A short scramble up Rumiñahui, the stone-faced Inca warrior

December 12, 2018 Trip reports andes, cotopaxi, ecuador, edward whymper, llanganates, rucu pichincha, ruminahui, volcanoes 1 Comment

Rumiñahui is an extinct volcano 14km north-west of Cotopaxi, Ecuador’s highest active volcano. Rumiñahui the mountain is named after Rumiñahui the Inca warrior, whose name translates as ‘stone face’ – as appropriate a name as any for this particular mountain.

Peak bagging the Cuillin ridge on Scotland’s Isle of Skye

October 31, 2018 Trip reports andy hogarth, britain, cuillin ridge, hill walking, inaccessible pinnacle, isle of skye, munro bagging, munros, scotland, scrambling, sgurr alasdair, sgurr nan gillean 1 Comment

Our aim was to climb as many of the 11 Munros on the main Cuillin ridge as we could in a series of day hikes, including the infamous Inaccessible Pinnacle, the only Munro that’s a technical rock climb. But the weather forecast was dreadful, and I knew from experience that would make a big difference on these peaks.

Banished to Room 101: the Inaccessible Pinnacle

October 10, 2018 Trip reports andy hogarth, britain, cuillin ridge, first ascents, hill walking, inaccessible pinnacle, isle of skye, munro bagging, munros, rock climbing, scotland 3 Comments

If you asked a group of UK hill walkers to nominate items for Room 101, some of them might suggest the Inaccessible Pinnacle, a narrow shark’s fin of rock that crowns the summit of Sgurr Dearg, a 978m mountain on the Isle of Skye in north-west Scotland.

Cadair Idris by the Minffordd Path

August 15, 2018 Trip reports britain, cadair idris, edita, hill walking, snowdonia, wales 2 Comments

Cadair Idris is the last peak in Snowdonia before the high mountains give way to the soft rolling landscape of mid-Wales. The Minffordd Path on its south side is one of the best horseshoe ridge walks in Wales. A couple of weeks ago I took Edita there.

Scafell Pike, the highest peak in England, from Wasdale

July 18, 2018 Trip reports britain, camping, edita, ennerdale, eskdale, hill walking, lake district, langdale, microadventures, peak bagging, rock climbing, sca fell, scafell pike, wasdale 4 Comments

I had only climbed the highest mountain in England once, from the east side 22 years ago. It was time for me to climb it from Wasdale on the west side, and it was time for Edita to climb it for the very first time.

Monte Marsicano up the back side: 8 summits in one day

June 27, 2018 Trip reports abruzzo, apennine 2000ers, apennines, cicerone guides, club alpino italiano, edita, europe, hill walking, italy, monte marsicano, peak bagging, wildlife 2 Comments

Since climbing Monte Marsicano from the south on one of our first visits to Abruzzo National Park, we’d had in mind to climb the mountain via a longer route from the more remote northern side. This route took in no fewer than 8 Apennine 2,000ers in a single day.

The Ennerdale Horseshoe: a Lake District gem

June 13, 2018 Trip reports alfred wainwright, backpacking, britain, camping, cicerone guides, ennerdale, forestry commission, graham uney, great gable, high stile, hill walking, lake district, microadventures, peak bagging, pillar, scafell pike, wild camping 0 Comment

A sunny bank holiday weekend in northern England was the signal for a visit to the Lake District. As we headed out for a backpacking and wild camping microadventure in Ennerdale, I couldn’t quite believe that it had been five years since my last visit.

Kangchenjunga base camp trek: Oktang and the south side

May 30, 2018 Trip reports 8000m peaks, asian trekking, bokta, drohmo ri, edita, himalayas, jannu, kangchenjunga, nepal, seven summits treks, trekking 6 Comments

We had ascended a long valley to climb our peak and see the north side of Kangchenjunga. Now it was time to see the south side, and the nature of the trekking was about to change as we crossed a number of passes. This is part two of my Kangchenjunga trek report.

Kangchenjunga base camp trek: Pangpema and the north side

May 16, 2018 Trip reports 8000m peaks, drohmo ri, edita, expedition himalaya, himalayas, jamie mcguinness, jannu, kangchenjunga, nepal, project himalaya, trekking, trekking peaks 3 Comments

I was long overdue a visit to Kangchenjunga, one of the 8,000m peaks I have read most about, but seen least of. Here is the first of two trip reports about our trek to the Nepalese side last month, covering our visit to the north base camp.

High Atlas 4,000ers: the videos

March 14, 2018 Trip reports africa, aguelzim, akioud, atlas mountains, edita, high atlas, imouzzer, jebel toubkal, morocco, mountain films, ouanoukrim, trekking 0 Comment

Some more of my dodgy videos for you to watch. These ones cover our week in Morocco at the end of December, bagging a few 4,000m peaks in the High Atlas. The full sequence is only 16 minutes long, so they’re good for passing the time.