hill walking

This blog needs lightening up I think. For the last few posts I’ve been banging on about Everest and avalanches and so forth, and you’re probably getting a bit fed up with it, so this week I’ve decided to return

The most talked about subject in Britain at the moment isn’t the upcoming London Olympics, but the crap weather we’ve been having. First it was the wettest April on record, then it was the wettest May on record. I happened

The importance of keeping a good pace and rhythm when walking up a mountain During his expedition to Kamet in the Garhwal Himalaya, Northern India in 1931 – at the time the highest mountain that had ever been climbed –

When the Victorian mountaineer Edward Whymper visited Ecuador in 1879 – ostensibly to study the effects of high altitude, but in reality to polish off a few first ascents in the High Andes – he was far from impressed. In

An idiot’s guide to topographic prominence Once upon a time paid employees of the British Empire went to extraordinary lengths to calculate the height of the Himalayas. It’s quite widely known that the highest point on the planet is named

I’d been climbing for several years before I dared to call myself a mountaineer. I suddenly realised it one evening a couple of years ago when I got introduced to someone down a pub with the words, “here’s my friend

There are times when you pick the wrong option, and just have to shrug your shoulders with no regret. Last weekend was a bit like that for me. While the rest of the UK was enjoying glorious sunshine, I found

It’s taken a couple of visits, but I’ve arrived at the conclusion that the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales are a great area for backpacking and wild camping. They aren’t the most dramatic hills in the United Kingdom, but these

I’d like to pay tribute to a man called Graham Uney. I’ve never met him and I probably never will, but thanks to his Backpacker’s Britain walking guides I’ve had many an enjoyable weekend in the UK’s hills, in places

There are some hillwalking routes in the UK that everybody knows about, and in good weather are certain to be jam-packed with walkers, while others very close seem to remain known to connoisseurs only. I remember once being all alone

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walk

Backpacking in the Black Mount: a high level route for midges

The high-altitude slow plod

5 reasons Ecuador’s mountains are great for beginners

How to measure the height of a mountain

What’s the definition of a mountaineer?

A walk in the clouds

The Welsh Wilderness: backpacking in the Cambrian Mountains

Backpacker’s Britain: walking guides for people who like it tough

The Rhinogs: Snowdonia’s best kept secret