in context.

And if time allows, we might come together and look at a slightly

bigger scenario, but we'll maybe

just see what time is like by that point.

Today, they're heading out onto the Cairngorms Plateau.

Covid-19 has had a massive impact on their day-to-day operations.

For team leader Iain Cornfoot,

it's been a year like no other.

2020 has been very different to a normal year for us

as a mountain rescue team. To start with,

we didn't know if we're going to be going out on call-outs

after the whole Covid thing really kicked off.

There's a lot of risks involved in being in a mountain rescue team,

and dangers in the mountains.

But I think Covid just added an extra bit of complexity

to all those risks.

Call-outs used to involve everyone piling into the base together,

lots of people, everyone in the equipment store,

lots of people everywhere, people in the kitchen grabbing

themselves cups of tea before they move out.

So that's actually all had to change.

And the general idea is we call out within our little groups,

and then when we arrive at base

we stay outside, rather than going inside.

One or two people who need to will

go will go in and get the equipment, try and limit the number of people

per vehicle, wearing masks in vehicles,

just everything takes a bit longer.

Everything, you just have to think

a wee bit more about what you're doing.

Gill is one of the team doctors, and therefore very aware

of the importance of these training exercises, as the team continually

adapt to our Covid-19 world.

Today, they're working on core skills

for getting people off the hills safely.

The idea is that you're setting up belays with ropes to lower somebody

down to a casualty, to collect the casualty and bring them back

up again, or lower the casualty

right the way down back down to the ground again.

To actually make it realistic, to know what you'd actually do

in a situation in a real rescue, you actually do need

to be in the hills in a realistic situation,

practising where can you put your belays, rather than saying,

"Oh, we'd just put it as a few big blocks,"

you can set up a proper belay.

You have to dig it out the snow cos it's a snowy day today.

You do put things down and they disappear into the snow.

So just all those things, just to make it a bit more realistic.

The rough scenario would be build an anchor at an appropriate place

back from the edge, and then one person on the end of the rope is

going down, body weight, and you're basically doing a crag snatch

to recover someone who's stuck on the slope.

This is going to be probably the types of conditions

that we're mostly out rescuing in.

And even just getting up the hill today was a bit of a challenge,

with the depth of snow through some of the rocky areas.

So as part of our training process, on Thursday night, before today,

we've gone and done all the rigging practice

that we're doing today, to be able to just work through some issues,

and the people who haven't seen the systems can get involved in that.

That's not going to move, is it?

Right. Is everyone happy with what I've done here?

So if any of those fail, these are all independent,

cos they all go through the big knot.

Every member of the team gives up their time to prepare,

train and rescue

those in difficulty or danger on the hill.

It's a huge commitment.

I think, for most of the team,

it's being able to help people in the mountains who may

be in difficulty.

And that's kind of what they would like to happen to them

if they were mountaineering and they became injured

or lost themselves.

People are so grateful.

They might have been a bit silly, and they know that,

but always so grateful, delighted to see you.

You get a huge buzz out of that.

People say, "Oh, thank goodness you're here."

"Oh, wow." What seems to us as nothing huge,

it can be folk lost on the plateau,

which we still get, and, you know, inadequately equipped,

or they're just a bit cold and miserable.

And to them, suddenly, the cavalry has come.

A lot of people probably you would put in the tourist bracket,

that we rescue

probably think that we are a paid service.

So they... You know, they ask how long are we on shift for,

or something like that, or do we like doing our job, sort of thing.

So they don't understand

that, you know, when we're out rescuing them, that's purely

as a volunteer role.

Whereas I think the more experienced sort of hill-goers

are quite aware of that and very supportive of what we do.

And we've probably seen that a little bit more this year, maybe, as well.

Just after lockdown, as there were more people that

maybe didn't go into the mountains and hills in Scotland before

have started travelling up to the Highlands in particular and getting out,

which is great, but it just comes with a few added challenges for the rescue team.

Is that OK, Jill? Absolutely fine, yeah. Steady.

Try and keep it like that all the way.

These volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds.

However, what unites them all

is a shared love of our mountains and wild places.

You all right with that, Jill? OK?

Fine, yeah. Shall we stop there? Yeah.

The Scottish mountains are always about a challenge in some form.

OK, off the rope.

The weather we get is very changeable. It can be very extreme.

And it's just absolutely stunning to be out when it's...

..when there's snow cover.

This is a benign day today, but it's unlikely to be like this

most days during the winter.

It's going to be a major challenge to be able to get around

and to function and to be able to achieve your goals,

so some people really like that challenge.

You don't really get anywhere quite like this anywhere else.

Up on the Cairngorm plateau, miles of snow and things.

And if it is a good day, great.

If it's not, it's a challenge.

And obviously, you can climb, you can ski,

all the other things that you can do in snow that you can't do otherwise.

The Scottish hills in winter are pretty special.

And that's exactly why we're staying with the white stuff.

Earlier in the programme,

we saw the outstanding skiing of Finbar Doig.

Another backcountry star is Amy Marwick.

In recent years, she's been at the forefront of Scottish skiing -

and here's why.

I do really enjoy skiing deeper terrain.

I love to kind of find myself

in a kind of more technical descent,

where you're kind of having to really think about each turn

and you're sort of really in the moment of what you're doing.

Woohoo!

I do it for the fun and the,

sort of, the thrill of enjoying the motion

and the feeling of skiing down.

For me, there's not something mystical about it,

it's more just... It's just good fun.

And, like, the feeling of getting to the bottom and looking up

and seeing your friend coming down after you,

or getting to the bottom and getting a high-five

and just feeling really accomplished that you've skied a section

that, like...that, like, looks really intimidating, potentially,

or it might just have been really nice turns, but...

Yeah, it just feels really good fun.

But Amy is not an adrenaline junkie - far from it.

For me, like, the actual just ski touring and just getting out there

is what it's really all about.

More and more, I'm realising that my enjoyment

comes out of just being outside and being in the mountains,

and it doesn't actually matter what terrain I'm on

or what the weather's doing.

I mean, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of the terrain

that is possible to ski in Scotland on a good snow year

and there are just an array of options to get out and explore.

Amy's love of backcountry skiing has now developed into a career.

As a ski instructor, she shares her passion

for the mountains and wild places.

It was never, like, a conscious decision,

it just snowballed and I just got more and more involved in skiing.

The ski industry is one of those industries

that, if you want to work and live that experience,

then you have to really kind of carve out a living for yourself

and just keep going in all the possibilities that you can.

So, obviously, my bread and butter is teaching skiing

and that's just instructing mostly in France,

and that's probably the way I earn my living.

But, in addition to that,

I work writing articles and bits and pieces,

doing some ski-touring guiding in Scotland, obviously,

and just kind of being open to whatever possibilities come up.

And, in the summertime,

yeah, I've done all sorts of different jobs

to kind of allow myself to ski through the winter.

