Over 50 years of adventure & life-changing experiences

Our story

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Adventures in true wilderness where the mountains meet the sea

Our location

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Carefully crafted level of freedom & independence for young people

Three principles

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Courses for schools, summer camps & bespoke adventures for adults or families

Summer Camps

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Rebecca, Mark and their team run outstanding adventure courses for schools, summer camps for young people, and bespoke courses for adults and families; continuing the fifty-year family history of adventure at Ardmore, the remote crofting settlement that is their year-round home.

Join our team

We are recruiting now for outdoor instructors to come and join us for our 2022 season.

Our Home Your Adventure

A timeless and truly wild natural environment where mountains rise majestically from the intricate coves and bays of sheltered sea lochs…

Climb in the mountains, sea kayak amongst seals and nesting sea birds, rock climb on ancient crags, survive on uninhabited islands, lift creels from the depths, and far more.

Stay in comfort in a Norwegian-style wooden building where the sea laps just yards from the door and enjoy delicious home-cooked food.

We’re just two hours’ drive from Inverness with simple flight connections from major domestic airports, direct flights from Amsterdam, and direct rail travel from London.

Our Story

Rebecca’s parents first came to Ardmore in 1964 and in 1969 the Adventure School opened its doors to the first course. It has been the starting point of many ground-breaking expeditions and, during the summer months for the last 50 years, the venue for people of all ages to experience their own adventures with us in the mountains and on the sea.

1966

John Ridgway rows the north Atlantic with Chay Blyth from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland.

1968

John on board English Rose IV crossing the Atlantic as part of the Golden Globe Yacht Race.

1969

John and Marie-Christine construct the John Ridgway Adventure School building at Skerricha, across the water from Ardmore, with the first course arriving in July that year.

1971

John with the ‘Ladies Course’ at Lone before climbing Arkle. The old stone stables at Lone are still used by courses to this day as a base camp for expeditions into the mountains.

1972

Marie-Christine and John cross the Magellan Straits by rubber dingy to make the first crossing of the Gran Campo Nevado ice cap in Chilean Patagonia.

1974

John, Marie-Christine and Rebecca (at the age of 7) sail to Cape Verde and the Spanish Sahara on English Rose V.

1991

An international summer camp course sail onboard English Rose V in Loch Laxford.

1992

Rebecca at the start of a three-week expedition to become the first woman to kayak around Cape Horn.

1994

John, Marie-Christine and Rebecca sail English Rose VI across the Southern Ocean to the Antarctic Peninsula as part of an 18-month voyage from Ardmore.