Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i Trail

Lots of people don’t like the autumn. The clocks have gone back, grumble grumble. It’s getting colder, grumble grumble. Practically everyone I know hates this time of year. But I think it’s my favourite time to be in the mountains. Golden days of chilly hypervisibility, misty nights with woodsmoke on the air, firelit inns, the invigorating bite that says, in a non-sinister way, ‘winter’s coming’… It’s why I genuinely think Britain is one of the best places to live on the planet – we have four true seasons, and each season has its signature. But I accept that some people need a bit of convincing. So this issue is dedicated to seizing the darkness when it comes, rather than resenting it. It takes up more than half of every 24…

HELP BUILD THIS… BMC Gallery of Mountaineering This month sees the launch of the BMC’s Gallery of Mountaineering. Images from the history of mountaineering have been curated from climbers, clubs and photographers around the world to create a digital archive of mountaineering history, spanning the past 100 years. The aim is that it will be a dynamic collection: contributions will be ongoing and can come from anywhere. SEE IT www.thebmc.co.uk WATCH THIS... Brit Rock Film Tour Want to feel inspired? An evening spent watching mountain high jinks on the big screen should do the trick. The annual Brit Rock Film Tour kicks off again this year at Kendal Mountain Festival on 18 November, before touring the UK. You’ll see some of the UK’s best climbers in action on…

David Chapman I took my lad up his first mountain this summer. We had a brilliant time in the Lake District but I don't think either of us will forget the steak pie that was warm, moist and squashed in the bottom of my rucksack. Watching him eat it was sooo funny. Matt Costello Squashed bananas. Nick Harbour I dropped a flapjack on the Llanberis Path once. I invoked the five-second rule. It was fine after a bit of a dusting off. Andy Piper Dry Alpen after running out of food on my DofE expedition. I now realise that's why I was so dehydrated! Jessica Broom I was running low on energy and feeling a bit wobbly, so I pulled out my emergency chewy bar only to realise I'd picked…

• ‘I prefer to set off on a night stroll at dusk... I like the way my familiar surroundings are differently transformed by twilight as I walk through them. Some things melt into their background, others reveal surprising new identities.’ Chris Yates, Nightwalk • ‘Taking a trip out into the night, particularly in remoter spots where its power is not dimished by artificial light, is perhaps the closest we’ll ever come to entering a magic kingdom of trickery and illusion.‘ Dixe Wills, At Night • ‘Noctambulism is usually taken to mean sleepwalking. This is inaccurate... noctambulism means walking at night. Generally people noctambulise because they are in search of melancholy. I had found another reason for being out at night, however, and that is the wildness which the dark confers…

GETTING THERE All the major airlines fly from London to Stockholm; flight times are around 2½ hours. SAS, Scandinavia’s main airline, operates flights from Stockholm to Kiruna; with flight times at around 90 minutes. Alternatively, sleeper trains operated by SJ, the Swedish railway, leave Stockholm twice each evening and take around 17 hours. Once in Kiruna, buses run twice a day to the trailhead at Abisko. ACCOMMODATION The STF huts along the trail can’t be booked in advance, but they guarantee to never turn guests away. They cost around 400 SEK (about £37) per person per night; to camp and use the facilities costs around 100 SEK. Consider buying an STF membership before your trip as it gives you discounted prices. STF also has good hostels in Abisko and Kiruna.…

ROSEBERRY TOPPING Location North Yorkshire Height 320m (1,050ft) Summit grid ref NZ579126 When Roseberry Topping wears a cap, let Cleveland then beware of a clap! Rhyme used by sailors and farmers to forecast bad weather. Topping – Yorkshire dialectal derivation of Old English topp. Bronze Age hoard – discovered in 1826. It used to look like a sugar loaf, till1912 when a geological fault and mining caused the summit to collapse. Othenesberg is the peak’s original Norse name, meaning ‘Odin’s Hill’. Othensberg, Ohenseberg, Ounsberry and Ouesberry – other names it’s been known by. Iron Age enclosures and huts are still visible. James Cook – the 18th century explorer lived near and walked on the hill as a young man. Prince Oswy – drowned in Roseberry Well spring, according to legend.…

