New for 2023 Charity Challenge are excited to be launching our new Isle of Skye challenge. Challenge Leader (and challenge designer!) Laura Harris, shares why she’s so excited about the brand new Isle of Skye Challenge.
That first view of Skye as you drive across the Skye Bridge, with the Atlantic Ocean rolling beneath, always sends shivers of excitement down my spine. As you leave the Scottish mainland well behind, the aptly named Black Cuillin, the UK’s finest and most challenging mountain ridge, fills your view and holds court over this incredible island of coral beaches, high waterfalls plunging into the sea and remote glens haunted by the sounds of red deer.
It’s something of a homecoming for me, a granddaughter of clan McLeod, whose ancestors have lived on Skye in Dunvegan – Scotland’s oldest continuously inhabited castle – for over 800 years. Abandoned grass-roofed crofts stand strong on windswept clifftops and the walls of Skye’s seven castles echo with the island’s rich Gaelic history. In more modern times, Skye has become known for its famous whiskies and jaw-dropping scenery. It has also become a proving ground for mountaineers – notably Edmund Hillary who used the Black Cuillin mountains as training for his 1953 ascent of Everest.
But Skye isn’t just for heroes of mountaineering fame. Our new Isle of Skye Challenge combines some of the best parts of Skye in a bucket-list challenge accessible to all with a taste for adventure and a good pair of walking boots. It’s fully supported by our expert and qualified mountain leaders who will share some of the island’s most spectacular hidden corners. The days are long and filled with wonder, with comfortable beds and good food to recharge your batteries in the beautiful fishing village of Portree.
From low level walking through the remote and hauntingly beautiful Glen Sligachan, fording rivers and discovering remote lochs; to traversing the dramatic landslip of the Trotternish Ridge with the iconic rocky pinnacle of the Old Man of Storr; to finally summiting a Munro on the breath-taking Black Cuillin’s volcanic ridge, with golden eagles soaring beneath you. This challenge is what the phrase ‘set your soul on fire’ was made for and is sure to provide exceptional stories to tell round the fireplace with that wee dram of whisky.
Join Laura on this incredible new challenge in May 2023. Charity Challenge have everything covered for you. To making getting to Skye as easy as possible we have included a bus transfer to and from the Highland capital of Inverness which is well served by flights from around the UK or even the Caledonian Sleeper train! Everything on the challenge is included. There’s hostel accommodation on Skye with all meals included. We provide minibus transfers each day so that we can access Skye’s most spectacular walking routes. And then there’s are fantastic challenge leaders! So join us in 2023 for one of our most exciting new UK challenges!
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