Had an email from the John Muir Trust this week asking if they can use some of my Monaliadth photos in their up an coming campaign work. You’ll probably be aware of the problems looking here with wall-to-wall wind turbines and so on.

I’ll be taking another look at these over the next few days as I sort out the best ones. I’ll also write an essay on these wonderful mountains I think. Your feelings for, and memories of, this great upland area would be welcome as well.

I was approached by a man — obviously a hiker — of a certain age. He was dressed in “full Paramo” and carrying a rucksack that was almost bigger than my house. He was waving a waterproof folder in his hand and brandishing a pen. He greeted me”

“wasyurnumba?”

“Pardon?

“wasyurnumba?”

“Sorry, what did you want?”

“WASYURNUMBA?”

It then suddenly dawned on me. He was asking for my number. Computing all of this quickly I realised he meant my TGO Number. This is the number that you are allocated when you get a place, and the number you use when phoning in to Challenge Control. I duly gave him my number. He appeared appreciative and hunted in the folder.

He brandished a copy of the the TGO Participant list, searched down the columns, made a tick and then gave me a big smile. Andy Howell. Birmingham he grinned.

I’d been spotted. Of course, there are ‘spotters’ everywhere and I suppose one of the problems with the Challenge is that there are few opportunities for train spotting, although I’m sure the high level route through Corrour Station is a popular route ‘spot’.

By now you will beginning to realise that there is — how can we say diplomatically — a certain eccentricity about your fellow Challengers. A few weeks studying of the Challenge Notice Board will now doubt have left you feeling a little intimidated. So, take this as a warning and be prepared!

Nothing can quite prepare you for that first encounter with Challenge kind.

Most likely you will meet them at Glasgow Queen Street. (You may also meet them at Inverness Bus Station but their numbers will be suitably diluted).

The foyer of Glasgow Queen Street will be heaving with walkers. Ruscksacks will take over every conceivable bit of public space. Ordinary commuters will be looking stunned and shocked. The Challengers will be dancing around and shouting for joy as they meet long lost friends. It is an odd thing this. They will appear to have known each other for years, and many of them will have — even though they only meet once a year.

It is difficult to know what advice to give you about etiquette on this occasion, other than possibly make sure you don’t get crushed in the rush for the train. I suppose you could always put on a smile and just ask individuals for their number. But that might be a tad extreme.

But it gets worse. Once you get on the train.

The train North from Glasgow is a little train which splits so that half of it goes on the line to Mallaig and half to Oban. By the time the train pulls out spirits are really high and the adrenalin is really pumping. People can’t sit in their seats for longer than a minute or two. Conversations are going on all over the place. Enquiries are made about fellow Challengers and you’ll no doubt recognise one or two names in the middle of all this.

You could just join in with the mayhem, though admittedly this is hard (and not for the faint hearted). It might be easy to just sit their, enjoy the stunning scenery and go with the flow. It is a little easier to start getting to know people at the start location as they are generally in smaller groups and have begun to calm down a bit.

From then on it is all plain sailing. You only have to worry about little things, like falling into a bog or slipping off the side of a mountain.

But – during the first few days — why not play a ‘spotting game’ yourself? Here’s a short introductory guide.

The Trim Beard

This Challenger is pretty ubiquitous and a very social beast and you’ll encounter him by the time you get to Braemar if not before. His beard will be immaculate and his clothing garb neatly chosen; he will hardly look as if he will has been trudging through bog for a week. His name will be Sloman. Basically, this is a harmless creature but you should take some extra care when near a hostelry.

Spot value = 5 points.

The Northern Trim Beard

Sometimes confused with the standard Trim Beard. The Northern version has a more local accent and often wears specs. He too is an exceptionally social animal and is often to be seen dispensing pastural care. Responds well to the call of “Morning Vicar”. This is the Rev. David Alban.

Spot Value = 5 points.

The  JJ

A very unassuming character and another very sociable beast.  The JJ was the first Challenger that I met. There’s nothing really to fear here but just beware that he is likely to burst into song or poetry at any time – and he will insist that you join in. Goes by the name of John.

Spot Value = 5 points.

The Cashmere Sweater

This is a walker who always wears a stylish, light blue, cashmere sweater. The sweater is easily identified by discreetly placed ventilation holes. This Challenger can be difficult to understand and confusing if encountered more than once, as it adopts multiple personalities. Sometimes known as Humphrey. You may not meet Humphrey, but you will hear a lot about him. This could be a very valuable spot as he is currently well down the standby list. We may not see him, but somehow I think we might.

Spot Value (could be difficult) = 20 points.

