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    Kathryn Grindrod

    Kathryn Grindrod

    Little | Miss | Sunshine

    Mini Bio

    My background…I’m from the Lake District and was brought up with my 3 other siblings in a remote valley surrounded by hills woodland and fields. Most of our free time at home was spent running around exploring and building dens. Our holidays were usually camping and sailing trips to the Western Isles or staying in remote holiday cottages to go walking and exploring.

    My life now…..During the winter I’m based in the Aviemore and I work in the Cairngorms as one of the senior forecasters for the Scottish Avalanche Information Service. I love working in the dramatic landscape, it’s so varied and often challenging.

    Sometimes I see the most beautiful snow crystals and wildlife. The rest of the year I work as a freelance walking guide either in the Highlands, the Lake District which is my family home or the Alps. Occasionally I venture as far as the Himalayas to guide Everest Base camp or generally wander up the Khumbu valley.

    Some of my spare time is spent walking our dogs or gardening and if I’m going on holiday I love sailing in the Western Isles or skiing in the Alps.

    My love of being in the outdoors has been with me since I was a child growing up with my brothers and sisters in the Lake District. I qualified as an international mountain leader in 2007 and have guided in the Scottish highlands alps and Himalaya. During the winter months, I am based in the Cairngorm mountains working as a forecaster for the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS).

    Favourite Place to Play

    Anywhere in the Western Isles.

    Not a lot of People Know This

    I love making soap and I’m learning to play the Banjo.

    Qualifications Read More

    International Mountain Leader

    Experience Read More

    Locations I have guided:

    • West Highland Way almost twice
    • Day walks in and around the Cairngorms
    • Day walks in the Lake District
    • Day walks in the North-West Highlands
    • Tour Mont Blanc several times
    • Tour dents du Midi Switzerland
    • Alta via 1 Italy
    • Apuani alps and Apennines for several weeks on day hikes
    • Everest Base Camp several times.
    Biggest Adventure Read More

    On my first visit to the Himalayas in 2005, I summited Ama Dablam 6856m.
    This is a technical climbing peak which involves climbing on rock, snow and ice in the Khumbu/Everest region of the Himalaya.

    Specialist Subject Read More

    Snow crystals.
    Also, I’m very interested in flora and their medicinal properties.

    What Fellow Travellers Say About Kathryn

    Kathy was fabulous.

    Kyle Connolly
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 23/07/2024

    I can't say enough about Kathy G's leadership on our trip. She was the perfect guide for our group. Her driving skills were amazing. We were all quite comfortable in the van. She offered walks that were challenging yet doable, taking us to the most amazing places on the Isle of Skye. She walked at a good pace for us, often stopping to talk with us or show us a flower, or check in to see if we needed bathroom breaks. We would chuckle when she said, "Oh, it's just a wee bit more, around the bend, maybe 15 minutes," and we'd walk on for another half hour or more. And much to our surprise, we were happy to keep on walking. On our one day of terrible rain, she had us do an early morning walk at the Faerie Glen and then we drove to Dunvegan Castle to avoid the heavy rain - but even there we walked outside along the beautiful gardens. And on our walk to Old Man Storr the clouds came in faster than we expected. As the rain fell, I couldn't see through my eyeglasses. Sensing my worry, Kathy immediately gave me her hat (with a brim) and I was able to finish the walk without too much worry. We enjoyed hearing all about her life and her work - she is quite the adventurer! We bonded well with the others in our group and with Kathy. We laughed a lot and shared many stories. It seemed she enjoyed being with us as much as we enjoyed being with her. Please be sure to let her know how grateful we are for her leadership and her presence with us that week.

    Maria LaSala
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 09/07/2024

    As I mentioned Kathy was an amazing guide-so knowledgeable and helpful. She took care of all the details and made changes when the weather warranted and accommodated our requests for other small outings to a distillery, and to visit a castle. She was also an amazing driver navigating the van over small roads with ease. I would highly recommend her and would do another trip with her in a heartbeat.

    Betsy Francis-Connolly
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 08/07/2024

    Little Miss Sunshine lived up to her nickname. I particularly appreciated her calm driving, some guides drive too fast !

    David Hinchliffe
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 01/08/2022

    our guide Katryn was very professional and she made the trip more even wonderful

    Christianne Cassar
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 27/07/2022

    As mentioned earlier our guide in Skye, Kathryn, was excellent.

    Leslie Bowman
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 25/07/2022

    See section on trip.
    Would highly recommend fully guided for local insight, familiarity with weather, hikes, local plants/animals, and erasing the stressor of safely getting the whole family up, out, and to the next location. Hiring her kept us scheduled, relaxed, and confident in what we were doing.

    Kimberly Menzer
    21WSTM Tailor Made trips
    Reviewed on 09/08/2021

    Kathy is a wonderful person.

    Beth Crosby
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 05/09/2019

    Cathy was excellent!

    Ross Scarrow
    Wilderness Walking - Isle of Skye
    Reviewed on 02/09/2019

    We simply could not have had a better guide than Kathryn Grindrod. She ended up being a very good friend and we enjoyed traveling with her immensely!

    John Dickson
    18WSTM Tailor Made trips
    Reviewed on 27/05/2018

    Kathy Grindrod was a excellent guide, who provided very personal and professional service, including being an outstanding driver who made us feel safe at all times. A minor collision between our wing mirror and that of an oncoming camper van (the fault of the camper van driver) was handled very smoothly, and Wilderness Scotland provided a replacement vehicle later the same day. Kathy is very knowledgeable about the landscapes we went through. She knew how to access the areas we wanted to photograph, and was appropriately unhurried, giving us plenty of time to explore the photographic possibilities that were there.

    John Trotter
    18WSTM Tailor Made trips
    Reviewed on 20/05/2018

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