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

In praise of Cumbria’s northern fells

May 5, 2011 Trip reports britain, camping, carrock fell, cumbria, fairfield, great dodd, helvellyn, hill walking, lake district, langdale, navigation, pennines, scafell pike, skiddaw, st sunday crag, striding edge, stybarrow dodd, wild camping, wilderness 5 Comments

I’m going to say something that I don’t believe many people say: some of my favourite hills in the English Lake District are the rolling grassy bogland hillsides of its northern fells. There are some impressive looking mountains in the

The joys and perils of off-piste walking

April 27, 2011 Trip reports arrochar alps, beinn ime, beinn narnain, ben vane, ben vorlich, britain, cameron mcneish, hill walking, loch lomond, munro bagging, munros, navigation, off piste walking, old post, public footpaths, rights of way, scotland, scottish highlands, scottish rights of way society, walking guides 4 Comments

While sitting in my tent the other morning deciding which Scottish mountain to tackle that day, I came across a couple of passages in Cameron McNeish’s book The Munros which struck me as out of place. “It’s interesting that the

A weekend escape to the Brecon Beacons

April 12, 2011 Trip reports brecon beacons, britain, camping, cribyn, facebook, fan y big, hill walking, pen y fan 4 Comments

Joking aside, I think the view up Fan y Big must be about the best in the Brecon Beacons, looking back across the cwm to Cribyn, with Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in South Wales, behind it. It was