Royal Deeside :Ballater
Walking Festival : Information for 2010

Ballater Walking Festival offers a programme designed for walkers of all capabilities from Munro-bagging to pleasant rambles. Each walker can choose to take part in whatever grade of walk they feel suits them best and can participate on as many as six days or as few as one. Most of the walks are situated within the Cairngorms National Park, though a few enter parts of West Aberdeenshire or the Angus Glens which border the Park.

Each day, three categories of walk are available: Easy, Medium and Strenuous. Easy walks are up to six or seven miles long and normally have a minimum of gradient; Moderate walks typically measure around ten to twelve miles and may include some substantial hills or the occasional Munro. Strenuous walks either include several hundred metres of ascent or are of considerable length. A professional mountain guide normally leads the strenuous walks. Other walks are led by local residents or full-time rangers from Aberdeenshire Council or Balmoral Estate, many of whom have special knowledge of the wild life, vegetation or local history which they are happy to share with visitors.

A message from the organisers

This brochure describes our thirteenth walking festival (I hope none of you are superstitious) and we have put together another varied programme of walks. Following requests from some of our walkers this year, we have included, within our strenuous programme, the Glen Tilt walk which was last done in 2005 and, new to the festival, a walk involving Mount Battock and Clachnaben. Within the medium and easy programme we have included some old favourites, as well as introducing new walks which we hope will appeal.
We continue to attract high numbers to our festival, with the consequence that many of the popular walks filled up as early as February. We are limited to fixed numbers, on health and safety grounds, for some of the walks (mainly strenuous) and we therefore urge you to book as early as possible for those walks that interest you. The categories of walks on each day are chosen to reflect the different capabilities of walkers, and we ask you to look at the descriptions of each walk carefully, before signing up for any individual walk, to ensure it is within your ability.
Our walks are chosen to showcase, the wonderful countryside of Royal Deeside, and whether your passion is for mountains, rivers, forests, or wild life, there should be something for everyone’s taste. We look forward to welcoming regulars and newcomers to our festival in 2010, where you can be assured of a warm welcome from everyone involved.

Evening Programme An evening entertainment programme starts with the formal registration and reception on the Saturday. This enables participants to mix with each other, the leaders and local residents who will accompany them on the walks. Other highlights include dinner, probably on Tuesday, at a local restaurant and the week is rounded off on Friday with the popular traditional ceilidh.