ANKLE CUFF The ankle cuff helps prevent mud and grit from entering the boot. It also protects the ankle against being scraped on rocks. The stiffness in the ankle cuff reduces the strain on the ankle when traversing slopes and scrambling by adding extra support, which makes it less tiring to wear on rockier ground or on snow. But on easier ground, smooth paths and moorland, ankle support is less important. Some walkers also prefer the freedom and easier ankle movement of boots with lower or softer ankle cuffs. FIT No boot is worth having if it does not fit. The interior should be around 13-15mm longer than your foot, which you can gauge by putting the boot on without the laces tightened up and then placing your forefinger down…

FIT No boot is worth having if it does not fit. The interior should be around 13-15mm longer than your foot, which you can gauge by putting the boot on without the laces tightened up and then placing your forefinger down the inside of the boot at the heel. Better outdoor stores will measure your feet. The upper should be snug and comfortable across the foot. OUTSOLE Deep, well-spaced lugs can bite into soft ground without clogging. A deep heel breast (the step between the heel and midfoot area of the sole) is vital for providing braking power in descent. ANKLE CUFF To reduce weight and price, the ankle cuff may be cut quite low in some boots. However, a lower ankle cuff more easily allows water, mud and debris…

Where is it? Sutherland, Scotland, at NC524247. The Crask Inn is actually named on many maps, given that it is the only thing for miles. What’s it like? The Crask Inn is surely one of the hills’ most obvious yet best-kept secrets. Located on a spindly single track in the middle of Sutherland’s thinly peopled interior, this hostelry in Scotland’s far north is as quirky as it is welcome in the wild Flow Country it inhabits. One of the most remote inns in Britain, it stands entirely alone among boundless moor, with mountains such as Ben Klibreck on the doorstep and others within striking distance. The inside is cosy, like stepping into someone’s house – but with a bar in the corner selling marvellous Highland ales and, of course, Scotch…

2006 Originally envisioned as a digital version of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakes, Viewranger founders Craig Wareham and Mike Brocklehurst shared two things: a passion for the outdoors and a background in visual computing. Developed in their spare rooms, at first the app was on Symbian platforms and followed the original vision of placing map data directly on the landscape. But the big developments for Viewranger came with the emergence of the iPhone, which saw the marriage of software and hardware to create one of the first true mapping apps, which utilised the developing built-in GPS functionality of smartphones with the ability to display high-resolution mapping, off-grid and in increasingly battery-efficient guises. Heralding the age when a smartphone can be as functional as a GPS unit (if somewhat…

1892 Back in the 19th century, long before any of us were even a twinkle in our parents’ eyes, FW Lindqvist and JV Svenson were toiling away in a blacksmith’s workshop in Stockholm, developing kerosene stoves. When Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911, he had his Primus No. 1 with him; and in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay used a Primus on Mt Everest. Much imitated but rarely bettered, you can use it to make a quick cuppa or even a full-on fry-up. Primus is still innovating, and if you have a No. 1 you might want to hold onto it for a while. The vintage ones go for around £200 on eBay; but then again, you’re paying for…

1874(?) It’s unclear who first came up with the spork. Probably there were a number of ‘what if…’ moments as would-be inventors sat with spoon in one hand and fork in the other, and pictured the possibilities. The credit might go to Samuel W Francis, who issued a US Patent in February 1874; but regardless of who was originally responsible, the cutlery combination concept has been repeated, nicked, developed and refuses to die. Its usefulness remains most obvious to wild campers, who routinely scoop gloopy food out of bags but occasionally need to spear a slightly more substantial morsel. For this, the spork is perfect. It’s small and light, combines two items in one, and has a funny name. Laughed at by the rest of the world, whimsically beloved by…