Sometimes, when I'm at home and I've got my cup of tea,

I do have to force myself to sort of get going on a rainy day,

or if I know it's going to be really windy and cold.

But, actually, once you get walking

and you're out in the environment

and the terrain kind of unfolds before you,

and you sort of see all the possibilities of where you can go that day,

the actual weather sort of stops bothering you

and you just enjoy being outside.

Amy Marwick putting a capital A into adventure.

That was truly inspirational.

Lots more to come on The Adventure Show.

We'll be returning to the backcountry later in the programme.

Whoo!

But, before that, we'll go in search of the most remote place

on the Scottish mainland.

This snow is so thick,

it's really slowing us down.

And we'll do a bit of scrambling in Glencoe.

I really enjoy scrambling - it just adds a wee bit more interest to the day.

It's a bit more of a challenge.

When I'm scrambling, I don't really think about the uphill.

You're so focused on other stuff,

it's kind of a bit more of a surprise when you get to the top.

Now, meet Jenny Graham -

somebody who only got into adventure sports

when she found an access course at her local college.

Who would have thought she'd have been the fastest woman EVER

to cycle right around the world?

And get this - she did it without any support.

Now, THAT is impressive!

Opportunities happen all the time,

and sometimes we're just not ready to take them on board

and then they pass us by

and someone else takes them on and then runs with them.

So it's that thing - I was ready. I was ready for it

and then these opportunities came my way.

But it was big chat. It was really big chat!

Saying that I was going to ride around the world

and break the Guinness World Record and put myself up there

with all these, you know, people that I admired

and would go and see at talks and would watch their films

and be like, "Whoa! I could actually be, you know, an adventurer."

That was...that was a big deal.

Oh!

Jenny's world record attempt spanned four continents, took 124 days

and covered nearly 18,500 miles.

And she chose to begin and end in Berlin,

rather than her home city of Inverness.

In comparison, today's bike ride is infinitely more accessible.

It's a ten-and-a-half-mile roundtrip,

setting off from Achnashellach station in Wester Ross.

But getting out on a bike in winter is still a challenge.

We've come up to Achnashellach this morning

and we're going to go round one of the most classic

mountain-biking routes in Scotland, Achnashellach Loop.

But it's going to have a little bit of a twist today

cos, instead of coming down the gorge,

we're going to be hiking up it.

So I can imagine every mountain biker in the country

is going to be screaming at the telly right now, saying,

"What are you doing?!

"That is the classic mountain-biking route in Scotland

"and you're walking up it with a bike."

But do you know what? I've never walked up it with my bike before,

so it's good to try new things, isn't it?

Oh! Wow! So pretty!

My route this morning takes me up

in-between two Munros - Sgorr Ruadh and Beinn Liath Mhor.

And, oh, boy, it's my first view!

Ha-ha-ha!

It's looking good!

The route's just starting to climb up now and it is just gorgeous!

It's one of those days where you're getting your head into the climb

and then you lift up and you're like, "Wow!"

The rest of our lives are so busy,

not only practically, but also digitally now, as well.

You know, like, life is full-on, people are asking a lot of us

and our minds are constantly going.

But when I've got a day on the hill,

I've got a day on the hill and that is all that is going on in my head.

I'm not thinking about my to-do list, my emails, what bills I've got to pay,

the fact that my car's just failed its MOT!

You know, it gives you perspective, doesn't it?

I work a lot with young girls and women,

and I think it's so important that they see it,

like, we show our young girls that being feminine

can also mean being muddy, being sweaty,

being dirty, going hard on the hill.

You know, you can do all that stuff.

Do you know what? It'd probably be a bit slidey to ride down, anyway, today.

And it's also important that they see another woman doing it

because I think, if it's male predominant, white-male predominant,

then young people looking up are, like,

"Well, maybe that's not for me".

These places are for everybody.

Oh, there's the little deer!

They're very chilled, aren't they?

Must be hungry, huh?

So that's me, made my way up the toughest bit off the gorge there

and most of the climbing's out of the way, and the hiking with the bike,

and I've just got these little sections that lure you in

and make you believe that you can ride your bike a little bit.

It'll be a bit stoppy-starty, but I'm just going to see what I can get in.

SHE CHUCKLES

Do you know, around the world, when I look at it, it's, like,

that's huge. You know, that's massive. It was a massive trip,

but it actually felt like a really natural progression.

You know, I was doing these adventures,

I was going away and living on my bike,

I was travelling to foreign places, going on my own.

I was, you know, building up my endurance

and my sort of love for that kind of adventure over years and years.

I was trying to ride for 15 hours a day.

I was completely self-supported,

so I just carried on my bike what I needed to sleep and to stay warm

and to fix myself or my bike if either of us broke.

And carry enough food, you know, for a couple of days,

sometimes in sort of remote places.

So it was a very... It was a very simplistic way of living.

I basically had to stay on that saddle

for as long as I could every single day

and then sleep for as little as possible.

But, you know, it's a fine balance, isn't it? Get enough sleep

that I've got enough energy to ride the next day.

But equally, there was no, like, ten-hour lie-ins there.

And cafe stops, just making sure you're not staring at your feet for too long,

you're actually getting back out the door and getting on your bike!

So that was, you know, the whole way around, 18,000 miles,

just getting into that sort of rhythm.

Everybody wants to know about the rubbish places I slept.

You know, that was the thing that I would tell,

that I would post on social media about the most, I think.

Whoo!

It was important that I found somewhere safe to sleep,

but I was never looking for a good view.

You know, it wasn't like if you go out camping and you're touring,

you're looking for all these, "Oh, where's the sun coming up?"

God, I didn't care about the sun coming up,

I cared where the next coffee stop was!

I wanted coffee in the morning as soon as I woke up.

Whoo!

When I was out in Australia

and it was extremely bad weather out there,

there was toilet stops, like, truck or toilet stops, and stuff,

or bus shelters that I could get into

and just get that little bit of shelter.

And then, out in Alaska and Canada,

I mean, I was terrified of the bears.

As soon as it got dark, I was imagining them coming up behind me,

like, tiptoeing up behind me and tapping me on the shoulder,

you know, eating me on the spot.

So I had to do what I could just to keep going when it got dark.

And I'd look for, again, any sort of toilet stops,

any sort of sheds that I could find, just so I could lock the door.

Like, that would never have kept a bear out,

but, in my mind, I just needed to get out of the way of them.

I just believe that everybody has got their own round-the-world.

You know, not everybody wants to ride around it, like I did,

but we've all got that thing that absolutely terrifies us

when we think about, you know, that we might want to do it.

That barrier for me, now, like, something's opened in my mind,

you know, and I can see, I just know

that if I can get to the start line - not the finish line!

You know, so much of that was chance, to get to the finish line.

If I can get to the start line of a trip like that,

then we are all capable!

Whoa!

Ha!

You know, riding from the top of the gorge

and that beautiful, flowy single track

just goes to show that you should never write a route off

as only being one way round

because I was a bit dubious about carrying my bike up

what I knew was going to be a really nice descent.

