Look mum, no hands!

“Golden Tree” by Martin Brooks from Ninian Doff on Vimeo.

I’m a little bit in love with this epic video: of 50 no-handed bike moves. They start off with the beginner (just one hand) and progress to the absolutely brilliant ‘Tony Blair giving a speech’. A guaranteed smile if you’re stuck indoors today.

- The Girl Outdoors

The Active Photographer – a Jolly review

A couple of weekends ago I was asked if I would like to go along to the very first Active Photographer Jolly, run by Giles (The Active Photographer) with his sidekick Will (Whole Life Photography). It’s a course/workshop/experience designed for people passionate about the outdoors, who want to take better photos, or photographers with a keen interest in the outdoors.

I had previously exchanged Tweets with Giles, and had met him two weeks previously at Terry BND’s outdoor boggers meet in Monsal Dale where we ended up nattering quite a bit. I have a rather bruised and battered Canon S90 with a busted flash, which I had managed to break a couple of weeks previously. I mentioned at the time that I was unsure about what to expect and was slightly nervous about my lack of photography skill and equipment. Giles reassured me that so long as I could manually control everything on my camera (which I could), I would be fine and dandy.

Turning up on the Saturday morning, I met Giles at the Back of Beyond Touring Caravan park. My initial apprehension about the rows of caravans dissipated when I was guided through to a field at the rear which revealed a delightful woodland glade and site of special scientific interest. Some of the folks attending had been there since the Friday night so I was greeted warmly as I pitched up my tent.

The weather forecast for the weekend was a stinker, and as the introductions began under the gazebo, the first tickle of rain started to come down. Doing our best to ignore the grey skies, Will and Giles set the scene for the weekend as to what we could expect and I suddenly felt very self conscious amongst the DSLR’s nestling on the knees of my fellow students.

After the initial icebreakers, we set off through the park to some gorse bushes and open space on the far side of the Park. Early September is one of my favourite times and the feeling in the air was of the last vestiges of summer twinged by Autumn pushing through. The rain started to come down though, so we nipped in to the woods and were confronted by a quite extraordinary site, the floor having a strong sprinkling of mushrooms with the most gorgeous purple tops.

We started to snap away and Giles went through some of the basics. Straight away I got something that will last with me forever, namely the joys of aperture. I have always loved shots where the item in focus is the only thing in focus and the rest of the image drops away, now I knew how to do it and I went to town. Within a couple of hours, I started to take photos that were light years away from what I had taken previously, and I began to enjoy myself immensely. I also began to fall in love with my Canon S90 again. We had chosen it as it was a small compact with a great reputation, and I finally felt that I could do it some justice with the photos I was taking. The rest of the day flew by in a jiffy looking first at composition, then on to some equipment hacks that Giles use. I won’t give too much of the game away, but I will never look at a sock and a bag of rice again in the same way….

By the end of the day, my mind was buzzing with filters, composition, ISO settings and the like and we settled down to an amazing BBQ with toasted Marshmallows to finish. I took the rare opportunity to get a decent nights kip and was woken to the sound of a torrential downpour in the middle of the night bouncing off my Nemo Obi 2P which coped admirably. The morning afterwards saw us putting in to practice everything we had learnt the day before, the Back of Beyond park really came in to it’s own with woodland, lakes and the glade like campsite giving plenty of differing opportunities to shoot a wide variety of outdoor subjects and landscapes.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend, I have written here about my thoughts on learning from the weekend, but in terms of skills learnt, my photos have come on in leaps and bounds. I did feel the odd twinge of jealousy for a DSLR, but that was my gadget jealousy. Giles never made me feel out of place with my S90, and both him and Will took the time out to give specific guidance that was relevant for a compact point & shoot. Looking at my Flickr stream my photos before and after are noticeably better after, and I know my photography has changed now for life. Whether you are a die hard photographer looking to improve your skills , or an outdoor nut with very little experience as I was, I would thoroughly recommend anyone interested in enjoying their outdoors photography more to get in contact with Giles for the next Jolly. I am also super chuffed to announce that we will have a place on an upcoming course available as a prize on our facebook page soon so stay tuned!