2004 It’s difficult to appreciate now how radically different the Jetboil was when it appeared in 2004. The thing slotted together like a lunar lander and looked like it belonged in Darth Vader’s handbag. And that speed: as the name suggested, the innovative FluxRing heat exchanger offered wind protection and incredibly brisk boil times. While heralded by nesting designs such as the Trangia, the all-in-one Jetboil was, according to founders Dwight Aspinwall and Perry Dowst, built to beat ‘clunky stoves and vacuum bottles’. It was in fact born out of Aspinwall’s witnessing his friends battling with their own cooking kit on the Tasmanian South Coast Track. Like most game-changers, the design wasn’t perfect – it was tall and unstable, and detractors decried its limited culinary applications (What, it just boils…

1983 Some classics arrive in a flash of unique inspiration. Others are the result of an extended honing process, culminating in a combination of features that raises them above the ordinary. The Scarpa Manta is an example of the latter. What we call 4-season boots – footwear you would lace up when tackling a Munro in winter – don’t deviate much from a specific set of criteria: a stiff, crampon-compatible sole with deep lugs combined with a robust and waterproof upper that offers support without abandoning comfort. It’s the way these come together in near-perfect symbiosis in the Scarpa that makes it a true classic. It’s barely changed over the years; Scarpa experimented with the GSB sole in the 2008 version, and the new Manta Pro GTX has a Gore-Tex…

1914 The history of Ordnance Survey stretches back to 1747, but the old reliable 1:25,000 OS Explorer map didn’t appear until 1914. Back then, only the military had access to them, but in 1945 experimental maps were made available. Then in 1972 the first Outdoor Leisure map was published, known as the Pathfinder and covering the Dark Peak area of the Peak District. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2005 that the whole of the British Isles was covered. The changes to OS maps have reflected directly the changing politics and culture of the time but they’ve consistently provided a level of detail that allows walkers to freely explore every inch of the British countryside.…

Revolutionary: it’s a big word. For something to be truly revolutionary, it has to be special. It needs to represent a departure from the norm, a significant step change, and – most importantly – it has to be the first to do so. Using those criteria, German company Deuter has good grounds to claim its Aircomfort back system revolutionised rucksack design. Launched in 1985, it aimed to address an issue that had been reducing backpackers’ comfort for as long as they’d been shouldering packs: the sweaty back. Deuter’s Gröden and Zugspitze packs were the first to feature the Aircomfort system. A taut mesh panel established an air space between the wearer’s back and the rucksack, allowing air to circulate and perspiration to evaporate. Since then, the Aircomfort system has been…

1900-1905 WC Coleman establishes a lighting service in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He buys the patent for the Efficient Lamp and sets out to design an even better lantern. At the same time, he moves to Wichita, Kansas, to expand his territory – and starts to manufacture his own lamps. 1915 The redesigned lantern proves so popular that the US government declares it an ‘essential item’ of World War One. More than 70,000 are distributed across the nation, providing light to help produce items critical to the war effort. 1950s After World War Two, Coleman focuses on the outdoors. Americans become increasingly interested in recreation, travelling by car to see the country. Roadside parks and campsites pop up everywhere. The company manufactures a plastic cooler, the first of its kind, which changes…

Sarah Ryan explores the Carneddau from the east and discovers one hell of a view... No, actually, she finds two of them. Where? See p24 Twitter @sarahoutside Ben Weeks heeds Alfred Wainwright's advice and climbs what AW reckoned was the best ascent of any fell in the Lake District on p32 Twitter @GingerheadBen Simon Ingram waits until nightfall before climbing one of Scotland's most northerly Munros. He declares nocturnal walking to be brilliant on p38 Twitter @MrSimonIngram Kris Williams spends a lot of time under the stars, capturing the splendour of the hills at night. See a gallery of some of his best images on p44 Twitter @jixxerkris Jeremy Ashcroft leads the way on a Snowdonian enchainment that takes in two fantastic mountains and three of the best scrambles in…