Lilo Lil

This one is very difficult on account of it’s ability to completely change appearance every year or so. You will probably recognise him when he identifies himself as ‘Lilo’. Yes, do ask why he is called that !!!

Spot Value = 15 points

The  Pidgeon

Best spotted during the morning. My last ‘spot’ was on the road to Braemar. The Pidgeon was walking in crocs and appeared to be pregnant. Closer inspection showed that his waterproof was stuffed full of cans of some kind of strong brew. One other clue to this being the Pidgeon will be the bottle of single malt sitting in his pack pocket. If encountered in the morning the Pidgeon will have you crying with laughter.

Spot Value = 5 points. 5 bonus points are available if you can ascertain his previous occupation in life.

The Cartwright

This beast is even smarter than the trim beard. His hiking gear is effectively colour co-ordinated. There is no danger in the Cartwright but you may find yourself being forced to sit through endless gear demonstrations if you linger too long. His rucksack is like a tardis. The Cartwight might be a very good spot this year as he didn’t enter. But there is some talk about him appearing in a van somewhere en route.

Spot Value = 30 points

The L & T Combination

This is, in fact, two spots. This is Lee and Tony although increasingly they seem to be morphing into one personality. You can spot them during the evening — there will be two light grey American Tents. You can spot them in hostelries on account of them only drinking black beer with a frothy top.

Spot Value = 5 points

The M & G Combination

Very different to the above combination on account of one being of the female species. However, the female is easily to spot as she will be brandishing graphs and charts and spreadsheet print outs to all who make the mistake of feigning interest. M is a calm and laid back Challenger who will cause no problems. G is a little OCD in behaviour terms, but nevertheless reasonably sociable.

Spot Value = 5 points

The Egg

Another member of the female species. The Egg sounds a bit posher than many of us. But don’t let that put you off as she is great value for money. The Egg has lived a life of amazing and daring adventures. This accounts for the split spot value.

Spot Value = 5 points

Plus 2 bonus points for every adventure story you can coax out of her.

Little Sam

I know this is Dicken’s anniversary, but this is nothing to do with that. Sam can easily be recognised by some key characteristics. Can down amazing amounts of alcohol during the evening but will be up and out before anyone else next morning. Walks long and hard. Not quite as common a sight on the Challenge these days but sure to be around this year. Might be having a crisis if the Hungry Highlander in Braemar has not re-opened.

Spot Value = 10 points.

The Liddle (no not the Supermarket)

A Challenger of the female variety. Might confuse you as she seems to live en route — you might think she has taken a wrong turn somewhere and not stopped walking. But fun and good company.

Spot Value = 5 points

The Lawman

An interesting spot this as the lawman has probably the most weird route. It seems to involve taking a sleeper to London and then returning the next night. Surely, the sending of a food parcel would have been an easier re-supply tactic?

Spot Value = 5 points

…. and finally

The rare CT

This is a very challenging spot. Nothing to be frightened of in terms of behaviour but incredibly difficult to spot on account of taking routes that are high, wide and lonely. Can go on about different types of stoves for a long time. Very knowledgeable on water proofs. A spot at the Challenge Dinner does not count.

Spot Value = 20 points.

That should do you. Let me know if you need more Challengers to put on your spot card. I may not have upset enough yet !!!

If you are ‘experiences’ feel free to share your favourite spots!

Those of us who are used to wild camping find it easy to wax lyrical about the wonder of the experience. Imagine. You make camp towards the end of the afternoon. The sun is beginning to soften and drop down towards the horizon, but the air is still warm and pleasant. You find a lovely spot next to, say, the Findhorn River. The light ripples on the water. The heathery hills above are dappled in soft light. Birds sing. Deer gracefully make their way across the skyline. You pitch your tent and then rest your weary feet, dangling them in the cool water as you sit on a soft and grassy bank ….

Or. The tent is up in a flash as all hell breaks loose around you. You struggle, inside the vestibule, to light a stove to get a hot drink on to combat the freezing cold. Rain lashes down on the flysheet. Gale force winds batter the tent poles. You struggle around like a poor demented soul, getting out of those wet clothes and finding something that is still warm and hopefully not too smelly.

Both of these alternatives are possible. But some times — like last year – the first seems like pure fantasy.

At times like this luxury is key. So don’t skimp. Here are some ideas.

That Old Termperance Magic …

For some a nip of the hard stuff before bed is just the ticket. Now, I have partaken in this pastime of course. The only decent night on last year’s crossing was spent with the Cartwrights and Humphrey Weightman deep in the Fetteresso Forest. There was sun. We stopped early. And we lazed in our tents not being able to believe the warmth. And later Bob came around and freely distributed his single malt.

But generally I don’t do alcohol while walking. But that old Quaker alternative has real merit here.