But, actually, I just got the most incredible riding,

and I've not ridden that before, and it flows really well,

with a different set of views, as well, that I wouldn't normally be looking at

because I'd normally have my back to them.

And now I've got these Land Rover tracks coming down the path

and taking me back down to the train station,

where I started this morning.

This has been quite a big adventure for midwinter in the Highlands.

The days are short and the weather is often bad.

It did get quite cold there. We were up at 400 metres

and I could definitely feel it at the snowline.

But I think I've lucked out today.

I'm not going to be arriving back in the dark.

I have definitely arrived home in the dark unplanned

on many an occasion.

Well, do you know, I think that was just a perfect day.

It was only ten-and-a-half miles round there,

but there was such a variety of terrain.

Yesterday, it was absolutely pouring down with rain.

Tomorrow, it's going to be absolutely pouring down with rain.

And when you manage to squeeze in a day

where you've got a blue sky and sunshine

and these gorgeous mountain tracks,

then it feels even more special.

That was Jenny Graham there,

showing us literally just how far you can go on a bike.

And equally as important, that anyone can push those pedals.

And I tell you what, some of those single-track sections looked amazing.

I'd love to have the chance to go out with Jenny.

Absolutely. Better you than me.

But the way I'd describe Jenny is that she's like a...

You know, she's a bundle of energy wrapped up with massive enthusiasm

and I guess we can all learn from her. Oh, totally!

And, you know, it gives me such inspiration cos, at the moment,

me and my friends are kind of planning where we want to go, and, you know,

once the restrictions lift, you know, all those amazing trips

we're going to be able to go on again.

Such an inspiration. She certainly is.

And another person who's ahead of the curve is adventurer James Cave,

who's built up a huge following for his quirky, different way

of looking at the outdoors.

The adventure is real, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun.

And, to put you in the right mood,

here's a short extract from one of his films,

The After Work Adventure.

It was shot almost three years ago

during one of our wonderful Scottish summers.

I'd packed the essentials, called on a friend and we were ready!

My first after-work adventure, easy as that.

The goal for the evening was the Munro summit of Meall nan Tarmachan,

excuse the Gaelic, just north of Loch Tay.

But, like this guy, I didn't just want to climb it and tick a box,

I wanted to do the mountain, and the evening, justice.

I wanted to sleep on the summit,

watch the sun ebb away and break bread beneath the stars...

RECORD SCRATCHES Who's written this?!

Anyway, what a relief.

A few hours of peace and quiet,

a place with no texts or emails, or nagging social media,

just some quality time with an old mate.

But seriously, in the modern world,

when do you ever get chance to escape like this?

For his latest film, James wanted to settle the age-old pub argument -

where is the most remote place on the Scottish mainland?

But he wanted to do it in winter.

A quick note, he made this film

before the latest restrictions came in in early January

and he did it within a bubble, with two brothers who live together.

Finally, professional film-making

has been permitted throughout the pandemic

and, although they are all experienced outdoorsmen,

we had The Adventure Show's safety team on standby.

I've had this idea to travel to the most remote location

in the Scottish mainland on the shortest day of the year

and the rationale behind it is that this year, with the pandemic,

it's all been about getting away from each other, isolating,

so I've taken it one step too far.

I'm not quite sure where this location is,

so I've called a few adventurers.

The famous photographer Colin Prior, unbelievably, responded to me.

Hopefully, Colin would shed some light on the challenge ahead.

James. Hiya, Colin. How are you?

The most remote spot I can think of

is A' Mhaighdean in the Fisherfield Forest.

Any sort of top tips for getting out into that wilderness, then?

The biggest challenge, as you know,

of getting on to these remote locations

is always weight...

..particularly if you're going to shoot...a film.

After speaking to Colin, I contacted mountain legend Cameron McNeish

for some winter survival tips.

I also asked him whether this plan was really such a good idea.

Of course it's a daft thing to do!

It's completely and utterly loopy!

But what a delectable form of loopiness it is!

For me, winter camping is normally a glorious experience,

but only if you're comfortable.

A sleeping bag is simply a flimsy nylon sack with some fluff in it.

In itself, it's incapable of producing warmth,

so you have to make sure your body is producing heat

before you get into the bag.

Now, that might mean jogging on the spot for five minutes or so

before getting into the tent.

The next job was to contact the Ordnance Survey.

By enlisting the help of one of my favourite X-Men, Cyclops,

the OS agreed to query their supercomputers

to locate the exact grid reference

of the most remote point on the Scottish mainland.

An email was due any minute.

READS: If you imagine a map of Britain showing every single road and nothing else,

then we treated all the gaps between the roads as different shapes.

We then looked for the shape which could fit

the biggest circle inside it

and the most remote point was in the centre of that circle.

And it looks like we are heading to the Fisherfield Forest.

We're kind of between Loch Maree to the south

and then Dundonnell to the north,

so it's that wilderness area there, which is pretty cool.

"We've answered similar questions," the OS say, "from other expeditions

"who have attempted routes in these regions

"and, even in better conditions and at better times of the year,

"they were all unsuccessful."

That bodes well.

With my hair shortened, but the days even shorter,

it was finally time for off.

So, here we are, heading north towards the Northwest Highlands.

Snow on the ground everywhere, really cold.

But it's the best weather that seemed to suit our window,

so we're just going for it.

But I wasn't travelling alone.

I'd persuaded long-time adventure companions, the bubbled brothers,

Robert and Patrick Barbour, to indulge in the madness, too.

Is this one of your madder trips with James?

It's all on a spectrum of insanity.

Not insanity. Um...but...

That sounded like a yes.

Yes, probably. PATRICK LAUGHS

After crossing middle Earth towards Mordor,

we completed a disorganised scramble through the kit,

before stumbling, quite literally, into bed.

LAUGHTER

Though groggy, we rose early next morning

to make the final preparations for the wilderness up ahead.

We are about to follow the river up along this track here.

We're going to be cycling.

Leaves the river and continues around the loch.

We're going to the side of Loch Kernsary,

through the forest here, and then out on to the moor.

And then it takes us on to the next map.

So, three maps, is it?

It's a three-map job, unfortunately,

cos it's, er...it's right on the seam.

So, tonight, we are staying just up here, and it is...

..Carnmore bothy.

So, off we went.

With a few calories burned and the weather closing in,

it was time for some lunch.

But we'd made a fatal error.

We forgot to put the bread rolls in, so...

it's an animal-heavy lunch today,

consisting of ham and cheese and probably a bit shortbread, as well,

to substitute for the bread.

Undernourished, but undeterred, we cracked on,

dropping the bikes and striking out towards the high mountains.

There's a bit of a yellow sky behind us, but...

..up ahead, it's all grey. It's all grey.

After crossing the causeway, the light finally dissipated,

before we reached our accommodation for the evening.

Though one review had described this bothy as "pretty Spartan",

this emergency shelter was our sanctuary in the snow.

