Looking for Love on Ice: "Tinder" and Ice Climbing in Cogne, Italy

If you compared ice-climbing in Cogne to the popular ‘Tinder’ dating-app, you could be picky and ‘swipe left’ for hours before finding the ‘perfect match’. A ‘perfect match’ would reflect preferences in ice conditions, level of gnarly-ness, number of pitches etc.  By ‘swiping right’, you would be given the option to explore the route further and check out photographs to decide whether the route is worth pursuing and whether or not to add...

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Benighted and 'Au Cheval' on L’Arete a Marion in the French Aravis

I asked the question I swore I’d never ask… ‘Are we there yet?’ Our guide Jon looked at me incredulously. ‘There!? We’re not even half way! We still have at least two more hours!’ Not the response I’d been hoping for.  It was nearing 4pm and dusk had started to cast its shadow on the mountain panorama sprawled out below.  We were ‘not even half way’ through a very wintery climb of L’Arete a Marion in the Aravis. During...

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Feature Article: Merrell Outdoors - "Choosing Mountains in the Middle East over Mojitos in Marbella..."

Despite the incredulous disbelief flickering across the faces of family and friends, I would not be dissuaded from my holiday plans to climb Damavand in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Had I listened to a couple of the more popular media-influenced ‘facts,’ I would have been frightened off by cloak-and-dagger tales of a hostile, ‘anti-west’ country; ‘the axis of evil’ where men with stones stalk dusty streets in search of infidels while the government...

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The People You Meet Along the Way: They Didn't ask Me About Knots! The Mountain Training Association (MTA) Autumn Conference

"What’s the common thread between outdoor enthusiasts of all abilities across the world…? What on earth could I share with mountain leaders from across the UK - many with heaps more outdoor experience than myself…? What if they ask me how many knots I know how to tie?”  These were just a few of the questions I asked myself last week, staring at a blank powerpoint template whilst preparing my presentation for the Mountain Training Association...

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Feature Article: Merrell Pack stories - "Journey, not the Destination - Discovering new cultures while climbing"

"People often ask me why I climb. One of the benefits of mountain climbing is that it helps me to put life into perspective. The sheer magnificence of the vistas I experience from lofty mountain precipices - high above the cloud, looking out over the curvature of the earth far, far below - helps me to connect with my thoughts and put into context my place in the world around me...."  To continue reading... http://blog.merrell.com/us/en/pack-stories/people-meet-along-way/ Huge...

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PwC & Friends Take on the Three Peaks Challenge for Wellbeing of Women

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being part of an intrepid team from PwC's 'People and Change' Consulting practice who joined together to take on the infamous Three Peaks Challenge - climbing, scrambling, slipping and sliding up the United Kingdom’s three highest mountains to raise money and awareness for the women's health charity, Wellbeing of Women and supporting PwC's firmwide fundraising challenge, the 'Race for £3million'.  I...

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Shifting Sands, Mountains and Mosaics in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Drawing my scarf up over my mouth I attempt to find a happy medium between desperately trying to gasp enough air to breathe and trying not to breathe too much. I look up from the dusty trail to see plumes of yellow smoke being belched into the atmosphere by a giant yellow vent, and, a few hundred metres further, a small plaque below the dry remains of what appears to be a dead sheep… The stench being emitted by the crater serves as a reminder...

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