Firstly, Drinking Chocolate. Nectar. I’ve only recently gone on to this but I can tell you that at the end of a hard day’s walk it beats tea or coffee hands down.

There lots of expensive chocolate products now available in little tubes. But for a real treat go and buy a jar of luxurious, Fair Trade type stuff. I decant this into small freezer bags and place it in my food drop parcels. That way I can keep going through the whole trip and even have it as a hot drink in the middle of the day if it is really miserable.

A bar of chocolate at the end of the day is bliss. I know there’s a place for all of this healthy stuff but a bar and Fruit and Nut as you prepare to doze has no competition.

Breakfast Blues

Most of us make use of that magical stuff porridge, a super food that slowly discharges into the system. It is the stuff that armies and Challengers march out. But after a week of porridge you may be feeling, well, a little fed-up.

I always pre mix my porridge with dried milk. That makes it a bit better, but after a few days I hate that as well.

The trick is to ‘pimp up your porridge’.

Dried fruit works well. I dehydrate fruit before hand and always add a handful to the white stuff. You can, of course, buy the stuff as well. But after a week you might want to forget health and go for struct comfort.

Jam is what we are talking about. Decant some into one of those useless little plastic bottles you can get in all walking shops. Or, if in a B & B nick some of those catering packs. Or if you see blister packs locally buy a few and sling them in your food drop.

Sweetness. Not to be under-estimated.

A Real Breakfast

There will no doubt be times when you can take advantage of one of these. Go for it. The Old Bakery in Braemar is especially welcome, indeed the thought of a late breakfast here can keep you going for three or four days.

Most CHallengers heading for Braemar will have stopped near the Linn of Dee or Derry Lodge the night before. AN early start will see you at the Old Bakery quite early on. It will be a sign of your new fitness that this short hop actually measures out at about 12 miles!

Oh, the pleasure of those sausages, black pudding and even — the old haggis!

You will have your own luxury fettishes. Don’t ignore them. Plan to spoil yourself. If the weather is anything like last year they will provide you with the highlight of the day, day after day.

What are your favourite trail treats?

When I produced that post I thought about including people but then reckoned that it would make the post too long. But Hannes is right, the inclusion of people does help with scale. It also adds other interest as well.

The late, great, travel writer Bruce Chatwin was also a fabulous photographer. He always reckoned that landscape had little interest to him on his own; places and landscapes were made by the people in them. I maybe paraphrasing him a little but that was the gist of what he was talking about. It’d an interesting point of view.

Memories of many great mountain walks and treks often revolve around the people you meet along the trail. Certainly, if I look at my trail journals and online diaries (such as those here of the Challenge) I can clearly see that many days are marked by a conversation or a chance encounter. These can be reflected in photographs.

Here are a couple of photos taken during a glorious summer day on the Brecon Beacons, one without figures and one with.

Without …

… with!

The Ordessa Canyon in the High Pyrenees. Like many other stunning mountain landscapes it is difficult to really capture the scale of this place, but I think the cattle help somehow!

As I got closer to the canyon wall it became all but impossible to capture the scale of it. But the snap of these two walkers seems to give an interesting sense of scale and expectation.

This wouldn’t be much of a shot without the walker, but somehow with one it tells you a lot.”

Phil again, completing the size of it all …

Yep, people have their place Hannes, you are right!

I never cease to be amazed by my modest photographic project here on the blog. The pages are downloaded at a regular rate and I continue to received a steady stream of emails.

A common subject for emails is the taking photographs of high mountains. I’ve resisted talking about this before as I hardly consider myself particularly skilled in this area although I have got one or two good mountain ‘snaps’ on Flickr. However, I thought it was time to have a look at mountain photography and deal with both technique and gear. Hopefully, you’ll add your experiences and tips in the discussion thread.

Mountains present some real challenges to keen photographers who are only occasional visitors. Those who live close to their hills have numerous advantages and we shouldn’t be surprised that some of the best photographers of an area are those who live nearby. They not only now the hills well but have the advantage of being able to be opportunistic. As soon as there’s a break in the weather they can simply nip up their local hills. If you are really serious about your mountain photography then you will want to go the whole hog and get serious. Most of us though are only occasional visitors, but there is still a lot we can do to improve our images.

Weather

Weather is a major challenge to most of us. Our excursions in the mountains have to be planned well ahead and usually we are committed to certain dates. We might strike lucky and have glorious weather but we are just as likely to face really challenging conditions.

The unpredictability of mountain weather is not just an issue for places with dodgy climates like the UK. Mountains create their own micro climates and even when the weather in the region is good — and even when the weather in the mountain range is good — any one chosen mountain can be doing its own thing!

