Monkey Magic

For a while now I have been in contact with Ian who is a mountain guide who lives on the Isle of Skye, so when a chance offer of a winter skills course came about I jumped at the chance. Joining me on this weekend was Paddy and Gill. After setting off from Hartlepool around 1:30 I arrived at Incree outdoor centre and we found Ian waiting for us in the bar, which is normally a good place to find me actually. We had a few drinks and headed off to the accommodation for some of Leanne's homemade soup and Gill's vegetarian Sheppard’s pie. We discussed the plan for the following day and decided to meet up at 9am to set off into the mountains. Day 1 Buachaille Etive Beag Waking up on Saturday with a ... read more

A bit of a last minute job this trip. Got bored on the way home from London and next thing i know i have managed to arrange a weekend trip to the lakes. We stayed @ Scotgate Holiday Park near Keswick. Bit of a crowded caravan type park, great facilities though but i like seclusion. Anyway Thomas made loads of freinds so Bonus !! The walk i done was featured in this months trail magazine and included 5 Wainwrights. Ullock Pike, Long Side, Carl Side, Skiddaw and Bakestall. It took me bang on 4 hours and i can say i was absolutely shattered at one point. The few beers the previous night and hot weather really took its toll. The walk is really good, great views, this approach of Skiddaw is a great walk. The pictures ... read more

Thomas and Leanne joined me a weekend camping trip to the Lakes, our destination Hollows Farm @ Grange in Borrowdale. We arrived early and quickly pitched my new tent the North Face Tadpole 23, which i can now confirm is officially the best tent on the planet lol. 2 adults and a 3 yr old child managed to fit in it which was quite surprising. once the tent was up we headed for a car park just North of Skeghill bank. It started to pur down with rain but luckily for Thomas we had his all in one waterproof Spotty Otter suit. Myself and Leanne were drenched in our cheapo gear. We reached the top of Skeghill bank (the 1st hump on Catbells) quite easily and gave Thomas a well deserved rest. The rain continued and ... read more

This report was written by my good freind Mr Blister. I’ll put this one down largely to UKmase, who really wanted to do the walk, to test his stamina over long distance in preparation for his Cleveland Way trip. After lots of PM’s flying here and there, the walk was set for a very windy Saturday 1st March. Night before saw gales and sleeting rain, and so it was some relief that I saw the next morning that the rain had stopped. Sure the wind was still blowing, but the local weatherman assured me it was going to calm down my midday - ha! After an inauspicious start of meeting UKmase at the wrong church in Beverley - I was at one church, he was at another (“There is only one minster in Beverley, right”), we ... read more

Ben Nevis Challenge The gauntlet of climbing the highest mountain the UK was laid down and a team of seven signed up; myself, Ashley Bowers, Phil Cartmell, Sam Thrower, Owen Bouwer Claire Nicholson and Kathryn Shackleton. Arriving on Friday 29th September we soon realised the extent of what we had let ourselves in for. I would describe the Nevis Range as the lake district on stilts. After a very cold night camping at Glen Nevis campsite we got our gear ready and set off at 8:30. We quickly realised that map reading skills were not needed as plenty of other climbers were tackling The Ben The first section nicknamed the Elevator took is toll quickly, this section was two hours of relentless stone steps. The teams spirits were kept high by my constant lying that the ... read more