Pen y Gwyrd: Tales from the Smoke Room Rob Goodfellow, Jon Copeland & Peter O’Neill You have to know why the Pen y Gwyrd Hotel is important to pick this up – and if you don’t, it’s unlikely the book’s sinister signature image of old walking boots hanging from a beam as if on dead feet will sway you. There’s a chance you’ll have heard of Jan Morris, though – the Times reporter who broke the news of Everest’s first ascent, then changed career (and gender) to become travel writing royalty in later life. As the cover states, Morris wrote this book’s foreword. Everyone who is in any way involved in mountaineering in Snowdonia knows the Pen y Gwyrd, the stately, isolated hostelry crouched on the corner of the Llanberis…

TRAIL MAGAZINE WINNER! SEND IN A PHOTO – AND WIN! The owner of the best face wins three pairs of socks from 1000 Mile , creator of the original double layer sock with its famous Blister Free Guarantee. 1000 Mile’s range now includes single layer padded socks, plus the Fusion range, which mixes double layer and padding, and offers socks for every type of outdoor activity. Try them with free p&p, using the code TLFP. Send a picture of your haggard hill fizzog to trail@bauermedia.co.uk…

Get experienced Walking at night can be thrilling but it requires sharp, well-practised outdoor skills. Choose good conditions, and for your first few night walks ensure you take a more experienced pal with you. Share your plans There's always the chance you might trip, fall or get lost on a night walk… so make sure someone knows where you've gone and when you're due back, so they can raise the alarm if you don't check in. (And if you are okay, make sure you do check in!) Don’t forget the basics As well as being darker, remember nights can be colder and damper, routes may take longer, snow can turn to ice and bad weather can complicate an already challenging environment. Don't overstretch yourself; do be ultra-cautious! Watch that flash!…

Appropriate footwear The emphasis is on comfort. The trail is very well-kept and you’ll be able to dry your boots overnight by the wood burner Rain gear It’s the Arctic, and it can go from 15 deg C and sunny to a downpour in an instant. Keep a good shell jacket and a decent pair of overtrousers near the top of your pack Down jacket In the summer season you’ll be fine walking in a fleece, T-shirt and shell, but in the evening, on lunch stops and when waiting for the Northern Lights it gets chilly quickly. Down is superlight and superwarm. Towel & soap You could be in the sauna every night! Calories There are shops at every hut, but if you rely on them you’ll end up spending…

Take note of some specific areas of their design and use to get the best level of protection from your gaiters. First, the underfoot stirrup needs to be in good working order, to prevent the gaiter from riding up when you step into soft snow, mud or undergrowth. Adjust the length of this stirrup so the gaiter sits tightly over the lace area of the boot. A lace hook adds further security. The main opening of the gaiter is often found at the front or rear of the leg and will have a zip or Velcro strip plus a press stud at the top and bottom. When fitting, make sure they are fully closed. Leaving an opening at the top or bottom will lead to debris entering the gaiter. Top…

QUESTION I fancy having a go at Crib Goch, but how do I know if I’m up to it? I’ve heard it can be difficult to escape from. Jerome Singleton, Rutland ANSWER Rob Johnson mic A qualified International Mountain Leader, Rob’s led groups all over the world via his company www.expeditionguide.com As well as guiding people along Crib Goch I am chairman of Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, and we regularly retrieve those who have bitten off more than they can chew on the ridge. Before tackling Crib Goch it’s best to try some other Grade 1 scrambles to build your skills; Crib Goch is at the top end of the grade so it does not make for a good first scramble. Routes like Y Gribin Ridge on the Glyderau (easily…