Even in warm climates, at the height of the summer, we find problems. Many mountain ranges exhibit similar conditions at the height of the summer with the weather closing in during the afternoon and offering up thunderstorms and rain showers. Dry days can be no less problematical. As the heat builds heat haze simply takes all sharpness away from photographs. When in high mountains I always take a lot of shots. And on days such as these I often find that very few of them are usable.

Early Mornings

The best and most bankable conditions tend to be in the mornings. We’ve all experienced glorious, early, mornings that seem to offer so much, only to find that the weather has clouded over by the time that we have got ourselves onto the hills.

In mountains it really makes sense to be up high overnight. This is where wild camping real comes into its own. A number of my best shots have been taken after simply opening the tent door as soon as it is light! Camping high is a well used tactic by some of my favourite mountain photographers, including Colin Prior and Chris Townsend.

When wild camping take a little time to establish a campsite that offers a good morning location. Consider carefully the view to the East. I would generally reckon this to be more important than considering the evening. Yes, you can have great sunsets but as a ‘banker’ I feel that setting up for the morning will ratchet up the percentages. Of course, you can find sights that are spectacular for both views to the East and the West but they’re not that easy to find.

Have a good look around you. Take a compass bearing. Where will the sun be rising? Can you see the Eastern horizon or is there a mountain or hill in the way? And if so, think about how much longer it is going to take for the sun to climb over the hills.

Wild camping may not be your thing. If it isn’t then seriously consider how high you can get. Consider spending a few nights in high mountain refuges and get ready to rise early in the morning. And again, have a look round the night before and get your bearings. A true professional will spend hours setting up a shot but just thinking about the lie of the land for a few minutes will help a lot.

The Photographer’s Ephemeris

You might also consider using one the the best software apps that has been developed for photographers. TPE — The Photographer’s Ephemeris — is a simply but wonderfully effective tool.

TPE is an App that runs on the iPhone and now on Android phones. Basically, TPE works on your existing position (using GPS and location technology) and will show you the path of both the sun and the moon over the land. It will give the times for sunrise and sunset for your location. The really clever bit is that careful use of the program will also help you calculate the effect the the hills in between you and the horizon will have on surmise or sunset.

The TPE app doesn’t just work on your current location. You can drop in any position in advance how see how the path the the sun and moon will work there.

TPE is not simply a phone app. The ‘main’ program can be run on a desktop machine on any browser as it uses Adobe’s AIR system.

TPE on a desktop machine will allow you to thoroughly plan in advance. When planning a long trek I always use this to have a good look at potential campsites. I’m currently doing this as part of the planning for this year’s TGO Challenge. I now have a route planned and a good area of where I want to spend the evening. Now I’m fine tuning the route and campsites to take account of sunrise and sunset!

At the moment TPE works using Google Maps and not topographical maps. But when planning ahead this presents few real problems as you can obtain an accurate longitude and latitude fix from a computer map — or real map — and then enter this into the program. And, of course, if you are in the mountains the App will still show the route of the sun and the moon relative to your actual position.

There’s a little more to it than that but TPE is a pretty simple tool to use.

The iPhone and Android versions of the App are modestly priced and can be bought from the iTunes Store and Android Market Place.

The desktop version of TPE is free!

Gear?

Whatever you normally take. Obviously a professional kit bag will offer more quality but then you have to lug that stuff up onto the hills.

I’m often asked what gear I use for outside photography, so here goes!

Firstly, I like to carry a quality DLSR, in my case a Canon 5Dii. These days more compact systems are getting very competitive but I prefer to have a real viewfinder and i like the system which doesn’t have any shutter lag.

I keep the weight down a bit by carrying only one lens. This is the Canon 17-40 zoom which although not cheap is a cracking lens for the price and a very light one at that. The 5Dii is a full frame camera and so gives me the full range at 17. 40 may be a bit limited on some shots but I find that careful composition usually sees me through. Most of my shots are taken at around the 24 or 28 mark and so a lens with that coverage would be pretty flexible as well.

Tripods

Tripods do of course offer a lot to the outdoor photographer, but they are heavy. My current system is a Gitzo Traveller with a lightweight ball head from Really Right Stuff. The system is pretty light but really is bought with strength and lightness in mind and while quite pricey it provides me with a good compromise between the two. The whole system comes in at under 1.5 kilograms.

You can get away with far lighter systems. For a long time I used a cheap video tripod from Jessops that was very light. It may not have been that robust but it did the job. Chris Townsend, I think, uses a very light Velbron tripod that certainly works well for him.

Carrying a tripod though is something to really think about. When I’m in the mountains for two or three days I might take one with me, but on longer trips I tend to leave them behind.

