A short walk in the Sesto Dolomites

October 18, 2017 Trip reports dolomites, edita, gaston rebuffat, italy, monte piana, simone moro, tre cime di lavaredo, trekking, via ferrata 1 Comment

The Apennines were our home from home while we lived in Italy, but I always wanted to visit the Dolomites at some point too. I finally had the opportunity in the very last week before I moved back to London.

5 beginner’s tips for cycling up mountains

October 12, 2017 Humour andes, britain, chimborazo, cycling, ecuador, north coast 500, scotland, sea to summit 11 Comments

The learning curve for beginners is always much steeper. Now that I’m safely back from my first ever cycling trips, I thought it would be a good moment to share some tips.

Is Cotopaxi now safe to climb?

October 6, 2017 Opinion and advice andes, cayambe, cotopaxi, ecuador, mexico, popocatepetl, volcanoes 9 Comments

Tomorrow Ecuador’s most popular volcano will be open again for the first time since a major eruption in 2015. But is it safe or is the decision premature? Here are my thoughts after a month in Ecuador.

Is this the world’s first ascent of Chimborazo from sea to summit?

September 29, 2017 Expedition dispatches andes, carihuairazo, chimborazo, chimborazo sea to summit challenge, cycling, ecuador, edita, edward whymper, first ascents, sea to summit 2 Comments

On Wednesday, Edita and I reached the 6310m summit of Chimborazo for the second time. We climbed via the Whymper Route on the southwest ridge, which traverses across the west face to join the Normal Route that we climbed last

Ice needles and guinea pigs: acclimatising in Ecuador

September 15, 2017 Expedition dispatches andes, chimborazo, chimborazo sea to summit challenge, cotacachi, cotopaxi, cycling, ecuador, edita, rucu pichincha, sea to summit, sincholagua, volcanoes 3 Comments

The fun is over. Tomorrow the serious business of cycling up Chimborazo begins. Our aim is to cycle from sea level then climb to the summit, with a bit of hiking in between. I have no illusions. It’s going to

The truth about the first Lithuanian ascent of Sgurr a’ Chaorachain

September 6, 2017 Humour britain, conrad bartelski, corbetts, cycling, edita, false summit claims, first ascents, hill walking, munros, north coast 500, scotland, sgurr a chaorachain 2 Comments

False summit claims were back in the news when a Swedish mountaineer retracted his summit claim after studying photographs and realising he hadn’t reached the very top. He was praised for his refreshing honesty, but a similar story of mountaineering integrity also deserves attention.

The peat-bog method of training for a big adventure

September 1, 2017 Expedition dispatches an teallach, britain, chimborazo, corbetts, cycling, ecuador, edita, hill walking, munro bagging, munros, north coast 500, peak bagging, scotland 1 Comment

In the last three weeks I’ve cycled 830km across 1273 hills, hiked up 8 Munros and 4 Corbetts, and scratched 253,953 midge bites 37 times per day. I camped for 20 consecutive nights and have lost count of the number

Get me off this bike and back on my feet

August 21, 2017 Expedition dispatches britain, cycling, edita, hill walking, north coast 500, scotland, wildlife 1 Comment

There was a surreal moment during our cycle ride of the North Coast 500 a few days ago. I had pedalled myself to complete exhaustion up and over steep hills for nine days, and my legs had nothing left. I

Some thoughts on hiking in the Dolomites and via ferrata

August 2, 2017 Expedition dispatches austrian alpine club, cicerone guides, dolomites, edita, italy, tre cime di lavaredo, trekking, via ferrata 3 Comments

We looked upon our four days in the Dolomites as a reconnaissance: an easy hike from hut to hut, carrying little more than a day pack. We had no set itinerary, and chose our route from day to day. We also wanted to do some research with a view to climbing the famous via ferratas.

Unfinished business on Corno Piccolo

July 29, 2017 Expedition dispatches abruzzo, apennines, corno grande, corno piccolo, gran sasso, hill walking, italy 2 Comments

Our big adventure was due to start in the Dolomites, but just before we left Rome, we had one final opportunity to sneak up Corno Piccolo, the last major peak in the Gran Sasso range to elude us.