author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
It was time for another Cuillin reconnaissance, and there was one section of tricky scrambling that we hadn’t done: an unavoidable obstacle in the form of the four summits of Sgurr a Mhadaidh. I was keen to complete this section before committing to a full traverse of the ridge.
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We live in an era of epic endurance challenges, where people believe there’s no point getting outdoors unless you do something bigger, longer or quicker than everyone else. But it’s possible to do a challenging walk while thoroughly enjoying yourself, and without running.
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It’s been four years since my last visit to the Lake District. A return visit was long overdue and the Easter weekend offered a good opportunity. We set our sights on the Northwest Fells, an area of peaks that I’ve only explored in impenetrable hill fog.
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As we drove back to the Cotswolds earlier this month, Peter Gabriel’s 1977 hit Solsbury Hill popped up on the car stereo, which prompted Edita to remark: “Is Solsbury Hill a real place? If it is then we should climb it.” So we did.
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For many years the idea of a week in Scotland at the end of December was far from my thoughts. There are only a few hours of daylight, a high chance of rain every day, howling winds and thick mist over the hills. But it’s still possible to enjoy yourself in these circumstances.
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Our beloved monarch Queen Elizabeth II has now been sitting on the throne for 70 years. To celebrate this event, and because the people of Britain had been granted an extra day of public holiday to mark it, I decided to do something special.
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The Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales, is one of those classic mountain scrambles that has been lurking on my list for many years. Its 9km contained the right sort of terrain: narrow ridge walking interspersed with some short easy scrambles.
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Plynlimon, is a complex mountain of multiple rolling summits connected by broad ridges. It is the source of Britain’s longest river, the Severn, and its fourth longest, the River Wye. I have been meaning to climb it for many years, and over Easter I had my chance.
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Sir Hugh Munro said of Ben Hope that he didn’t know any mountain of its height which could be climbed with less exertion. Surely a quick ascent on Christmas Day would be just the thing before our Christmas turkey? Ben Hope had other ideas.
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I’d never previously considered the far north of Scotland as a Christmas and New Year holiday destination. According to the daylight indicator on my Garmin watch, the sun rises at 9.07am on the summit of Ben Hope, Scotland’s most northerly
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