This may be controversial with some, but I don’t find that a tripod is that critical for taking decent ‘snaps’ when in the mountain. Often those early morning and evening shots are taken with a view to the exposure of the sky and so shutter speeds don’t drop that low. And these days the quality at high ISO speeds is getting better and better.

But, if you really want shots that have the clarity and precision of say Colin Prior’s you will need to carry a tripod. I’ve mentioned this before, but I think the point of a tripod is really as an aim to really good composition and not simply as a way of dealing with slow shutter speeds.

My friend Ben Collins walked from the North Coast of Spain to the Med a few years ago, along the line of the HRP long distance path. Ben was looking to take the highest quality photos (and he succeeded). To do this Ben also used a Canon 5Dii and took with him two professional and weighty zoom lenses, plus a story tripod! Photography was one of the prime purposes for the trip so Ben minimised the weight carried in terms of his other gear and adapted a grin and bear it approach to the camera gear!

Perhaps the most useful feature of a low weight tripod is a hook underneath the ball head platform. This allows you to attach more weight to the tripod which will make it more stable. When backpacking I often suspend my full pack underneath the tripod. This makes a big difference even with cheap tripods.

Hand Held Shots

However, don’t fret too much about tripods. None of the shots that illustrate this article were used with one!

There’s More to Mountain Photography than Stunning Vistas!

Finally, even the best preparation can be ruined by bad weather. Or you simply might value your lie-in more! Remember, there is always a lot to photograph around you. Look away from the dramatic vistas and focus on what is nearby, on wild life and plants, one weird rock formations or dramatic tree shapes. And even when shooting those vistas consider how a wide angle can bring into to play foreground detail and give more depth to the shot. Also, in bad weather look to the clouds and momentary breaks in the cloud — you may not get great vistas but you might get some real atmosphere!

So, just a few pointers. As always practice makes for better. But get up and out early seems to be the best, simple, advice that I can give.

I’m interested in your own tips and experiences.

Here are a few examples that I’ve selected, with a little commentary on each one!

Barage des Oulettes, the High Pyrenees

This was one of those shots taken after just opening the tent flap! It may not be the most arty of shots but it reminds me of a particularly fine afternoon and evening. The shot faces East and I chose this camping spot over an ‘officially’ marked spot at the other end of the Lake.

Pic du Midi, High Pyrenees

This shot could only really have been taken in the morning. The cloud inversion you see just wasn’t there an hour before. An hour later and the shot would have been impossible because of heat haze. I shot into the sun for this shot which is always problematical but luckily I was able to deal with lens flare with a little Photoshop work. While many tell you never to shoot into the sun you can get very dramatic shots this way. Try it.

Pic du Midi

This shot was taken a little earlier than the previous one. Again this was one of those look out of the tent jobs. I was shooting into the sun and if I’d have waited a few minutes the sun would have come over the horizon. The lens I was using at the time wasn’t that good at dealing with lens flare, so I decided to play the percentages. But I’m happy with it. It has the sharpness that you associate with early morning.

Maol Chean-Dearg

This was taken on a day when the weather closed in. There was nothing to photo from near the summit so I dropped down and tried to make a virtue of the whisky cloud. I wasn’t so sure about this photo, but walkers seem to like it!

Beinn Resipol

On mountains the weather — and the light — can change quickly. Look for those times when the sun suddenly breaks through.

… and finally

These may not be the best mouton shots that you ever see, but they are good reminders (for me) of the time I had in these hills. None of these was taken with a tripod!

There are some genius features to the Challenge which keep the event fresh. The first is the policy of ensuring that about 100 or so new applicants find places which, as my mate Humphrey always says, keeps it very fresh. And the other thing I appreciate is the range of walking skill and experience that is represented. It would be a far lesser event if every entrant was a hard core, wild camping, bog loving, munro bagger. The event is a Challenge because it is a personal challenger and — for each of us — the nature of the Challenge is different.

By now most first timers will be getting past the worst of the preparation, namely the picking or routes. Once the route is more or less settled you can move on to more exciting things, like thinking about gear …

But one thing that should be high on everyone’s tick list is the need to get a good night sleep, particularly when wild camping.

For many of us wild camping provides many of the highlights of the Challenge. When I look back to my first crossing I realised I’d no done enough and I always advise first timers to con side their routes with a view to wild camping. For some new entrant wild camping will still be a relatively new thing; sleep is important.

For a number of years I happily used an egg shell mat from Gossamer Gear. I found this reasonably comfortable and warm enough even in cold weather. My mat was pretty indestructible and cheap. I was slightly bemused when people started buying the new generation of lightweight inflatable mats such as the Neoair. Were they all confirmed softies?

