Adrian's Photoblog

I'd had my fine old Kastinger plastic boots for about 25 years, but have hardly used them in the last 15 years. Now they don't feel right...I suppose your feet change over time. Also they are very solid, weigh 2800g a pair, and the high ankle was restrictive. So I've thrown them away...!!

Here is the replacement, La Sportiva Trango Alp,with mix of leather and synthetics, with a goretex lining. They weigh in at 1850g per pair, a remarkable weight saving, have a small amount of sole flex and the flexi ankle cuff seems to hit the right balance....ideal for pied a plat..!! I also splashed out on some new crampons, replacing my 30 year old Cassin's with some Grivel Airtech newmatic.

Christened the boots with a 6 mile walk in the fresh snow around Romsey, but it's time to go and put them to some real use.

This cold spell was pretty unusual for Romsey, but all the more so as it begun in late November, with temperatures rising above freezing only for short spells. We also had a 24 hour period (6 Dec to 7 Dec) where it remained below freezing, which I believe is the first time it's happened since I moved to Romsey. The day of 3 December only reached -1.7, after which it cooled, then warmed up in the early hours so was above freezing by 0900 on 4th. So you could say that was the coldest daytime max we've had, since the 0900 represents the weather of the next day. Oh the problems with 24 hour periods for recording max & min...!!

Overall December is running at +4.2 max, and -2.3 min, overall about 5 degrees below normal for December so far. I'll post an update at the end of the month. And 2 snowfalls too, 13 cm on 2nd Dec, and 5 cm on 18th.

Click on the image for a larger version and see blog from last Jan to see the cold snap we had then.

I'm mightily impressed by my first every visit to Witby....in October 2010. Duncan and I walked east from the harbour along a stretch of north facing coast shaded from the autumn sun. This was an austere and intreguing stretch of coast, with dark rocks adding to the ambiance.

We walked back via the wonderful Abbey...and had a good look round before some fish and chips. What a fine piece of England.

No real need to label this photo, it is one of the worlds most famous icons. It was a magnificent sight, rising out of the flat plain of central Australia. When your driving around the area the great rock is always around...like a compass point to give you direction. And as you drive closer, every time you look it appears to have grown, and suddenly detail appears... From a distance it appears fairly flat, but close up it has many gullies and ravines..a true 3D landscape.

Don't underestimate the equally impressive Olgas rocks in the Kata Tjuta, a series of giant rocks rising out of the ground 25 miles west of Uluru.

We arrived in the rain, then the second night we had ice on the car windscreen before our walk round the Olgas boulders, where it reached 16C in the day. This photo was taken on our second evening, part of the famous sunset sequence.

Our 2 week trip to Australia was in late August 2010. We had 5 days in Sydney staying with Lucy and Gareth, then we flew into Ayers Rock for 3 days, and then back to Sydney where we went up to Terrigal, now with Lucy and Gareth, Chris, Helen and Archie, and Mark, Sarah, Katie, Shay, and Jenny. Finally a couple of days in the Blue Mountains, before our last 3 days back in Sydney with Chris & Helen.

A wonderful experience and a unique family combination up at Terrigal.

3 day traverse of the rough bounds of the Rhinogs with Peter in May 2010.

The traverse started at Llandecwyn station at 1440 on 15 May and finished at Barmouth at 1400 on 17 May. Total walking time (incl stops) was 20 hours, to cover 24 miles and a suprising 2500m of ascent.

This is wonderful mountain walking country, intricate and challenging route finding, varied terrain, lots of high lakes and continous seaward views to the west.

Don't tell too many people though as its quietness is part of the charm

Dee and I went up to the lakes for easter, via Phil and Anne's. We all went up Ingleborough, then onto Keswick. As you can see, we had wonderful weather, and so we went up Glaramara on the Cam Crag ridge, a remote and sunny grade 2 scramble. A great day's walking, before heading back to Heathrow and Jenny back on her way to New Zealand.