Ledmore

Directly behind the car parking area there is a small forestry plantation. From the eastern corner of the plantation, head due east up the shoulder of the hill. There is plenty of space to launch where the slope levels out just beneath the radio mast and the north west and south west faces can both be accessed from here.

Whilst the 400m high hill that looks down onto Ledmore Junction and is linked to Cnoc na Stroine is rather unremarkable, so much so in fact that the main summit is not even named, its topography and roadside position make it well suited to paragliding. All around is dramatic landscape of Sutherland, with the unmistakable outlines of Suilven, Cul Mor and Canisp emerging from a wide expanse of moorland and lochs. Other than the main arteries running north from Ullapool and east along Strath Oykel, there are few roads in this area. Any XC venture is likely to involve either sticking to the ‘IFR’ rule (‘I follow roads’) or the prospect of a serious walkout in the event of landing short.

The site has two main aspects, a north west face that looks down onto the marble quarry and a more extensive south westerly face which offers a 2km stretch of soarable ridge directly above the road. In westerly or south westerly condtions, thermals will often track up the shallow gully (Bristeadh a’chnoic) which separates the main top with the radio mast from Cnoc na Stroine.

In spring and summer Ledmore is often subjected to the west coast sea breeze pushing inland, sometimes resulting in a marked convergence line above the Assynt hills. On occasion this will result in the site being blown out quite quickly.

Takeoff altitude: 375m