Leaving Wales on Sunday night, I followed the full moon down to Fort Martin, arriving just before the lunar eclipse and the onset of clouds. Suitably attired for a bit of twitching, we enjoyed a blustery hike around Pitsford Reservoir the next day where top spots included some Wigeon. Despite following the shore of a large… Read more

Indoors with some strong climbers today, working through the National Indoor Climbing Award (NICAS). To finish up we had a bit of fun climbing on the ‘piscobloc’ which is a very high overhang, with no ropes – just some deep foam mats below you. I managed to top out… But not everyone made it!  Good… Read more

Colwyn Bay seemed like an unlikely place to running some ‘learning outside the classroom’, when it comes to studying the habit of Chimpanzees, Penguins and Camels, but would you believe it, there’re all up there on the hillside. Even without the animals, the views were special enough today. There a semi-permanent rainbow over the bay almost… Read more

Overnight, the mountains of Snowdonia have been transformed! A good dusting of white has fallen from about 700m upwards and created great conditions for my winter walking group. Last nights downpours had all cleared away by mid-morning and so had the winds, so although the air temperature was cold, it was otherwise ideal conditions for… Read more

Marginal conditions in the mountains today, but we both fancied the exercise, so set off up Pen yr Ole Wen after breakfast. We got most of the way up the initial steep stuff from Ogwen Cottage and were about to admire the views of Tryfan when the clouds rolled around from the Nant Ffrancon. The… Read more

Big plans for a full day of scrambling on the east face of Tryfan had to be put on hold today thanks to a less than ideal forecast of gales and persistent rain. Despite the strong winds, we decided instead to try for an ascent of the Penmeanbach Ridge near the A55 expressway.  I wouldn’t… Read more