A Great Weekend With Gore!

There are few things you can rely on in life, but along with death, taxes and Chelsea winning the Premiership you can be pretty sure that if you win a weekend away in a competition the weather will do it's best to put a dampener on your celebrations.

But for once this didn't matter to the lucky winners of the OUTDOORSmagic Great Days Out with Gore Competition. Julian Whitley and his daughter Jasmine had the luxury of being kitted out in brand new Gore-Tex kit then given an instructor for the weekend from the Ice Factor to do whatever they liked with.

A very happy Julian Whitley, complete with brand new Haglofs Reload Gore-Tex waterproof / breathable jacket and perfect testing weather...

To top it all the winners were treated to the luxury of the 4-star Isles of Glencoe Hotel for the weekend complete with four-star, slap-up meals. Yep, it was going to be a great weekend with Gore, regardless of the weather.

Swinging In The Rain

Predictably Saturday morning dawned with storm force winds and persistent rain, but as Julian, Jasmine and Ice Factor instructorJamie Bankhead headed up Glen Nevis. the weather relented a little and the wind dropped.

'It was this big' - Jamie descibing a typical Glencoe rain drop Good job the winners were all Gored up then.

Their choice of activity for Saturday was an introduction to rock climbing and abseiling, starting with a big V diff climb on Polldubh. Julian is just getting into grade one scrambling, thanks to the bi-weekly OM routes, so this gave him an idea of what to expect at the higher scrambling grades. Jasmine was a total novice when it came to climbing, but under Jamie's inspirational instruction she soon found herself half-way up the crag.

Although Polldubh benefits from a south west aspec,t the persistent morning rain kept the rock wet and the winners happy they were kitted out so well with their nice new waterproof Gore-Tex.

First time on the rock for Jasmine

Being a typical teenage girl style matters to Jasmine, and she was more than happy with her Haglofs Quest in two-ply Gore-Tex. Dad, meanwhile, had picked the Reload jacket, again from Haglofs, and it certainly got a good testing with a stiff ten-minute uphill walk in pouring rain to the base of the crag, then a fair bit of standing around on stances.

Julian and Jasmine with instructor Jamie from the Ice Factor

After three hours on the rock, and a successful climb, it was time to head back to the Ice Factor - just as blue sky appeared on the horizon to match the mood. The late afternoon was spent at the centre where the indoor wall provides something for every level of climber, then back to the hotel.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Sunday morning brought sunshine to Glencoe, a stunning view along Loch Leven, and an excellent breakfast that could keep a small village fed for a week.

It was certainly a change for Julian who's a regular visitor to these parts, but normally huddles inside his sleeping bag in a tent for breakfast. In true perverse OUTDOORSmagic style having been outside in the rain the day before, the Sunday was scheduled as an indoor session on the ice wall.

Who says girls don't climb ice? This is Jasmine in action on the Ice Factor's excellent indoor ice wall.

Jamie joined the winners again to teach them the essentials of ice climbing - still in their new jackets. The time flew by as Julian and Jasmine took on traverses and angled slopes before finishing off with a vertical route up the highest part of the wall.

All too soon it was over, and in the best of traditions the winners were left wanting more, but more than satisfied with their action packed weekend. The combination of Gore, Haglofs, The Isles of Glencoe and The Ice Factor certainly got something right - it's not often you hear a teenager say "It's been great - better than sitting around watching TV".

Julian and Jasmine with instructor Jamie from the Ice Factor

We'll leave the final words to Julian and Jasmine. 'It was great,' says Julian. 'My daughter really enjoyed it, all aspects, particularly the hotel... I'm not really used to staying in hotels up there, normally it's hostels, so that was a nice change for me.'

And Jasmine's take? 'Really cool and fun and I really enjoyed learning new skills.'

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Thanks

We'd like to say thanks to the Isles of Glencoe Hotel and the Ice Factor for giving our lucky winners a Great Weekend With Gore. Plus special thanks to instructor Jamie who made sure Julian and Jasmine had a fun weekend. Thanks also to Mark Hayward at Gore who put a huge amount of effort into organising the weekend. We're sure that Julian and Jasmine, now kitted out with Windstopper jackets to go with their waterproof shells, are going to have a lot more great days out with Gore-Tex keeping them comfortable.