Travel: Inside Scotland's school of adventure

Skye and Fort William are not for the faint hearted. They have a longstanding reputation for being the ideal destinations for a wide range of outdoor activities, further enhanced by stunning scenery and wonderful settings, but respect for their surroundings is a prerequisite for all involved. As a result, lecturers have to be specialised and provide direct, up-to-the-minute expertise, an approach so successful that the school reached the finals in the SQA Awards last year for its outdoor leadership course.

As well as the rather unusual requirements needed to teach here, the school excites interest for many other reasons, not least for giving students the opportunity to take a passion which is often a long-term hobby and translate that into an exciting and satisfying career. In the five years since the school started it has kept pace with the booming interest in adventure tourism, where challenge and an authentic experience is the Holy Grail for most participants. Unsurprisingly, there is growing commercial interest in the area and lecturers at the school believe that Adventure Tourism, Adventure Education and Adventure Coaching have a great responsibility in understanding and coping with any risks involved, which are the true skills of the outdoor professional.

Lee Woodward, lecturer in outdoor adventure, reveals job satisfaction with every sentence. “The School of Adventure Studies has given me the opportunity to set up and run an outdoor adventure course on Skye – the jewel in the crown of the British mountains. It's a massive privilege,” he says. “I’m now the curriculum area lead for the School of Adventure Studies – again another amazing opportunity.”

He believes adventure shapes everyone in a positive way and helps them look at life differently. “Adventures in life are so important. I remember being on an expedition in Lesotho looking for vultures, trekking across the mountains with a purpose and being so happy. I have done the Fastnet Race twice –an offshore yacht race – the feeling of discomfort and fear makes me want and appreciate my home so much more. I travelled the world with my girlfriend in 2002. We had 365 days and nights together in some very challenging circumstances. We now have three children and no matter what everyday life throws at us we know that underpinning it all we are strong together, because of the experiences we had during that year. People should have adventures. I want to help people to see the bigger picture in life and to believe they can count.”

Eilid Ormiston, 53, course leader for all the further education outdoor courses at the School of Adventure Studies, has a similar approach to her work. Her passion for the outdoors is matched by her desire to share that knowledge and experience with her students. “The main focus of my work are the students I teach and mentor through their programme of study,” she says. “It’s inspiring to see them develop and progress over the year to graduate successfully with qualifications, skills, experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. My hobbies and interests are what I teach – outdoor activity, adventure travel, expeditioning, journeying and leading people through our natural environment – and I get total job satisfaction and personal fulfilment in what I do.”

She is also well aware of the ongoing debate on whether children now are so protected that they struggle to make independent decisions in adulthood. “We have three sons and bringing them up to be successful independent young men was very important to us,” she says. “I do feel that if children are denied independence and a chance to explore and discover then they’ll suffer as they won’t build up the skills required to look after themselves and deal with life on a larger scale.

"Getting out with my students, whether canoeing, sea kayaking, hillwalking, biking or camping, is fundamental to the important bond between lecturer and student as it instils a feeling of trust and mutual respect that transfers to the classroom. Going through the challenging experiences of navigating a river in a kayak or summiting a mountain, getting soaked through but still achieving a successful overnight camp, is a great leveller of people and sharing these experiences creates an important positive relationship within the learning team.”

She has had many role models along the way, but interestingly also counts her sons as inspiration. “One became a geologist and travelled across the Arctic ice fields for four months at 19 years old, one is an adventure guide living to paddle the white water rivers of Kenya, Uganda and Europe, and the youngest currently volunteers in Guyana teaching Amerindian children geography, living on the savannah at the edge of the Amazon forest. They can’t fail to be my inspirations and role models. I guess adventure is in the genes.”

Last year Mike Martin graduated with a first-class honours in adventure tourism management at the same time as setting up a successful sea kayaking business and he is now living the dream, spending the summer months kayaking off Arisaig and beyond. “I used to work in hotels and pubs simply to pay for all my outdoor activities,” he says. “My passions are rock climbing, mountain biking, sea kayaking and practically anything else that involves being outdoors. People come here for holidays not realising the range of activities – it’s a different world to those even from central and the south of Scotland. The changing landscape, the time of year, even the weather can make the experience different every time – you could do an expedition 10 times and each time it would be different. I was 28 when I started my course and I came to that by realising that as well as enjoying all my outdoor pursuits I could make a career out of it.”

Martin started working with the Arisaig Sea Kayaking Centre as a freelance guide in his second year of study and when he graduated took over the business, crediting his studies with helping him focus on his ambition. “Before I started the course I’d gained a vast skillset doing things by myself,” he explains. “The degree helped me understand the market I wanted to work in and gave me the theory to look at the potential of the business. The course had a great balance for me. I loved going out into the hills in the snow or kayaking out to sea as a team because you were learning all the time and building on experience you already had, but I also loved being in the classroom as that gave me the bigger picture and gave me the confidence to take over the business and develop it. There were just a couple of us to start with but I now have five members of staff, two of whom are on the adventure tourism course at the school.”

The range of activities includes hillwalking, mountaineering and climbing, mountain biking, paddlesports (sea kayak, white water kayak, open canoe), canyoning, surfing, sailing, snorkelling and expeditions. This offers extraordinary practical experiences, but they are always balanced by detailed theory in the classroom, as lecturers aim to help students develop the critical thinking and curiosity which is an intrinsic part of the courses.

Woodward believes the school’s success and constant appeal lies in getting that right. “I always worry about keeping students safe – it is part of my job," he says. “But being challenged is something that some people need and seek, and it can be managed. It is also relative – what some might see as risky is another’s play. My greatest passion is living my life and sharing experiences. I spent 15 years surfing and it’s not much fun if you catch the best wave of the day and no-one sees it. I remember a sticker on my friend’s car that said: 'There is nothing wrong with waiting for waves. Most people spend their lives waiting for nothing.' There is so much more to surfing than catching waves and even now I am feeling the benefits of all that positive activity that is transferable to other aspects in life – and that’s something the School of Adventure Studies does so well.”

For degree programmes students apply through UCAS; Further Education programme application is directly to the college. For details on open days see www.whc.uhi.ac.uk/opendays or call 01397 874000. Summer School prices and bookings will be available from Easter 2017.