Mountain Athlete
Even for an experienced equipment tester helmets are an inherently difficult thing to review. Despite their many and varied design features helmets are really there for one obvious reason, to protect your head from the type of serious impact you ideally want to avoid. So their is always a certain guilt associated with commenting on …
As I packed my bags to return to the wild mountains of Patagonia this winter it became pretty clear to me that I was going to need a serious clothing system. With some ambitious plans in the pipeline, I needed hard shells that could do everything. I needed comfort for the brutally long approaches, as …
Continue reading "The Sharp End: testing top of the range pro shells from Black Diamond"
Mention solo climbing to anyone and you will inevitably get mixed reactions. Some people will immediately conjure up extreme images in their head of the most insanely epic freesolo climb they have ever heard about, before promptly calling you crazy. Others will take a more pragmatic approach in their judgement, considering the practical issues and …
Continue reading "Patagonia winter solo attempt: Aguja Guillaumet"
In the mountains sometimes success finds you when you least expect it. When Matthew Tufts suggested I join him and Pedro Fina for the start of their icecap traverse so I said why not, knowing little about the actual objective the had in mind. There were several days of good weather on the forecast and …
Continue reading "Cerro Rincon: a new route and a summit in Patagonia at last!"
It’s been several days now since Carlos and I stumbled back into El Chalten after eight exhausting days alone in the cold Patagonian winter. We stretched our supplies of food and gas to the limit so by the time we made it back to town we were completely destroyed both physically and mentally. Since getting …
After a few busy months I am lucky enough to find myself back in Patagonia. It’s been a tough winter for me in the northern hemisphere with poor climbing conditions in Scotland and all the pressures of normal life taking their toll. Down here time seems to move more slowly and this seems to be …
Having worked in the outdoor industry for several years it takes something special to really grab my attention these days. Every once in awhile though, I encounter something truly unique and this year that was the Dolomite Veloce GTX. So what is the Veloce GTX? To label this product as an approach shoe, trail shoe …
Anyone vaguely familiar with the nuances of alpine climbing will have heard the phrase 'fast and light' so many times it's enough to make your head spin. In reality though the idea is far more than just a marketing catchphrase to sell fancy equipment, fast and light is a climbing philosophy and an intrinsic part …
Continue reading "BD Ultralights: Climb fast and light without compromise"
This year I finally got the chance to climb on Ben Udlaidh, one of Scotland’s best but often allusive Ice climbing destinations. It was a venue I had heard so much about over the years and it always appealed to me as steep ice has long been my favourite climbing discipline. Needless to say this …
