I asked Microsoft Copilot to give me a route description for Corsica’s GR20…

December 20, 2023 Humour chatgpt, corsica, france, gr20, guidebooks, long-distance trails 2 Comments

You wouldn’t believe what happened next! It’s that time of year again, when I delve into the wonders of modern technology and ask AI (that’s artificial intelligence, not insemination) to help make sense of the world’s great mountain questions.

The Spasimata Slabs: the day I nearly died on Corsica’s GR20

December 6, 2023 Trip reports cicerone guides, corsica, corsica aventure, france, gr20, long-distance trails, self-guided walking, via ferrata 2 Comments

The weather had been good for the best part of two weeks, but the rain gods were preparing for the last dance. We were about to cross the Spasimata Slabs, the most dangerously exposed section of the trek, and we were going to cross them at the worst possible time.

A surfeit of scrambling: walking Corsica’s GR20 North

November 22, 2023 Trip reports corsica, corsica aventure, france, gr20, long-distance trails, self-guided walking 1 Comment

When I signed off the last post, I was enjoying a delicious pork rosti and a pichet of vin rosé at a palatial hotel tucked away in the forests of Corsica. How on earth did I prise myself away from that luxurious setting and get on with the hardest section of the GR20?

Rosé, ridges and laricio pines: walking Corsica’s GR20 South

October 25, 2023 Trip reports cicerone guides, corsica, corsica aventure, france, gr20, long-distance trails, self-guided walking, the natural adventure 2 Comments

I’ve known about the GR20 for over 20 years, but it slipped to the back of my mind as I focused on peak bagging in the greater ranges. I sensed that long-distance hiking in Europe was something I would enjoy later in life. I guessed I must have reached that stage now.

Is Peaks and Bandits the world’s funniest mountaineering book?

June 29, 2022 Reviews and tributes alf bonnevie bryn, corsica, france, george finch, mountain literature, travel writing, vertebrate publishing 4 Comments

Thanks to Vertebrate and their Norwegian translator Bibbi Lee, the meagre pot of mountaineering mirth has become a little merrier with the unearthing of a little known gem of Norwegian literature.