Who is Wild Mountain Guides?

Why do we love walking, scrambling, rock climbing
and wild camping in the Scottish Highland?

Based in the shadow of Ben Nevis

Wild Mountain Guides is based within sight of Ben Nevis and the Mamore mountains, just outside Fort William. This means we can check the weather on Ben Nevis just by walking the dog!

Our values - what drives Wild Mountain Guides

Humans need to connect to the natural environment, it helps our mental and physical health. When we walk, climb, scramble and wild camp it makes that connection deeper and stronger.

The wild places of the Scottish Highlands have been affected and changed by humans since the last ice age. The Nevis Fund is all about managing that positively and benefiting us all. We give back 1% of all our booking fees to the Nevis Fund to help support the wild places we all love.

We find our true strength, compassion and a deeper understanding of ourselves through adventure. Some parts of modern life can be too easy and comfortable, becoming uncomfortable can help us discover who we really are. .

Managed risk can help us grow and become stronger. By accepting risk and managing it we can avoid the real danger of the myth of a ‘risk free’ world. Accepting and managing risk gives us the space to discover who we really are.

Who is Wild Mountain Guides?

Simon is the Senior Guide, he delivers the majority of our adventures, though we do use a small group of local guides.

When did you start climbing?

“I did my first proper mountain with my Dad when I was five, it was Snowdon in North Wales. He taught me to climb and navigate. I was brought up in a rural area, so he used to send me off with a map and ten pence for the phone box if I get lost. I got lost a lot, but never near a phone box so I learned to sort it out. Dad also taught me to climb. We didn’t have harnesses then, so he used to tie the rope around my waist. I got my first harness when I was 16 with money from my Saturday job. “

When did you start working as a guide and instructor?

“I have been working professionally in mountaineering and rock climbing for over 16 years, mainly training instructors and giving technical safety advice to organisations like Outward Bound. I was a lecturer on Adventure degrees, but it meant being inside too much.”

Is that why you set up Wild Mountain Guides, to escape the lecture theatre?

“Wild Mountain Guides is about working with people. It’s not just the outdoors I love, it’s seeing people gain confidence and skills – do things they didn’t know they could do. I still do personal development work with a range of charities. Wild Mountain Guides is that great synergy point between people, wild places, mountains and challenge.”

“How long have you lived in the Highlands?”

“Over seven years now, my youngest child was born up here and all the eldest has ever known is going scrambling and climbing after school. I was climbing up here a LOT before we moved, so I’m saving a fortune in fuel!

“This must be risky work and you have a family?”

“My job is to manage that risk, people think climbers and mountaineers have no fear. A sensible amount of fear helps me to make effective decisions. People don’t hire a guide to reach a summit or do a particular route, they hire a guide to make good decisions and get them up the route if it is the right decision.”

“Errr we can’t help but notice you never smile in photos?”

“OK I’ll take that one. I am normally the other side of the lens so maybe I need to get some more photos of me laughing!”

“Do you have lots of outdoor qualifications then?”

Yes lots, in climbing, mountaineering, canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking and canyoning. Plus lots of training qualifications. My first degree is in History and Archaeology, so I am fascinated by the archaeology of the Highlands and how the landscape has been affected by humans. Highland history is not what most films and books portray, it’s a whole lot stranger!