Longform
A night on the mountain
July 2006: James wakes up on a summit in Wales A night spent on the summit of a mountain is like no other experience. Since the days of my earliest adventures in the hills I have been captivated by the idea of a mountain bivouac; I imagined it to be
Caleb’s List by Kellan MacInnes: book review
Caleb’s List by Kellan MacInnes Caleb’s List by Kellan MacInnes (on blogger here and Twitter @KellanMacInnes) is a story with two equally important threads. Firstly, the author is an HIV/AIDS survivor who found the strength to rebuild his life through a love of hillwalking and the outdoors.
The Ice World
Mountaineers begin the ascent of Mont Blanc du Tacul, dwarfed by the ice world all around them. It’s strange to think that water, the compound essential to human survival, can coalesce and twist itself into the fantastical shapes and structures that clothe the world’s greatest peaks. The Alps
Oscar Eckenstein: the first true innovator of climbing equipment?
Eckenstein prototype “Ice Claw”, or crampon, in my personal collection “What the ice climbers of the future will be able to climb, I know not. But I find it hard to believe that we have already reached the limits of what is possible.” –Oscar Eckenstein, from his 1908 article on
Mountain inns and communities: worlds apart
Hotel du Mont Rose, Zermatt, 1864. Name the climbers and guides if you can! “Beyond the lake, broken cliffs and ribbons of ice reached up to the flat plateau of Illgill Head, and as they rounded a curve in the road, the fells that featured so fondly in Jones’ memory
The writer’s relationship with landscape
A page from my “crag book” Like many writers, my work is inspired by one thing above all else: landscape and its human context. My work is historical fiction first of all, but it’s also adventure writing about mountains and mountaineers. These adventurous activities would not exist without the
“We should think about turning back.”
The author fighting through a drift of fresh snow It’s the last day of my holiday in Glencoe. The original plan was to get out on the hill with my brother James and Isi Oakley (now assistant manager at the Ice Factor). We used to climb a lot as
Autumn snowcraft on Stob Coire nan Lochan
Broad Gully: one of the easiest snow routes in Glencoe. It didn’t feel much like winter today as I marched up the steep path towards Coire nan Lochan. Clear and dry unlike the day before, it actually felt rather warm and, sheltered from the cold wind, I was obliged
An aquatic scramble on the north face of Aonach Dubh
Ossian’s Cave I’m on holiday at the moment in Glencoe, staying at the Clachaig. As always, returning is a strange experience; it’s been over a year since my last visit, and for various reasons it no longer feels like home (although it will always be a second
“Breaching the Fortress” by Harold Raeburn: a companion article to OGJ
This is a fictional article I wrote some years ago as backstory for The Only Genuine Jones. It features a snapshot of the extended universe I have created for the story: a second attempt at the “Great Wall” of Ben Nevis (the Orion Direct route, in reality not climbed until