One mo' week

This is it folks, the finishing line is a mere five days away when our wives, girlfriends and children can stop mocking our epic growth of facial hair! So far we have managed to rake in a whooping £780, which is ever so close to our target of the big £1,000.

 The next five days are when it really comes together; even the slow growers among us will have something fashionable to show off! But can we reach the target we set all those days ago when our top lips were as smooth as babies bottoms?

With the right amount of hard work, determination and luck; Yes we can!

Friday 30^th Movember will be the last official night so we’re working on a fun little quiz to aid to our collection, and we’ll also be selling tickets for our big, ‘End of Movember’ weekend raffle. There’s also collection boxes situated on the bar as a wee helping hand, which will be totalled up after the weekend.

If you’re planning to be with us this weekend, we thank you for your commitment to our cause. If you’re not going to be here, you could still help us out over at http://mobro.clachaig.co with an online donation.

This has been a really fun month, or at least it seems to have been judging from the giggles coming from the female members of staff! As it comes to a close, all eyes are centring on our Christmas Party, the one you’re all invited to, on 14th December… You have heard about this one, yes?

Clachaig - a license to thrill

So who's been to see Skyfall? The latest offering from James Bond seems to have pulled in a few good reviews and has rekindled the affection for 007 blockbusters. A long way from Goldfinger and his hat flinging sidekick Oddjob perhaps? But the apparent success of Skyfall should come as no surprise, as it does take James Bond back to his roots. Yes, left at the top of Glencoe and down the road into Glen Etive - the location of the former Fleming family estate.

Surprise Yourself TV ad  - looks familiar?

Last week I found myself in Glasgow. I'd already been in to Xscape and the newly refurbished Snow Factor, the slightly larger relation of Kinlochleven's Ice Factor. After fulfilling the commitments for the day, we popped back to Xscape and the late evening showing of Skyfall.

The preamble to the movie contains loads of adverts featuring Bond related products. Buy the watch, drive the car, smell like a tart in a boudoir,... all that sort of stuff. But as if to enforce Glencoe's credentials as a homeland for Bond, there amongst all the 007 marketing was Clachaig's (albeit fleeting) appearance. Ok, so it was part of VisitScotland's Surprise Yourself campaign, but it was definitely Clachaig!

Check it out for yourself on YouTube - and pay particular attention at about 47 seconds in.

Movember - a flying start!

The candles within the pumpkins are extinguished and the dried blood has been washed from our faces. Now it’s the morning after and you’re no doubt collecting your bearings after another great Saturday night and of course the closing of Octoberfest.

The Clachaig Team on Saturday night - a grim bunch

It’s been a really good few weeks full of high spirits and entertainment and we hope you’ve enjoyed sampling our widely caught range of real ales, and kept a record of which ones you had, which ones you missed and which ones you’re determined to grab hold of next time.

For us it’s the time of year now to bring out the clothes and chemicals located in one of the cupboards somewhere right next to the elbow grease and get to work on putting a new shine on our surroundings, ready for the extravaganza that is Christmas and Hogmanay.

In case you’ve forgotten, there is a very special HogRoast evening taking place on 14th December, which will be admission via ticket so I’ll advise you to locate one as soon as possible. And then of course Hogmanay weekend is looking to be one for the history books, especially with Kinky Karma booked for the big night of the 31st.

 The Captain

A big thanks from the captain of our Movember team, Stuart Price, too. The raffle we held last night in aid of men’s health raised a total of £150 to the cause. Added to what we’ve raised so far, and we’re currently on a £513 total already. Which is an amazing amount for four days, and terrifically humbling. If you’d like to join our team over www.mobro.co/clachaig then we’re giving away a Henri Lloyd stow bag for whoever raises the most.

Once again, thank you for your visit during Octoberfest and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Glen as soon as possible!

Movember is here!

Since nothing is as scary as a Doctor with massive fingers about to check your prostate, we here at Clachaig Inn have decided to tie in our efforts for Movember in to a little Halloween night of our own. 

On Saturday 3^rd of November we’ll be having a wee dress up behind the bar and we encourage you guys to join in too; who knows you might even end up with some sort of freebie if you’re that good!

During the night we’re also doing a bit of a raffle for your chance to win some official Clachaig Propaganda. So you lucky winners can go home looking highly fashionable in a Clachaig t-shirt, and our funding for Movember can continue to build.

