Welcome to 'The Clan'

As we pass through Glen Coe, cloud replaces snow on the higher slopes. The rain, as they say, 'is horizontal'. The coach begins its descent to Fort William. As we get closer, I put in a call to Outward Bound Scotland to let them know that we are 'on schedule' and expect to arrive within the next fifteen to twenty minutes.

We are met at the front entrance to our accommodation by our Course Director, Richard Hill and our OB Instructors for the week, Ken, Dave, Caroline, Chris and John. They are eager to meet their students and within minutes have taken them (and their baggage) to The Barn. We check the upper deck of the coach. A pile of pages from a newspaper mark the spot in the aisle where a student has parted with the contents of his stomach - mainly fizzy pop, sweets, crisps and other wholesome, nourishing foodstuffs.

Later, we assemble in the Scott Room. The fifty-two (plus five members of EC staff) are divided into five 'Clans' (Bruce, Forbes, Morrison, Mcgreagor and Gordon) and accompany their OB Instructor on a tour of the site. Clan members are shown to their dorms. I am in Gordon Clan with Michael C, Cole M, Lucie C, Mitchell O, Christian G, Tomas A, Kelly McF, Thomas A, Jade K and Joe A.

I see from the timetable that Morrison, Mcgreagor and Gordon Clans start their expedition on Wednesday and will return to centre on Thursday afternoon.