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Keppoch nr Plockton OS Map Thumbnail. If you click on the Keppoch Thumbnail you will see a full screen Detailed Map of the area, the small red circles mark the sites I have been lucky enough to try out. |
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29) Keppoch A87 near Skye - 1998 As explained in other sections, in 1998, we were all based in Fort Augustus. Between Fort William and Fort Augustus there is a turn off with a brown tourist sign indicating that it is the A87 - The Road to the isles. It leads all the way to the Isle of Skye. Having had not much success with wind direction or accessibility to the local slopes in this area, we set off on our next adventure. We have got into the habit of taking a days excursion to a new area, and reccy around until we find what we are looking for. We check out the slopes and camping sites and return there a day or so later. Or if the weather is good, the very next day, armed with all our camping kit and armfuls of models. |
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This place is spectacular. As you can see from the map, you have to turn off the main road A87, onto one that
runs up and parallel to it (the proverbial high road). Stop at the viewpoint, assemble some models and get
walking. Another huge walk, but at least it feels like I'm getting some sort of exercise. Geoff and I spotted
this place as we descended a steep road on the opposite side of the loch/valley. When we finally found the
slope, we spotted another of our old favourites for indicating a good slope…..Yep a couple of birds of prey
soaring the edges. Another View at the top of Keppoch. Was this where the BBC filmed their balloon. You can see the car in the layby way below. Coaches stop here, the tourists all pile out and climb over the style on the other side of the road. They stand around taking pictures for a few minutes, file back on the coach and disappear. Typically - we had tried sloping the foamies off the edge over the sea first. It was only when we walked back to the car that we looked up and saw the birds soaring. Berating ourselves for being stupid, we quickly put together some models and started trudging up the hill. 30) This shot is from higher up the same slope. Phase six went really well off these slopes. I learnt a lot about flying faster and improved some of my aerobatic manoeuvres. Phase six is shown in this mpeg doing a low pass across the slope and into a chandelle If you pause this mpeg and use the mouse to advance the frames, try stopping it at the point where the Phase 6 is at its lowest point in the dip. The view up the valley is outstanding, and the lift on the slope is superb. |
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Boggy Landing Landing 1.8Mb MPG file, 16 secs duration, with sound - optimized for the web. |
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The Reccy having been 100% successful, we decided to return here the very next day for a camping trip. The weather was superb, and the wind seemed to be blowing. I said seemed to be blowing. Do you know, I carried my Phase 6, my foamie and my LS-3 all the way up that hill. Talk about not learning a lesson (See Spean Bridge Report). Worst of all I had not brought the E-100 or the bungee on this trip! We made it to the top of the point, but still there was no wind. There were some small ripples on the water way below indicating a breeze, even some sailing boats out on the loch, but there was hardly a breath here. Geoff headed off, contouring along the ridge to another spur that reached into the valley. I couldn't be bothered to follow. I was too tired after carrying the LS-3 up. I watched Geoff from the ridge I was on, and a couple of times he stood up, lifted the Jibba Jabba, tested the wind, stood for a little longer, and then put everything back down again. I went through similar motions, chucked the phase 6 up for about 6 seconds, made a messy slopeside landing below me and never bothered again. Instead I put on my personal stereo, and took a nap in the sunshine. The campsite was excellent. We shared it with a 70 year old motorcyclist from the Netherlands, and some guy who tried to flog us some dodgy looking weaved baskets. We went to the local pub that night. It was full of locals. Four of them were playing scottish folk music quietly in the corner. Excellent atmosphere with lots of local colour. That night as we sat outside our tents drinking a hot cuppa, I thought I saw lightening way up the valley. Nonsense said Geoff, but half an hour later we were scuttling into our tents and the rain started lashing. Through the crashing of the thunder and the flickering of the lightening, all I could hear was Geoff in fits of laughter. 10 minutes later I stopped and wiped the tears from my eyes too. The next morning, the sun was shining, the clouds were lifting, and the wind was blowing,…quite hard….Excellent. The favourite game at this site was to x-country down the hill at the end of the day. This was superb fun, Mostly the path was well defined, but on one occasion you have to dip down into a small ravine cut by a small river. If you arrive at this point and the model isn't virtually right overhead, I would recommend that you stop and get the model closer to you first. As you descend into this ravine, the amount of sky you can see diminishes to a thin strip as the ravine sides seem to tower into the sky ! | |
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