author, mountaineering writer – books, blog, opinion
In another setting Pizzo d’Intermesoli would be a jewel among mountains, but standing alongside Corno Grande it gets forgotten about. It was time we paid a visit to this hidden gem nestling among Gran Sasso’s rock towers.
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Any search for books about the Apennines which aren’t travel guides, leads inexorably to one book: Eric Newby’s ‘Love and War in the Apennines’. It’s a book I can relate to in two very important respects.
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Our visit to Ecuador over Christmas gave us a taste for volcanoes, so a visit to Europe’s best known one, Vesuvius, was a must. It gave us the opportunity to explore the nearby Amalfi Coast, a place that’s been described to me as mountainous.
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Chimborazo in Ecuador is definitely the highest mountain in the world when measured from the centre of the Earth. I found a mathematical formula to prove it. I just needed to climb the mountain to be sure of its correct altitude.
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You can’t go far wrong with Ecuador if you’re into peak bagging: 28 volcanoes of various shapes and sizes, some lovely views and nice haciendas to relax at in between. I went there six years ago and this year I went back and climbed a few more.
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There are signs of civilisation all over Monte Terminillo, but its accessibility is one of its attractions. An hour and a half’s drive from Rome and visible from the outer ring road, it’s a popular place for alpine climbing, and gave us a fantastic winter walk.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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