Time to pop the kettle on.

Just tucking into a Moroccan main meal.

We're a little bit anxious about the night coming up

and how cold it's going to be.

Rob's sleeping bag has gotten completely soaked.

I spilt a whole litre of water into my rucksack.

We've all got plastic bags in our boots.

It's a bit grim, but this is the best part of the day.

We've got some hot water on, tea's coming up.

I've brought my own little sort of home-made spice mix,

just to add some seasoning to these bad boys.

Bit of Moroccan couscous, it's a real taste of the Highlands!

But as the effects of our spicy gruel began to wear off,

the gritty reality of the situation,

and the sub-zero temperatures, started to sink in.

Oh! So it's very cold just now.

Brrr! The sort of...

..warmth has gradually seeped away during the night

and...not really slept at all. Um...

Yeah, been quite, quite, quite brutal.

The next morning was like waking up on the barren surface of Pluto.

Alone and miles from the nearest road,

we really were on the edge of nowhere.

But we had a mission to complete,

a pass to climb and a long day ahead,

and so we punched out bravely into the snow.

However, as we moved further into the wilderness,

the feeling of isolation really started to become a reality.

This was no picnic.

We also began to realise why no-one

had completed this winter challenge before us -

and then the mountains threw yet another curve ball.

But Rob there, behind us, he's got a fairly bad bout of cramp,

so I've taken his rucksack,

we've got some rehydration solution down his...down his gizzard.

This snow is so thick.

It's really slowing us down.

But we can sort of see...

..the edge of, er...where we need to be.

And, at that point, we'll see the loch

and we'll be at the most remote point in Scotland!

After some salts, Rob was thankfully back to map-reading.

Right, OK, good. We're almost there - close.

We could almost taste success.

Just beyond the frozen lochs, we would be there.

But it was turning into a race against the light.

However, after some scrabbling through the mist,

we eventually settled on a somewhat uninspiring point,

lost within the cloud.

We've not got a GPS with us,

so we're within a few hundreds metres for sure.

We've got A' Chailleach just over there.

Er...A' Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor.

Good pronunciation? Getting there.

A' Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor that way. Um...

So, yeah, within a few hundred metres, for sure, of...

..the most remote point in Scotland.

We can't see a lot cos it's pretty much a white out. Er...

But, yeah, I think that was one of the toughest 5ks of my life.

With just enough time for a frozen snack

and a quick burst of jubilant celebration,

we began the trudge back to the bothy.

But the mountains had one final surprise for us.

This is why we do it!

Look at that view!

Just unbelievably beautiful

and a real just reward

after a couple of days of really brutal climbing.

So what a reward!

A bit of colour in the sky. It's absolutely stunning!

Wow! What a place!

Fisherfield Forest, here it is!

Stunning was an understatement.

Scotland had finally opened up for us.

As we embarked on the long journey back,

I had time to reflect on what we had managed to pull off.

At times, the adventure had been tough.

Navigating in the dark, trying to sleep in sub-zero temperatures,

surviving on ham alone.

But, in the end, adventure is not just about

reaching a specific point on a map.

For me, it's all about the journey,

the challenge, the camaraderie, the unrelenting connection to nature

and, of course, the cake.

Honestly, I never thought we'd make it,

but the mountains welcomed us in for four days of perfect escapism.

A quarantine in the hills I'll never forget.

PHONE RINGS OUT

Hiya, Mum! Yeah, I'm... No, I'm still alive. Don't panic.

James Cave and friends solving at last the mystery

of the most remote point on the Scottish mainland.

But you can still have a great adventure even closer to home.

Many years ago, Bhola Khanal and his family left Nepal

to settle in Scotland.

He now lives in Perth and manages a restaurant.

His daughter Sabina works in IT.

Both are keen walkers

and even if, during the Covid pandemic,

that means getting out for an hour or two.

I was born in Kathmandu, outside Nepali.

That's a village, maybe eight...seven, eight kilometre

from Kathmandu centre.

And many mountains surrounding.

Is not big mountain, the hills.

And, er...always, even in normal life,

we walk up and down behind our village, in the hill there.

I was 15 when I came here

and I didn't do much walking before I came up here

cos I guess I was just too busy with school

and then getting your homework done.

I was just a good kid. Huh!

So, yeah, not done much walking before at all.

When I came over to Scotland, we used to love driving,

so Dad used to take us, as a family,

and then we used to do a little walk.

I remember when we first walked

and we were all dressed up in nice dress and things

cos is was nice and dry.

And then, everyone there were, like, in their walking gear

and, you know, with walking boots and stuff.

And everyone was just looking at us, and we were like,

"Why are you looking at us?"

Because we were not prepared for walking.

We just went for a day out.

That's how we were kind of introduced

and we realised we can do outdoors.

We should probably do more walking, rather than just sightseeing.

Today, Sabina and Bhola have chosen a walk

that starts from The Hermitage, north of Perth.

Their route follows the dramatic River Braan,

before they head up to the great viewpoint on Birnam Hill.

In total, it's around six miles.

It's one of my favourite places.

I've been here many, many times that I've lost count of it.

So, whenever we've got friends or something,

or it's a nice day out, or even it's an all-right-sort-of-day out,

we just come here with a packed lunch.

Whenever I talk to people, most of my friends,

we are always complaining about weather.

But, for me, I actually enjoy all the weather.

Like they say, it's not the weather, you're just not properly dressed up for it.

Wow!

In Nepal, there is a fixed season.

Sometimes two, three months, three, four months, there is no rain.

Sometimes three months continue rained.

And, in the winter, sometimes two, three months, no sun.

Scotland weather, we prefer that.

You can see all weather in a day.

HE LAUGHS

The problem in the winter is it's getting darker earlier.

So, by the time I finish my work, around 5:00 or 5:30,

it's already dark and you're not as much motivated to get out.

So I've kind of blocked myself a half-an-hour sort of time on the day

to make sure I go out and get some fresh air.

And I always find myself thinking better.

Or, you know, if there was some problems before at work,

I could come back with a different idea or view to that,

so I think it does really help.

Especially for us, we are working in hospitality,

it's quite stressful sometime.

After I finish at weekends,

Sunday, Monday, it's go out walking.

In my experience, Nepalese people,

they like to walk wherever they are.

When I went to stay in England sometime,

I looked at walking areas.

I went to Kent

and, er...I asked, "Where is the walking place here?

"Where is the hill?"

We are few people, but we like to do walk.

I've been to just a few other countries walking

and this, Scotland, is best in world.

People like me, mostly, they are immigrants.

I don't know if I should use this word!

But, yeah, they're mostly here for a purpose.

Like, they are a student studying,

or they are a businessman working too hard, you know?

So they probably don't find enough time

to maybe get out and look around.

And I think, you know, there are different walking groups

that's been set up specific for a minority group.

So that culture is developing

because I think there are more younger families now settling here

rather than just working or studying people.

