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ABOUT US

GUIDES

Our Guiding Team

Our team consists of the best guides in Scotland and they all share three important qualities: experience, knowledge and a passion for wild places. Equally important to the technical skills of our guiding team is a sense of humour and the ability to ensure that a wide range of clients of all ages and abilities enjoy the very best Scotland has to offer. Our guides are among the very best in Scotland.

Each of them is qualified through the National Governing Body relevant to their skills (eg - Scottish Mountain Leader Association or the British Canoe Union). Many of our guides are qualified to lead several different types of activity. Your guide will hold the requisite qualifications for all guided activities included in your holiday.

Far beyond this, however, their vast experience and passion for Scotland sets them a cut above the rest. Professional and helpful, they look forward to showing you around the Highlands and will happily share their vast knowledge and experience with you.

Myles Farnbank, Director & Guide

Myles is our Director of Training and still very much an active member of our guiding team. With more than 20 years experience in Scotland's outdoors, he is highly qualified in many activities with a focus on sea kayaking and open canoeing.

He has more than a passing interest in wild food which means that meals on Myles' trips may well have some very fresh ingredients! If he had to choose a favourite trip, it would be our sea-kayaking expedition through the Summer Isles.

Gordon Birnie, Head Guide

Our Head Guide, Gordon has been leading groups in the mountains of Scotland for over 40 years. A biologist by profession, Gordon is especially knowledgeable when it comes to the natural heritage.

If you are lucky enough to have Gordon lead you on a trip, you will come away enlightened by his facts and tales of the Scottish Highlands. Gordon particularly enjoys showing clients round his home patch - the Cairngorms National Park.

Tim Francis, Senior Guide

A passionate biker and hill-walker, Tim is a former business development manager who spent 4 years working in South America before returning to the Highlands to live and become a mountain biking and walking guide.

We're pleased to say that he is now a much happier chap, becoming one of the most respected guides in Scotland. Tim is equally at home guiding gentle walks through the Hebridean machair as battling a Cairngorms blizzard on our winter trips.

Tim's favourite trip is the epic Coast to Coast - insisting that this is one of the best mountain biking holidays you can find anywhere.

Lorraine McCall, Senior Guide

Lorraine is a remarkable lady who has undertaken some incredible adventures in the great outdoors. She completed all of the Munros in a single, mostly solo, journey so knows Scotland's mountains better than most. At our last staff gathering in the Cairngorms, she offered to walk to the house where we were staying from where she was in Glencoe - a 50 mile journey through some of the most remote and wild country in Scotland! Lorraine also assists on some of our sea-kayaking trips. Her favourite trip, however, is probably our wilderness walking holiday which explores Cape Wrath and the North West Highlands.

Colin Prior, Photography Coach

Colin Prior is one of Britain's leading landscape photographers. His spectacular panoramic images capture the beauty and eternal quality of the world's wild places, especially those of his own native Scotland.

He brings to his work a strong personal vision combined with supreme technical mastery. Shooting at the 'magic hours' of dawn or dusk, he is able to catch those rare moments when composition, fine light and colour combine to create a remarkable image.

Colin directs and leads our photographic adventures programme, sharing not just his skills and knowledge but also his passion for Scotland's wild place

Steve Willis, Guide

A former wildlife ranger, Steve now spends his time guiding clients on walking trips, or on trips which combine sailing and walking, where he can share his incredible knowledge of wildlife with our clients. Cheerful and friendly, Steve is great fun to have on a trip and seems to like the rain as much as he does good weather! Steve often guides on private group trips with a wildlife focus to them, such as bird-watching in the Outer Hebrides or mammal spotting in the Cairngorms. His favourite trip, however, is our combined sailing and walking trip, Island Odyssey, which explores the Inner and Outer Hebrides and, if the conditions are right, ventures out to St Kilda.

Biscuit, Guide

So why is he called Biscuit and does he have a real name? Ask him if you are lucky enough to be guided by our most laid back guide. Biscuit's incredible enthusiasm for the outdoors is matched by his skill not just in a canoe but also on the hills or on a mountain bike. Great with kids, Biscuit also leads many of our family adventure holidays based in Perthshire.

Stuart Hood, Guide

Born and brought up on the coastline of Arisaig, Stuart has been sea-kayaking in these waters for many years and is an Level 4 canoe coach, as well as a qualified walking guide.^ Stuart leads many of our family-orientated trips, beginner’s courses and expeditions in the Sound of Arisaig. His relaxed demeanour and local knowledge of the Arisaig area makes Stuart a great choice for trips in this area.

Ben Dodman, Guide

Ben lives near Fort William and enjoys kayaking in his home patch - the Sound of Arisaig. Ben is an aspirant grade 4 sea-kayaking instructor and leads many of our family-orientated trips, beginner’s courses and expeditions in the Sound of Arisaig. Ben is very patient and an excellent coach, so leads many of our family adventure holidays based at Loch Morar.

Jamie Robinson, Skipper

Jamie's life has been the sea since he moved to the Knoydart Peninsula in 1982. He skippered his first boat at 16 and has not looked back - there are few skippers on the West Coast with such a depth of knowledge and experience. A great entertainer, Jamie was the UK Sea Shanty Writing Champion for 2 years running.

Carol Lang, Guide

Carol is a sea kayak coach who has a big love of the sea. Her wealth of knowledge on the water, and her stories and shanties that tell of its past will ensure your experience is like no other. A wee person with a big personality, her passion for the outdoors and wilderness is highly contagious.

Brian Morrison, Guide

Brian is a guide of many talents and qualifications! He often leads our winter walking and ski mountaineering trips, and spends much of the summer skippering private yacht charters on Scotland's west coast or leading our Wilderness Walking trips. An experienced coach as well as guide, Brian is excellent at working on skill development on our winter trips. A native of Fort William, his favourite trips are our ski touring courses in the Cairngorms.

Euan Wilson

Euan is avid outdoor enthusiast but his main passion lies in mountain biking, and he is one of the most experienced mountain bike guides in the Highlands. Euan leads our expedition-style trips in the Cairngorms and is never happier than when he is in the backcountry with all he needs in his bike trailer. His laidback outlook on life is perfectly suited to these wilderness mountain biking adventures.

Chris Lindesay - Skipper, Corryvreckan

Chris Lindesay has found the good life - and is loving it! A former risk assessor turned pub landlord, Chris and his wife Von made the move to the Scottish Highlands a few years ago when they made the decision to make their passion their life. They have been introducing clients to the joys of sailing in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland ever since.