Walking in the Dolomites - Aug/Sept 2015

Had a great walking holiday with Exodus Travels in the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy at the end of August.  We would walk at least ten miles each day, high up into the mountains, over 3000m on one day.  The weather was splendid and the landscape stunning.  

Here is the video I made...

Walking the South Downs Way - Aug 2015

I'd always thought it would be nice to walk the whole 100 miles of the South Downs Way one year. So earlier this August I caught the train to Winchester and started the walk.

  

Logistically, the most straight forward way to walk the South Downs Way is the wild camping way, meaning no need to try and estimate how many miles I'd manage in a day; I could just walk as far as I liked each day until I had decided enough was enough.

Other advantages of the wild camping method are that you camp along the route instead of having to walk miles off course to find B&Bs or camp sites, which are fairly scare anyway.  You also stay closer to nature and get to look up at the stars at night from your sleeping bag, which is nice.

I set off from Winchester's King Alfred statue at 6.30pm and got 7 miles done before camping near Cheriton.  The next day I walked a further 16 miles to Butser Hill, arriving there by 6.30 in the evening.  By now, I was experiencing a pain in my legs that was telling me I needed to stop the walk at this point and finish it off in shorter stages at a later date.  The nearest train station was Petersfield which was another 6 miles, bringing the day's mileage to 22 miles and the first quarter of the South Downs Way completed in 24 hrs. 

Golden fields of wheat on the approach to Old Winchester Hill

Looking SW from Old Winchester Hill

Looking west from Old Winchester Hill

Looking east towards Butser Hill from Old Winchester Hill

Skiing in Les Arcs - Feb 2015

A sea of cloud fills the valley one early evening after the lifts had closed for the day.  There was precious little blue sky during the week, so when it came, moments like this were to be cherished.

On a more dramatic note, I smashed my previous speed record, clocking 63mph this holiday!

Snowdonia trip - September 2014

With the summer heat usually over, September is a good month to head off for some fresh mountain air.  And this time round, I had two ideas to put into plan in Snowdonia National Park:

The first, was to have a third attempt at summiting Snowdon via the Crib Goch ridge; previous attempts in other years had failed due to a combination of poor weather and the complex route around the pinnacles.
The second idea was to fly a radio-controlled glider from Snowdon's summit.  If these two goals were to come together then it would mean carrying the glider up Crib Goch; luckily it disassembles and attaches to the back of my rucksack quite easily.

As this was going to be a two day hike, I couldn't really leave the car in the Pen-y-pass pay-and-display car park for that amount of time, so I decided to start from the scenic viewpoint a mile SE of Pen-y-pass.

It was a good hour over some rough terrain before I had walked up to Pen-y-pass, and then began the ascent of Snowdon via Crib Goch.  It's quite a steep scramble up the first part before it gets easier. The ridge itself isn't too bad until you get to the frightening pinnacle sections, and then it is not particularly obvious as to how you are meant to get over or around them!  But this time I found the way.

That evening I watched a magnificent sunset from the summit and view of the stars from my sleeping bag.
The next morning I flew my glider for an hour before heading down the long Watkin Path.
I made a couple of films documenting the climb and flight, which can be seen by clicking on the links below.

Video of Crib Goch ascent

Video of glider flight from Snowdon summit

The Llanberis Pass

Crib Goch ridge

Llanberis Pass from Crib Goch ridge with impressive goat in foreground

Sunset from Snowdon summit

Long exposure photo of Llanberis from Snowdon summit under starry night sky

Long exposure photo of the Snowdon summit cafe under starry night sky

Y Lliwedd (898m)

Flying done, and about to head down the long Watkin Path.

GPS track of the walk (14 miles)

Marwell Zoo

Time to give the telephoto lens a workout, and what better place for that than Marwell Zoo.

Leopard

Leith Hill

Leith Hill (294m) in the Surrey Hills is the highest place in South East England below Berkshire, with panoramic views northwards to London and the English Channel to the south.
On a clear day, fourteen counties can be seen from the telescope at the top of the 18th century Gothic tower.  The 20m tower became National Trust property in 1923 and still attracts visitors from across the country.  The spectacular views from Leith Hill's treeless summit made it a popular spot for Victorian picnics.

Looking south towards the South Downs (20 miles away).

Looking east towards Gatwick airport (13 miles away).

Looking north towards London (26 miles away).

 The London Shard (26 miles away).

Brompton World Championships - July 2014 at Goodwood

The Brompton is the world's best-selling folding bike, and every July Brompton host the World Championships race, which is now held at Goodwood race track in Chichester.  The only bizarre rule is that the dress code has to be jackets and ties, which is to reflect the fact that the bike is popular with commuters.

Here I am, leading what looks like a peloton, with a GoPro on my helmet filming the race.  And here's the video I made afterwards:   Video of Brompton World Championships 2014