The Ascent of Cairn Toul and a crossing of the Braeriach Plateau
Braeriach, at 1,296m, is the third highest peak in the UK and one of special significance for me. My relationship with this enigmatic mountain goes back to November…
Tag: mountains
Backpacking from Blair Atholl to Aviemore
There comes a point in every writer’s career when the usual Google research is no longer enough. You’ve read the Wikipedia articles, you’ve chased up every ebook and…
I’m off on an adventure!
~ Braeriach in May 2010 ~ Well, it’s that time of year again! I’ve worked extremely hard this month to hit my (enormous) target at work, and as…
First look – EVEREST: THE FIRST ASCENT by Harriet Tuckey
On May the 29th, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the highest point on planet Earth. After fifty years of dreaming and hair-brained schemes, of…
Avalanche by moonlight
The ordinary experience on the UK’s mountains can be a predictable one. The weather is either middling, with low cloud, blustery wind and a splutter of rain, or…
The Chomolungma Diaries by Mark Horrell
The Chomolungma Diaries – what a Commercial Everest Expedition is Really Like by Mark Horrell Everest has been in the news a lot recently, and for all…
The mountains of my life – Castor, my first Alpine peak
~ My brother James and Castor in the Swiss Alps ~ This blog post is part of a series of articles on mountains that have a special significance…
The ugly side of climbing and mountaineering culture
~ Aleister Crowley in 1902 ~ I’d like to begin this post by apologising on behalf of climbers everywhere. Today mountaineering has been in the news, and for…
Climbing with an Alpenstock
“It is a fact that everything which can be done with the alpenstock can be done also and better with the axe. No proper step can be quickly made…
The mountains of my life – Stob Ban, my first Munro
This blog post is part of a series of articles on mountains that have a special significance for me. See also: Bowfell and Tryfan. My hillwalking apprenticeship was played out in the Yorkshire…
The mountains of my life – Tryfan
This blog post is part of a series of articles on mountains that have a special significance for me. See also: Bowfell. Two weeks ago I wrote a…
More webcams in the hills: an answer to the mountain safety question?
It seems that the bad news keeps coming this winter. Thirteen mountaineers have so far lost their lives during the course of the season, and many (if not…