Then, a few years ago, I found myself walking across Scotland in severe back pain. At Braemar I rushed into Braemar mountain sports and bought myself a Themorest Neoair in the hope this would allow me to get some sleep. The Neoair was expensive, costing me around £90. For an air bed !!!

The Neoair didn’t sort out my back but it did present me with all kinds of other benefits, and continues to do so.

It is mainly the case that you can always find a decent wild camping spot on the Challenge. But that ground that looks flat and inviting can be horribly uneven and full of bumps and divots. With my old mats I had to develop the technique of sleeping ‘with; the lie of the land. The great thing about the Neoair — and its equivalents — is that is is thick enough to even out even the worst of nobly terrain. I was both surprised and delighted. For a long time I’d used lightweight mats such as those from backpackinglight.com in the US (and old style Thermorests) and they were fine. But they were nowhere near as effective as the Neoair.

A bad night’s sleep on a multi day trek really takes its toll. Walking when you are tired and sleep deprived is not really that pleasant. But try walking for a whole day when you’ve had two or three bad nights!

So, if you’re relatively new to wild camping take your sleeping mat seriously. This may be one area where you are happy to splash out some cash. Non walkers will be bemused. The day I bought my Neoair I accidentally left it on the bar of the Hungry Highlander chip shop. When I realised and returned the staff were laughing their heads off. They were looking at the price tag. You mast have a very bad back one of them said. Yep!

But there’s more to a good night’s sleep than the thickness of your mat.

Don’t be tempted to walk for too long. We all have our different speeds and we are happy walking different length days. You will soon get a feel for when you want to stop and if you are new to this game then a rehearsal weekend pre May is a good idea.

When you start getting to the end go the afternoon — and you see a great camp spot — go for it! While there are always camp sites up above they may not be that nice and it might just take you on for too long.

Set out to enjoy the camping for its own sake. Stop early enough to be relaxed about making camp, cooking your food and so on. Arriving late and knackered often means that you can’t relax and unwind. And remember, it never really gets dark!

If you’re having a bad day then take a break. You can always make up the ground the next day, and you’ll feel better for a good night’s rest.

And finally, make sure that you can combat cold at night. Lying in a sleeping bag that’s not warm enough, when you’re tired after a long day’s walk, can be pretty uncomfortable and an invitation for nasty things like cramp. The temperature can drop dramatically in the Highlands during the night. This doesn’t mean that you have to take very heavy sleeping bags but it does mean you should be ready to sleep in your clothes if need be. And always make sure you have a dry pair of warm, wool, socks. Weary a fleece or woollen hat during cold nights also makes a big difference.

Comfort — and those little comforts — are important during multi day treks. A bag of chocolate at night can raise the spirits, especially if you are not carrying spirits themselves! If the weather is bad then a stop and a warm drink can make a big difference. And a warm, good, night’s sleep is one real luxury that you should aspire to.

A comfortable night’s sleep is something that even the most hardened, lightweight, trekkers aspire to. I was talking to Colin Ibbotson after he returned from the Colorado Trail last year. We fell to talking about gear and I asked about mats. Colin got so fed up sleeping on hard floors that he got fed up with it and bought himself a Neoair!

So, think seriously about sleeping when you pick your kits and when you plan for routes. In these hills, especially when the weather is bad, you can find yourself ‘running on empty’ surprisingly quickly. Most likely you won’t be endangering yourself but you’ll just have a miserable time. And remember, when you are walking the Challenge …

… You are on your holidays!

The Swiss Alps is the latest in the Cicerone Series of World Mountain Range Guides. These are no pocket guide books but rather works of reference that provide you with a massive amount of information, all in one place, that can be used to plan a holiday or a trek.  This still relatively new range also cover’s Kev’s book on the Pyrenees and Chris Townsend’s book on Scotland.

If a trip to the Alps is on your mind at the moment then you’ll want to have a good look at this. These guides are very comprehensive and carry all the information you need to make informed choices about your trip, including: travel details, moving around the country, accommodation, day walks, treks, popular places and places where you can almost be sure to be alone!

These guides must be hell to write. Kev designed the concept of this series and a number of other writers have had a crack at producing one, but so far only Chris Townsend has able to deliver and still remain in one piece! The great achievement of these guides is they give you just enough information about a place or a walk for you to make more informed choices. I have used both the Pyrenees and the Scotland guides a lot!

Looking at the book — and talking to Kev — it’s clear that while this book was a mammoth task it was also a Labour of love. He told us that while he was writing he would start every day by looking forward to the short trip from the bedroom to his study and word processor. He knew he was going to have a great time remembering routes, places and people. I guess it’s not that often any of us can approach a word processor with that much enthusiasm!

