Fort William Mountain Festival 2017

It’s fast approaching time for Fort William Mountain Festival 2017.

A major event in the mountaineering calendar, it’s not likely to disappoint this year with headline speakers including Britain’s most famous mountaineer Chris Bonington, and top climber Hazel Findlay.

Events start on the evening of 15^th February and run through until the 19^th.

At the different venues there are nights devoted to climbing, running, mountain biking and back country skiing, as well as the Best of Banff show, comprising some of the year’s best mountaineering and adventure films.

There’s also the famous ‘Launch night’, with a talk by blind adventurer Deano Dunbar and the torchlight descent of Aonach Mor by mountain bike and ski.

For filmmakers – and audiences – there’s the Fort William Film Competition for new adventure and mountaineering films, and the Festival will also be the platform for announcing the prestigious Mountain Culture Awards.

Saturday afternoon will see the book festival, featuring stands from Vertebrate Press and Sandstone Press and several authors, including Hamish Brown, who will be launching his latest book, Walking the Song; Simon Richardson, who has just published Chasing the Ephemeral about Scottish winter climbing, and Chris Bonington, who will be signing copies of his revised edition of Mountaineer.

The festival also acts as a focus for a wide range of events centred on the town’s reputation as outdoor capital of Scotland (albeit a reputation often challenged by Aviemore).

More details about the festival and how to book tickets can be found at the website, http://www.mountainfestival.co.uk/