{"id":4010,"date":"2018-10-17T22:59:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T21:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=4010"},"modified":"2018-10-17T22:59:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T21:59:13","slug":"on-the-ropes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2018\/10\/17\/on-the-ropes\/","title":{"rendered":"On the ropes"},"content":{"rendered":"

A STEADY stream of motorbikes, classic cars, motor homes and camper vans flow past the village far below. Down on the main street they stop in their droves, peering at Nanny\u2019s Caf\u00e9 then going in to sample its famous food.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a far cry from the last time I enjoyed a coffee in what was then the tin shed at Shieldaig but the friendly welcome is still the same, especially as we\u2019re sitting with a real local who is back in the village having moved away recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working,\u201d says Jim Sutherland in conversation with the caf\u00e9\u2019s owner. \u201cAye, looks like it,\u201d she retorts!<\/p>\n

We finish our soup, coffee and cake, suitably defrosted from the chilling downpours of the morning, and make our way back to the crags behind the village, our training ground for a day of scrambling and climbing with Jim\u2019s client for the weekend, Ronan Lowney.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ronan is over from Ireland for a week in the Highlands and wants to refresh his mountaineering skills ahead of the winter, so Jim has invited me over to join them. It\u2019s a chance for me to put some of my Mountain Leader (ML) training into practice and it gives Ronan the opportunity of having a partner on the rope as we put lessons learned into real-life situations.<\/p>\n

Shieldaig offers the perfect training ground and we\u2019re onto our first little crag before we\u2019ve even left the village. Looking up, there are no end of crags to choose from but, having lived here for years and brought his children up in the village, Jim knows exactly where to go.<\/p>\n

We work on our footwork, placing feet correctly and putting weight over each foot in turn, but on some surfaces in these squally conditions there is little to no grip. One of the best lessons is when to quit and we decide we wouldn\u2019t want to be on an exposed ridge on wet rock like this.<\/p>\n

Ronan soon shows he has spent time in the hills. We do some pacing \u2013 counting steps to measure distance \u2013 and clamber up and down a few crags. He is confident moving around on this terrain so we move onto the crux of the weekend\u2019s learning \u2013 rope work.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1535\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_1542\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_1555\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

This is where Jim hands over to me, introducing the rope through the basic principles outlined at ML level. The rules here are that the ML rope is for emergencies only and should never be needed but it\u2019s vital to have the skills just in case.<\/p>\n

As he explains, the principles here are fundamental to all rope work \u2013 finding a suitable anchor, belaying and communication.<\/p>\n

I set up the rope, tying it round the huge boulder that acts as the perfect anchor and tie myself onto the rope near the anchor before getting Ronan tied on to the end. There are no harnesses for this procedure so it\u2019s not the most comfortable set-up but, remember, this is for emergencies.<\/p>\n

With the rope round my back and below my rucksack, I\u2019m ready to belay Ronan down the small drop we are using for this exercise. Jim makes the final checks then down Ronan goes. I lower Jim down next then Jim takes a turn as the belayer for Ronan and myself.<\/p>\n

We all agree that we don\u2019t want to have to do that even in an emergency \u2013 a rope tied round your waist with all your weight on it is not a comfortable situation to be in.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After lunch, Jim takes over, introducing climbing equipment and more knots as we move on to climbing in short pitches, leading and seconding.<\/p>\n

For Ronan and I this is refreshing dormant skills that we\u2019ve not had time or opportunity to use for a number of years, so we quickly get to grips with setting up our anchors and belays as we move onto steeper ground.<\/p>\n

With Jim heading up first on the unsettlingly-named \u201cghost rope\u201d, Ronan and I take it in turns leading, clipping into protection on the way. We soon become adept at setting up the anchor then clipping into it using a karabiner and clove hitch, before belaying the other climber up the next pitch.<\/p>\n

Just as we reach our high point for the day, the squally showers return and a drop in temperature to boot. Jim decides to finish the day with a retreating abseil in these fitting conditions.<\/p>\n

He sets up the abseil using a tape anchor and we join our two ropes for a doubled descent. You have to trust your equipment as well as your ability to use it correctly, so once we\u2019re all set up with our individual belay devices we unclip our safety karabiner from the tape and abseil one by one off the hillside.<\/p>\n

With the wind blowing and the rain battering the side of our faces, it feels like a real-life situation, until we get to the bottom and plod the short distance back to the village and the continuing flow of North Coast 500 travellers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Adventure on foot and by bike<\/h3>\n

Jim Sutherland runs outdoor adventure company nineonesix-guiding, which was founded in 2003 from its original base in Shieldaig in the heart of the Torridon mountains.<\/p>\n

Jim now works at Grantown Grammar School teaching maths and outdoor learning, and through nineonesix-guiding continues to offer guided Munros, mountain biking and mountaineering in Torridon and the north-west Highlands, as well guided bikepacking, mountain biking and winter mountaineering from his new base in the Cairngorms.<\/p>\n

The company is made up of a team of qualified and experienced mountaineering and bike leaders with great local knowledge. They will help you make the most of your aspirations and the prevailing conditions to give you an unforgettable experience.<\/p>\n

For more information, see www.nineonesix.co.uk <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Davidson takes to the hills to do some rope work with Jim Sutherland of nineonesix-guiding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"New blog post: On the ropes - my #activeoutdoors piece on rope work with @9onesixguiding","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-active-outdoors"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/44894116031_d0d8663a81_o.jpg?fit=1280%2C960&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5M0xs-12G","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3314,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2017\/09\/03\/a-road-cycle-from-forsinard-to-the-far-north\/","url_meta":{"origin":4010,"position":0},"title":"A road cycle from Forsinard to the far north","author":"John Davidson","date":"September 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The unique landscape of the Flow Country is at the heart of this tour of the far north, which begins at the RSPB visitor centre at Forsinard. A short excursion to the viewing tower is the ideal start to get a look at the lochans and bogs that make up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Active Outdoors"","block_context":{"text":"Active Outdoors","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/active-outdoors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Forsinard-cycle-9-e1504356823823-640x960.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5626,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2019\/07\/08\/smiles-better-way-to-the-beach\/","url_meta":{"origin":4010,"position":1},"title":"Smiles better way to the beach","author":"John Davidson","date":"July 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A family cycle ride from Inverness to Dores beach on Loch Ness.","rel":"","context":"In "Active Outdoors"","block_context":{"text":"Active Outdoors","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/active-outdoors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Dores-family-cycle-15.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Dores-family-cycle-15.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Dores-family-cycle-15.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Dores-family-cycle-15.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Dores-family-cycle-15.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14742,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2025\/05\/04\/john-ogroats-trail-continues-to-flourish\/","url_meta":{"origin":4010,"position":2},"title":"John O\u2019Groats Trail continues to flourish","author":"John Davidson","date":"May 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A new bridge over the Loth Burn in Sutherland was unveiled recently. 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I love cycling along narrow country roads, navigating my way along the lesser-used highways and byways,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "John's blog"","block_context":{"text":"John's blog","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/content\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Kiltarlity-ride-4-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4421,"url":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2019\/01\/07\/always-more-to-discover-and-to-share-in-the-hills\/","url_meta":{"origin":4010,"position":5},"title":"Always more to discover – and to share – in the hills","author":"John Davidson","date":"January 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Despite years of traipsing to Aviemore to explore the area\u2019s vast opportunities for outdoor fun, I\u2019d never ventured up one of its most popular hills. 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