The Abruzzo Quartet: an autumn feast of mountains

November 4, 2015 Trip reports abruzzo, apennines, cicerone guides, edita, europe, hill walking, italy, la meta, monte greco, monte marsicano, monte petroso, wildlife 2 Comments

Over the last two weekends we visited Abruzzo National Park and climbed the big four peaks. Abruzzo has provided a feast of mountains for us throughout 2015, and although it’s a close call, I think these have been my favourite of all of them.

The Snowdon Horseshoe: Britain’s classic hill walk

October 7, 2015 Trip reports britain, crib goch, edita, hill walking, moel siabod, pen-y-gwryd hotel, search and rescue, snowdon, snowdon horseshoe, snowdon mountain railway, snowdonia, wales, y lliwedd 14 Comments

There are many great routes up Snowdon, but for hill walkers the Snowdon Horseshoe is the very best, crossing three of the Welsh 3000ers in three ridge scrambles of varying difficulty. Our circuit of it last month included a little bit of drama.

Monte Amaro, a mountain worth drinking to

September 16, 2015 Trip reports abruzzo, apennines, cicerone guides, edita, europe, hill walking, italy, maiella, monte amaro, peru, pisco 1 Comment

The ascent of Monte Amaro in the Italian Apennines is a magnificent skyline walk in a moonlike landscape over peaks and along ridges, but could it be that the mountain is named after an alcoholic beverage?

Hell or high water: a Peak Lenin modern pentathlon

August 19, 2015 Trip reports central asia, jagged globe, kyrgyzstan, pamirs, peak lenin, robert anderson, ron rutland, tien shan travel, weather 5 Comments

Peak Lenin in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has been on my radar for many years as a mountain renowned for being very big, but technically straightforward. But as I discovered, technically straightforward is not the same as easy.

The Corno Grande aperitivo: highest mountain in the Apennines

July 22, 2015 Trip reports abruzzo, apennines, celano gorge, corno grande, edita, gran sasso, hill walking, italy, monte sirente, monte velino, sirente-velino 5 Comments

We were determined to climb Corno Grande at our third attempt. The mountain that had given us such trouble in winter became an enjoyable appetiser to a feast of mountain hiking in summer.

Walking the Aran Ridge, another Snowdonia secret

July 8, 2015 Trip reports aran fawddwy, aran hills, backpacking, bear grylls, britain, cadair idris, glasgwm, hill walking, rhinogs, snowdonia, wales, wild camping 11 Comments

There aren’t many hill walks close to civilisation in the UK where you can spend two days and only see one other human. The Aran Ridge is just four or five hours’ drive from London, and last week I went there for a couple of days’ backpacking.

Trailblazing up Monte Sirente

April 15, 2015 Trip reports abruzzo, apennines, avalanche safety, edita, europe, hill walking, italy, monte sirente, sirente-velino 2 Comments

Our third trip to the Apennine Mountains took us to an area we hadn’t visited before. Our ascent of Monte Sirente was a good day out in the mountains, with some tough trail breaking through deep snow and an exhilarating climb.

The Corno Grande Saga, Part 2

February 21, 2015 Trip reports abruzzo, apennines, avalanche safety, corno grande, edita, europe, gran sasso, hill walking, italy, monte aquila 4 Comments

This is a short sequel to a post I wrote last month about a reconnaissance trip to the Gran Sasso massif in Central Italy, when we made an abortive attempt on 2912m Corno Grande from the north. Last weekend we had another go from the south.

A Gran Sasso reconnaissance

January 28, 2015 Trip reports abruzzo, apennines, brocken spectre, cicerone guides, climbing equipment, corno grande, corno piccolo, edita, europe, gran sasso, hill walking, italy, monte corvo, monte san franco, mountain huts, pizzo d'intermesoli, walking guides 2 Comments

I was dimly aware of the Apennine mountains running down the spine of peninsula Italy, but I’d never given them much thought. I discovered the Gran Sasso massif is a hill walkers’ paradise, with attainable mountains even in the depths of winter.

Toubkal and Ouanoukrim: a High Atlas winter wonderland

January 14, 2015 Trip reports anti atlas mountains, atlas mountains, climbing equipment, jebel toubkal, ke adventure travel, marrakesh, morocco, ouanoukrim, outdoor gear, souvenirs 4 Comments

I thought I was done with the Atlas Mountains when I climbed Jebel Toubkal in Morocco 11 years ago. But the High Atlas in winter is very different from the sweltering dusty desert I experienced in the summer months, and I’m glad I returned.