Longform
The gift of impermanent permanence
In early 2002 the Roddie family moved to a small village on the Suffolk coast. At the time I was sixteen years old and I didn’t appreciate the move. I felt that I was being taken away from my friends, and I didn’t really apply myself to making
The Ascent of Sasseneire
In the first week of July 2014 I conducted a journey through the Alps, beginning at the city of Aosta and ending at Evolene in the Valais. My original plan had been to climb Mont Brule on my way over the glacier from Italy, but the weather was bad that
Aosta to Evolene – an Alpine journey in the footsteps of Professor Forbes
In 1842, Professor James Forbes undertook an epic voyage throughout the Alps. In 2014, I replicated a 40-mile portion of that voyage: the segment between Aosta in Italy and Evolene in the Valais. In this blog post I’d like to tell you about my adventure and what I have
The Great Ridge of Edale
I try to balance three driving forces in my life: writing, work (the “day job that pays the bills” kind), and the outdoors. Unfortunately, 2014 has been unbalanced so far, with the day job gobbling up far too much of my time. I’ve tried my best to keep writing,
Avalanche
Avalanche. What does the word mean to you? Before I moved to Glencoe in the autumn of 2008, avalanches were not something I spared more than passing thought for. Like other aspirant mountaineers I studied “avalanche awareness,” but had not had many opportunities to practice my fledgling skills and had
The Mounth Passes by Neil Ramsay and Nate Pedersen: book review
The Mounth Passes: A Heritage Guide to the Old Ways through the Grampian Mountains by Neil Ramsay and Nate Pedersen (Kindle) This slim ebook came to my attention through the Scotways Twitter account. Scotways is one of the oldest outdoor access organisations in the country, established in 1845 to help
Scotland’s last surviving glacier lasted into the 1700s, research shows
My new novel, The Atholl Expedition, asks a question: when did the last glacier in Scotland die? Was it thousands of years ago in the prehistoric past, as is commonly believed, or did a glacial mass survive in one of the remote and secret recesses of the Highlands, away from
Focused writing apps for Windows 8
2017 note: I no longer use Windows and don’t really recommend any of these apps. I’m leaving the post up purely for historical interest. Windows 8 is a controversial subject at the moment. More and more of us are using “post PC” devices instead of traditional computers, both
Mountain Classics – The Mountain Men by Alan Hankinson
The Mountain Men: A History of Early Rock Climbing in North Wales by Alan Hankinson This series of articles showcases gems of mountain literature, both established classics and more esoteric titles. Alan Hankinson was one of the UK’s foremost scholars of British mountaineering history. He published a number of
Defeated by Lochnagar but inspired by Balmoral
Wham! The gust of wind punched me in the chest, lifted me off my feet, and hurled me twenty feet back through the air to land, dazed, on a snowbank. I struggled to get up again but the force of the wind was relentless, pushing me back step by step,