Blog
Book review: A Mountain Before Breakfast by Alan Rowan
A Mountain Before Breakfast By Alan Rowan Alan Rowan climbs mountains by night. His first book, Moonwalker, was all about his quest to climb the Munros despite a packed schedule as a sports journalist. The only time he could find for hillwalking was after work, so he cut his teeth
Review: Original Buff multifunctional headwear
When it comes to mountain headwear, traditionally I’ve kept things simple: wide-brimmed hat in summer, woolly hat in winter. But there is a third option. It’s been around for many years now, and it’s the most versatile thing you can stick on your head in the outdoors.
Footprints over Ingleborough: field notes
In the April 2017 issue of The Great Outdoors, available now, you’ll find my feature on backpacking a classic circuit over Ingleborough and Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales. Here are a few photos that didn’t make it into the article. I walked this route in January, but the
Anthropocene landscapes with the Fujifilm X-Pro2
My X-T1 started to exhibit the dreaded ‘peeling rubber handgrip’ problem after only six months, so I am now the proud owner of a Fujifilm X-Pro2. Here are a few images from my first morning shooting with the new camera. The X-Pro2 is pretty much my perfect camera. It has
#Walk2017 – images from the second hundred miles
I crossed the 200-mile threshold on my #walk2017 journey yesterday. Here are some photographs from the second hundred miles. While January was all about tree silhouettes against the sky and extraordinary light, the unifying theme of February has been colour. I’ve taken fewer monochrome images this month. My attention
Ten top tips for winter backpacking
The British mountains are at their most spectacular in winter, but also at their most challenging. Multi-day missions with nights out in the wild can be particularly hard on you and your gear. UKHillwalking contributor Alex Roddie is a big fan of long solo walks. Here are his top pointers
Gear notes from a night on the dunes – Tread Lite Gear, Oookworks & more
Last night, armed with a few new items of gear to test out, I went for a wild camp on the dunes by the coast. I managed to capture a few good images, too. I’ve camped here before. In June 2016, I took my lightest wild camping gear for
The final issue of Mountain Pro Magazine
Earlier this week, I was informed that Mountain Pro Magazine is closing down. The final issue is now out – as always, free to read online. Amongst other things, it includes two book reviews from me and a cracking bothy story from mountain writer John Burns. Mountain Pro Magazine has always
The times when I’ve gone ‘stupid light’
A couple of years ago, I read an article by Andy Skurka called Stupid Light: Why light is not necessarily right, and why lighter is not necessarily better. I’ve always tried to pack intelligently, rather than just aiming for the lightest possible load, but I’ve been guilty of