What’s your experience of outdoor photography and if there was one tip you would pass on, what would it be?

Fabulous Finland

Foe anyone looking for a hiking holiday that’s literally off the beaten track, my I humbly suggest Finland? If huge expanses of wilderness dotted with stunning lakes full of water so pure you can drink it aren’t enough to sway you, the country’s amazing Everyman Law will. No matter who owns land in Finland, anyone can pick mushrooms and berries, swim in lakes and rivers, walk, ski and cycle and even camp wherever they please. If waking up miles from the nearest sign of humanity with only reindeer for neighbours appeals, it’s the perfect destination for a week away from it all.

More inspiration at VisitFinland.

- The Girl Outdoors

Essential Guide to Walking Kit

We had fun earlier in the year meeting up with Andy from Walks around Britain and Dave from MyOutdoors whilst up in the Peak District. We were already shooting a short video on a walk around Coombs Dale, whilst we were there, we had a chance to shoot the following short video on what sort of gear you might need when starting walking.

 

 

For those of you new to walking, the video gives a great intro to the sort of kit you will need to take when heading out for a days strolling, whether that be in the hills or valleys. We would recommend at least the following gear, as weather conditions can change rapidly when you are out and about.

- Small rucksack of between 15 & 25 litres in size
- Good pair of walking boots, spend the lions share of your budget on this.
- Baselayer to push or wick sweat away from your body, it should be synthetic or merino wool (not cotton!)
- A Midlayer, generally fleece, either heavy or light depending on the weather and a spare one in case of emergency.
- An outerlayer, usually a waterproof jacket, but can be a soft shell which is a water resistant and wind proof layer.
- Good pair of walking trousers and a pair of waterproof trousers if the weather looks bad. Don#’t wear jeans, if they get wet, they are rather uncomfortable, again stick to synthetic options which are hard wearing, water resistant and dry quickly.
- Compass.
- Map (great guide from Ordanance Survey here on choosing the right map).
- First aid kit.
- Food & Drink as you burn a lot of calories out strolling.
- Hat & Gloves (make it a sun hat for summer along with some sun cream).

This is just a basic list, so take in to account if you are doing anything more strenuous, or if you are heading in to the mountains, you may well need more equipment.

What would you consider essential for your rucksack or clothing when heading outside?

Backcountry Boiler in action

We’ve posted up on Facebook recently about a new Stove that got us rather excited in the Webtogs office. A modern twist on the Chimney Kettle, we’ve been following with interest the progress of Devin who has been tweaking and designing over the last three years or so a more lightweight, portable version. Sometimes known as the Kelly Kettle from our Irish fisherman friends, the design has been around for a while and was even used by NZ troops in world war II. They are traditionally large and heavy, so a lightweight version is more than welcome for us backpackers. They are seriously simple in how they operate, as this image shows;

We received ours from the lovely Phil Turner of Lightweight Outdoors as a pre-production sample to get to grips and play around with. First things first, this is seriously light coming in at around 220  grammes. In our humble opinion he has cracked the problem that lots of people had with this design, namely that previous versions were far too big and heavy.

Timing wise we experienced a boil in a fraction over 5 1/2 minutes. We figure as you get more practiced, you can get that time down to below 5 minutes easily. We love the fact you are using real fire to boil stuff up. There is nothing that beats the smell of woodsmoke in our humble opinion, and the backcountry boiler gives it to you in spades. We also love the fact it is great for the environment as burning wood is carbon neutral.

It wasn’t long before we got neighbours looking over the fence with some quizzical and impressed faces, and it was soon cups of tea all round. We took some photos of the boiler in action and a little video that you can see below.

 

Altogether we are very impressed. We are talking to Devin now and hope to be able to stock it later next year. We think it is our favourite stove of the moment, whats currently occupying your backpack or car as stove of choice?

 

 

 

 

A Weekend with the Fairies.

