adventure

As the seasons turn and autumn arrives, the daylight hours decrease and the weather turns wetter and colder. It’s even more important, therefore, to carry the right kit with us when we are heading to the mountains. Good supportive footwear and effective waterproof clothing are essential, but what else should we pack? Here is my…

Staying ‘hill-fit’ is a guest blog by Kathryn Fitzpatrick – Freelance Guide. Unless you are lucky enough to live within 5km of the hills, getting out hiking is not an option for the majority of us at the moment, however staying ‘hill-fit’ doesn’t always have to include the hills. Check out a few tips below…

Scotland Winter Skills & Ben Nevis Weekend Here is an exciting opportunity to sample some Scottish winter walking (mountaineering), with awesomeness guaranteed. Learn the skills of hiking in the snowy Scottish hills, use of a walking ice axe and the correct use of crampons, then use these skills for a guided ascent of Ben Nevis,…

This is a lament we hear often on our courses and guided hikes, sometimes spoken in frustration, sometimes in anger, and most often at the end of a wet day. So why is our precious waterproof clothing failing to perform? In many cases it is because we are simply asking too much of it. The…

As summer advances ticks are becoming more active, and more outdoor enthusiasts are finding these unpleasant critters embedded in their skin. Ticks are arachnids, and related to spiders and scorpions. They have a 3-stage life cycle, larvae, nymph and adult. At each stage they need a blood meal to grow, ticks feed on small mammals,…

It’s a cliché to say we have become reliant on technology, and we certainly need a map and compass, and perhaps a GPS system, to find our way around unfamiliar hills. But how did our ancestors find their way around, and what natural features did they use to navigate across the land in times gone…

It seems as soon as the hot weather arrives in Ireland it has gone again. But it may return, and summer heatwaves do occasionally occur in our uncertain climate. In addition, many of us now head to hotter countries like Morocco, France and Spain to take hiking holidays.  Know Your Enemy There are inherent dangers…

As a teenage boy, I read a book by Earnest Hemingway, titled ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’. Since then this mountain has always fascinated me, and as a geology student studying the volcanic rocks of the African Rift valley, I revisited that fascination in my mind. This colossal cone of rock, rising from the hot African plain, and topped with glaciers and snow; one of the seven summits, the highest point on the continent of Africa, is a wonderful mountain and a challenge attainable by anyone with determination. Kilimanjaro, 5895 metres high, seen from the Moshi road. It must be over 12 months ago now, that my friend and work colleague at the time, Mostafa Salameh, asked me if I would be interested in joining him as an assistant guide on a charity climb of Kilimanjaro. The charity concerned was the…