Ian Sutherland (Sudsy) and Ian Sykes (Spike) set up a little climbing shop in Fort William High Street in 1969 and called it Nevisport. Both were members of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team at the time, indeed Sudsy was the team leader. Avalanches were a pretty common occurence on the mountains of Lochaber in those days, as indeed they still are 40 years later, and as the fairly lightweight aluminium avalanche probes in use at the time were always breaking – particularly at the joint – Spike and Sudsy began making their own which were marketed, via the Nevisport brand, to rescue teams nationwide. Some 40 years on – new technology has rendered these ones obsolete, though the fact that they are still intact shows their strength, and rather than see them go in the skip, we rescued these ones from Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team’s store. Nevisport went on to a glittering career in the outdoor retail world, there being 14 shops at one time. It was sold to a firm called Trespass in 2008, though some shops continue to trade under the Nevisport banner.