Sgurr nan Gillean and Am Basteir: the Black Cuillin’s hair-raising finale

November 25, 2020 Trip reports alexander nicolson, am basteir, andy hogarth, britain, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, isle of skye, munros, scotland, sgurr nan gillean 2 Comments

We were facing a full day out in the Black Cuillin under sunny skies. Yes, that’s right. Beautiful sunshine in the Black Cuillin of Skye. I can’t believe I’m saying that. After two satisfying days on the ridge and another one to come, things were turning out well.

Sgurr na Banachdich to Sgurr a Ghreadaidh: touching cloth in the Black Cuillin

November 11, 2020 Trip reports britain, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, isle of skye, munros, norman collie, scotland, sgurr a ghreadaidh, sgurr na banachdich 1 Comment

I had injured my leg and didn’t know if I had time to recover for the next day of scrambling. What should I do: an easy walk to test it out, or a long day out I’d been looking forward to for a long time? Luckily, our guide Dave had a cunning plan.

Sgurr Alasdair to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich: the secret of Collie’s Ledge

October 28, 2020 Trip reports alexander nicolson, britain, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, isle of skye, munros, norman collie, scotland, sgurr alasdair, sgurr mhic choinnich 3 Comments

In last week’s post, I explained how we had hired a mountain guide to do Skye’s infamous Cuillin traverse, over 11 Munros with many technical sections. I had injured my knee backpacking the previous week, but I was determined to give it a try. Would I cope?

The Cuillin Traverse – to do or not to do?

October 21, 2020 Trip reports andy hogarth, britain, cicerone guides, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, inaccessible pinnacle, isle of skye, mamores, munros, scotland 7 Comments

We’d hired a mountain guide to do the Cuillin traverse, a 12km ridge on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, which takes in 11 Munros and many subsidiary peaks. But with injuries in both legs and a knee that couldn’t bend more than 90 degrees it seemed inconceivable for me.

The world’s most stupid navigational error

September 23, 2020 Humour britain, edita, grey corries, hill walking, munros, navigation, scotland, stob choire claurigh, weather 3 Comments

After a promising start to the day, the clouds moved in and the rain started pounding against them as they ascended the south ridge of Stob Choire Claurigh, the highest point in the Grey Corries, a ridge of quartz-laden peaks

The sorrowful tale of Little Mo the moorhen chick

July 1, 2020 Good causes animal rescue, britain, edita, wildlife, wildlife photography

This post doesn’t have anything to do with mountains, so please forgive the indulgence, but it’s a salutary tale about interaction with nature that may interest you. It contains some useful lessons (for me, at least) and a few schoolboy errors that I expect will have some of you shaking your heads in despair.

Climbing Cotopaxi: the ‘most beautiful of all the colossal peaks of the Andes’

December 11, 2019 Trip reports alexander von humboldt, andes, antisana, cotopaxi, ecuador, edita, tungurahua, volcanoes, wilhelm reiss 2 Comments

There are few more quintessentially conical volcanoes than Cotopaxi, and it’s hard to look at without wanting to climb it. Edita hadn’t, and as soon as the mountain re-opened after the eruption in 2015, she had to do so at the first opportunity.

Wanda Rutkiewicz: the mountaineer’s Google Doodle

October 23, 2019 History 8000m peaks, alison hargreaves, bernadette mcdonald, carlos carsolio, edita, everest, google, k2, kangchenjunga, wanda rutkiewicz 4 Comments

If, like me, you’ve never wondered why Google don’t feature mountaineers on their daily Google Doodle, then you would have been surprised to open your web browser on Wednesday to find a cartoon line drawing of somebody in a pith helmet tugging on a rope.

Fuya Fuya, the most exciting mountain in Ecuador

October 16, 2019 Trip reports andeanface, andes, ecuador, edita, fuya fuya, mojanda, trekking, volcanoes 1 Comment

According to the Urban Dictionary, the word ‘Fuya’ is a portmanteau whose meaning equates to the popular phrase ‘Fuck, yeah!’ If this is true, then the volcano Fuya Fuya was clearly going to be one of the most exciting climbs in Ecuador.

An ascent of Aukštojas Hill, the highest mountain in Lithuania

August 28, 2019 Trip reports aukstojas hill, edita, juosapine hill, lithuania, peak bagging, vladas vitkauskas 4 Comments

Since 2015, Edita has been gradually ticking off the highest peaks in the UK. First it was the highest mountain in Wales; then the highest mountain in England and then in May the highest mountain in Scotland. It was high time she introduced me to the highest mountain in her own country, Lithuania.

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