About Ocean Vertical
Welcome To Adventure: Based in Scotland on the rugged coastline of East Lothian at Hedderwick Hill Stables, 25 miles east of Edinburgh. We are a passionate team of adventurers specialising in paddle boarding, coasteering, surfing, climbing and mountaineering, locally and across Scotland 365 days a year.
OUR PURPOSE
TO SHARE A LOVE FOR ADVENTURE IN THE NATURAL WORLD AND ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF OUR LAST REMAINING WILD PLACES.
THE TEAM
WE ARE A DIVERSE TEAM FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, BACKGROUNDS AND CULTURES.
WE ARE BOUND BY A LOVE FOR ADVENTURE AND EXPERIENCES IN THE NATURAL WORLD: TOGETHER WE ARE COMMITTED TO PUTTING THE PLANET FIRST.
Stevie Boyle
Director and Co Founder. Lead Guide & Instructor
Stevie has over 20 years of experience leading clients on adventures in the mountains and ocean. As an accredited professional guide he also trains other instructors in adventure sports.
As our lead guide and instructor, he has hands-on responsibility for ensuring our clients have adventures that are inspiring, communicate new skills and knowledge, and are fun and safe. He has extensive mountain and water-based professional qualifications and is outside 365 days a year.
Mollie Hughes
Director
Mollie is a world record-breaking mountaineer and Polar expeditioner. Over the past 10 years she has taken part in many expeditions across the globe, including reaching the summit of Mount Everest from both the northern [2017] and southern [2012] route.
In 2020 Mollie became the youngest woman to ski solo from the coast of Antarctica to the geographic South Pole, covering 700 miles in 58 days. Find out more about Mollie and Ocean Vertical here.
Adrian Boot
Director and Co Founder. Planning & Managing
Adrian has over 20 years experience of summer and winter mountaineering and a professional background as an architect designing and coordinating international projects and teams.
This experience is now focused on the careful planning and management of Ocean Vertical, and the development of future strategic projects.
We want our client’s experiences in the wilderness to be transformational, and the very best possible.
Jacob Allen
Adventure Activities Manager
Jacob has over ten years' experience working within the Adventure Sports Industry across the globe.
In addition to being an experienced and knowledgeable instructor/guide, he is a brilliant team leader.
We are delighted to have Jacob on board the OV Team as our Adventure Activities Manager. Jacob is also a passionate adventure photographer and will be capturing moments of every adventure Ocean Vertical have to offer.
Dr Kirsty Rew
Associate Instructor
Kirsty is a qualified Stand Up Paddle (SUP), Yoga, SUP Yoga and Surf Instructor, with 15 years experience practicing yoga and surfing. She gained these qualifications to share her passion for being active outdoors and the associated benefits to wellbeing and mental health.
Kirsty has a Doctorate (PhD) in Engineering with previous work including development of lasers for satellites. This scientific background informs her detailed approach to coaching, focusing not only on how, but why changes to technique and skills are effective.
Andy Spink
Associate Instructor
With over 30 years of experience as an Instructor and Guide, Andy has extensive climbing and hiking experience in the Himalayas, South America, the European Alps and the UK where he has completed all of Scotland’s Munros.
Andy is Co-Founder and General Manager of Hebridean Pursuits Outdoor Learning and has an array of high-end qualifications including International Mountain Leader Award, Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor, and Level 5 Surf Kayak Coach.
Andy is also a surfer, snowboarder, and youth worker with a degree in Fine Art.
Sally Harris
Associate Instructor
Sally is an expert in sustainable development and community education: She has over 20 years experience in developing and leading ocean based adventures.
As Founder and Lead Facilitator of Groundswell Scotland, and founder of Dunbar Surf Lifesaving Club, she is a life long advocate of the profound benefits nature and the ocean has on our wellbeing.
Sally is a qualified instructor in paddle boarding, surfing, coasteering and yoga.
