Club members carry the sailboard and other gear up the glen

A group of mountaineers is claiming a UK record for windsurfing at altitude.

And the hard-pressed members of Dundee Mountain Club also managed a spot of ironing while sailboarding on Britain’s highest loch.

A team of 11 members made the 30km (19-mile) trek from Linn of Dee to Loch Etchachan, carrying a 3m sailboard, along with an iron and board to keep their wetsuits in ship shape.

The loch, 927m (3,041ft) up in the Cairngorms, is the country’s highest sizable stretch of open water.

The weekend excursion began with the trek up Glen Derry with an overnight camp at the old hunting lodge in the glen, arriving the next day at the loch in thick cloud on a windless day.

A spokesperson for the club said: “Thankfully, the weather quickly changed and some strong winds built up, blowing away the clouds and the midges and enabling some great windsurfing to be had by DMC members Pete Scott and Nicolas Duplouy.

Windsurfing on Loch Etchachan

“Members then fixed the ironing board and iron onto the windsurf board to try extreme ironing on the loch. After a couple of hours of fun at the loch the team headed all the way back to the Linn of Dee, collecting their tents and camping gear on the way, before driving home to Dundee.”

The club believes it set two records: the first windsurfing ever carried out on the UK’s highest water body, and the highest-altitude windsurfing – and extreme ironing – ever done in the UK. It may also be the furthest distance anyone has carried a windsurfer, the spokesperson said.

Dundee Mountain Club was formed last year as a mountain sports club focused on hillwalking and mountaineering, with interests ranging from ski-touring to climbing and mountain biking. The club organises weekends away every month and informally arranges day trips to the hills most weekends.