FIND THE RIGHT FIT Buying the right boot for you is not so much about your gender as it is about your foot size, shape and volume. Though the features on men’s and women’s boots are generally the same or very similar, the fit is very different. A good pair of women’s boots will usually be made on a smaller last (foot mould), so the volume is lower and the heel narrower. They tend to be smaller and lighter than men’s boots, and the ankle support slightly lower. So, smaller- and narrower-footed people, read on. Larger- and chunkier-footed people, see the men’s boot review on page 72. Shop for boots in the afternoon if you can. Your feet expand a little during the day, so try them on later to…

YAKTRAX PRO £20 These very lightweight grips stretch across the base of the boot with a Velcro strap over the upper to hold them in place. They come in four sizes to cover boot sizes 38-46. Grip comes from a metal coil wrapped around a rubber frame stretching around the boot. The coils are made of 1mm diameter wire sitting about 3mm below the frame, so in effect you have lots of 3mm deep metal grips underfoot. Higher-priced designs have a deeper grip though, which means these are best suited to softer ice and only shallow coverings of snow. They are ideal for valleys, pavements and roads and can be used on forest tracks, but they don’t provide the grip that models with longer spikes can on harder ice or…

Richard Down If it s a knotty and wild bit of Cumbria you're after, just ask Rich. Chiz Dakin Award-winning writer, photographer and filmmaker. Avid traveller. Hannah James Trail s editorial assistant loves going back to her Welsh roots. Jen & Sim Benson Writers of adventure guides, and passionate about our wild places. Garry Smith Teaches mountain skills throughout the UK. Loves Scotland in winter. Jonathan Cook Has hiked and climbed all over, but his passion for the Lakes remains strong. Ronald Turnbull Creator of a whopping 30 guidebooks and 18 unique coast-to-coasts. Jeremy Ashcroft Trail s mountaineering editor, and a veteran of every classic UK route.…

HIGH POINTS Glyder Fach 994m/3,261ft Tryfan 917m/3,010ft High above the Ogwen Valley and facing true north, the deep, glacially carved corrie of Cwm Bochlwyd is the stuff of scramblers’ dreams. All its enclosing walls soar skyward in a crazy collection of pinnacles, castellated rocks and dark, brooding crags. Among the confines of this cauldron of rock and over its surrounding peaks you will find the greatest concentration of quality scrambles Wales has to offer. Such close proximity means you can easily string a succession of routes together for a full-on mountain experience. Routes like The Chasm Face and Dolmen Ridge on the back wall of Cwm Bochlwyd can be preceded by taking in routes either on Tryfan’s east face or on the west face of Y Gribin to provide scrambling…

WHO James Goulding WHERE Buachaille Etive Mor James told Trail: ”I have now completed my 7 Summits list. Thanks for the inspiration to get out there and climb the likes of the Buachaille Etive Mor ridge, Aonach Eagach and Suilven. Not sure I'd have done them otherwise, possibly ever, and certainly not this quick! I also managed to take my 3-year-old son up Binsey in the Lakes unaided – another big tick for us both.” What is the Trail 7 Summits Challenge? This year we’re challenging our readers to name, share and climb seven UK hills. Whether it's an ambition you've always had or something that’s just caught your eye, get ’em down on paper and the climb is on! Sign up and discover the challenge at www.LFTO.com/ trail7summits James wins…

1968 Nearly 50 years ago at his home in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, Fjällräven founder Åke Nordin created a jacket made from durable tent fabric. It was the brand’s first dedicated outdoor jacket and one of the first to use the unique G-1000 material, now an integral part of the Fjällräven range. In addition to influencing the evolution of Fjällräven’s kit, the Greenland No.1 (as it was called) also has a more direct link to modern outdoor apparel. In 2011 the original jacket was found hanging on a hook in Åke’s workshop, and in 2012 the Greenland No. 1 re-entered the Fjällräven range as a ‘special edition’ (above), retaining its original features and giving new life to a classic.…

