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Recent press items on Jules Fincham:

Sunday Herald 18 September 2005
Fanning the flames

Richard Moore meets a man on a mission to stir up more passion for adventure sports

JULES Fincham spent last weekend at the Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, enjoying the spectacle and mingling in crowds that nudged 20,000. When he saw all these people, though, he did not just see mountain bikers; instead, he saw in that vast throng thousands of potential rock climbers, kayakers, skiers and winter mountaineers.
This week he hopes some of them will attend a new roadshow he’s touring throughout Scotland, kicking off in Inverness on Tuesday. The aim of the workshops, which continue in Aberdeen, Dundee, then Edinburgh, Stirling and Glasgow the following week, is to provide people with “a way in” to a new activity.
“Need a hobby?” is the question posed on the flyer, and the message is that it isn’t as difficult as people might think to take up – or at least to try – a new adventure sport.
The key, though, is to get off to a good start; to develop the correct habits, skills or techniques at the outset. It is here that Fincham, a qualified instructor in just about every outdoors activity you can think of, brings some of his own experience to bear.
When he was younger he was introduced to skiing by some “enthusiastic friends”. It was great, he says, and it did lead eventually to him working as a ski instructor, but only after a few wrong turnings.
“If you start something by yourself, or with friends, you can pick up bad habits; you can be pointed in the wrong direction,” he says. “It can lead to injuries and that was the case for me with skiing, because I really didn’t know what I was trying to do.
“But with climbing it was totally different. The first climbing I ever did was on a course in Wales and I got really good instruction. I still remember some of the safety tips and the things I was told in that first week. That meant I could go away and practice and improve on my own, doing things properly and safely.”
In this sense, then, the ideal candidate for Fincham’s workshops might be the complete beginner; if somebody wants to become a kayaker, it may be an advantage never to have previously picked up a paddle. Fincham, however, is keen to stress they are not aimed exclusively at such people.
“The workshops are suitable for total beginners,” he says, “but equally they’ll be for people who are involved in one sport and fancy trying something different: guys who say, ‘I’ve hill-walked, but I’ve seen these people fly past on mountain bikes…’ or mountain bikers who’ve always wanted to paddle. There are a lot of people out there like that.”
The roadshow is touring the country thanks to the support of three organisations: Tiso, the outdoors store which is hosting all six workshops, sportscotland and Glenmore Lodge, the outdoor centre where Fincham has worked for several years. The idea is to instil inspiration and enthusiasm in people, and then equip them with the information and contacts they need to take up a range of activities .
Fincham is undoubtedly the perfect person to guide you through those first, tentative steps. He is an enthusiast and his passion for the outdoors comes across when he speaks. And he acknowledges he likes to talk. He is, in short, a good communicator; and surely as well qualified, in a range of activities, as just about anybody working in Scotland.
Now 45, Fincham’s first taste of the outdoors was in the unlikely setting of Chelmsford, Essex, where he grew up. The inspiration, though, came from elsewhere. “When I was 11 I saw a show about one of the first descents by kayak of the Colorado River,” he recalls. “It inspired me, and then my dad saw that you could hire a mould for a weekend and build a fibreglass boat. So we did that and lowered it out the window once we’d built it.
“There was a river opposite the house, and that’s how I got into kayaking. Then, when I was 18 I was drunk in a bar and a mate said he was going on a rock-climbing course in Wales, and invited me along. I went, and I’ve never been so scared, before or since. I was terrified. I never thought I’d do it again. But it was a good course: it set me off on the right track.”
Fincham became an outdoors instructor in 1987, and has lived in Strathspey for 15 years after a period ski instructing in the Alps. He says “the desire to learn more about off-piste skiing and mountaineering drew me to Scotland, where I achieved the British Mountain Instructor Award”.
At Glenmore he masterminded the new mountain trail that’s been designed for teaching basic skills as well as the Scottish Mountain Bike Leader Scheme. It’s even been named “The JFT” (Jules Fincham Trail) in his honour.
Now comes the roadshow, and Fincham is excited at the prospect of introducing more to the range of adventure sports in Scotland. “It’s important to get off to the right start,” he reiterates. “I’m into the idea of spending just a day with a good instructor – and not just because I’m in the industry and it’s good to get the work.
“I’m hoping with these workshops – which will include video and slide presentations as well as me talking – it’ll be a bit like me watching some guys paddling in Colorado and thinking, God, I really want to do that… I want people to think, having not ever done a particular sport, that they’d like to give it a go. And there’s so much. We can deliver a smorgasbord of opportunities.”
The workshops are being held in Tiso stores at 7.30pm in Inverness (Tues), Aberdeen (Wed), Dundee (Sept 22), Edinburgh (Sept 27), Stirling (Sept 28), Glasgow (Sept 29). Tickets: £2, with proceeds going to mountain rescue teams.

Grampian Television cover opening of the Jules Fincham Trail at Glenmore Lodge

It was a very sun-shiny day at Glenmore Lodge in the heart of Cairngorms National Park, perfect weather for showcasing what proved to be a fantastic event for Scottish Cycling and Scottish mountain biking.

The new skills track, which was demoed by a local TCL group and Scottish Youth Squad riders, is awesome and drew lots of ooohs and aaahs from the sizeable crowd attending the launch. The trail has fittingly been named in honour of Julian Fincham ('The JFT') who helped to mastermind its construction, with sportscotland funding, in a record-breaking six months.

Grampian TV were on hand to capture some of the action, and comments from Jules Fincham, which were shown on an item on their evening news programme.

[source: Glenmore Lodge website]

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