go further have had several family climbing days this year where we are able to use excellent venues to give children some outdoor climbing experience while giving Mums and Dads the skills to take the family rock climbing independently.The Mackay family, Muzz, Karen, Sol aged 12 and Molly aged 9 managed to squeeze in a day of rock climbing just before the school holidays finished. Paul took them to Kuhjo Crag near Poolewe. With a five minute walk-in, it means you spend time climbing rather than walking, Kids love that, don't we all?

Paul gave them instruction on placing gear on trad routes, sorting out belays and top belaying. They practised how to abseil safely and of course climbed. Karen was joyful to get up her first outdoor climb and realised that she could in fact go to the crag and join in with the rest of the family given the right venue. Muzz tried his first 6a which was a great eye opener for him and the youngsters Molly and Sol ran around jumping on everything, doing their first outdoor leading, safely belaying Dad and just lapping it all up.

Tags: Kuhjo Crag, poolewe, family climbing, Clown slab

April has brought some of the best mountaineering and climbing conditions we've seen for a few years. The month started cold and dry with a few frosts down to sea level. As the days turned increasingly sunny, a sharp easterly breeze with very low humidity meant the North West Highlands had the best weather in the UK. All of these pictures were taken in the last two weeks. The first shows the snow-capped Torridon mountains taken from the Melvaig peninsula; the second is action at the sheltered south-facing Kuhjo Crag near Gairloch; the third is An Teallach taken on a guided day out to the summits.

Tags: Kuhjo Crag, An Teallach, Wester Ross