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

Brecon Beacons - April 2014

With the arrival of Spring, it felt like a good time to head off to the Brecon Beacons for a couple of days.  The mission would be to fly a glider from the summit of Pen-y-Fan (the highest mountain in southern England & Wales) and then explore the waterfalls in the heart of the National Park.
The only other time I've climbed Pen-y-Fan was from the south side; this time I would walk up from the north side.

Approaching Pen-y-Fan from the north.

Looking east towards Cribyn (795m) from Pen-y-Fan.

Sweet little lamb and mother sheep.

Waterfalls along the Afon Mellte river.

The tall Sgwd yr Elra waterfall, which you can walk behind.

Lake District trip - September 2013

Time for another trip to the Lake District!

September is a great month to go because the campsites are relatively empty and the weather can still be quite pleasant.  So after following the weather forecast for a while, a stretch of several days fine weather towards the end of September became apparent, and I went for it.

Day One:  Set up camp at Castlerigg campsite near Keswick and then went up Cat bells (451m) - a popular ridge walk on the west side of Derwent Water; an hour to the summit and then followed the lakeside path back to the start point.    (Click on photos to view them in full size)

View from Castlerigg campsite near Keswick

Day Two:  Hay Stacks (597m) is reputed to have one of the best summit views in the Lake District.  The five hour slog began at Buttermere with a 3 mile walk along Buttermere lake and the valley before a steep climb up to Hay Stacks.  As often happens, the path became less than clear and I found myself scrambling up a gully before working my way round to the summit with spectacular views on all sides.

The photo above shows the end of Buttermere lake with Fleetwith Pike (648m) rising in the foreground.  Haystacks is slightly off the right of the photo. 

Here I am on the summit of Hay Stacks with Buttermere lake and Crummock Water in the background.

Innominate Tarn with Great Gable two miles away in the background - the view looking SE from Haystacks.

The sun had just set, and this view from the west side of Buttermere lake on the return part of the walk was certainly worth a photo.

Day Three:  After yesterday's long walk, I decided it might be nice to do a spot of gliding, but the winds were light and SE which presented a challenge in finding somewhere suitable to fly.  Binsey hill (447m) near Bewaldeth, a few miles north of Bassenthwaite Lake is a recommended flight site, but the contours make this more of a slope for SW/ S winds.

Here's the wonderful view looking south from Binsey hill, with Bassenthwaite Lake three miles away and Skiddaw looming on the left of the picture.  I didn't fly there in the end as the wind was too light and unpredictable, but it was worth the climb for the view.

Back at base camp, this was the evening sky, looking west towards the Derwent Fells.

Day Four:  Another fantastic day of blue skies and perfect conditions.  This photo was taken while walking up Dodd (491m), which is a beautiful little mountain on the SW side of Skiddaw Forest, a few miles from Keswick.  It is surrounded by forest and has the most charming views from the top.

Derwent Water over Dodd Wood from the summit approach of Dodd.

 Panoramic photo of Bassenthwaite Lake from the summit of Dodd (3 miles NW of Keswick)

In the later afternoon it was definitely time to do some gliding.  So with the wind blowing from the ESE, a study of the maps suggested Souther Fell (522m) seven miles to the east of Dodd should give some superb slope soaring.

And here is the view from Souther Fell looking SE towards Great Mell Fell (537m), a little over 3 miles away.  My MULTIPLEX SOLIUS glider (2.2m wingspan ) had a great flight on one of the biggest slopes I have ever flown, as can be seen in these next two photos.  It was one heck of a climb up there, and in retrospect I think it might have been better to have given the east face of Latrigg a go instead, which although semi-forested on the lower slopes, can at least be reached by car with relative ease.

Slope soaring on Souther Fell looking across to Great Mell Fell.

Slope soaring on Souther Fell.

Here I am on the summit of Souther Fell; the final shot of the holiday.  It might look warm but it certainly wasn't!