Assynt Summits with Joe Cornish
Key Information
Dates:
10 May - 17 May 2025
Duration:
7 days
Accomodation:
Tents and Self-Catered
Physicality:
Challenging
Group Size:
6 clients
Price:
£1750 (£550 Deposit)
This workshop is fully booked. Please sign up to the mailing list or email me.
What to Expect
On this adventure workshop, co-led with Joe Cornish, we'll be camping in (and on!) the mountains of Assynt and searching for some of the finest landscapes Scotland has to offer. We have use of a large self-catered house near Ullapool for 7 nights and six full days. We will be aiming to camp for 4 or 5 nights as the weather allows. Having comfortable accomodation to return to will make us fully flexible to make the best of the weather, whilst dodging any really horrible nights!
Joe Cornish is rightly regarded as on of the UK’s most significant landscape photographers. His body of work spans decades and he has published a host of books, perhaps most famously ‘First Light’ and ‘Scotland’s Mountains’. He is best known for finely crafted and often complex compositions which, combined with an understated editing style, make his work readily identifiable.
Joe continues to be an inspiration of mine and I have now backpacked with him on a few of occasions in Fisherfield and Torridon, most recently last May, where we took a group camping in the mountains. This was an experience we both enjoyed enormously so we will be repeating the same rough plan in 2025, this time in the iconic mountain landscape of Assynt and Coigach. We both know the area very well, but there are some lesser known and quite remote spots that I will be hoping to lead the group to and we will plan to be out for a couple of nights at a time.
Itinerary
We won't be providing a specific itinerary for this trip it will be adapted to suit the weather and the progress of the group. The intent is to spend the duration of the trip in Assynt and Coigach, perhaps venturing to some of the hills around the fringes of the area as well. The first night and last night we will stay in accomodation but the five nights inbetween we will keep flexible so that we are camping in the best conditions. Our priority will be camping, if its going to be a grey and slightly wet day that doesn't mean we'll stay in the house - this is an adventure first! If we get really lucky, as I sometimes have done in May, we will camp all five nights, but most likely we will manage 4 nights camping and at aim for 2 or three on summits.
Tuition
Joe and I will be on hand at all times. Although we hope to take our own images our priority will always be teaching. Usually I find a mix of abilities on my trips which works very well with advanced photographers able to shoot with total freedom and beginners getting the help they require. Whilst there is a lot to learn whilst actively taking photos, our time hiking will allow us to discuss many of the concepts that surround photography and it's these discussions that I personally now find the most beneficial. There will be just 6 clients and this should allow for plenty of 1-to-1 time. Our accomodation will allow us to do image reviews and post-processing sessions, something I rarely manage on camping trips!
Fitness And Experience
You do not need prior mountain experience for this trip however you must be mountain fit!You will need to be able to carry a 20kg backpack (it should be less than this!) up an 800m mountain and then repeat it. However, we will be taking our time and your ability to complete the hike is largely reliant on a good attitude and as well as the necessary baseline fitness. Age is no particular barrier, as long as you can get up those mountains!
Equipment
A complete PDF kitlist and gear guide is provided well in advance so you can be confident you have everything you need. If necessary I can rent out high-end lightweight camping equipment perfectly suited to the trip. Aside from camping equipment, you will need suitable outdoor clothing, walking boots a rucksack and a number of other items. All this is covered in the kit list.
Meeting and Leaving
We will meet on Saturday evening at our accomodation. I will be driving up from the south that day and should arrive around 6pm. I can do pickups in Inverness around 4.30pm. The trip concludes after breakfast on the following Saturday and I will be dropping people off at Inverness at 10am.
Additional Expenses
The trip does not include food (camping meals or meals out), alcohol or personal insurance.
Price And Booking
This workshop is priced at £1750 (your own double room x4) or £1550 sharing a twin room (x2) with a £550 deposit required to book your place. The balance is due 2 months before the workshop starts.
This workshop is fully booked. Please sign up to the mailing list or drop me an email.
Mailing List Sign Up
If you would like to hear more about upcoming workshops and offers please sign up to the mailing list.