1970 Spinning a weavable yarn from polypropylene won its inventors a Nobel Prize in 1963, and in 1970 resulted in the first synthetic base layers. Pioneered by marine stalwart Helly Hansen, LIFA was the name given to this remarkable product, which excelled at moving moisture away from the body as it worked hard. Originally used in outdoor workwear, LIFA base layers soon followed, and thus Helly Hansen’s iconic striped sleeves became ubiquitous in outdoor gear.…

1965 Founded in Batley, West Yorkshire by Brian Gaskin and Roy Holmes. Under the name G&H Products, it is one of the first outdoor companies to use nylon in its garments. 1975 G&H is approached by Chris Bonington to supply clothing for the British expedition to Everest’s south-west face. 1976 G&H buys a Hebden Bridge-based trousers-and -breeches-making company called Clarke’s Craghoppers, as the brothers who run the company are retiring. G&H retains the name Craghoppers, and the modern company is born. 1992 Breakthrough System is developed – Craghoppers’ first breathable, waterproof system. 1995 Regatta acquires Craghoppers. A year later the ram’s head logo is introduced, and is nicknamed ‘Mouffie’. 1996 Kiwi trousers are launched. 1999 SolarDry fabrics are launched. 2002 Nosquito insect-repellent fabrics are launched. 2008 Bear Grylls (right) becomes…

1897 The Opinel folding knife was designed in 1897 by Frenchman Joseph Opinel in a range numbered 1 to 12. Its success was immediate. In 1955, his son Marcel developed the Virobloc twisting ring on the handle, which locks the blade open or closed. And that, in 119 years of production, is about all that’s changed. It’s uncomplicated: a sharp stainless steel blade that folds into a wooden handle, but delightful in its effectiveness. The No.8 is just big enough to be used for basic bushcraft but small enough for more fiddly work. In 1985 it was chosen by the Victoria and Albert Museum as one of the 100 Best Designed Objects in the World.…

1898 Hans Deuter founds the company in Augsburg-Oberhausen, supplying the Bavarian Royal Mail with mailbags and post sacks. 1919 Hans Deuter begins manufacturing suitcases, backpacks, tents and truck canopies and exhibits at Oktober-fest for the first time. 1938 Anderl Heckmair makes the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger with Ludwig Vörg, Fritz Kasparek, Heinrich Harrer and a Deuter backpack. 1939 With the outbreak of war, all equipment and tent production is taken over for the armed forces. Deuter refer to this as its ‘Dark Years’. 1953 Deuter equips Hermann Buhl’s expedition to Nanga Parbat (8125 m) with backpacks, bags and tents, including the proven Tauern backpacks. In the following years, the company continues to equip expeditions, using the feedback to develop new products. 1968 Deuter produces the…

FERRATA PIZ DA LECH DOLOMITES Here are David Crawford-Jones and his father-in-law Richard Evans from Oxford, “feeling amazing” having completed this via ferrata route. David told Trail, “About halfway up I said ‘I never want to do another one again!’ But now I can’t wait to go back and do another!” An English couple took the pic. CNICHT SNOWDONIA This summit shot by Dennis Thornton shows members of Chorley U3A walking group and Charnock Richard Rambling Club on ‘The Welsh Matterhorn’: Peter Goodliffe, Nicola Stonelake, Carole Tate, Jackie Woods, Dave Hargrave, Jenny and Joe Taylor, Maureen Nicholl and Rick Cragg. Peter said the friends continued over Moelwyn Mawr and Moelwyn Bach following a Trail route: an ascent of over 1120m, and the views from the tops were the best seen…

“There were a few hours of darkness left and the thick, icy mist had settled all the way down to road level.” One night after work, Dundee-based journalist Alan Rowan decided he wasn’t going to wait any longer. Yes, he had to work during the day; but that left whole evenings free for mountains. After ticking off every Munro under the cover of darkness, he wrote a book, Moonwalker. But there were more hills to climb, and all darkness leads to the best light of the day... I emerged from the freezing February mist looking like I’d been locked in a meat storage locker for 12 hours. I suppose in some ways I had – sleeping in a car for a few hours at this time of year can be…

