Staff Blogs
Tall tales from the outdoors. Outside staff are often to be found running over moors, trekking up mountains and climbing up everything from high mountains to Stanage boulders. Occasionally they'll even be caught squeezing under mountains, and every year at least two of them will find some way to climb a frozen Kinder Downfall.
When we can persuade them to stop moving for long enough, we get them to write it all down and share some of the photos they've taken. Welcome to the Outside staff blogs.
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FutureLight: The North Face in Zermatt
In September 2018 Dan, our North Face representative, called to say that he had a great opportunity for my brother and me. He wasn’t wrong! James and I were invited to the launch of an exciting new fabric technology called FutureLight which The North Face had been working on for...
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Two out of three ain’t bad - expeditions in Mongolia
A popular cliché of a decade or so ago was that you can’t step in the same river twice. Although from a distance it might look the same, the water, vegetation, animal life, state of the banks and so on have changed. This is also true in mountains; you can’t...
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Walking Offa's Dyke in seven days
Unused holiday and limited time to use it forced a quick decision to walk the Offa’s Dyke Path. The appeal was threefold: walking a National Trail in one solo backpacking journey; the ODP has a certain purity of line stretching south to north along the Welsh-English border and from coast to... -
Peaks, Passes and Glacier Glasses
The summer of 2019 was my fourth consecutive season climbing and trekking in the Karakoram and overall my 13th trip to the mountains of Pakistan since my first visit way back in 1987. You’d be right in guessing that I like the place, who wouldn’t? If you like mountains and...
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Kayaks in Scotland, canoes in Essex
Sea kayaking on the north west coast of Scotland and canoeing on the River Stour on the borders of Suffolk and Essex provided polar opposites of paddling experiences during June. My annual trip to Scotland with Martin, a friend from the Gower in south Wales, was a continuation north from...
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Unexpected Fire and Ice - Winter Trekking in Manaslu
Ever since my first winter trip in 1996 I have been an enthusiast for visiting Nepal out of the main trekking/climbing seasons. There are many benefits; most notably the weather is usually very much to my taste – that is cold and clear. Also, there are very few other foreigners around even in popular areas such as Everest or Annapurna.
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The Hope Valley Skyline
For the last few years, Outside staff have run the Edale Mountain Rescue classic route, The Nine Edges as an annual shop running challenge.
This year we decided to change the route, mainly just for the sake of a change, but also to get around the transport logistics of a linear route that didn’t start or finish at the shop! Continue reading
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Titan Cavern, Castleton
Chris Harle tackles the Titan cave in Castleton
Over the last three winters Mad (Mick Langton) and I have been on over forty caving trips in Derbyshire. However there has been a nagging self-accusation that has continued to taunt us. “But you haven’t done Titan yet.”
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Outdoor books for Christmas
Every year our tireless Book Man, Chris Harle reads pretty much everything mountain related that he can lay his hands on. This is his run down of the best outdoor books you can find for this Christmas. Continue reading
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The North Face - Gear Test in Zermatt
When the The North Face asked if Robert and I would like to come to Zermatt for a few days to test next year’s gear, it didn't take much thought. 150 outdoor types from all over the globe were whisked to Switzerland last week to hear the latest news from the North Face and more importantly, to try out their newest product on the ice and slopes.