Coasteering: What is it?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     coasteering, Dorset, Swanage, united kingdom

Jumping off random cliffs into the sea is not clever. However, there is a sport that uses local experts to help groups navigate around the coast so they can then jump safely – and it’s a whole lot of fun. The sport is: Coasteering.

If ever there is country that is perfect for Coasteering, it’s the United Kingdom. We’ve rocky coasts and coves aplenty, and no shortage of cliffs. So what is Coasteering ? Surely, it can’t just be jumping off cliffs?
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Is UK the windsurfing spot, or what?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     cornwall, scotland, united kingdom, windsurf, Windsurfing

With adventure sports it’s always far-flung shores and tropical reefs, but for us UK-based windsurfing fans, the party’s here.

Yes, we’ve not the warmest of waters, but when the wind and the waves are this good, we keep it local.

Prevailing winds are from the west and southwest, but there are strong Arctic gusts too, giving the British coastline an all-over blast.

This week is national windsurfing week, with people getting in the water from Stithians in Cornwall to Castle Semple Loch in Scotland.

Free taster sessions, reduced-cost beginner lessons and fun races are running all week, and the weather forecast is good for the weekend too.

Wave sailing, speed sailing, racing or freestyle, we think the UK scene can rival any across the globe.

So if you know anywhere else where the wind is cranking, let us know, we can still be tempted…

http://www.nationalwindsurfingweek.org/

Skiing in Scotland in June?!

Tim B    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     cairngorm, Europe, glencoe, glenshee, scotland, ski, Skiing, united kingdom

Scotland has now firmly established itself on the list of European ski destinations, thanks in part to a fantastic winter season.

With the last of the snow now melting, resorts are reflecting on what was a historic season – firms local to the Cairngorms have reported business up 20 per cent and noted that skier days to-date back in late February topped 79,000, up from an earlier peak of 49,000.

In fact, some resorts had to close this year because they had too much snow! On Cairngorm Mountain snow was so heavy skiers couldn’t even get to the snow routes, and the ski huts were buried under several metres of snow drift. read more