Sometimes I just feel like, "Oh, I probably am too tired

"and I don't think I want to get up to the hill," or something.

But once I get to the hill, I love the view.

I love to just take my time,

make sure I just look around and take that all in.

It just refreshes me.

You get everything here.

There's a freshness and nice here

and you see there a good view.

A good mood. You can make your fresh mood.

And all positive. You're thinking positive, all are.

No, no problem.

If I get this opportunity, I'd do this every day.

Mm! Wow! Looks great!

And the weather, it's fantastic weather. Clean, bright.

HE INHALES DEEPLY Ah!

It's beautiful. Magnificent view.

And I think we're just lucky with the sunset, as well, just in time.

Yeah, brilliant.

It just refreshes from everyday life.

Yeah, it just energises.

HE BREATHES DEEPLY

Ah, it's fantastic! Great!

SHE CHUCKLES It's nice. I like it!

I like it! Love it!

Bhola and Sabina proving that it's always possible

to make your own adventure and get outdoors in winter.

And even if you're not a skier or snowboarder,

we're still spoilt for choice here in Scotland -

just ask blind adventurer Dean Dunbar.

He's never afraid to step out of his comfort zone.

So, back on the beach near Oban,

Patrick Winterton's about to introduce him

to Scotland's most exciting new sport.

Wing foiling's the latest water sport to hit the British shores

and, judging by how hard it is to get hold of kit,

its popularity is going through the roof.

And before we take Dean out on the water to see how he gets on,

we need to meet Andy Corbe, who's the local king of the wing.

I did it for an afternoon, actually, when I was in Key West in Florida.

I was kitesurfing and I decided to try

the kite foiling for the first time.

I got home that night and I couldn't sleep that night.

I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I literally rang up the guy the next morning, I said, "OK, how much?"

Ha-ha-ha! "How much for a board and foil?

"Cos I need to get one of these. This is just so incredible."

Do you think we've got a chance of getting Dean up with the wing, or on the foil?

Dean's a very talented man, so we'll see how we go.

I think he'll definitely get up on the board.

If he gets up on the foil, it'll be amazing.

Shall we have a quick go before it...?

Absolutely! Let's get out there.

Is it waterborne or airborne?

A bit of both. A bit of water, a bit of air.

Good. Let's do it!

It's a very steep learning curve. It's a very easy learning curve.

Anyone who comes from a kitesurfing background

who's done some foiling will pick it up very quickly.

The advantages over kitesurfing is that it's much safer

because the wing is really easy to handle. It's got 100% power.

So you're never going to get overpowered,

you're never going to get dragged around on the beach.

You can just let the thing go and it'll just float in the sky.

Because you've actually got two wings.

You've got the wing that you hold in your hands,

and that's a true sense of a wing.

It's shaped like an airplane wing.

The foil that we ride is also a wing,

so it has the same sort of profile as an airplane wing

and it's attached to a mast. And the mast is below the board,

so the mast is actually bolted on to the bottom of the board,

and then the whole thing sits down there. And this is the...

The weird thing is that you're essentially flying the wing underwater.

So you're surfing on a magic carpet, essentially.

The beautiful sensation is that, as soon as the board leaves the water,

everything becomes incredibly smooth and very, very quiet.

The only thing you really hear is water dripping off your wet suit.

The first time that I got up on a foil,

I just couldn't believe the sensation. It's this...

You could compare it to snowboarding in the cleanest,

smoothest powder snow, you know, where there's just no resistance

and you're just kind of cutting through.

A little bit like that, but different.

HE LAUGHS

Dean's itching to get back on the water, but, before that,

we've got a couple of essential pre-flight details to sort out.

OK, Deano. Right. So you're going to throw the kite to your left.

My left. Flip it over. Cool.

Push it over. Flip it over. There.

OK. So your right hand, cos you're going to the right,

at the top end of the tube... This end? You've got it.

And then slide the left hand as far down as you can.

Slide it down...? That's it. That'll do there.

OK. OK. So to power up... Yeah.

..keep your right hand nice and high. Hand. Yep.

And you just pull your left in, left hand in towards you a bit. Right.

OK. And as you do that, drop your right hand down in front of you,

but keep... You mean...? Keep the arm straight-ish

and move it forward. Got you. OK, yes.

Forward with the other. That's it, there. All right, OK. There.

And then you feel the power in the wave.

If you get into trouble, release the left hand, the lower hand.

Bang! All the power's gone. All the power's gone, yeah.

OK, we're in business. Right. So, what's next?

It's time to hit the water.

Now, it may seem simple, trying this out on the beach,

but we're heading out to sea.

And don't forget, Dean has virtually no vision.

So, how's he feeling right now?

Are you filming? Yeah.

I'd better not say, then! THEY LAUGH

Right! Your board is here. Where? Are you sat on it?

I'm sitting on it. Right, OK.

There's only room for one. LAUGHTER

Going down. Wahey! I'm down on it.

And then you can paddle away from the boat. Righto!

Don't worry about the sail too much. Right.

OK, let's try it to the right. So, that way, yeah?

Yeah. Right. One, two...

Got it? Have you got it? Got it. Well done. OK.

That's it. So keep that right hand high.

One more...

Whoop!

You never said I was going to get wet!

I'd better lean back the other way! Oh!

When I first went out, I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to...

..certainly not stand up, but kneeling, I was not sure if that was going to happen.

So, when I got on my knees, that was one step and that was fantastic,

but to stand up and then move, and it wasn't just standing still!

I didn't know at the time that I was moving,

I was concentrating on the wing,

I was concentrating on just standing up.

And it was only when I heard Patrick's voice disappear backwards

I realised I'd either moved forward or he'd swam very fast backwards.

LAUGHTER AND WHOOPING

Whoo!

JUBILANT WHOOPING

It's one of these things I don't think I'll do on my own.

I'll need to have a guide with me, I'll need to have help.

There's no way, I don't think, with my sight issues,

I don't think I could do that on my own. I'd need a lot of help.

So that would be one thing, if I'm doing it,

it would be doing it with friends, or hopefully with Patrick again

or with Andy or whoever, but not on my own.

And go.

You're away.

Whaa!

Dean's doing amazingly for his first time out,

but it's going to take a couple more sessions

before he actually gets the board up and off the water.

Right, and again. And again.

Got it! Thank you.

But we should be able to speed up the process by using the safety boat

and giving him that sensation of actually flying the foil.

That's a winner!

DEAN SHRIEKS WITH DELIGHT

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! THEY LAUGH

Amazing! Amazing!

Yeah, man, that's the way it is. THEY LAUGH

He was flying! He was flying!

Yeah, that was pretty crazy! THEY LAUGH

Yeah. I mean, I...

Yeah, when we were going to the sun, I couldn't see anything,

so I just was... It was all how you feel, rather than what you're doing.

It all just went from bumpy to flat, and then nosedive.

THEY LAUGH

Oh! I think that was amazing!