We hope you help us out through the month but just in case we don’t see you guys feel free to make a donation at http://uk.movember.com/mospace/2916337

You can even join our team, and whoever raises the most money will receive a fantastic Henry Lloyd stow bag, courtesy of Benromach Malt Whisky, ideal for those trips away to Glencoe. 

JOIN US IN OUR QUEST FOR THE BEST MO' & WIN!

Welcome to Movember

There’s a chill in the air, it won’t be long until the snow is arriving and we’re all off to do as much skiing as possible outside of working hours. However, before then we need to do something a little extra to keep warm. Spend hundreds of pounds on new winter clothing? Install extra heaters in to staff accommodation?

While tossing ideas around, there was one idea that stuck to the wall. It was an idea that could end up being a lot of fun, one that could help raise awareness to a cause close to all of us men, and even raise some money for charity. That’s right, this November at Clachaig Inn is becoming ‘Movember’!

Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has run Movember events to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer and depression, in Australia and New Zealand.
In 2007, events were launched in Ireland, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States. It has spread from Australia to South Africa, Europe and North America. In 2012 the Global Journal listed Movember as one of the top 100 NGOs (non government organization) in the world.

With the continued build and success of this event around the World, we’re sure that most people will already know about it. But what you might not know is what we’re doing for it.

From the top to the bottom of our family run business we’ll be taking part in growing some face fuzz, and hopefully looking as ridiculous as possible (not too challenging for some of us).  We’ll keep you posted via our Facebook page and creating photo galleries but we’re very happy to say that these galleries are all for you too! Yes, come and join us with your top lip caterpillars.

Send in the pictures of your effort as the month goes on to be added to our gallery, the photo with the most ‘likes’ will recieve a free T-shirt and we might well have a few spot prizes to hand, though we will naturally favour effort, enthusiasm and artistic interpretation over sheer chimp-like hairiness. And that’s not just an end of month reward, oh no! 

But that’s not all!

We’ll be holding quizzes through the month and doing a bit of fund raising baking, AND…
If you’re participating via the Movember website, sign up to our Clachaig team for a very special promotion. Whoever raises the most cash for Movember, will receive a superb Henri Lloyd Stow Bag courtesy of Benromach Whisky, ideal for packing for your next trip to Glencoe.  Just another incentive for you guys to help us, help a good cause!

So to all Mo’ Bros and Mo’ Sistas, good luck in your fundraising and we thank you for support!

The Clachaig Winter Safety Lecture Series

As soon as we say goodbye to summer, we find ourselves in the midst of planning for winter, not least of which is FebruaryFest and the Clachaig Winter Safety Lecture Series.

At this stage, in early October, some of the detail is confirmed, and some we're still fine tuning. One staple of the winter scene in February is the Winter Mountain Safety Lectures. Originally set up as a collaboration between Peter Daynes and Andy Fanshawe, the then National Officer of the BMC, the lectures have been running for the last 25 years. In more recent years the series has been co-ordinated by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland under their mountain safety initiative.

However, we faltered a little this year as the dreaded 'austerity measures' looked like we might be struggling to present a full line up.

The good news is that a sponsor for the 2013 has been secured, and the lectures will be back with a vengeance for this coming winter. So, once again, in proud association with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, and our new sponsor, Mammut, we look forward to another season of educating and informative lectures, delivered free of charge to anyone who would care to come along.

Final details by the beginning of November but the dates will be

Tuesday 5th February

Tuesday 12th February
Tuesday 19th February
Tuesday 26th February

And the winner is...

In September we offered the extremely desirable prize of a bottle of Benromach 10 year old malt for the best photo of "fun on a trip to Glencoe". We weren't looking for fancy landscapes, or carefully composed masterpieces, but simply something that said 'I went to Glencoe and I had some fun'.

We received far more entries than we ever imagined we would, and the photos featured a huge range of subjects, from bare feet in the Boots Bar, to bare arses on mountain sides.

All the entries can be viewed in our Facebook gallery.

At the risk of sounding like dear old John Craven on Countryfile, we seriously took a huge amount of pleasure from sifting through the many photos. Thanks! And choosing a winner has been really hard. However, choose we must, and this is the winning entry.

Congratulations to Guarav Shandilya for this cracker. We can't imagine a more fun time than a bit of a road trip in the old vee dub bus, a bit of camping, a walk up a hill (the Pap as it happens), and a few beers at the pub. Good one! Fun times.

Shandy wins the coveted bottle of Benromach 10 Year Old. Pop it in the locker ready for the next trip!