Women-only mountain navigation courses were an MCofS innovation this year

In 1970, as the Scottish National Party rode a wave of popularity following Winnie Ewing’s groundbreaking Hamilton by-election win three years earlier, mountaineers north of the border struck a blow for independence too.

Members of the Association of Scottish Climbing Clubs decided to break away from the British Mountaineering Council to form the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

Forty years on, the council prepares to celebrate at its annual meeting next month, with membership climbing to a record10,500 and its staff leading the agenda in many areas of mountain activity, including encouraging youngsters to take up climbing and hillwalking, almost 2,000 people taking part in its safety courses and events, and the persuading the Scottish Parliament to address the thorny issue of hill tracks despoiling wilderness areas.

At the Glenmore Lodge gathering, journalist and broadcaster Cameron McNeish and film producer Richard Else will discuss the pros and cons of televised outdoor events, ranging from their Sutherland and Skye Trail programmes to the recent Live Climb broadcast from Sròn Uladail on the Isle of Harris, which featured Dave McLeod and Tim Emmett.

In its annual report, the MCofS chief officer David Gibson said: “I am delighted to report record membership levels, with individual members up 18 per cent in the last year alone. We attracted more people to our mountain safety lectures and courses than ever before, and can celebrate the fact that Scottish youngsters now make up the majority of the British youth climbing team.”

Treasurer John Irving pointed out that the British Mountaineering Council had contributed £10,000 to the MCofS, which in part compensated for the £15,600 drop in revenue from sportscotland to £155,300.

In the light of likely drops in financial support from sportscotland, members will be asked at the annual meeting to approve an increase in some subscriptions, though individual member fees will remain unchanged.

Members attending the annual gathering will also be able to take part in a range of free events, including dry-tooling, rock climbing and a ‘how to train’ hill-running session.

Other activities on offer include GPS training; a visit to the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team base; a half-day tour of the Cairngorm plateau and corries; a minimal impact mountaineering workshop; and a chance to learn how search and rescue dogs are trained with Heather Morning’s Sarda dog Milly.

The event takes place on 4 September at Glenmore Lodge, near Aviemore. Details are on the Mountaineering Council of Scotland website.