Will you be heading above 6000m to snaffle some Himalayan summits? YES You’ll be needing a pair of high-altitude mountaineering boots. They’re as rigid and inflexible as Ryanair’s terms and conditions, making them perfect for kicking into névé, plunging through drifts, and strapping on fiercely spiked crampons for clawing up frozen faces. They’ll also be well-insulated (it gets mighty chilly up there). PROS: warm; super-supportive; hard as nails. CONS: expensive; entirely unsuited to general walking. Will you be tackling mixed snow and rock routes in the Alps? YES Alpine boots cross the divide between high-altitude and winter walking boots. Alpine light boots will be stiff enough to use with technical crampons, but more precise than general 4-season boots for climbing. Full alpine boots will be stiffer still and more insulated,…

Ziplock bags I never use baskets for foraging (unless picking mushrooms). Ziplock bags are best in terms of space, organisation and separating ingredients. Fire steel Fire steels are always a great thing to have on you. Lighters are good too, but fire steels work even when wet, they're small and compact. I only cook over fire so this is a must. Knives I don’t go in for expensive Bushcraftstyle blades – they simply can’t stand up to the things I need a knife for. I take two with me: a Steel Will Druid 255 – robust, holds a great edge and can be battered about; and an Opinel No.8, which I use as a small paring knife for finer food prep. Rucksack Element rucksacks are great all-purpose packs, and the…

La Sportiva Trango Alp Evo GTX £270 Used by Jeremy Ashcroft, mountain-mad mountaineering editor Used for 6 months Take a first look at the Trango Alp Evo GTX, and it’s clear it has all the hallmarks of a summer-weight scrambling and mountaineering boot. The sort of boot you would pick for routes on the Cuillin Ridge or jaunts around the ridges of the Ogwen Valley, where there is a mix of rough walking interspersed with scrambling and the odd bit of rock-climbing. It’s on this sort of terrain that it excels. There's an uncluttered profile with tough Idro-Perwanger leather uppers, rubber rand and stiff sole unit which is perfect for exploiting small holds and jamming in cracks. Closer inspection also reveals a rear crampon lug, Gore-Tex liner and a decent…

WE SAY... On the way up to Red Tarn the familiar form of Striding Edge dominates. Move on a little further, and when rounding the broad eastern ridge of Catstye Cam, another less familiar – sight is added to the view. This is Swirral Edge, and although slightly overshadowed by Striding Edge it offers no less of an adventure for those who enjoy a bit of space below their feet. Rearing up at a steep angle, Swirral Edge rises straight to Helvellyn’s expansive summit plateau in one unbroken sweep from the col below the pyramidal peak of Catstye Cam. Its structure takes the form of a classic alpine arête, and when set against the snowfields of the adjacent corrie headwalls that often linger long into spring, it can easily be…

1989 What would you do if you were in a 100-mile race through hot, barren country? Michael Eidson filled an IV (intravenous) bag with water, stuffed it in his jersey and clipped the hose over his shoulder, allowing him to keep hydrated while moving fast – and so the CamelBak hydration bladder was born. The CamelBak is now one of the best ways to carry up to 3 litres of water on the hill. Whether walking, climbing or scrambling, it is a brilliant hands-free way of keeping hydrated on the go, with the bladder in a rucksack and drinking tube lying over the shoulder.…

1908 The maker of the first ever pair of crampons, a blacksmith by the name of Henry Grivel, hailed from Courmayeur in northern Italy. These days Grivel is still a well-known Italian mountaineering brand. But it was an Englishman called Oscar Eckenstein who came up with the design. A railway engineer and keen mountaineer and climber (he climbed with Geoffrey Winthrop Young and Aleister Crowley and is credited with pioneering the sport of bouldering), Eckenstein researched the design and manufacture of crampons, publishing his results in the Austrian Alpine Club’s newsletter in 1908. He took his results to Grivel and the 10-point crampon was created. Traction devices had been in use since Roman times, but Eckenstein’s design and Grivel’s construction is widely regarded as the birth of ‘modern’ crampons. In…

