Webtogs team mountain biking trip to Afan, South Wales.

charlie    General Outdoor, Uncategorized     afan, mountain biking, mud, rain, wales, webtogs

Team building is an incredibly important part of any business which values the welfare of it’s employees. This is mainly due to the fact that it stops you all wanting to throttle each other but it also creates a bond between you and your fellow colleagues. The bond that was made for us, as employees of Webtogs, was made last weekend when we decided to all go to Afan, near Port Talbot in South Wales, to camp for the Friday evening and then do some pretty knarly mountain biking up and down Afan before returning home on Saturday afternoon.

We left on Friday afternoon after work and arrived in the evening around 8ish. Not a bad time considering the slow moving traffic over the Severn Bridge and beyond. We had driven in a car and a bongo van, the car driven by speedy Lavelle Gonzalez arrived early at Glyncorrwg Ponds Camp Site to set up the tents while the bongo van slowly meandered it’s way up the valley only to come to a halt at Afan Lodge where we were to dine for the evening and await the arrival of the rest of the troops from the camp site.

At around 8.30 we sat down to eat supper and chat about the adventure that was unfolding in front of us. The main topic of conversation was to do with the weather because when we left North Dorset it was pretty fair however as soon as we arrived in Wales the clouds rolled up the valley and the rain set in. It didn’t stop raining at all until we hopped back over to England so you can imagine what cycling up a Welsh mountain was going to be like.

In the morning we woke to a grey and wet Welsh welcome so we warmed up with a cup of tea and croissants before shooting off down the valley to pick up some hire bikes and helmets. The hire bikes were great and my goodness we put them through their paces. The bikes definitely took a bit of a battering with some of the guys making friends with trees, toppling off the board walks and landing upside down after rather a steep drop coupled with a sharp bend. We are still here to tell the tail but with less skin and more bruises.

The bad weather did nothing but accelerate our enthusiasm for getting on with the ascent and at first I think we were all, except Keith and Jon Stock our North Face rep, a little taken aback at how technical it was. We soon found our rhythm and with a few tips from the more experienced riders we all made our way up through the twists and turns of the densely forested Afan mountain. It took around 2.5 hours to arrive at the top and then the descent kicked in. An hour and a half of navigating narrow tracks, sharp U turns and board walks. Amazing fun but most amazing of all was that none of us got a puncture, one guy we passed on the trail was fixing his 5th in two days. All 9 of us made it to the bottom covered head to toe in scratches, bruises and mud but all with huge smiles plastered on our muddy faces.

Next stop was to the cafe at the foot of the mountain where Sue, Kuma and a welcome warm cup of tea and some good honest Welsh Rarebit were waiting for us. We all tucked in and shared our favourite and most scary sections with each other and had a laugh, all the while still looking like a team of rugby players after a tough match. Next it was to the showers which were, well, warmish to say the most but a shower non the less. After the showers packing up was the name of the game and all clubbing together to take 6 tents down doesn’t take long, even in the wet.

There are reports coming in from the passengers on board the bongo van that to keep Mike on his toes they were all singing along to the Paul Simon Greatest Hits album to pass the time, I’m not sure how many businesses there are on the planet where the employees are that comfortable with each other that they can perform a full rendition of ‘You can call me Al’ in front of each other? It’s a Webtogs thing I guess.

Another boost for moral on the journey home was the appearance of the sun, who decided to arrive just as we hopped back into England. It honestly felt like we hadn’t seen it for weeks so it was a welcome sight along with another cup of tea when we arrived back at home. A great weekend had by all and I can say that I now have the mountain biking bug along with a few others no doubt.

I thought we’d add a few quotes from the guys to sum up their weekend below so enjoy reading them.

Charlie – “Never had so much fun in the mud.”

Gareth – “Can’t stop the bruising, but I can’t stop grinning either!”

Lucy – “I cant think of anything better to do on a rainy Saturday than to play in the mud in Wales. Cant wait to go again!”

Jon – “Flying squirrels have nothing on the Webtogs crew!”

Ross – “Proud recipient of the Webtogs stabiliser award for falling off every 5 minutes”

Mike -”That’s my idea of a dirty weekend away”

Lee – ” What a roller-coaster of emotion, weather conditions and hardcore welsh terrain – loved it, epic adventure”

Sue – “smelly wet dog is nothing compared to 9 wet and muddy mountain bike riders”

Charlie enters the outdoor scene

charlie    General Outdoor, Trips     charlie, mt blanc, webtogs

Hello, I’m Charlie, 25 years of age and I’ve been working at Webtogs for nearly 2 years. I started work as a warehouse operative just for pre Christmas help in September 2009 and have, through persistent ear bashing, made a more permanent job for myself here. So now I’m Webtogs Website Manager and loving it. I’m not just saying that, I do genuinely love coming to work and all the guys we work with are great fun, I think it would be hard to find another work place which is as dynamic and intuitive as this one (plus I live 3 mins walk away so they know where I am if I’m ever late).