Any how, if the Alps are you thing (or you think they may be), this is well worth checking out.

The Swiss Alps has 465 pages and over 90 detailed maps. It is designed with the beautiful clarity that we now expect from the Cicerone design team. It is a soft cover with a flap and costs £25. The ebook version has not been launched at the time of writing but I’m sure it won’t be too far behind.

More details, sample routes and so on can be found at:

The Swiss Alps, Cicerone Books

I recorded the usual fun and informative interview with Kev, and you can expect to see this on the Outdoors Station shortly (with a bit of luck).

… damn and blast

When I was eventually able to sneak out the other day the weather had changed. Rain was forecast, but we aim was a high and lonely day and poor weather does mean that you have the hills to yourself.

I turned to Caradoc, the hill opposite the Long Mynd which although only of a modest height has sharp climbs that seem unnaturally severe for this part of the world. A lack of planning or forethought soon because evident. The ground was wet and on the sharp slopes the grassy, muddy, surface soon gave way. I received a sharp reminder that there is not much tread left on my Terrocs (indeed one of them has a crack in the sole). Progress was slow due to a rather pressing need to keep safe.

As I reached the top of the ridge I was caught by a fierce wind that I hadn’t bargained for. Gusts almost blew me off my feet and were strong enough to knock my walking poles out of position. And then came the freezing rain and the hail, all pretty unpleasant stuff. The last time my face had been stung that hard was on the top of Bynack More in the Caringorms. Come to think of it this walk was so high and wild that I could almost have been there, the two mountains sharing some dramatic limestone rock formations, cut out by centuries of prevailing winds.

As I descended to shelter I decided to look on the positive and look at this as training for the Highland crossing in May. I found a dry, grassy, seat under the shelter of trees and began to munch my lunch. Normally there is no way that I would consider a walk the simply consists of Caradoc, I would carry on over the main road, up on to the Mynd, along the ridge before descending by one of the lonelier routes.

But this was pretty unpleasant stuff. I found myself thinking what would my mate Alan Sloman do? And so, I toddled off to the comfort and sanctuary of a cozy tea room.

As ever the weather and the bottom of the valley floor was almost pleasant giving few clues as to the horrors that reigned above on high.

Still, even a short day on these hills is never a wasted day. I’d given myself a much-needed break. And the walk had been my equivalent of training in a wind tunnel. My legs, knees and ankles certainly felt as if they’d tackled a full day.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself reading a piece from a fellow blogger that asked the question as to whether there was bad gear. His argument seemed to be that there wasn’t (I go into this below) but many of the comments seemed to agree with me that, sadly, there is.

And this got me thinking …

The original piece seemed to be making two arguments. Firstly, the author argued, there is gear that doesn’t meet up to expectations because what has been bought actually has not been developed to meet the needs that the purchaser acquired them for. True, there are cases of people not really understanding what they are buying and therefore make a dud purchase. Hands up, I’ve probably done this myself. The second argument was that there is very cheap gear. You get what you pay for. Buy cheap gear and you can’t expect it to be durable. Well, I’m sure that there is some truth in that as well. But we’re talking about the margins here. In my experience there is bad gear around.

During the last year I wrote about three pieces of gear which I considered to be either poor or not up to the task that you would reasonably expect. The first two were both pieces of gear that were around the £200 mark. I still consider this to be expensive. For that much money I think I have reasonable expectations of quality. The third item was a computer product that — while a lot cheaper — simply didn’t really deliver what the outdoor community would want. I don’t want to go over the details of these again but it seems to me that, at least in the first two cases, the manufacturers were managing to combine both shoddy goods with dreadful customer service. The connection between the two is important. With even the best manufacturing systems a bad batch can occasionally get through and in these circumstances you should be able to expect prompt and efficient customer service, especially if the problem is with a premium priced product.

My first item was an expensive watch that exhibited a fault that I have previously experienced with the same brand, on a couple of occasions over five years or so. Thankfully, this was bought through a major high street dealer who was able to raise the problem for me. But even they had problems, especially when the company told them that it was way out of warranty on the day that it was bought. Several years ago, when I had the same fault, the goods were replaced without argument and I got the impression that everyone knew there was a fault. This time there seemed to be no commitment to a proper conversation with the retailer and the retailer was clearly getting annoyed. But as this was a major retailer they couldn’t be ignored. After a somewhat un-necessary gap the watch was replaced by a new model with lots of mutterings about changing the country of manufacture because of problems with the first batch. So, I got a result but I didn’t really feel — at any time in this set of communications — that there was any real sense of apology on offer and I was certainly not given the confidence that the problems would be dealt with  promptly.

