WEST COAST TOUGH NUTS Downwards, we made our weary way in the bright afternoon. Already, the low November sun had cast Loch Creran into a black fjord-like shade, where its waters pointed seawards to Lismore, Ardgour, Mull, and the West. The conversation was mainly about how two relatively lowly west… Continue reading
Scramble – high plateau – big summit. Repeat. (in spades). First on Saturday came Little Brother. From the Cairngorm ski centre car park we scrambled (once again !) up the Fiacaill Ridge. After paying our respects to Cairn Lochan, it was an amble across the edge of Coire an t’Sneachda… Continue reading
“And the dawn comes up like thunder………. “ Not in Mandalay; …….but in Glen Shiel. And as the light climbed into the sky, likewise we climbed to the airy ridge. The ridge uncurls itself in front of your feet. A green serpent. Miles after mile after mile of it. Generally… Continue reading
North Pembrokeshire Sea Cliffs Mid-September brought sunny weather to SW Wales, and Maria and I had a few days climbing some excellent routes on slabby sea cliffs near St David’s. Low tide was conveniently around lunchtime, making the middle of the day ideal for climbing. At Porth-Clais we climbed Diagonal… Continue reading
Classic Rock routes on the Cobbler, hillwalking/running on Stob a’ Choire Odhair & Stob Ghabhar, and a bit of cragging on Ben An Over the August bank holiday weekend, Maria and I had a few good days in the Scottish hills, climbing Punster’s Crack and Ardgarten Arete on the Cobbler,… Continue reading
Adventures in the Terskey Ala-Too, Kyrgyzstan Part 2 – the expedition Having got all our kit to the camp, we started eying up the mountains nearby. Most were only identified by the spot-heights on our old Soviet military maps, but the 4356m peak immediately next to our camp actually… Continue reading
Adventures in the Terskey Ala-Too, Kyrgyzstan Part 1 – getting there, logistics & acclimatisation John & Claire took a bit longer to get there than the rest of us… Having set out from York in mid-March, driving their trusty ex Glasgow Police Mercedes Sprinter (now converted into a campervan… Continue reading
The journey to Switzerland The news during the latter part of July had terrible reports of nightmare journeys and day long queues on the approach to Dover. Well Dave and I missed this debacle it would appear by a matter of minutes (following a bold decision to hit the B… Continue reading
Scratch the surface of Beauty, and Terror may lie , not very far below. High in the Appenines, Lago Santo Parmenese sits at 1500 metres. The Rifugio Mariotti stands at the waters edge, gazing across to 300 metre cliffs and the Appenine crest…… an idyllic scene which echoed for me… Continue reading
A Six-Pack for Dolly After one of the wettest Highland summers ever, there came a dry interlude. It was still raining heavily in Glen Coe, but over east in Glen Shee, Dolly and I found – at last – a clear dry day. We started up Carn an Tuirc, and… Continue reading
