Well I've gone and done it now.......

I've finally made the jump and paid out for a Welsh Winter Mountaineering course with Plas Y Brenin. I know that a course in Scotland would have a higher guarantee of snow, but I also want to book a scrambling course in Wales with Plas Y Brenin later in the year.

 

The information for the course can be found here:

 

http://pyb.co.uk/courses-detail.php?coursecode=WWM04&irisref=247

 

I'm looking forward to the course more than Christmas. I'm off to do the course the first week in February 2016 and will feedback my experiences on here. I've gone for the full bag of mashings; the course, accommodation and insurance. The pricing is on the site, and I think it is very reasonable when taking into account five nights stay and all the meals. But like most things, proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

One positive already is communication. I asked a question via email and the response took a couple of days, but was very good and exactly what I needed.

 

If you have experienced a Plas Y Brenin course please feel free to pass on your comments below.

Time for change

 

Possibly not quite as dramatic as it may sound, but I have decided I am too sedentary and started on a road to improved fitness. Or, possibly more accurate, a trail to improved fitness. From 1991 for almost twenty years I studied and trained in the martial art of Taekwondo, including 3-4 workouts at the gym every week. I was as fit as the proverbial ‘butchers dog’. After the ‘almost twenty years’ I had to give it up due to other priorities having, by then, reached the grade of 5th Dan Master. Although I have done a fair amount of walking since my accident back in 2010, I haven’t been as fit as I had liked. I have found the hills harder work than I should have. So several months ago I began a plan to improve my hill fitness.

 

Winter Has Gone, Spring 2015 is here.

It looks like we are well into Spring with the snow in the past....maybe. But we have fantastic walking weather at the moment. And typical, I have a bad cold that seems to be catching up with a lot of people. I'm off to the Lake District in three weeks, so as my cold is clearing I can get out for some exercise this week. But while I'm in the house, I've dug out my photographs from the winter and found some photographs of a crampon practise sessions I had on 4th February this year.

When is a Wainwright or any Summit Truely Bagged?

I’m a little confused over what people consider bagging a Wainwright. For example, there exists in the Himalaya a ridge of summits called the Gasherbrum (translates to ‘Beautiful Mountain’ in Balti) massif. This massif is made of 7 peaks. If I climb the first peak Gasherbrum I and cross the connecting ridges between them all, summiting each peak, have I bagged them all? Or should I climb each peak individually. The worlds mountaineers seem to think so. Gasherbrum V and Gasherbrum VI remain unclimbed.

 

So transposing this to the bagging of Wainwrights, if I summit Green Gable and then walk across to Great Gable, how many Wainwrights have I bagged? I’ll be honest, I’m not out to bag all the Wainwrights, it’s a challenge I chose to ignore. I am happy to climb the interesting ones and look for nice views and meet nice people. I’m just interested in opinions on this as I find it intriguing. I certainly wont be judging peoples opinions. Please comment.

AQUAPAC Medium Stormproof Camera Pouch: The Good. And the Why?

My current camera case is a none waterproof type. It’s fine in the Summer, it will take a light shower. But heavier rain is an issue. If it rains heavily, it gets wet, and eventually the water gets through. The padding holds water and makes the case heavier. And worse than that, my camera gets wet. The advantage is that I can easily access my camera, and the case does a good job of protecting the camera from knocks. So what camera case for the winter. One that protects the camera from knocks and keeps the rain off. But still provides a reasonable time for access. I decided to try an Aquapac Medium Stormproof Camera Pouch which I picked up from a Outdoor Retailer for a little over £10. Firstly the key features, from Aquapac.

Should I join the National Trust?

The National Trust is a charity that purchases, preserves and makes access to historical man made, and natural properties within the UK. They are the UK’s biggest land owner. They use an annual membership, donations and money raised from it’s properties to fund it’s running costs. With around 3.7 million members, 61,000 volunteers and ownership of over 350 historic houses and properties, etc the National Trust is quite a large organisation. But is it worth being a member?

 

Primaloft Information to start off a series of Reviews

Okay, so I have already reviewed the Keela Belay jacket. But I thought this information might be useful to show the efficiency of different types and weights of Primaloft insulation used in the jackets I already have and will review.

Thermal insulation has a value, a CLO value where one CLO unit represents 0.155m²K/W. This is based on the difference between a persons skin temperature and the outside temperature of the material. So a higher value represents a higher difference between your skin temperature and the outer material temperature, a good thing if it is cold. This means a higher CLO value is better.

Salewa Mountain Trainer Mid Preview

From an early age through to my mid teens rock climbing was part of the outdoor pass times we enjoyed in our family. From Wharncliffe Crags to Stanage Edge in the Peak District, through to Little Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley Wales I enjoyed the experience. Half way up Little Tryfan watching Tornado jets zip through the Ogwen Valley at your level and lower was amazing. So some of my walks are starting to trend more towards scrambling. Grindsbrook in the Peak District, Gordale Scar in the Dales and the little scramble found on the Corridor Route from Scafell Pike have offered a small taste of what we used to do, but I want to do more. So next year I plan on getting involved in Via Ferrata. So for more scrambling and Via Ferrata I have opted to purchase some new footwear. And I plumbed for the Salewa Mountain Trainer Mid.

 

 

Less is More? The Petzl E+LITE (2013)

Back in April 2012 I reviewed the Petzl E+LITE. Since then, Petzl have upgraded the head torch. Or maybe more to the point, have put it on a diet. But is lighter with less features better? Let's see.

 

 

Quick Review: Outdoors Grub

The reviews I have done this year of de-hydrated and freeze dried meals have been purchased from one retailer. I had been reluctant to mention a specific retailer, but an experience this week has changed my mind.

http://www.forgottentracks.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Meal%20Reviews

I have some plans for January, on a walking front, as long as the weather complies. Part of which is testing some water heating systems. So to make the project more interesting I thought I would purchase some nice freeze dried meals. I placed the order with Outdoors Grub on Friday 21st December with hopes that the packs would arrive maybe late next week. The website warned that no meal order would arrive before Christmas. What a shock when my order arrived this morning, Saturday 22nd December.

I'm not saying they will always deliver the next day, but I have to say the service from Outdoors Grub is always very swift. I have no connection to their company, but I think it's worth pointing out reliable retailers that are internet based. It's good to know that when you click on that 'Confirm Order' icon that you haven't just thrown you're money away on an unreliable retailer.

http://outdoorsgrub.co.uk/products.php

When a MytiMug ain't no Mug

I got out in the Peak District at the weekend, on the hills overlooking Langsett Reservoir. It was a day for testing a few new items. The first was my new, lighter camera. Its a Fujifilm Finepix S2980, a baby version of my S9500. I wont be reviewing it here, but it did a pretty good job of taking the photos for this review. Plus it's a lot lighter and more compact than the S9500. So all plus points so far, more to come later.

A Panorama shot with the new camera.

In this post I'll be taking a little look at the MytiMug, a 750ml capacity titanium mug from Alpkit.

Quick Look: Sherpa Adventure Gear Jivan Hat

Sherpa Adventure Gear, owned by a Sherpa family member, aims to give back to the unsung heroes of many mountain expeditions, the Sherpa. The company use Sherpas to test their gear and part of the profits from the company are paid as royalties to the Sherpa community in Nepal. As a new company I thought I would give one of their products a try.

Overview: Blogger on Android

Earlier in the year I was away in the Dales for a few days. While there I decided to try something different and post on my blog using my mobile phone. The software was Google's own Blogger App. I suppose in a way it became a bit more like Tweeting. The App can be downloaded from the Android Market Place and makes the job of posting on the go quite easy.