With the wing, he did more than most people on their first effort.

And then, on the foil, most of us would dive off in a second,

but to hang on in there on that last run was amazing.

Absolutely fantastic! That was just unbelievable!

The whole thing was just...! Just doing it with the wing

and then getting towed behind the boat was just...that was crazy!

Oh, look, I couldn't tell the difference when I was up or down,

I just... Then I dived. Honestly, on the wing, you did better

than Andy and I did on our first session... Thank you.

..and on the boat you did better than either of us.

That's a fantastic achievement. Maybe not being able to see

what I can do is a bonus. Are you coming back for more?

Definitely. When can I come back?

What an epic day.

Introducing Dean to another crazy new sport.

Wing foiling is infectious,

it's almost addictive,

and Dean can't wait to get back out.

Later in the programme, there'll be a complete role reversal,

as I go from being supposed instructor to total novice,

trying something that I last tried 35 years ago.

Whoa!

That was the one they were after. HE CHUCKLES

There could be some poetic justice here.

I just can't wait to see if

Patrick manages better than I did on the snow.

But, before that, we're heading into the hills above Glencoe

on a scramble with Kirsty Pallas.

She's not only passionate about the Scottish mountains,

but also wants to open them up to everyone,

regardless of their background.

In winter, an early start is essential,

and that doesn't get any easier - no matter how experienced you are.

SHE CHUCKLES

I'm not a great early morning person.

I don't like it particularly,

but you get into the swing of things and it becomes the norm.

And, once you're actually out of the house, it's really nice,

and, if you're on the hill before the sun's up,

just being there during the dawn is amazing.

Even when it's bad in winter, I still think it's good.

SHE CHUCKLES

I like suffering a little bit.

Erm, so the plan is to head up a wee scramble called Pink Rib,

which is on Beinn a' Chrulaiste.

So, we're just on the other side of the A82 from the Buachaille,

and, hopefully, if the drizzle stops, and the cloud clears,

we'll get really lovely views over the Buachaille and Rannoch Moor

and right down Glencoe, as well.

I really enjoy scrambling, and it just adds a wee bit more interest

to the day.

It's a bit more of a challenge,

just thinking about route choice.

It's not always obvious where you need to go. You can do a little bit

of exploring, seeing which the best route is.

When I'm scrambling, I don't really think about the uphill.

You know, it's not really a slog. You're so focused on other stuff,

and it's kind of a bit more of a surprise when you get to the top.

I think it just takes your mind off the...the uphill bit.

SHE CHUCKLES

So, the weather's not quite as bad as forecast,

we've got a wee bit of visibility.

You can see the Buachaille just appearing out of the dark.

There's a wee bit of snow on top.

Hopefully, we'll get good views from the, er, from the top,

if the clouds stay lifted.

So, I did my school work experience at a local outdoor centre,

and I thought it'd just be a bit of a jolly for a week

and just really, really enjoyed it.

Did a few more weeks through the summer holidays

and then kind of decided that, actually, it was...

..it was well worth having a go at as a full-on career.

So, you can just see the scramble we're about to do,

just a lighter covered...coloured bit of rock.

Today, Kirstie not only earns a living in the outdoors,

but, for the last seven years, she's also been an active member

of the Oban Mountain Rescue team.

At first, she was worried if she had the right skills,

especially as there are fewer women on the teams.

So, I'd say mountain rescue as a whole is male-dominated.

We're lucky in Oban.

We've got a really good representation from women.

We're about between a quarter and a third women,

which is really good for a team.

There's also, certainly in Scotland, next to none from black

and Asian communities.

I'm mixed race, my mum's Indian and my dad is British.

I could count on one hand the people I met that weren't white

through, like, maybe two or three years of training.

I could probably still count on one hand up to five years...

SHE CHUCKLES

..of people I met that weren't white.

Everything in the outdoor space and outdoor industry

has been designed with generally white men in mind

because they have been the primary hill-goers.

Historically, they've had the privileges to be able

to access those spaces.

They've had maybe jobs where they have weekends off,

or they've been able to have vehicles.

I think the thinking needs to change to tackle the problem as a whole.

The mountains aren't saying, "Oh, you can't be here."

There's so much more to it than that.

There's the Windrush generation, India was a British colony,

folk were given the opportunity to come over to the UK

and become a British citizen and get a British passport, and stuff.

They were coming into a new country, they were trying to integrate

into a new community, and a new culture, quite often having to work

several jobs to keep their families going.

They maybe didn't have vehicles.

They didn't have expendable cash, where they could get something

like a waterproof jacket to head into the hills.

So, I work for a charitable organisation, and we raise funds

to subsidise outdoor activity courses.

We subsidise the courses for young people

coming from slightly more vulnerable or more disadvantaged

backgrounds, so we work a lot with young carers,

LGBT Youth Scotland and young people coming from lower income areas,

or maybe young people who are disengaged with school...

..people who are maybe finding it a wee bit difficult

and getting a way into the outdoors, maybe picking up some new skills,

learning new activities is a bit of a welcome relief, a bit of a change.

You know, it might spark a real interest in something new.

I really love working with these groups.

I've been able to show people something new,

something that they've never done, or never seen,

and just seeing their reactions from that and knowing that,

you know, for a lot of the young people that we work with,

they might not have had the opportunity to do that otherwise.

It's really special to see...see that happening

with those young people.

Folk who are, like, new to the outdoors and maybe, you know,

learning about certain aspects of the outdoors, you know,

aren't, like, logoed up in outdoor gear, maybe wearing what they would

around town, can get judged by people who've been in the outdoors

for a long time, which, again, makes it feel unwelcoming.

It takes a long time for those things to change.

Uh! Made it to the top!

Even though we had a bit of an unusual and damp forecast,

we've still managed to get an atmospheric view.

So, sometimes it's just as nice to come out when it's a bit wet.

It's such an incredible experience that it just doesn't make sense

that people don't have those opportunities, like,

why wouldn't we want to share these spaces?

It has such an impact on everybody who spends time in the outdoors.

So, it should be as accessible for everyone.

So, that was Kirsty,

just one of us opening up the outdoors for everyone.

Look at those outdoors behind us. Absolutely fantastic, isn't it?

It's just breathtaking.

It's absolutely amazing.

And that's why people are saying this is one of the best

winters for years.

So, let's get back to the white stuff, shall we?

Earlier in the programme, I was put through my paces trying to ski

in some ungroomed pistes.

Now it's Patrick's turn.

And, Lauren, you were his teacher! SHE CHUCKLES

Yes, I was, and, you know, like, snowboarding is...was my kind of

gateway sport, and I love it, but Patrick wasn't too sure because

he hadn't been on a snowboard for 35 years,

and, to be honest, both of us were a bit nervous because

I hadn't taught a snowboard lesson in about six or seven years,

and it was my first day on snow.

But we thought, "You know what? Let's just go for it!"

A couple of mates, get out there and do it,

because that's what it's all about.

