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…

Sunrise and Sunset in the Mountains

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Mountaineering, Scrambling, Walking, Winter Climbing Short Link

After the fantastic summer we had where I was incredibly busy, I am making the most of this Autumnal weather and resting in preparation for the upcoming winter season. However I am getting “mountain withdrawal” so have been going through my past photos, due to this there will be a few themed blog posts appearing over the next month. If you spend enough time in the mountains you will be fortunate enough to experience some fantastic sunrise and sunsets, weather they are planned due to long days or unplanned due to epics. This post is focussing on times where I have experienced either sunrise or sunset in the mountains, or on some occasions both! Snowdon Horseshoe During March 2012 we set out late in the morning to climb Snowdon via the classic Crib Goch ridge, as the day progressed the weather continually improved and we were having a fantastic time. Despite it being late by the time we were finally on a quiet summit we decided to carry on and complete the full Snowdon horseshoe due to the fantastic conditions. The sun set as we were descending off the final. Read the full article…

An Afternoon Amble around the Peak

Alastair BegleyWalking Short Link

I was recently up in Derbyshire visiting some friends and to make the most of the beautiful autumnal weather we went for an amble around the Peak on the Sunday. We started at Grindon and headed down to Thor’s cave before heading up to the pub in Wetton for a pub lunch. It has been a while since I have done any walking in the Peak and I had forgotten how beautiful the countryside is, a bit different to the mountains that I love but excellent for a sunday walk.

Rock Climbing on Lundy Island

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

Lundy is one of the places I have wanted to climb ever since I started climbing, this is due to a few reasons. Firstly, I have heard lots of great things about it from my parents over the years and secondly, I love sea cliff climbing to so the idea of going to an island and climbing is brilliant. Due to injury and the alps with just over a month to go until the trip I hadn’t climbed for almost two months, and when I started climbing again I felt very weak. Due to wanting to get the most out of the trip I started training a lot, and it seemed to work as by the time I was in Lundy I was feeling pretty strong. The boat ride out in the fog was fairly rough and there were a few moments where I felt pretty touch and go, however I made it across and fixed myself up with a full english breakfast at the pub on Lundy. After we had dumped some stuff at the accommodation we headed off to the Flying Buttress to climb Horseman’s Route in the. Read the full article…

Two weeks in the Valais Alps

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

I have just returned from my annual Alps trip, this year I headed to Saas Grund in the Swiss Alps with the Avon Mountaineering Club. It was an amazing but very tiring two weeks which involved eight peaks, 5 of which were above 4000m and I climbed my first two AD routes. In addition to the climbing we had plenty of enjoyment in the valley with a few meals out and a night out in Saas Fee. The peaks I climbed during the trip are: Stellihorn – North West Flank To get to the alps we decided to leave on Friday evening and drive through the night, this drive went very smoothly and we arrived at 11am after having only had a few hours sleep during the drive. Instead of relaxing at the campsite we decided that it would be a good idea to walk up to a bivi site to sleep up high while we were tired before climbing the Stellihorn the next day to continue acclimatising.During the walk up to the bivi site it looked like some weather might be coming in from Italy but we were hoping. Read the full article…

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…