The Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walk

October 3, 2012 Trip reports alfred wainwright, britain, charity challenges, hill walking, ingleborough, pen-y-ghent, whernside, yorkshire dales 7 Comments

This blog needs lightening up I think. For the last few posts I’ve been banging on about Everest and avalanches and so forth, and you’re probably getting a bit fed up with it, so this week I’ve decided to return

Climbing Elbrus by any means

August 15, 2012 Trip reports 7 summits club, alex abramov, caucasus mountains, elbrus, mountaineering ethics, russia, seven summits 3 Comments

I suspect I’m going to shock a few people with this post. During my ascent of Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, last month I took not only performance enhancing drugs (aspirin, diamox and — I’m told — Russian vodka) but a cable car, a chairlift and, most shocking of all, a snow cat (that’s a tracked vehicle, not a clawed feline).

Backpacking in the Black Mount: a high level route for midges

July 18, 2012 Trip reports backpacking, black mount, britain, camping, hill walking, loch etive, met office, midges, munro bagging, munros, rannoch moor, river crossing, scotland, scottish highlands, walking guides, weather, weather forecasts, wild camping, wildlife

The most talked about subject in Britain at the moment isn’t the upcoming London Olympics, but the crap weather we’ve been having. First it was the wettest April on record, then it was the wettest May on record. I happened

On completing the North Downs Way after 15 years

June 30, 2012 Trip reports britain, long-distance trails, north downs way, tumblr post 0 Comment

Here’s a picture of the Channel Tunnel terminal from the North Downs Way, which passes it on an escarpment above the town of Folkestone on Britain’s south coast. I’ve look at it twice this year in very different circumstances. Back

Everest 2012: Climbing and alcohol

June 6, 2012 Trip reports 7 summits club, 8000m peaks, acclimatisation, alan arnette, altitude junkies, chongba sherpa, everest, everest base camp, grant rawlinson, himex, ian cartwright, manaslu, margaret watroba, mark dickson, nyalam, phil crampton, sherpas, summit day, tibet, weather forecasts, west coast weather 5 Comments

The story of the 2012 Altitude Junkies expedition to climb Everest by the North Ridge Sometimes you get lucky in life, and everything just seems to fall into place like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. These times are rare and

Cocuy Circuit trek: You say cojones, I say cojines

January 11, 2012 Trip reports andes, andes world, cocuy circuit, cojines, colombia, frailejones, glacial erosion, global warming, gps, jagged globe, juan carlos gonzalez, neal short, ritacuba blanco, sierra nevada del cocuy, thierry levenq, trekking 6 Comments

Walking Colombia’s classic trek, and an ascent of Ritacuba Blanco “I’ve always associated Colombia with drugs and gangs,” a colleague said to me after I returned to work last week following my Christmas trekking and mountaineering holiday in the country.

Manaslu 2011: Ice axe and Cramptons

October 20, 2011 Trip reports 8000m peaks, altitude junkies, bottled oxygen, chongba sherpa, everest, himalayas, ian cartwright, manaslu, manaslu circuit, mark dickson, nepal, phil crampton, samagaon, sherpas, sir ranulph fiennes, summit push, trekking, weather 0 Comment

The story of Manaslu, autumn 2011 Sir Ranulph Fiennes eventually reached the summit of Everest on his third attempt. After suffering a heart attack during his first one in 2005, turning back with exhaustion during his second in 2008, and

A walk in the clouds on the wild Moelwyn ridges

August 3, 2011 Trip reports backpacking, britain, camping, cnicht, dolwyddelan, forestry commission, hill walking, kilimanjaro, moel siabod, navigation, snowdon, the moelwynion, wales, weather, wild camping 0 Comment

There are times when you pick the wrong option, and just have to shrug your shoulders with no regret. Last weekend was a bit like that for me. While the rest of the UK was enjoying glorious sunshine, I found

The Welsh Wilderness: backpacking in the Cambrian Mountains

July 6, 2011 Trip reports abergwesyn hills, backpacking, britain, cambrian mountains, camping, cwmdeuddwr hills, drygarn fawr, forests, hill walking, industrial revolution, midges, off piste walking, right to roam, wales, water purification, wild camping 4 Comments

It’s taken a couple of visits, but I’ve arrived at the conclusion that the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales are a great area for backpacking and wild camping. They aren’t the most dramatic hills in the United Kingdom, but these

The Rhinogs: Snowdonia’s best kept secret

June 14, 2011 Trip reports backpacking, ben nevis, boulder hopping, britain, camping, crib goch, diffwys, hill walking, irish sea, off piste walking, rhinog fach, rhinog fawr, rhinogs, snowdon, snowdonia, wales, water purification, y llethr 15 Comments

There are some hillwalking routes in the UK that everybody knows about, and in good weather are certain to be jam-packed with walkers, while others very close seem to remain known to connoisseurs only. I remember once being all alone