mountains
Scottish winter climbing: the future
I can think of no finer outdoor playground than the Scottish Highlands. These mountains, only a few hours by car from most of the UK, offer everything the outdoor enthusiast could wish for: spectacular scenery, world-class walking, kayaking and mountain biking, hills of every type from rounded lumps to jagged
“What about the next book?”
This is a question I have been asked several times over the last few days. Unfortunately the answer is far from simple! On Wednesday night at the book launch I dived headlong into a conversation about glaciers and legends and the remarkable books I have read over the last year
To look but not to touch – Glen Coe at its finest
With the excitement of my book launch, it’s easy to overlook the fact that I have been lucky enough to spend a few days in Glen Coe during a spell of grand beau temps. We are currently in the middle of one of the longest periods of calm, settled
The war on mountain freedom is still raging
Lies and ignorance, it seems, are more tenacious than I originally thought. Last week, I posted an article on this site issuing a simple plea: for more understanding, more education, and less knee-jerk sensationalism from the media and the general public. Mountaineering deaths are an emotive subject and it’s
The ascent of the Pinnacle Face: anatomy of a near-disaster
January the 27th, 2009 This is my account of a personal experience in the mountains of Glencoe: the closest I’ve ever come to an ‘epic’, or prolonged mountain incident. All dialogue is paraphrased although I believe I have recalled events accurately. Pictures were taken by me on the day.
The freedom of the hills is under threat
Before you share this feature on social media, please bear in mind that it refers to the events of 2013, and may not be as relevant today. Thanks for reading. Every winter, the mountains of Scotland take lives. They kill by hypothermia, by cornice collapse, by avalanche, or by a
392 years ago in a snow-swept Scottish glen…
Oh, cruel is the snow that sweeps GlencoeAnd covers the grave o’ Donald;Oh, cruel was the foe that raped GlencoeAnd murdered the house of MacDonald. Today, the 13th of February, is a day laden with significance for Glencoe. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that this dramatic landscape is
Scottish photoshoot – the author in his natural environment
In this blog post I would like to share some of the best photos from last week, taken on location in Glencoe. As readers will be aware, Glencoe is a key location for my book and the first chapter takes place on the crags of Stob Coire nan Lochan. For
The Beinn Fhada ridge, Glencoe
The Bidean massif is a complex mountain range. It’s a rugged landscape of secret valleys, soaring aretes, savage cliffs, hidden peaks. Since 2008 I have journeyed into this range on dozens of occasions and climbed most of the easier routes, even adding a couple of new ones to the
BBC Out of Doors interview on location in Glencoe
Today was a great day for me. Back in November I bumped into Chris Sleight, a radio journalist with BBC Out of Doors, and he suggested that we go for a climb together so that he could record an interview for his show. The date was set and we prayed