I can't wait to see it, and little point of order,

this was filmed while the lift was still open for business.

Yeah, that's right, Dougie.

I'm at the Lecht Ski Centre, which is currently open.

Beautiful conditions, but I'm a bit apprehensive.

I'm about to take on something I haven't done for many, many years.

I have no gear, I have no idea,

so the first thing to do is go and get kitted out.

So, that's me, kitted out, boots, board and the all-important lid.

Now, I did one day of this 35 years ago.

I can still remember the laughter

and I can definitely remember the bruises.

But, luckily, Lauren's on-hand.

She's a bit of a snowboard expert and she's going to put me

through my paces, and hopefully keep me in one piece.

Patrick, good to see you again.

How are you? It's so good.

You...you nervous?

I'm really nervous, but I always get nervous with new things.

Yeah. I'm trying to get my head around this business

of going sideways, not going forwards. Yeah.

And you're going to have to teach me from scratch.

It's going to be fine. The snow is great.

There was a snow fall last night. It's about minus two, minus three,

so it's given us that nice grippy snow, which is great for beginners,

and we're going to have a pretty good day.

Off-piste videos by the end of the day? Well...

HE CHUCKLES ..you called it. We'll see.

BOTH: Let's go.

The trick is to not start too big. Yeah. I can go with that.

And then we're going to do something what you call falling leaf.

So, if you go for a snowboard lesson, it's probably one of the

first things that the instructor will do.

OK. So, we're going to turn our board around,

and I tend to just dig...dig it in a little bit,

just to kind of give me something to rest on.

Yeah. And it's probably actually easier if we sit down

and get your back foot binded in.

We'll start with our two feet, and just...

Woo! We're there. We're there!

Oh, Jesus. You'll be fine. We've got this. Right, OK.

We're going to start really, really slow. Yeah.

So, we're going to work on our heel side, and we're going to shift

our weight from out front to our back foot.

Come on, come on, come on.

First...

That's it!

Oh! If I want to go right, I'm going to look and lean, put my weight

over my right foot. Yeah. If I want to go left, I want to look

and put weight over my left foot. OK.

Not sure I'd be where you guys are.

OK, this is actually a bit mellow.

It's actually quite hard.

So, I need a slightly steeper... Yeah.

Like, on the snow, on your heel edge... Yes.

..you want to be kind of, like, going from left to right,

but on your heel edge. So, you don't want your board pointing

down the hill. You want your board to kind of be, like,

90 degrees at all times. Yeah. OK. Yeah.

How did that feel, Patrick?

It works one way, but not the other. THEY CHUCKLE

So, I'm OK if we just go round and round the same hill.

Yeah. We've kind of got to feel our board a bit.

I think we should head over to the poma and try and tackle that.

Suits me.

Whoa!

We're on!

We've done our falling leaf, now we're going to turn

that into linking the turns together.

And then we've just got to remember, when we're going across

the fall line, nice, bent knees

and then we're coming up to turn,

we're taking the pressure off, standing up.

And then it's head, shoulders, knees, toes.

And it will all come round.

And just don't freak out, cos it will come round.

It sounds so easy. OK.

Down the fall line.

Squish, squish, squish.

Up.

Nice, bent knees.

Whoo!

That's it, slow it down a little bit.

That was the one they were after!

Right, you're fine.

So, let's just slow it down slightly.

A little bit more controlled... Yeah.

..because it gets a bit rushed and a bit all over the place.

Squish it down.

Up.

That's it. Now, sit back down.

Yes!

Whoo-hoo!

You're doing amazing, well done. We're getting there.

That's it, really squish those knees to stop.

Five turns.

Well, I'm in one piece.

I've got a river of sweat running down between my shoulder blades,

so I'm probably needing a break, but it's good.

Let's go get a coffee and save our energy for the afternoon.

Yeah, look forward to it.

So, Lauren, what got you into snowboarding as opposed to skiing

or any other sort of snow sport?

So, I didn't actually start snowboarding till I was around

19 or 20, but it was actually a bunch of guys,

I used to work at the climbing wall and skate park in Aberdeen

and they said, "Come along with us."

And I think that's how most people start,

you just kind of get dragged along.

And I just picked up just second-hand bits of kit

here and there, you're not having to go out

and buy the best of the kit all the time.

Free sports had always captured my imagination -

surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding.

And I just always watched,

especially the women's snowboard films,

how they just looked like they were having so much fun.

And I just thought, you know, "I'm going to have to get a piece

"of that, I think." Yeah, you watch enough of those videos

and you start to think you can do it yourself.

After this morning, I realise it's quite a long way off.

Now, I have to admit that, decades ago, I raced at the Olympics,

but that was on cross-country skis.

Most of the training was done in the Scandinavian mountains,

a million miles from lifts and queues.

To be honest, that's where my heart is

and Lauren's promised to give me a taste of what can be done

on a splitboard.

Here we go.

So, the first thing I do is I take my bindings off,

so I pull up forward

and it should just slide off.

We start with what you call your nose clip...

..and then tail clip.

Hold that.

Then just flick that out of the way.

And then... OK, so when you're putting your skins on,

your board actually goes on the opposite foot.

So what I usually do is I just flip them over,

like this,

and then I get my skins out.

What's the most common mistake, putting these things on?

If you can imagine, if you're on top of a mountain, it's really windy,

people are rushing to get them on.

And the most common mistake is people put them on the wrong way

cos there's one direction to these skins, you see?

Now for the bindings. Yeah.

Is there a right and left?

Yes. Yeah. So, you want your buckles to be on the outside.

That's it. That's done.

I think I'll ski down with them like this as well.

Might be better.

All right. You know how to tour. We should be OK with this.

So you should be OK with this.

Now, Lauren, it doesn't matter where you are in the world, the snow

looks the same, beautifully white, but every country has its own

nature and Scotland's very specific in the hills.

The hills are so accessible,

but they're no less dangerous than anywhere else.

Yeah, I mean, you've got the Alps, you get that

more traditional pointy peak,

but the Scottish hills are not to be underestimated.

You can get in a lot of trouble very quickly

and it's also the changing variations.

You know, this is an Arctic landscape,

so you get sheet ice, you get poor visibility, buffeting wind,

and it can change very quickly.

So, you might leave the car park,

it might be a beautiful day, and then it'll just change

and it can catch you out.

And if you don't have the skill set, that mountaineering skill set,

you're in risk of putting yourself and your friends in a lot of danger.

Amazing.

We've got to the top and then

I guess we'll just put our board together.

Bindings off.

Peel it off.

And stick your skin saver on

as you're going.

OK, you ready?

Ready?

You away? I'm away.

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, yeah.

When you're going well, when everything seems easy,

I was just wondering what you actually feel when

you're flowing nicely on the board.

For me, that feeling of locking in a turn,

and it's just that amazing feeling of just fun.

You're floating and you're carving.

And I think, you know, that's when I know it's going well

because it's just kind of effortless

and it's almost like you're not even trying.

