Beyond the Nevis watershed, part 2: the Grey Corries

October 7, 2020 Trip reports backpacking, grey corries, hill walking, mamores, munro bagging, munros, scotland, scottish highlands, weather, wild camping 0 Comment

Our plan for the second day of our backpacking trip beyond Glen Nevis was to climb the Grey Corries on the north side of the valley. We had a long day ahead of us, and an ambitious plan to complete a full traverse of the ridge across four Munros and eight summits.

Beyond the Nevis watershed, part 1: the eastern Mamores

September 30, 2020 Trip reports backpacking, grey corries, hill walking, mamores, munro bagging, munros, ring of steall, scotland, scottish highlands, wild camping 5 Comments

When I hiked the Ring of Steall last year, I saw an emerald valley to the east, accessible only by foot and surrounded by Munros. I imagined wild camping in that idyllic location, and picking off the mountains one by one. Barely a year later, my dream came to fruition.

The world’s most stupid navigational error

September 23, 2020 Humour britain, edita, grey corries, hill walking, munros, navigation, scotland, stob choire claurigh, weather 3 Comments

After a promising start to the day, the clouds moved in and the rain started pounding against them as they ascended the south ridge of Stob Choire Claurigh, the highest point in the Grey Corries, a ridge of quartz-laden peaks

My second audiobook — Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo, narrated by Philip Battley

July 22, 2020 My books and writing andes, audiobooks, chimborazo, cycling, ecuador, feet and wheels to chimborazo, mountain literature, north coast 500, philip battley, scotland, travel writing 0 Comment

More excitement ! I’m delighted to say that my book Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo is now available as an audiobook. Once again, I’ve been enormously privileged to work with highly experienced, professional stage and screen actor Philip Battley as my narrator.

What I’m learning from Robert Macfarlane’s reading group about Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain

April 1, 2020 Reviews and tributes britain, cairngorms, mountain literature, munro bagging, nan shepherd, nature writing, robert macfarlane, scotland, wildlife 0 Comment

As coronavirus lockdown takes hold, the nature writer Robert Macfarlane has started running a reading group on Twitter about Nan Shepherd’s classic nature book The Living Mountain. It was a no-brainer for me to join, and it’s helping me to see the world differently.

Paperback of Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo: the perfect gift to slip inside your Christmas stocking

November 20, 2019 My books and writing chimborazo, cycling, ecuador, feet and wheels to chimborazo, north coast 500, scotland, travel writing 0 Comment

‘Every once in a lifetime, a book comes along that is so outrageously witty that you have to wear a corset to avoid splitting your sides with laughter. Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo is just such a book,’ said my dad.

What the North Coast 500 has in common with Everest

September 4, 2019 Opinion and advice britain, cycling, everest, feet and wheels to chimborazo, media sensationalism, north coast 500, scotland, tourism 1 Comment

Queues of slow moving traffic, people who don’t know how to drive, human faeces by the side of the road – are we talking about Everest again? No, it’s the North Coast 500, a magnificent road trip in north-west Scotland which I once pedalled round.

The Ring of Steall: a Scottish hill walking classic

August 14, 2019 Trip reports am bodach, an gearanach, ben nevis, britain, hill walking, mamores, munros, ring of steall, schiehallion, scotland, scottish highlands, sgurr a mhaim, stob coire a chairn 5 Comments

A short distance south of Ben Nevis is a hidden sanctuary encircled by mountains. This hanging corrie has a single outlet which drains into Britain’s second highest waterfall. A full circuit of the ring of mountains involves 4 Munros and 7 peaks in total.

My journey along the Great Glen Way on a mountain bike

July 24, 2019 Trip reports britain, cycling, edita, great glen way, north coast 500, scotland, scottish highlands, ticket to ride 5 Comments

Edita wanted to do another bike ride in Scotland. I suggested the Great Glen Way because it went along a glen rather than over hills, so it should be pretty flat. I was surprised when the cycle hire shop recommended a pair of mountain bikes.

Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo is OUT NOW, but why did it take so long?

July 17, 2019 My books and writing alex roddie, andeanface, andes, chimborazo, ecuador, feet and wheels to chimborazo, kindle, mountain literature, north coast 500, scotland, travel writing 0 Comment

Those of you who have been kind enough to pre-order Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo will hopefully have seen it appear on your devices sometime last week. The entire project, from push off to launch has taken about two years.