Now, Webtogs, as an official retailer of Outdoor Clothing, Equipment and Footwear, are obviously pro-outdoors and I to be honest have never had much experience of camping or hiking, mainly because I love the snow. I have previously focused most of my energy on disappearing off to the Alps on that eternal quest for virgin powder and have on occasion found it. As far as I am concerned it’s worth every penny, believe you me. I’ve completed a couple of ski seasons in Italy and Switzerland and the passion still burns from within, but now it has to fit in with work holidays so no bumming off for a season here and a season there anymore – work beckons and this has opened new doors to the adrenaline fuelled outdoor entertainments.

I play hockey for our local team a few times a week and have a friend who teaches at King’s Bruton, where I used to attend. They are paying for him to get all his Mountain Leader Safety courses and complete all the necessary exams needed so he can take the pupils off to train for the Ten Tors and Duke of Edinburgh awards. So I suggested that he take me with him whenever he decides to go off to remote parts of our glorious countryside. We only decided this last week and this blog is going to give you guys, if anybody reads this, the chance to see my progress in grabbing a foothold in the hiking world.

Just to give you the heads up on where I stand at the moment I don’t even own a backpack or walking boots so it’s going to be an epic journey I think. Oh, and I had an email through from the dude I play hockey with, we’ll call him ‘Bob’ for now as I haven’t asked him if he’d mind being plastered over the interweb yet, I probably won’t either so Bob will stick, anywho, the email It said… drum roll please……”I am also seriously considering climbing Mt Blanc next year in the summer so that would be something to maybe work towards. I think that you would love it and it would be a chance for you to try the kit out first hand.”

Oh dear, so now I’ve literally been roped into climbing a mountain? Instead of skiing down mountains I’m going to be climbing them – I have one ace up my sleeve though, Webtogs do happen to stock some pretty gnarly gear which means I’ll be well stocked up for the tasks in hand wherever they may be! There is one thing I do know, It’s going to be a bloody steep learning curve.

Have fun reading about my progress and I’m sure there will be some photos arriving soon of my first baby steps into the Great Unknown that is the British Countryside.

Thanks, bye. C

beautiful boots

sian    Footwear, Planning     boots review, cheap winter boots, fair isle boots, keen boots, outdoor boots, sian, webtogs

I’m a little bit in love with these gorgeous Keen Auburn boots – they somehow manage to be both pretty, functional, warm and durable, which doesn’t happen a lot in the world of women’s outdoor gear. They are perfect for country pubs now and they’ll still be going strong in the summer as brilliant festival footwear.

The fair isle print is really current and will brighten up jeans and a woolly jumper (which, to be honest, is pretty much my uniform when it’s cold). You might want to invest in some suede-saving spray though, given that we don’t live in the sunniest climate in the world. Sigh.

The Girl Outdoors

Shiny new Warehouse

Gareth    eCommerce, Gareth     Gareth, warehouse, webtogs

There has been a fair amount of shaking going on at Webtogs HQ right now, so much so that it feels like we are working on the bridge of the Starship enterprise. The reason for this, is our shiny new warehouse is getting built just behind us. The diggers have been laying the concrete foundations last week and this week the steels went up behind us.

It’s been incredible to watch just how quickly it has gone up, it has literally been two weeks for them to get to the stage above us in the photgraph. We can’t wait for the new warehouse to come online, especially our warehouse manager Sue, as things are a tad tight in the current one.

We’ll keep you posted as we progress……

Start your fires at 1300 C

Gareth    Gareth, General Outdoor     Gareth, webtogs

Something for all you closet Pyros out there, this bad boy cooks up a heat that would not be out of place in a volcano! They reckon it can get to 1300 c in temperature, perhaps a slight overkill for getting your waterproof matches lit but frankly I don’t care. I want one

Scarp Charmoz GTX Review

Gareth    Planning     Alps, Climbing, Nick Parks, outdoor, outdoors, webtogs

Charmoz GTX – Scarpa
I was fortunate enough to spend my alpine summer with a pair of Scarpa Charmoz GTX Mountaineering Boots to try out and pass my humble opinion on, and I have to say it was an experience I’d be only too happy to repeat. Aimed squarely at the mixed ground climber the boots take a B2 rated crampon, working particularly well with the Grivel Air Tech for mixed routes up to Grade 5. The midsole provides good support whilst the ¾ shank gives just enough flex to keep the approach comfortable. The Charmoz uses the recently introduced FT last, giving a good, precise, feel both when scrambling and climbing and the Vibram Mulaz sole with its plastic inserts for better traction on snow.

Where the Charmoz really excels is on true mixed ground, with constant switches between snow, rock and ice proving no problem. When you’ve got a snow slope followed by a rocky scramble then an ice pitch or two you need something that gives support, grip and traction reliably throughout, and inspires confidence. The waterproof breathable Gore-Tex membrane somehow managed to keep my feet dry even when post holing to knee deep on the ascent of Mont Blanc. Long hard walking on rocky paths felt comfortable which I attributed to the ¾-length shanks, and when it came to steeper icy routes it was simple to fit a pair of Newmatic crampons. The rigid soles and flexible uppers gave excellent support and the shape and fit gave all the precision needed for grade 5 ice and hard mixed climbing. I believe if you want one boot that does it all – or at least Alpine summer or Scottish winter, then look no further. When the mountain terrain changes every few hundred feet, take it all on with the versatile Charmoz GTX Mountaineering Boots.

Nick Parks – Mountain Guide