adventure - travel - vanlife
Southend Airport?!? There was incredulity in my voice as my fellow chaps advised they’d booked their flight to Krakow. Our annual boys weekend cum pilgrimage to the mountains was fast approaching and this years destination were the Tatra Mountains, straddling Poland and Slovakia. The main highlight was to be Orla Read More …
A recent trip to the Lakes had reminded me of how much of it I still have to visit so it seemed an appropriate destination for a bank holiday weekend trip. Most of the UK population seemed to have the same thought and faced with gridlock on the M6 I Read More …
A check-up at the Royal Marsden is always a time for reflection/contemplation and with a hint of spring in the air I made a last minute decision to head up to Snowdonia. Guessing the majority of the snow would have melted from two weeks earlier I hastily grabbed some Read More …
The annual boys weekend in Europe took a turn with the invite list this year being extended to newcomers including…shock/horror a girl! Phillipa, one of our climbing buddies, had dared to invade the sanctity of the previously all-male crew. After Switzerland and the Tour de Wildhorn last year it was Read More …
It was a hastily arranged, largely un-planned attempt to give a couple of friend’s boys their first taste of wild-camping. The fickle UK weather meant the destination changed hourly until I decided we were going to Wales come hell or high-water – almost both almost came true! A dark, damp night Read More …
The trip started badly when one of the cases never arrived in Geneva – meaning no boots, ice-axe or crampons for two of our group. Easyjet tip – if they ask if you have any sharp objects do not volunteer you have an ice-axe and crampons in a case that’s Read More …
After neglecting my blog for some months now, I currently packing for a 6-day hut-to-hut route around the Wildhorn in the Swiss Alps. The past few months have been busy with work and sorting some personal stuff, so no UK trips save for a couple of climbing weekends down in Read More …
Unusually for Wales the 5-day forecast was showing clear weather. That usually counts for nothing with rain assured whatever the forecast, but rules are meant to be broken and the usual trek north saw me arriving at Gwern Gof Uchaf campsite to a clear sky and plummeting temperatures. Rather than Read More …
I’d originally planned to join Icicle Mountaineering’s Alpine Autonomy course but the weeks didn’t quite work out so I was booked on the Intro 4000m Summits & Skills course, excited about my first taste of alpine walking/climbing. My slight concern with the intro course was that it assumed no previous Read More …
Osprey Mutant 38 pack: I’d bought this the day before the flight and on arrival found that two others had exactly the same pack! This probably says more about the lack of choice in the UK with Snow & Rock, Cotswold Outdoor and Ellis Brigham all stocking the same limited Read More …