Our two-week expedition summer camp, based at the adventure school, is a series of grand expeditions: three days in the mountains, sea kayaking along dramatic coastlines, surviving overnight on an uninhabited island, and spending a beach day on golden sands. It culminates with an expedition to Cape Wrath and Sandwood Bay.
Spend two weeks here at Ardmore with other motivated young people from all over the world.
Shared experiences with new friends of your own age, led by our young, friendly and professionally qualified instructors.
Rebecca Ridgway, and her parents before her, have been running this summer camp since 1969.
| Camp 1 |
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| Monday 19th – Friday 30th July 2027 |
| £2,050 |
| Places |
| Camp 2 |
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| Monday 2nd – Friday 13th August 2027 |
| £2,050 |
| Places |
| Camp 3 |
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| Monday 16th – Friday 27th August 2027 |
| £2,050 |
| Places |
We have a maximum of 36 young people at each summer camp. We sometimes limit the number of young people on each summer camp who speak the same first language (if it’s not English). This helps everyone practise and improve their English. If you’re coming from outside the UK, we recommend booking early.
Our son Louis still talks about the incredible adventure that he had as a 16-year-old on the two-week expedition camp. Sea kayaking around the amazing coastline and surviving a night on an uninhabited island with his new friends were some of the highlights. He is thrilled to have risen to the challenges of a real-life adventure, knowing that he was always in the safe hands of the experienced team at Ridgway Adventure.
Claire Goulding (UK) – Expedition Summer Camp Parent
My daughter went on the two-week expedition and absolutely loved it. A full outdoor experience with just the right mix of independence, challenge, and adventure. She came back with stories of surviving in the wild, camaraderie, and new international friendships. And dare I say, she even appreciated the magnificent experience of utter digital detox.
Wietske Helle (Netherlands) – Expedition Summer Camp Parent 2025
Thank you so much for such an amazing experience this summer. It was a wonderful opportunity, and I enjoyed every minute of it, especially survival island and watching the sun set and the stars appear whilst around the fire. A huge thanks to all the staff and especially Celia for her awesome cakes. It was the most memorable two weeks and I had the best time.
Alasdair (UK) – Expedition Summer Camp Participant 2025
Thank you and the whole team for the wonderful two weeks that Sally spent with you in July. She arrived home full of stories of her adventures. She made some great friends and clearly loved every minute outside in the stunning landscape and on the sea.
James Rodier (UK/Spain) – Expedition Summer Camp Parent 2025
She is really proud of what she found out that she was capable of achieving and seems to have grown enormously in confidence over those two weeks.
Back from Scotland we are watching the wonderful photos and would like to thank you for that exceptional time Dora had! She came back so happy, wishing the camp could last two more weeks! As the youngest, she always felt safe and had so much fun, the challenges were demanding but feasible, she was really so happy there and everyone was so nice and funny. It’s really something special!
Tamara Zeigler (Germany) – Expedition Summer Camp Parent 2025
Our two-week expedition summer camps for 14 to 17 year olds.
Remote mountains, wild camps, big skies, the mighty Atlantic. Real adventures, blissfully and totally tech free.
This is what July and August have looked like at Ardmore since 1969, when Dad and Mum ran the first summer camp here.
Teenagers from all over the world coming together at the adventure school for two weeks of grand expeditions in the mountains and on the sea. Three of these summer camps in 2025 and the same again in 2026.
New friendships, shared experiences and a little shared adversity. Still totally tech free.
Stretch… don’t cruise.
14-17 yrs old
Two-week Expedition Summer Camp
All 📷 from 2025
Looking back on three back-to-back two-week expedition summer camps in July and August.
Young people doing difficult things in beautiful places – and loving it.
These camps were first run by my parents in 1969, and are still going strong. It’s a privilege to share our home and these landscapes with teenagers from all over the world.
Stretch, don’t cruise.
All summer camp prices include return coach transport, with one of our instructors, from Inverness Airport to Ridgway Adventure. See our summer camp travel page for more info.
Three days and two nights of wild camping traversing the shattered quartzite ridges of Foinaven and Arkle.
We set off in the afternoon to gain some height before the first wild camp. Work in small teams of eight or nine based on your age with different routes for different age group teams.
Traverse the mountain on the middle day of the expedition wild camping again in stunning locations.
Return through a remote network of small hill lochs and rocky outcrops all the way to the Adventure School.
Forage for tinder, kindling and driftwood on the seashore and learn to light a fire with a striking flint.
Collect edible seafood and plants from around the shore and learn how to cook them.
Practice building shelters from old yacht sails and small tarps ready for ‘survival island’.
Our climbing crag sits on the hilltop above the Adventure School.
Different grades of climbs to challenge everyone, and an abseil from the top of the crag to the ground below.
Exploring the sheltered coves and bays of Loch Laxford and experiencing the gentle swells on the open ocean, with a night of wild camping on remote beaches and in rocky coves.
We pack up the sea kayaks with our kit and food rations and head off.
The sea loch is full of wildlife and we work our way into Loch Laxford and out to the open ocean coastline beyond.
Watch the sunset from a headland and enjoy a driftwood fire on the shore.
Boarding our workboats we head into Loch Laxford to fish for mackerel which can be added to supplies for ‘survival island’. After a final briefing you and your team will be dropped on an uninhabited island to survive together overnight, sleeping under yacht sails and cooking your fish and foraged rations on open fires.
Independence and responsibility without the input or intervention of our instructors.
A day of bodyboarding, swimming and beach games on the golden sands of Oldshoremore.
A chance to relax, have fun and reflect before the final expedition.
We’ll lift creels from the sea to look at crabs and lobsters.
Stopping at Ardmore we see John Ridgway’s 1966 Atlantic rowing boat and Rebecca’s Cape Horn sea kayak and hear the stories of those great expeditions.
Heading into some of the remotest terrain in the UK as we head from Ardmore towards Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point on the mainland, and through Sandwood Bay.
This is the final expedition of the summer camp. Three days and two nights in beautiful places along the coast, with your team of friends.
The summer camp is an excellent opportunity to make new friends from all over the world.
For international students, it is a brilliant way to practice spoken English.
The summer camp meets the requirements of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award ‘Residential’.
The summer camps have a family feel; we all eat together, with good home-cooked food.
The whole experience is shared with our team of friendly, fully trained, and professionally qualified instructors.
Rebecca and Mark personally run the summer camp.
We have no more than 36 young people at each summer camp.
The first course at Ardmore in 1969 was a two-week summer camp for young people from all over the world.
Over 50 years later, this same course continues to welcome the sons and daughters of many past camp participants.
Parts of the camp have evolved, but its ethos remains the same.
Our summer camps operate in teams (usually of nine) for the expeditions. The teams are based on age. Everyone socialises together at mealtimes and in the evenings when not on expedition.
Many young people come on their own, and some come with a brother, sister, or cousin. They would be in different teams unless they were the same age.
If you come with one friend of the same age, you will be in the same team. We like the social mix in each team to be really positive, so we don’t tend to put more than two people together if they already know each other.
To enquire about availability, please email me, Rebecca, at [email protected] or call +44 (0)1971 521006. I will then email you a booking form link for your preferred date. Alternatively, you can complete our contact form, and I’ll get straight back to you.
We may limit the number of young people coming from the same country where English is not the first spoken language, so we recommend booking early.
All summer camp prices include return coach transport, with one of our instructors, from Inverness Airport to Ridgway Adventure. This meets our recommended flights. Please see Travel information page.
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