The second problem was with a lightweight pair of walking trousers from a very reputable company who I have bought a lot from over the years, indeed, I’ve championed their products at various stages. Despite being an expensive product the build quality was very poor, and I’m not the only person to have noticed that. The seams, especially, do not seem to be that robust. I thought there might be a problem with fit as well and thought I may have bought the wrong size. So, unusually for me, I decided to purchase a second pair in a different size. The second pair — bought a year later — were just as shoddily made and the seams began to fall apart quite quickly. Both of these pair of trousers had relatively light use. I wore both on a TGO Challenge, but that was only for twelve days walking or so. In total neither pair had been used, in total, for more than twice this number of times. The second pair were unintentionally left behind in Scotland and so I’ve gone back to wearing pair one. These have seam that is coming apart and the outer fabric has torn rather too easily on a fence or something. I could send them back for repair — and may yet do. But a repair is not really going to deal with the large amount of bad stitching that can be found all over this product. I suppose I will grin and bear it, use these until they fall together and then quietly go and purchase replacements from another brand.

The customer service complaint comes in here as well. When I bought the second par I had a chat the the retailers about the problems. They expressed surprise as they’d not had any complaints in the past and the manufacturers had not informed them of any problems. There may have been some problem with an initial production batch but none since. As I’d dealt with this company for many years I was inclined to believe them. But as I began to wear the replacement pair it became quite obvious that the same problems existed — and again it is not just much that has noticed the same thing! There is a problem with this premium priced product and one which, seemingly, the manufacturer is not prepared to share with their retailer. The best that the retailer could suggest was that I sent the first pair back for repair.

Responsible Blogging

It is difficult dealing with these kind of complaints as a blogger. Firstly, you need to be sure that you are not at fault with the purchase in the first place. And secondly, you need to be able to have the clout to get manufacturers to treat you seriously. With the watch I did eventually mutter popular hill asking blog and bad publicity over the internet and I did get the impression that they logged this. But this makes me mad because that’s not how customer service should work.

As a blogger you don’t get any better treatment than anyone else which means you have to be very persistent. I suspect that should a similar complaint have come from, say, a gear magazine things would have been dealt with more efficiently and decisively.

To write about these experiences is difficult because it requires consistency and persistence over time and many of us really don’t have the time to do that in the way that a professional journalist might.

The third example is interesting because of the more positive line that the company takes in relation to customers. This product didn’t do what I had wanted to do but I recognised that I kind of knew that when I bought it. But what this company does have is excellent customer service. They talk to their customers, explain their upgrade path and are genuinely interested in you helping them in their desire to create a better product. And as a result of their customer culture you are more happy to forgive problems and more patient in waiting for the development of the end product.

Hard Times and Better Value

I think it was a shame that my fellow blogger decided to write in the way that he did. Times are hard and many of us are having to be more discerning about gear purchases than perhaps we once were. Yes, we might still shell out money for an expensive product but we kind of have even more of a right to expect value for money and quality.

A Manifesto for Gear Manufacturers and Retailers

During the year I’d like to feel that things were changing.

Firstly, I’d like gear manufacturers to be a bit more honest in the pitch of their products. If they are building ‘down’ in quality then they really should be more careful about claims of quality and suitability.

Secondly, I’d like to see companies really committing themselves to improving customer care standards. Even the most unreasonable of us know that things go wrong sometimes but a good and positive reaction from a manufacturer makes us feel happier and more secure in our dealings with them.

Thirdly, and it goes without saying, that retailers have to be prepared to stand up for their customers, and this is the same whether we are talking about high street retailers or online retailers. I will only deal now with those who I know have a real commitment to their customer.

It is hard to write a bad review

You do see ‘bad’ reviews on the net but not that many really. It is hard for an ordinary punter to really go through a process of being fair yet thorough. Yes I know you will see reviews on sites which effectively say ‘crap’ but sometimes this doesn’t really help take a debate on.

Do Better …

Our economy is likely to be — at best— flat lining over the next few years. Walkers will have less disposable income and will necessarily be more cautious in their purchases. Companies, too, face hard times. Those who are not committed to good customer service may well find themselves in trouble and I would hate to see some of our famous names going to the wall. At the very least recent experiences suggest that some famous names have some work to do to live up to their hard earned reputations.

I may still write some hard-hitting reviews about these products but the professional and responsible person in me knows that I probably have to spend yet more time going through the complaint systems. As a punter, of course, I might just simply give up, never use these companies again, and just tell all of my friends.

There is bad gear out there. Despite it being difficult to deal with the blogging community should not make things even harder by suggesting that there isn’t.

Perhaps we need an internet hall of shame. I’m genuinely interested in how you think we can deal with bad manufacture, and sub standard customer service, through the online community.

Thoughts please!