The Fort William Mountain Festival has this week awarded its 19th annual Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture, sponsored by Jahama Highland Estates, to Willie Gorman, recognising his achievements in more than sixty years as a climber and outdoor instructor.

Willie Gorman

Hailing from Glasgow, Willie took up climbing at the age of 15 and as an apprentice at the shipyard, quickly fell in with the Creag Dhu Mountaineering Club. He climbed extensively in Scotland and also had a three month trip to the Alps to cut his teeth. When the club had ticked off the hardest routes of the time, they soon began to put up their own more difficult, daring and bold routes. The guidebooks to Arran, Arrochar and the Southern Highlands, Glen Coe, Lowland Outcrops, Highland Outcrops South and Scottish Winter Climbs, show the name of Willie Gorman again and again. He has a huge rap sheet of new routes and crag developments, and this area of his climbing never abated throughout his life.

As a career Willie worked in Outdoor Education Centres, where he took groups into the hills and to the local crags, inspiring so many youngsters to get out and enjoy the Scottish mountains. After he completed his training he became a Geography teacher in Glasgow. He used this position and time to take groups of school pupils into the hills and mountains showing them what Scotland has to offer. He routinely took groups for expeditions around Glen Coe and Arrochar where young people from the city centre of Glasgow got to experience the mountain culture, learning the skills needed to be safe and enjoy the mountains.

When Willie finally retired from teaching at 64, he decided to become an instructor at GCC, where he had already been bringing groups since 1994, and had a single digit membership number. Willie worked for almost another two decades, until this last autumn when he retired, continuing to inspire the next generations along the way with an exceptional attitude and humility. There can’t be many individuals who have introduced more people into the sport of climbing than Willie has in his lifetime dedicated to climbing and mountain culture.

Willie’s impressive career will be celebrated at the Fort William Mountain Festival Climbing Night on Saturday 14 February 2026 with an award presentation and short film highlighting the significant contribution he has made to mountain culture. Willie will appear alongside Pete Whittaker of Wide Boyz fame, as he shares his insights and experiences in big wall soloing. The night will also feature a film about big wall burnout from Canadian Bronwyn Hodgins, called “La Rubia”.

Ruaridh Macdonald, Head of Management and Development for JAHAMA Highland Estates said:

“It’s wonderful to be able to acknowledge Willie’s commitment to developing the adventurous spirit of so many young people by introducing them to the lifelong opportunity of accessing the great Scottish outdoors. Here in Lochaber especially, we are privileged to have some of the most iconic landscapes in the world from our sea level West Coast environments all the way to the summit of the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis.

As a major landowner in the area, we are the current custodians of much of the Mamore, Grey Corrie and Ben Nevis mountain ranges, that includes approximately 20 Munros within our landholding, including the lower slopes and the North Face of Ben Nevis. We are very supportive of responsible access and are grateful for Willie’s contribution over his long outdoor based career. We value his legacy and hope that his commitment is an inspiration for others to continue his important work of introducing young people to a lifetime of enjoyment and fulfilment in the great outdoors”.

Editors Notes:

JAHAMA is part of ALVANCE British Aluminium in Lochaber, Fort William, which operates UK’s only aluminium smelter and is one of the world’s greenest metal production plants. Extending over 114,000 acres of Lochaber and Badenoch, JAHAMA is managed on the principles of sustainable development for the benefit of local communities, the environment, and the economy. JAHAMA’s landholding extends from urban land in Fort William to some of the most remote and iconic mountains in Scotland, and whose assets in Lochaber deliver sustainable industrial development through a unique integration of aluminium manufacturing, renewable hydropower and responsible land management.

For further information please contact: highland@jahamaestates.com, or phone 01397 712 111