It seems fitting that our 100th blog post should be about Alex featuring in the celebratory 100th of the legendary Japanese climbing magazine Rock & Snow. Alex’s photo of Toru Nakajima climbing the Millstone E8 was featured on the cover of the issue. This issue also included Alex’s account of Toru’s incredible tour of…
‘Hard is Easy’ GriGri Videos Over the last few months I’ve had climbers on my Climbing Wall Instructor and Rock Climbing Instructor training and assessment courses mention the ‘Hard is Easy’ YouTube channel. The chatter especially mentions the Hard is Easy GriGri videos and in particular the videos on GriGri slippage and failure. Ben has…
Hawke Frontier 8×42 ED X Binocular Review For the last few years my trusty Opticron Discovery WP PC 8×32 binoculars have given me enormous pleasure on the hill. They are a great travel option being pretty much the smallest, lightest 8x32s around and representing great optical performance for the money. However, as a big birthday…
Patagonia Baggies Review Patagonia have from their inception manufactured items of clothing that remain in their collection for decades and become icons of the brand. Classic examples include Stand Up Shorts, the Snap T Pullover and Baggies Shorts. Patagonia released the ‘Baggies’ in 1982. Designed by Yvon Chouinard the Baggies have remained relatively unchanged in…
We are excited to announce our first Poetry in the Peak weekend. Led by award winning tutors Helen Mort and Sophie Sparham, this two day event will provide writing workshops and walks around Grindleford allowing you to immerse yourself in the spring countryside for poetic inspiration. …
MSR Reactor Review A long term use review of the MSR Reactor stove system. An excellent gas stove for Alpine use, Wild Camping and Bivouacs. Food and drink preparation in an outdoor environment is a vital element of both our performance and enjoyment. We need fuel to stay warm, keep moving and feed our brains. For…
Buffalo Mountain Shirt Review As a keen outdoors person, I love being out and about in all weathers, in the UK and beyond. The downside of this is layer management. Either you are too warm going up, or you are continually changing layers with weather and lunch breaks. If only there was something that could…
Gloves for Scottish Winter Walking and Mountaineering When your hands are cold they don’t work well, so gloves are an essential part of your Scottish winter kit. Firstly, no one glove will work all day, in all weather conditions so you will definitely need more than one pair. We recommend thinking about your gloves as…
Winter climbing partners never move fast enough! From my perspective I have just completed a lightning fast accent on a thin runout smear of ice then undertook the cleaning of iced up cracks with poise and precision to build a structurally satisfying anchor. All this done in record breaking time. Why then, is my partner…
What are the Risks of Using a Portable Camping Stove? A portable camping stove is an essential item of outdoor equipment but there are very real risks involved in their use. All of us who have spent any time in the outdoors camping or on a bivvy will have their tales of near misses; They can…
It comes for all of us… Whether you lead groups in lowlands, hills, moorland, crags or mountains, every three years we all come to the panicked realisation that our Outdoor First Aid certificates have reached their expiration date. Frantic, we hastily book a course with whichever provider can offer us the soonest and most convenient…
Clothing and Equipment for Scottish Winter Walking and Mountaineering This is a up-dated version of a post on clothing and equipment for Scottish winter walking and mountaineering first published in 2017 and then again in 2020. The principles are the same but I have updated some of the items to reflect my current preferences. Boots…