Barbury International Horse Trials

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

Due to some friends visiting for my birthday I had no plans to head to the mountains, but due to a great forecast I dragged my friends along to Barbury to take some photos of my sister competing. I am still feeling rusty which is frustrating me as I just am not getting the timing quite right which is something I used to be much better at, but practice makes perfect and I am sure I will get there again.The showjumping was challenging as it was a huge arena and the best angle involved shooting into the sun! Due to this I made the best of the situation and did some running and managed to get a few jumps in. Katherine had a great round, and I actually thought she went clear but she had an unfortunate four faults which was a shame. A quick move was made to the cross-country and I discovered that the initial jumps I had been sent to were challenging photography wise due to the sun and position of the tapes on the course, in the end I got the photos by ignoring the tapes. Read the full article…

A Wet Day at Nunney International Horse Trials

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

Due to a combination of having a rare free day at the weekend and Katherine competing at Nunney International Horse trials which is close to Bristol, I headed down to take some photos of her eventing. This is only my second day out eventing this year so I am still feeling fairly rusty and its on days like this I really miss my 5D3, however I am happy with some of the SJ photos given the poor light. When I set off the weather forecast said that the rain was going to hold off until the afternoon, and it did hold off for the Showjumping. It was a great course to take photos from the edge on as a decent angle could be obtained on loads of jumps, it was just a shame about the flat light. Katherine did a great round and managed a clear which she was very pleased with. While she was getting ready for the cross-country spots of rain started to appear, and the weather just went downhill from here with the rain getting heavier and heavier. By the time Katherine was going around the course. Read the full article…

A Sunny Late May Bank Holiday in the Lake District

Alastair BegleyLake District, Scrambling, Walking Short Link

I spent last weekend walking and scrambling in the Lake District with some friends from uni. It was a brilliant weekend with fantastic weather, over Saturday and Sunday we did the classic route of Helvellyn via Striding and Swirral edge, except with a twist. On Saturday we ascended Helvellyn via Striding Edge and then continued north along the ridge over White Side, Raise, Stybarrow Dodd, Great Dodd and Clough Head. Once we reached the end we descended down to Dockray and a well earned pint in the sun. After an evening lounging in the sun and enjoying a BBQ we got up to another day of sunshine and headed up to the classic grade 3 scramble, Pinnacle Ridge up St. Sunday Crag. It was great fun and we even found the start without too much difficulty, I was surprised while climbing the ridge just how crampon scratched the rock was on a classic summer scramble. Once we were at the top I continued with Rich up to Fairfield, down to Grisedale Tarn and then up to Helvellyn including all the subsidiary peaks before descending down Swirral Edge before finishing on Catstycam.. Read the full article…

April Climbing

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

It has been a pretty manic month with lots and lots of climbing making the most of the good weather we have been having. Since the start of April I have managed 51 rock climbs all over the country including, Pembroke, The Peak, The Lakes, Wye Valley and Avon Gorge. It has been a brilliant start to the climbing season and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer.

Eventing and Pointing

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

Over the past month I have managed two days of equestrian photography, firstly I headed up to Withington Manor Horse Trials to take photos of Katherine competing. Since I had no SLR last summer it has been around two years since I last did any eventing photography and it felt good to be back. I did feel fairly rusty and need some practice to get the hang of it again but I was fairly pleased with what I managed. The next day I headed down to to Larkhill racecourse to take photos of Katherine doing her first point-to-point on her new pointer, and try my hand at pointing photography for the first time. It was a great weekend and I am sure there will be more equestrian photography over the summer.

An Unbeatable winter season?

Alastair BegleyWinter Climbing Short Link

So it seems the winter season which just kept giving is finally coming to an end. Over the past 4 months I have managed 21 days out in winter conditions all over the country, including the Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia, Glen Coe, Lochaber and the Isle of Skye. During these days I managed a winter walk, 2 days skiing and 33 winter climbs including descents of which 26 were unique, and most were in fantastic conditions. This winter has been truly spectacular as I have had so many days out on brilliant ice and in brilliant weather and I have progressed from climbing grade III to being happy at V and even attempting a VI, over the course of the winter I have climbed many of the classic lines lines on Ben Nevis, seen some spectacular views and made new friendships. I finished my season in just about the best way I can imagine by heading up to complete the Cuillin Ridge Traverse over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in fantastic alpine conditions. My winter started in December before the major thaw which hit the country in January and wiped out winter for a month.. Read the full article…

First Pembroke Trip of the Year

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

With a bit of a contrast to last weekend in Skye on the Cuillin Ridge, I spent Saturday rock climbing on Pembroke’s fantastic sea cliffs with Neil. It was a glorious day with a warm sun and a chilly breeze however the crags were mostly sheltered from this. With less than ideal tides and bird bans we headed to Stennis Head in the morning to do some non tidal and non bird banned routes. I started up Bludgeon which was a lovely HVS 5a corner which was quickly climbed to the top without much difficulty which I was very pleased with as I hadn’t lead a trad route since January and in February I only rock climbed twice. After this we abseiled back down and headed for the ‘Merchant of Stennis’ however in Neil’s haste he ended up leading up the E5 crackline to the left of the route called Fetish. He made swift work up to and past the crux but ran out of energy for the final section. After a few more attempts, including having to repeat the crux he escaped right into the E3 for a few moves before heading to the top. I. Read the full article…

Winter Traverse of the Cuillin Ridge

Alastair BegleyScotland, Winter Climbing Short Link

Having had a brilliant winter season I was quite content with staying down south for an extended period and getting back on rock, in fact I was supposed to be rock climbing in Cornwall last weekend. However, the weather had other ideas and with rain, wind and cold weather forecast down south I decided to make the most of the extended winter season in Scotland for another weekend. After exchanging emails with Mike Lates of Skye Guides I decided to head up to attempt a winter traverse of the Cuillin Ridge on the Isle of Skye due to the ridge being in full on winter conditions and having a weather window where the forecast was cold weather, no wind and lots of sun. A winter traverse of the Cuillin Ridge is a route which is not often in good conditions due to being close to the sea and due to its nature is regarded as one of the finest mountaineering expeditions in the UK. We planned on taking three days on the ridge moving from north to south as is common in winter due to most of the difficulties being abseiled and having. Read the full article…