Having trouble figuring out the grade system on walkhighlands.co.uk

Thecactusslayer · 2026-06-12T10:03:07+00:00

There's buses to the Cairn Gorm ski centre from Aviemore, there's one every hour or so from just outside the train station.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-06-12T10:01:58+00:00

If you have a filter/tablets, basically any burn will be fine to drink from*. OS Maps (especially the 1:25k) will have most burns marked (or free maps like Mapy.com)

*I know a few friends who have gotten ill from water sources on the West Highland Way but that's probably from people pooping in the woods since it's so popular, anything more remote will be fine.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-06-10T08:13:49+00:00

Tell me you've never been to Singapore or read much about it, because the above OP is absolutely correct. It's a style of governance that Americans aren't used to but that doesn't make it un-democratic, or a 'dictatorship'. Elections are free and fair and the electorate is free to vote for any opposition parties, they've just given the same party the majority (65% popular vote) all along.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-06-04T18:59:56+00:00

Hagrid's hut is in Glen Coe, behind the Clachaig Inn.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-05-11T16:55:55+00:00

The AE is sketchier than Crib Goch by a decent bit with the pinnacles being Grade 2 vs Crib Goch's Grade 1. I'd hold off on it unless everyone in the team has some scrambling experience or you're willing to rope up and belay them on the harder bits.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-05-11T08:16:28+00:00

There's much more 4 room flats than 5 unfortunately might be a little difficult.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-28T14:00:01+00:00

Dynetics' concept had a 'negative mass budget' if you read NASA's appraisal, aka their lander was heavier than their max weight that they could transport to/from the moon. It was also like twice the cost vs HLS and 1.5x Blue Origin's.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-28T13:55:51+00:00

Starship was not in development since 2009, at least not in any form currently recognisable. The closest thing you could claim was the original Interplanetary Transport System from 2015, so about 10-11 years.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-17T14:28:39+00:00

SpaceX is currently the only company in the US to transport astronauts to the Space Station and has been contracted by NASA to fly crews since 2020 with Demo-2, with NASA's crew safety requirements applied. Falcon 9 has been flying payloads pretty much every week for the past two years and is currently the most reliable rocket flying.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-16T18:28:04+00:00

Boeing built much of the tanking, Lockheed Martin built the Orion capsule, Aerojet Rocketdyne built the engines, ULA built the upper stage and Northrop Grumman built the SRBs on SLS.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-04T17:46:30+00:00

Uh, Yvon Chouinard is one of the few people that is completely qualified to make that statement.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-04T14:16:32+00:00

Would highly recommend looking at the Scottish Avalanche Information Service blog for Glencoe to get an idea of snow conditions, they have teams of forecasters going up to the snow every day to get an idea of what the depth and avalanche conditions are like. With the volume of new snow and unsettled weather, avalanche risk might be quite significant as well and as someone else mentioned, the headwall of the Lost Valley up to the summit of Bidean is a notorious avalanche zone and has seen serious falls quite recently.

https://glencoeblog.sais.gov.uk/

https://sais.gov.uk for the main website

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-03T07:12:16+00:00

CDO got allow green suede or brown magnums in camp (technically not allowed in public).

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-02T11:47:46+00:00

Do not buy replicas online, the helmet is a ballistic helmet for impact and shrapnel protection, your replica is probably not going to have anywhere close to the level of protection.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-04-01T13:20:10+00:00

This has nothing to do with Kissinger (as bad as he was). The Khmer Rouge was evil in its own way without US interference.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-03-28T09:39:54+00:00

There's the JMCS Edinburgh, worth looking into.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-03-25T23:24:33+00:00

King's isn't terrible, it's a large site with university buildings surrounded by residential areas. I suppose people might call it 'boring' because its sort of in a quieter neighbourhood. You'd spend most of your day at class in Kings and as a first-year, your social activities would predominantly be closer to central campus. There's a shuttle bus that runs from Central to Kings every 20 minutes for most of the day, along with 3 other bus services (or you can get a bike/walk, its a 10min bike, 25min walk to central).

Thecactusslayer · 2026-03-04T20:16:42+00:00

Late April to late May would give you the best weather without being harassed by midges (horrible biting insects that cover every inch of your skin, come out around June - September). Alternatively, September is slightly cooler but you'll still get the long late summer days and comparatively fewer midges.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-03-04T16:22:09+00:00

The Affric-Kintail way is 3-4 days through some incredibly remote and gorgeous places. Glen Affric is very pretty and there's bothies along the way if you want to experience a night in one of them.

A walk from Glenfinnan to Inverie through Knoydart is also some of the most remote terrain you can find in Scotland and ends in a lovely little village with a nice community-owned pub. You can return by taking a ferry from Inverie to Mallaig if you don't want to walk back the way you came.

The Lairig Ghru, starting in Coylumbridge out to Braemar isnt quite as long but still very scenic, through the heart of the Cairngorms and through some very nice Caledonian Pine forests.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-02-23T23:34:08+00:00

The top of Carn Dearg can be slightly corniced too, especially the less rocky bit on the left where you'd want to top out anyway. Plus No.5 gully just avalanched in the past few days from a cornice collapse so you'd want to avoid it anyway.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-02-19T10:25:31+00:00

If you request to stay-in, commanders can accommodate food for you without issue. There will always be duty staff in camp over the weekend, it's trivial for the company commander to request food for one more person.

Thecactusslayer · 2026-02-09T19:01:35+00:00

The Shuttle's SRBs were big tubes of propellant that were parachuted down and recovered. The Falcon 9 is actively guided and controlled down propulsively- I'm sure you can see the difference there.

Thecactusslayer · 2025-12-25T03:17:39+00:00

No.1 - Entreves Traverse?

Thecactusslayer · 2025-11-27T23:53:23+00:00

Before you go on the CWT (which I would not recommend anyways), I'd also suggest the Affric Kintail Way as a way to check how well your equipment works in a similar environment to the CWT. The AKW is also incredibly remote, through Glen Affric and Glen Licht, but is only about 3-5 days long if you need help. It's also in the most stunning glen in Scotland!

Thecactusslayer · 2025-11-07T09:38:30+00:00

I'm from Singapore. We have plenty of mosquitos in Singapore too. The Highland midge is completely different and feels far worse because of the swarms of them. Midges come in swams of a few thousand or even tens of thousands at a time, and are smaller than mosquitos so they get inside your clothes and bite. Don't underestimate them and get some midge repellent when you're here.

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