2000 White LED lamps were a thing of the future when Fernand Petzl launched the first headtorches into the caving world. Even when LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs were available, they only came in colours. By the time white LEDs appeared, the appetite for an energy-efficient, compact headtorch led to the development of the Tikka, which ran on three AAA batteries and sported three white LEDs – the first available. Thus a new generation of lightweight, weather-resistant lamps were soon on the heads of outdoor-goers. Petzl’s Tikka has been redesigned since, but the original retains its status as a design classic and a game-changer.…

1980 The thing about Hilleberg tents – and this is apart from the Swedish heritage, the appealingly Arctic sensibilities of the products and the refinement of their design – is the fabric. Back in the days when very thin, extremely strong materials were a novelty, shops selling Hilleberg tents used to have swatches of it on display. Shop assistants used to sell the durability of the tent by challenging customers to rip it. The fabric was Kerlon 1500, and it was a game-changer. Bo Hilleberg had discovered that by coating already tough fabric in silicone you could make it many times stronger, adding elasticity without additional weight to the industry-standard polyurethane-coated polyester. Deployed initially in 1975 on the Keb, the fabric came of age on the Keron, a design that…

1978 The Yeti Gaiter was one of the first recycled pieces of outdoor kit – with rubber rands made from the inner tubes of tractors. Launched in the late Seventies, the revolutionary Yeti quickly became a standard item on any serious expedition kit list. Trail’s Ben has fond memories of his geography teacher Mr Hunt wearing them around Snowdonia; but to most people, the most famous wearer will likely be Sir Chris Bonington, who became a bit of a Berghaus pin-up (left). They are still one of the best bits of kit for protecting feet and legs.…

1981 Not only was this a game-changer product, it used game-changer material. Described by Time magazine as one of the 20th century’s greatest inventions, Polartec synthetic fleece would revolutionise outdoor clothing. Before fleece there was pile, which used raised clumps of natural fabric – usually alpaca or sheep’s wool – to trap air. But it suffered from bobbling and looked scruffy. Malden Mills in Massachusetts developed a synthetic fabric that was light, non-absorbent and quick-drying. It made its debut in 1981, under Patagonia’s proprietorial fabric name Synchilla. Such was its success that less than 2 years later, Malden Mills released the fabric under its own name, Polartec. The recent revival of Patagonia’s original fleeces, such as the Snap T and Shelled Synchilla – means the classic first product is set…

1964 Founded by Ellis Byers, who was a chemist – not generally a good sign in discussions of nutritious foodstuffs – Mountain House was once called OFD, which stands for Oregon Freeze-Dried Foods. A purveyor of lightweight grub that didn’t go bad, the company won a contract to produce food for long-range patrols during the Vietnam War to replace the inadequate ‘K’ and heavy ‘C’ rations that had hitherto served troops. In 1968 the company saw an opportunity to channel its product into the outdoor world, developing a 14-flavour-strong line called ‘Tea Kettle’ with outdoor retailer REI and the company changed its name: Mountain House was born. The range now has 33 varieties, each with a shelf life of 30 years. Light weight and simple cooking make them a solid…

1915 Mass production begins as the Stanley Insulating Company. 1941 The Green Hammertone design is introduced to the Stanley range. 1942 Stanley bottles are first carried on B-17 bombers during World War Two. 1970s Post-war modernisation sees the Stanley flask become a favourite of the American workforce, making it the most popular vacuum bottle ever. 1995 William Stanley Jr is inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. 2006 Stanley flasks enter the outdoor world, and are soon on expeditions all over the globe – from Everest to the poles. 2013 The brand turns 100. 2017 Stanley Master Series reinvents the Vacuum Flask… watch this space! www.stanley-pmi.com…