Blog Posts in Category: General

2016 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Alpinism, Mountaineering, Winter Climbing Short Link

It’s safe to say that 2016 was a very mixed year, with the highlights being an excellent start to the year with lots of successful winter climbing trips and a winter sun rock climbing trip. The summer rock climbing never seemed to start properly for me this year, before I injured myself and had to take an enforced break. My alps trips this year was very successful and I had an excellent two weeks in the Ecrins with Becky where we climbed a few peaks and enjoyed lots of sunny bolted multi pitch climbing. Unfortunately shortly after the Alps I received the tragic news that one of my close friends and regular climbing partners died in a climbing accident in the Avon gorge. Following this I was fairly disinterested with climbing for a while which resulted in a relaxed autumn and a chilled out weekend walking around on Lundy. As I was starting to force myself to think about climbing again I headed to south Wales for some sport climbing, and had an enjoyable day out until injured my finger & forearm which put me out of action until Christmas. Winter This year. Read the full article…

2015 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, General Short Link

Overall 2015 was a very successful year, but it certainly wasn’t without it’s ups and downs. In addition to climbing I had lots of positives in my personal life as I attended four weddings and moved in with my girlfriend. Winter I spent a lot of time out in the mountains in the winter and had some fantastic days but I would have liked to have done some more harder ice climbing. My best weekend climbing was an impromptu trip to North Wales where we climbed Western Gully and El Mancho. As ever I enjoyed taking less experienced people out climbing and I really loved learning to ski tour in the Cairngorms. My winter highlights were Summer Rock My summer climbing got off to a fantastic start with a weekend down in Cornwall at Easter. And over the next few months I went from strength-to-strength which culminated in a fantastic weekend in Pembroke at the start of June. I was just loving climbing and progressing really well into E2. Unfortunately, after Pembroke weekend I became ill and it was the end of my hard climbing for the year. I had a. Read the full article…

A fantastic 2014 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, General Short Link

As we are fast approaching the end of the year I figured it was probably time to have a look back through what I have been up to this year. It has been a fairly contrasting year when compared to last year, which was mostly significant due to the significant amount I achieved in winter and in the Alps. However, this year with terrible weather and conditions during winter in the UK and in the Alps during summer. Despite this I still managed some great routes in Scotland and had an even better time in the Alps taking some chances and being lucky with weather and conditions on the routes we did manage. This was also the first year I have undertaken technical & committing routes in the Alps, rather than busy trade routes, and I am now looking forward to more alpine adventures in 2015. The Flèche Rousse, North Ridge of the Weissmies and the North Face of the Tour Ronde were all long, serious and committing routes. On the first two routes there was no one else attempting the routes which makes you feel very isolated and committed. Additionally,. Read the full article…

A fantastic 2013 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Alpinism, Equestrian, Landscape, Mountaineering, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Walking, Winter Climbing Short Link

Somehow we are already at the end of another year, and what a fantastic year it has been! I have somehow summed up my year in 100 photos again. The photos make it look like I didn’t do much rock climbing this year, but that is just that I don’t tend to take my camera to the local crags where I spent a silly amount of evenings in May and June. In total this year I managed 125 trad climbs, 30 winter climbs, 7 walks, 6 alpine routes, 3 scrambles, 2 sport climbs, 2 caving trips and 2 via ferratas. I have had such a good year that summarising the high points was pretty challenging: Despite having a generally fantastic year, there were certainly some less good moments: Late January in South Wales At the end of January there was the first proper cold spell of 2013 which extended down to South Wales. During this spell I managed three days out in south wales where I managed to climb four routes. A Week in Fort William: 9th-16th Feb The beginning of February soon arrived, and with it the start of a. Read the full article…

Family Christmas & Boxing Day Hunt Meet

Alastair BegleyEquestrian, General Short Link

Well time for my last blog post of the year, after a very enjoyable family Christmas at my Gran’s house along with my Aunts and cousins. For the first time I actually got my camera out due to the 5D3 being so good that it can take photos at f/5.6 with no flash indoors and not be too noisy which meant that some lovely natural photos could be captured without people getting annoyed at the flash. On boxing day I headed to the boxing day meet with the Ledbury Hunt which is the meet that I always used to attend when I rode, but have now not been on horseback for 5 years! It was great to see so many people out on horseback despite the ban, and it was even better to see so many members of the general public out to view the hunt at the meet.

A fantastic 2012 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, General Short Link

Well its coming up to the end of the year and with no trips planned until new year this seemed like an appropriate time to summarise my 2012. I have done so much this year, taken up two new hobbies which have taken over my life, rock climbing and ice climbing. Rock climbing very quickly became my hobby of choice this year, I have progressed very quickly and within a year have gone from never having lead trad climbing to beginning to consolidate climbing at E1, this year I have done: I have had a few lucky moments though with a 25 foot fall in Pembrokeshire on Manzoku and a ground fall from 6m at Haytor on Haggis but thankfully I walked away from both with only bruises. I am looking forward to what next year brings and am currently training hard in indoor climbing gyms over the winter months to ensure that I enter the next climbing season as fit as possible. As well as rock climbing this year I also have started ice climbing. I got into ice climbing in a weird way as I lead my first. Read the full article…

Graduation!

Alastair BegleyGeneral Short Link

Something a little different to normal as last week I graduated from the University of Exeter with an engineering degree or in its longer form as a ‘Master of Engineering with Honours in Mechanical Engineering Class II Division I’. I did not know what to expect from the day but it was a truly special day, surrounded by friends and family celebrating finishing four years of study and the best four years of my life where I have done so much with caving, walking, climbing and even a bit of whitewater kayaking where I have had fantastic experiences, made amazing friends and gained many useful skills which I will take with me for the future. I am very lucky as I am leaving university with a placement on the Rolls-Royce Professional Excellence Graduate Development programme so it is after 18 years of study that I am finally leaving structured education and heading out into the working world.

Olympic Torch on Clifton Suspension Bridge

Alastair BegleyGeneral Short Link

Having missed the Olympic Torch in Exeter due to heading home to go rock climbing, I figured I should probably see it in Bristol. On the morning I was due to go back to Exeter the flame was leaving Bristol via the Clifton Suspension Bridge, this seemed like an iconic place to go and see the flame. So with a very early start and hoping the fog would burn off on the drive there we headed to Bristol. We got to the suspension bridge about 40mins before it was due so managed to get a great location viewing the suspension bridge from the side. The fireworks and streamers were a surprise as the runner crossed the bridge, once the runner was across I went for a run along Clifton Down to keep up with the flame for more photo opportunities. It was a great morning and there could not have been better weather for it and I am very glad I went to see it in the end as I nearly didn’t go which would have been a shame for such a once in a lifetime event.