Sat in my office on Friday afternoon gazing out of the window with lots on my mind; my thoughts drift to camping, climbing and a mini-adventure. I had planned a trip to Fairy Cave Quarry near Shepton Mallet in the South West of England for a full weekend under canvas – Eh-hum – Nylon.

Home by half five, packed and loaded up, I get my bike gear on and then realise the weight of the kit I have to take for my weekend. Almost my own body weight in kit, and that was without  food or fluid which I had planned to get much closer to Fairy Cave Quarry.

Arriving at FCQ around 9 at night I have the pleasure of being the only person in the whole quarry – so tranquil – tent pitched, kit sorted out and I wander off around the quarry to get a feel for the place and I start to eye up a few routes I fancy soloing….. A few hours later and as I am sitting outside the tent watching the stars roll over and satellites flash across the night sky. I spot a shooting star and instantly I wish for good weather the whole weekend.

Saturday morning started early – 0630 – the noises I heard during the night were all explained. There had been a small group of Deer outside my tent (about 3 feet from it) which I watched from under the flysheet feeding on moss and grass, and there were a lot of Rabbit markings (droppings and the like) all around my pitch. I’m guessing the rapid munching / grinding teeth noises I heard were them. Opening the tent I’m surprised to see a pair of Peregrine Falcons just to my right, watching me for a minute before flying off to feed the youngest of their clan. The way that nature has taken over is really quite remarkable considering the bleakness of the slate quarry.

An hour or so passes and my belay arrives, so we head for a classic route at FCQ – ‘Back to Basics’. The route is a VD (very difficult) which follows a nice arete up to around 40 metres of easy, nicely protected climbing. By the time we have completed the first trad climb and descended the Alpine Ridge (PD), my group of students / friends arrives. We set up a few good top rope routes and get the group going on a nice and easy climb.

Smiles shine and eyes light up as each climbs to the anchor and abs off successfully without incident. Lunch, a few more climbs and the group of students head off home which means my belay and I get to climb another few of the classic routes before he too has to head off home too for a Thai take away and some quality time with his good lady. Glacis area is a favourite of mine at present as I have two climbs on my wishlist in this area alone; Jive talkin’ and Glacial point – both ‘E’ graded trad climbs – and some simpler routes that I want to lead just to tick them off and get the ‘feel’ for rock again.

The days overview entailed sun, smiles, much laughter and me cracking my ankle twice on the rocks –  much to my annoyance.

Sunday starts around 8 with the heat becoming unbearable in my little two man tent. I get myself motivated, washed up and dressed down to my shorts and walking boots topped off nicely with a bright Yellow ‘Rat Race’ buff draped over the top of my head and covering my neck so I don’t increase the already tingling sun tan.

Breakfast comes in the shape of a large sausage roll and a Banana – while posting to Facebook – when my students arrive with a nice big coffee for me. Today has a different feel about it instantly, I’m instructing only today as I really want to get a few of my students up in their grades, really getting a passion for trad climbing.

After a lunch stop, we lost two of the students to prior engagements and this only left one thing on my mind – Rob’s Crack. By now the sun is blazing and the heat is enough to literally fry food on some of the rocks in the quarry, so you can imagine how much energy we all had.

Rob’s crack is one of my favourite trad climbs and its placement in FCQ means that you are out of the way of most climbers who visit the quarry unless they’re there to bag Rob’s Crack themselves. 42 metres of VS (very severe) trad climb awaits those who are drawn to its looming slab. 2 crux’ and a very nice resting ledge followed by a pair of metal stakes to ab off mean that the route is a classic, and one to be taken in if you ever visit FCQ.

I have to say, watching your students / friends lead their first trad climb can only be comparable to watching you child walk for the first time. My smiles at their success must be overly noticeable to all who see me. After watching the group second, then top rope the climb, we head off and do a widespread clear of the area to pick up and remove any litter we find. We then make sure we haven’t left any gear behind, before loading up the car, & my motorbike, and heading off home for a well needed shower, shave and comfy bed.

More to follow next weekend? I do think so….