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 […]
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 […]
Figure of Eight Knot with Follow Through In the late 80’s there was a fashion for poking and threading the tail of a Figure of Eight knot back through the body of the knot. It looked neat and myself and few other young climbers and instructors starting using this variation. Then word got around that […]
This is a up-dated version of a post on clothing and equipment for Scottish winter walking and mountaineering first published in 2017. Not much has changed but some brands have some new kit that I have now included in this up-date. BootsPossibly your most important items of clothing and equipment for Scottish winter walking and […]
Rule number 0.5 in mountaineering is look cool and the reflective piping and orange stripes of the Scarpa Ribelle Mountain Tech OD certainly draw attention to themselves. Whilst the only time I have looked cool was stuck in a blizzard in Alaska, wearing these boots is about as close as I will get to cool […]
Congratulations to Beyond the Edge Director Chris who has this week summited Kyajo Ri in Nepal.
Blue Ice Warthog is made by a Chamonix valley based company producing niche climbing, mountaineering and skiing products specifically for instructors, Guides and Alpinists. I used the Blue Ice Warthog 40L for two months of Scottish winter while working for Jagged Globe and I’m using it now as my everyday work and crag sack. It fits […]
For the last two months I’ve been working in Scotland instructing Scottish winter mountaineering for Jagged Globe. Here is a gallery of some of the photographs I’ve taken while out in the hills and mountains. [supsystic-gallery id=’1′] Alex
I’m instructing winter mountaineering in Scotland at the moment and I’ve been getting out into the snowy mountains on most days throughout January and February. Those long walk-ins have given me plenty of time to think about what I’m wearing and what I’m carrying. Here are my musings. Boots Possibly your most important items […]
For decades the Silva Type 4 compass has been the choice of Instructors, Guides, mountain leaders, serious walkers and navigators. However now Silva have redesigned the Type 4 and renamed it the Expedition. The base plate of the Expedition is the same size and has a magnifier, grippy silicon feet, the usual 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 romer […]