Mountain rescue volunteer from Thurso in triple fundraising challenge
A mountain rescue volunteer from Thurso is preparing for an epic fundraising challenge that involves going up three Munros in Sutherland in a single day.
James McLean is among a six-strong group from Assynt Mountain Rescue Team who will be tackling Ben More Assynt, Ben Hope and Ben Klibreck – reaching the start of each climb by bicycle.
The challenge, on Saturday, June 28, covers some 114km distance on foot or bike with almost 4000m elevation gain.
The others taking part are Ben Dyson, Stephen Holmes, Fiona Richardson, Nick Ogden and Tim Hamlet.
They have set a target of £10,600 on their online fundraising page – £1 for every foot of height gain – with donations being divided equally between Assynt Mountain Rescue Team and Macmillan Cancer Support.
James (34) works for UHI North, West and Hebrides, helping to manage the student support team. He lives in Thurso with his wife Ashley and two daughters, four-year-old Ailsa and Freya who is 11 months.
James joined the mountain rescue team about five years ago after coming back from living in Canada.
“I knew I wanted to help in the community in some way after I returned to the Highlands,” he explained. “As a keen rock-climber and ski-mountaineer I thought it would be a good use of my skills to help the community, having previously worked as an instructor in New Zealand, Europe and Canada in the outdoor instructing world.”
He says the commitment involved is greatly helped by having an understanding family and work colleagues.
James said: “We train at least once a month as a full team and meet in smaller groups to keep our skills sharp. Callouts can happen at any time, so we have to be prepared.
“Our patch is huge, roughly from Ullapool up to Wick, so it can take a while to reach casualties.”
Looking ahead to what is being billed as the Assynt MRT Triple Challenge, James said: “It’s a big challenge – but quite a lot of the team enjoy big challenges in the outdoors.”
James is well known on the north football scene. He plays as a defender for the Caithness county league champions and Highland Amateur Cup holders, Pentland United.
He had a spell with Wick Academy and captained Thurso to their last trophy, the Football Times Cup, in season 2021/22. He has also played for Halkirk United and Golspie Sutherland.