Like all good trips, this one started with a quick message. ‘Are you interested in a bit of an adventure in November? I’ve got a two-week slot at the end of the month.’ It was from Johnny. I replied that I was keen and we agreed to meet up, have a cup of tea and a chin wag, and firm up some plans. One cup turned into two, and a chin way turned into a deepening plan to head out on a proper end-of-the-year adventure. We were looking into options that would make use of the prevailing winds, coming pretty much from the north if the forecast was to be believed. We were also bracing ourselves for fi ..read more

11 days, 435km, 13 blisters, 1 suspected 'Carpal tunnel syndrome' and no transport. It was going to be one hell of a trip. I had been craving a new adventure., something totally different, maybe even a holiday. The past few winters had been occupied preparing for my Winter Mountaineering Climbing Instructor (WMCI/MIC) and now that was finished and so opportunities for this sort of trip had been few and far between. But I had one now... Lockdown had seen us spend more time adventuring from home, but with limited range. This trip would extend on that. Paddling literally from our front doors, wit ..read more

It's getting to that time of year again, temperatures are dropping, the tops of the mountains are starting to show the first snows of the season and what we pack in our rucksacks starts to change. With more factors to take into consideration, we need to start to think more in terms of how we plan our days for the snowy months. A great model for decision making and planning our days comes from the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) - The 'Be Avalanche Aware' Model Using this model gives us a process to work through, making decisions at different stages in our proposed day. Throughou ..read more

I've had my fair share of memorable days in the mountains, an environment that provides my income, brings me joy and allows me to share amazing experiences with awesome people and keeps my body healthy and my mind free. It's very easy to take all this for granted, but sometimes you have a day that reminds you just how special it is to be part of other peoples memories, when you see someone's grin over a vista you may of seen a hundred times before, when you see it again through their eyes and its magic. Our 2 day traverse of the Black Cuillin Ridge was something special, my close friend Kevin ..read more

Planning your first scrambles can feel overwhelming at first, but the process can become easier to digest if we apply a solid framework. And like most things, we learn and develop a little every time we venture out, eventually becoming as routine and important as making your lunch! Below is a framework to aid gathering relevant information and how we apply this to planning our day, helping us make decisions at the right times in key places. Over the years, racking up my own experience, I believe that the 'Be Avalanche Aware' model works well in any adventure sport, I use and teach this for pl ..read more

There is something very special about skiing to the waters edge, like all the way to the lapping water on the shore. After a very hit and miss season having a huge thaw that saw nearly all of the snow melt. But recently it had recently been dumping for around 7 days, building the base as if it were the start of the season, winds changing direction, fluctuations in temperature but staying cold enough to keep the precipitation falling as snow on the mountains. Then we saw a break in the high winds of late and plenty of snow had been falling with the last 24hrs of wind blowing roughly NW. After a ..read more

After your boots, an ice axe is possibly the single most useful piece of kit for winter walking. Use it alone, or with the addition of crampons, for a secure day out in winter. This article looks at how to choose it and then how to use it, so that you can discover some of the great places the ice axe can take you. The Orgins of the Ice Axe The predecessor of the ice axe was the alpenstock, a long wooden pole with an iron spike tip, used by shepherds for travel on snowfields and glaciers in the Alps, since the middle ages. This was used purely for herding purposes until the late 1700’s when Al ..read more

The transition from summer rock climbing into winter is best prepared for in advance. Dusting off your B3 boots, ice axes and crampons, is best done ahead of the first snow so you can re-lace your boots or sharpen the axes that you meant to sharpen at the end of last season. Unlike Harold Raeburns 1906 ascent of Green gully on Ben Nevis, with one axe, some hobnailed boots and a hemp rope, nowadays we have a whole plethora of kit to choose from, which is very useful for some of the harder winter ascents taking place. However, what to choose and how to prepare it, can be daunting for those just ..read more

You may be relatively new to winter walking or an expert winter climber, but avalanche awareness applies to us all and unfortunately, I don't think we can ever sit back and say we have it all sorted. It needs constant awareness and practise both at home and in the mountains. I hope if you are reading this, you have managed to get some previous avalanche training and have been made aware of the Be Avalanche Aware process. If not get yourself online to find out more, or download the handy PDF. There are also leaflets in shops and ski resorts which are free to take home and are a useful resource ..read more

Keeping our hands warm in winter is a common topic of conversation and an area of confusion for some. The idea of needing the most expensive gloves on the market, or buying the thickest pair possible, is not necessarily the only way to go about keeping your hands warmer. I hope to share with you some tried and tested top tips. Work from the Inside out I know we said we were talking about hands, but one of the biggest ways to keep our extremities like hands and feet warm, is to have a warm core… the old saying 'warm heart means warm hands'. Core: Multiple layers in good 'wicking' materials. In ..read more