Professional Adventure
We are qualified mountain leaders and rock climbing instructors.
We are an accredited Academy of Surf Instructors School and Instructor Training Centre.
We offer coasteering guide and assessment training using the National Coasteering Charter Guide Award.
We train and assess qualifications by Surf Life Saving Great Britain.
We provide First Aid courses for outdoor professionals and adventurers through the First Aid +F Course.
We continue to build on these qualifications and expand our adventures deeper into the Scottish wilderness.
WE KEEP THE
WILD, WILD
AS AN ADVENTURE COMPANY, AND ON BEHALF OF OUR CLIENTS, WE PLACE THE WILD AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF SCOTLAND AT OUR CORE.
A simple philosophy
In all the activities and experiences we offer in the mountains and ocean our goal is to minimise the environmental impact and leave no trace through our journeys.
We have a simple philosophy on life: a respect and taste for real adventure, a love for our natural world and a belief that we human beings are not paramount – wilderness for its own sake.
No justification. For us, being in nature is a transformational experience.
Ethical adventure
Over the past years we’ve spent time exploring, climbing, mountaineering and on boards in the ocean. These are the places we love and share a calling to. We’ve spent hours on the cliff face and snowfields sharing stories, beliefs and concerns.
We recognize that a love for our beautiful wild places demands active participation in the fight to save them.
As a responsible and ethical adventure company we are committed to the wild and natural environment we work in. We balance purpose and profit with a % of profits from Ocean Vertical directed back into environmental causes and activism.
Passion for life & adventure
Our passion for life and adventure drives us to provide transformational experiences for our clients in the wilds of Scotland. Safety is the number one priority for all of the adventures we provide.
We are owner operated with a lifetimes experience in adventure. We are proud of our professional qualifications and accreditations, our commitment to the natural world and the high level of professionalism set by our team.
We believe the mountains and oceans are neutral places. It's how we conduct ourselves when we enter their world that makes them either safe or unsafe.
We place emphasis on pre planning, best professional practice and informed decision-making.
THE LIFE OF OUR CHOICE
LEADING ADVENTURES IN THE WILDS OF SCOTLAND IS NOT A JOB TO US, ITS WHO WE ARE.
THIS IS THE LIFE OF OUR CHOICE; BOTH WITH CLIENTS AND IN OUR OWN FREE TIME.
WELCOME TO ADVENTURE.
We want to influence the future
As we take ourselves into the world we are committed to using the most ethical and sustainable equipment possible to support our adventures in the mountains and ocean.
We recognize that specialist equipment such as wetsuits, buoyancy aids, paddle and surfboards can be highly damaging to the environment, both in terms of how they are manufactured as well as their end of life disposal.
We spend a lot of time in the mountains. We also spend a lot of time in the oceans, and in Scotland mostly in wetsuits! And lets be very clear; Neoprene is not the most eco-friendly material out there, even so called 'green' neoprene.
We’ve thought long and hard on this, considering lifecycle, sustainability, durability and cost.
We are using limestone based neoprene and here’s why; It’s PAH free and contains no petroleum oil, it takes less Co2 to manufacture than traditional neoprene, its more durable and lasts longer than traditional neoprene, its created using a limestone waste product and its warmer than oil based neoprene.
Our Ocean Vertical T shirt is made from organic cotton in northern India. The factory is powered entirely by renewable power in a closed loop system and is accredited as socially accountable where all workers are guaranteed a fair wage.
We invest in the best environmentally friendly and durable equipment built with passion that can be easily repaired and will last.
We reuse, we recycle.
Our base at Hedderwick Hill Stables EH42 1XF is a repurposed Victorian Stables, and within a couple of miles of our water-based adventures so we are able to minimise transport and emissions.
For our longer trips to the highlands we are committed to using electric powered vehicles as soon as we are able, balancing cost and function for a young company.
We are proud of our ethical principles and commitment to the natural world, but at the same time we recognise there is always progress to be made.
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