Yeah, Patrick!

If you're relaxed, one, it feels good,

and, two, it looks good.

But when you're learning a new sport,

the first thing you do is tense up.

Maybe it's just hours and hours and hours. It's just practise.

And I think the other thing is not being too hard on yourself.

We have this expectation in society

that we have to be amazing at it straight away and it's not

going to happen overnight.

But that's what makes it rewarding

and that makes it fun, that journey.

And the learning process is so rewarding.

It doesn't have to be a sport, it can be anything.

But when you start, every ten minutes, you notice the difference.

This is such fun.

We got carried away.

That was perfect.

I really like the splitboard idea.

I'm not one for the pistes but I love getting out the back

and, even if it's a small hill round the back of the house,

it's just a fantastic way to spend the day.

Ooh, la-la-la.

Woohoo!

Everything that I did for cross-country I tend to apply

to every sport, which is ridiculous, but you still want to get better

and you want to be faster and you want to go higher.

It's crazy but, you know, that's what motivates us.

Good old...

Wouldn't be a day without some ice.

Whoa! Yes, Patrick! Well done.

Had I seen how steep it was, I wouldn't have come it.

Your first day on a snowboard in 30, 35 years?

Will you be back for more? I think so.

I'm slightly surprised I've still got all my limbs

and my shoulders aren't hurting

because I do remember, from last time, I was sore for a week.

You did really well

because there were some really icy patches in there.

Hopefully, we'll have another day together soon.

DOUGIE: Well, what a winter it's been.

Scotland's never looked better, but don't forget to follow

all the regulations before you head out to the hills.

The latest information can be found at the Scottish Government website

and, as it specifically relates to outdoor activity,

at Mountaineering Scotland.

And although this winter has been quite exceptional,

there's good backcountry skiing to be found almost every year.

And to prove that point, here's our final foray into the mountains,

with two of our backcountry experts, off-piste guidebook writer

Kenny Biggin, from Spean Bridge, just outside Fort William,

and ski coach Rob Kingsland, from Glencoe.

Prepare to be amazed.

And once you've made the effort, Scottish backcountry skiing

delivers a special experience.

I always think of Scotland as having, in many ways,

a lot more character than the Alps, in terms of the culture

and the environment, the geology of the mountains.

It's so variable, from the west coast,

we're here, below Ben Nevis right now,

with these steep, towering peaks going down to the sea.

Whereas, if we drive an hour, an hour and a half, you're into these

rolling plateau mountains, with these deep corries.

I think the nature of skiing in Scotland

does lead to a stronger community

of backcountry skiers.

I think perhaps, because of the difficult conditions

in Scotland, it almost distils the essence of skiing,

so that, when people do get a good day, it's more special.

Growing up, it was all about the skiing. All you wanted to do

was hit the lift, ski from start to finish of the day,

ski as much as possible, find all the biggest jumps

and all the fun features on the hill.

I guess, once you've started to explore beyond that

and you realise that what you really want to do is ski

maybe one really good run.

And sometimes you're waiting a whole year for that,

sometimes you'll never even get in the winter.

So, you're really looking at some of the best runs

that you're ever doing might be almost

a once-in-a-lifetime run that you're doing,

which really is quite exciting.

Scottish backcountry skiing is more popular than ever,

but it isn't new.

It goes right back to the start of the sport.

The roots of backcountry skiing go way back to before there were

any lifts in Scotland, when people first got their hands on skis

and basically went hill walking with them up

to the top of the hill, skied down.

And then, when the lifts got built,

I think certainly a lot of skiers basically just stuck to the lifts

and almost stopped going up hills with skis.

But then, I think more recently, there's been a real resurgence,

partly fuelled by social media, partly fuelled by improvements

in ski touring equipment - light skis,

light touring bindings, light boots.

And I think these things have all contributed to a real growth

in backcountry skiing.

I think, all through the period where people were skiing

on the lifts more and more and more,

there were still the enthusiasts and the guides and the instructors

who were still going out there and just hiking up beyond the lifts.

So, I don't think it's anything new.

And certainly skiing steeper gullies and the more consequential

lines or the more exciting lines isn't anything new,

that's been happening since day one, really,

it's just a different sliding scale of how someone

perceives it as being steep or challenging or extreme.

So, there's not really anything new there, I'd say,

but the prevalence has now shot up through the roof.

There's more backcountry skiing than you might think, with many

new lines still to be discovered.

And for the Scottish backcountry community, finding, planning

and attempting these lines is a major part of the attraction.

I think, if there's a particular objective,

a gully or a couloir that we've wanted to ski for a long time,

it can be a real art, getting the right conditions for that.

You've got to have exactly the right weather,

you've got to have the right snow there,

you've got to have safe avalanche conditions.

So, getting all these things to line up perfectly

can be really challenging

and it's exactly why some of the harder ski routes,

some of the steeper couloirs, may have only been skied

a small handful of times, only once or twice, in some cases.

CHUCKLING: Skiing in Scotland!

The process of choosing where to go, I really enjoy it,

it's a very creative process and it really consumes me

when I get an idea into my head.

I'm looking through maps and looking through pictures, blogs.

I'm always looking for an aesthetic line,

so I don't really mind how steep it is.

I'm not looking for the steepest or the longest

or anything like that, I'm looking for something that's fun to ski,

so maybe something that comes right from the summit

all the way down into the corrie is a really nice line to ski,

or something that's bordered with big granite walls

or big stone walls, where you're really tucked inside the mountain.

Sometimes you might figure out that if you hop on a bike,

you can do it in a day.

Other times, you might be looking for this sense

of expedition and excitement.

So you're like, right, let's take a tent,

let's get all our food together, get the supplies,

get the friends together, head up there, set up camp,

get a really good atmosphere, little homely feel in your tent.

And then you can go off there and you can ski the line

that you wanted to ski and then you can have a nice evening,

have a nice meal, and then the next day, you can go and ski

two or three more lines.

When you do finally get that perfect day, that perfect moment at the top

of a line you've maybe wanted to ski for a long time,

yeah, hopping off a cornice into a gully, turning your way

down it, hiding under a rocky buttress and waiting

for your friend to join you,

I think that's hard to beat.

That was truly inspirational.

I really wish I could ski half as well as that,

but I guess that's not really the point.

It doesn't matter what age you are, where you live,

what your ability is, you can still have a fantastic adventure.

Thanks for watching. Please do stay safe and we'll leave you

with some highlights, both on and off the snow.

Bye for now.

Beautiful!

Really, really, really good.

Whoa!

Ha!

Snowplough to stop.

Whoa...

Snowplough to stop. Ooh, dear!

You don't really get anywhere quite like this anywhere else.

up on the Cairngorm plateau, miles of snow and things.

Scottish hills in winter are pretty special.

Whoa! Yes, Patrick! Well done.

Had I seen how steep it was, I wouldn't have come down it.

That is like the best thing I've ever skied in my life!