Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2017 i Trail

Look! Your own personal halo, radiating through the mist. You must be an angel, or some kind of supernatural being. Or it might just be a glorious optical phenomenon. This is a Brocken spectre, caused when low sun shines past an object (that’s you) and down onto a bank of mist or cloud. The sunlight, cast onto small droplets, is diffracted; and because you observe it with your eyes (which are located in your skull) it appears as a series of colourful circles radiating from your head. This rainbow crown is known as a ‘glory’, and the term Brocken spectre – named after a mountain in Germany – refers more properly to your shadow, which often appears gigantic. It’s also visible only to you, as even someone standing directly in…

Scafell Pike, Snowdon or Ben Nevis? Ben Nevis – it was my first Munro, when I was 11. My dad let me choose, and I went for the biggest one. I’ve had a similar approach to things ever since. The highest mountain you’ve climbed? I’m not a mountaineer, but El Capitan felt big. It took my climbing partner Jackie and me a week. We’re still glowing, even though we topped out 4 years ago. Who’s your mountaineering hero? My dad has many proud summit retreats to his name. What do you love most about the mountains? Feeling like you’re in another world that not many people know about; being someone tougher, braver, more skilled than you thought you were, and enjoying that feeling in the bath afterwards. Most memorable day…

“I scream, scream from adrenaline, scream in fear, and scream at the mountain: ‘Let me pass!’ There is a ledge above me. It’s my only hope but I cannot reach it.”From The Bond by Simon McCartney, winner of the 2016 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature. Glen Coe’s Clachaig Inn has been running winter safety lectures since 1985, and they’re back again for 2017. They’ll take place every Tuesday in February, starting on the 7th with a talk from Andy Spink MIC on ÔPlanning for the expected and unexpected in the winter hills’. All the lectures are free, informative and given by some of the most experienced people in the area. Not only that, they are part of FebruaryFest, a month of live music, whisky nights, gin nights, pub quizzes…

I don’t know if the 7 Summits Challenge is over or not, but I just wanted to say “Thank you!” and “What a year!” I climbed Goatfell on Arran – at night with the ‘Munro moonwalker’ Alan Rowan. I scaled Buachaille Etive Mor – not once, but twice! The weather on the first attempt was so bad we only managed Stob Dearg, so I went back to tick off Stob na Broige (and Stob Dearg again) a few weeks later. I did admittedly break your one rule [UK hills only]. I’d set my sights on Knockmealdown, an Arderin (an Irish mountain over 500m, with a 30m prominence). However that didn’t work out due the weather, but I did climb two other Arderins: Musheramore, and Carrauntoohil on a stag do. I…

BLENCATHRA LAKE DISTRICT Being really rather silly are Matt, Emma, Matt, John, Steve, Sarah and Brett from Leeds, following (according to Emma, who sent in the photo) “...a pretty hairy ascent of Hall’s Fell Ridge. Good job we had some rope!” Each issue we’ll be giving away the new Summit 25/38 mattress from Multimat’s Expedition range. New materials make this self-inflating sleeping mat tougher and lighter for durability on unsupported expeditions. Tested to -35 deg C, its wedge profile maximises comfort and minimises weight, while a warm zone improves tog value under the torso. THIS COULD BE YOU! Send your shots, marked ‘Summit selfie’ to trail@bauermedia.co.uk…

“You adopt a manly stance on the summit, probably leap from Adam to Eve, then glare across the deep divide of Bwlch Tryfan and see Bristly Ridge scowling back at you.” Part 1 Tryfan north ridge As I stepped out of the car into a muddy puddle and stared up at Tryfan’s grey, saturated north ridge, I could not have predicted that this would become my finest ever mountain day. It was cold in the Ogwen Valley, but far from freezing. We could see white dollops high on the mountains from the breakfast table of our hostel, but somehow it didn’t feel like winter. It was calm, drizzly, almost mild – and it was all a bit miserable. But we’d driven a long way to get here, so we weren’t…

When one person reports a sense of foreboding, an unwelcoming presence, a feeling of blind terror, it is easy to dismiss; but when many individuals recount similar experiences, it does begin to make you wonder... A documented sighting of the Big Grey Man of Ben Macdui was recorded as early as 1791, by the poet James Hogg: “It was a giant blackamoore, at least thirty feet high, and equally proportioned, and very near me. I was actually struck powerless with astonishment and terror. My first resolution was, if I could keep the power of my limbs, to run home and hide myself below the blankets with my Bible beneath my head.” Local folklore probably pre-dated these documented reports; but the myth of the Grey Man was given some credibility in…

Altitude sickness or, more correctly, acute mountain sickness (AMS) is primarily caused by gaining altitude too quickly. Your body is exposed to thinner air and lower air pressure without having a chance to adjust to it. The reduction in oxygen intake can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and exhaustion. In very serious cases a build-up of fluid on the lungs (high-altitude pulmonary edema, or HAPE) or the brain (high-altitude cerebral edema, or HACE) can result. These are potentially fatal conditions requiring immediate treatment and a reduction in altitude. But there is some good news for UK hillwalkers. Symptoms of severe AMS usually only occur above 3600m/12,000ft, and symptoms of any kind are rarely reported at altitudes below 2500m/8,000ft). With the summit of our highest peak Ben Nevis (below) at a modest…

A GPS RECEIVER Built for use in the outdoors, this kit is more durable and weatherproof than a phone – but we recommend you carry a map and compass to use alongside it. Pictured: Garmin eTrex 25 £210 B WALKING POLE Can be used to find north on sunny days and to determine the angle of a slope. Who knew?! Pictured: Leki Albula Lite Poles £90 (pair) C CHINAGRAPH PENCIL This will make a waterproof mark on a map (which can easily be removed). It’s wise to draw your path on your map as you go, whenever a bearing is taken. Pictured: Royal Sovereign Chinagraph Marking Pencil £7.55 (for 12) D VIEWRANGER Track your progress on a route with the new ViewRanger app – perhaps on the Apple Watch? Pictured:…

Hill-bagging stats Walking the Wainwrights, the Munros, the Corbetts or the Welsh 3000ers? These routes have got you covered. Gradient profile We map every route for its unique gradient profile, giving you a pinpoint impression of its progressive steepness and the heights you’ll hit. What are the Trail 100? They’re your tick-list of the 100 UK mountains you MUST climb! Download the full list from: LFTO.com/trail100 Always take a map on the hill We aim to provide the most accurate information, but you must ALWAYS use an Ordnance Survey or Harvey map on the hill and double-check any directions against it. BEFORE YOU GO... If you’re likely to encounter snow or ice on your walk you need to take precautions. You MUST have ice axe, crampons and the skills to…

Lake District 10.5km/6½ miles 4 hours Loweswater (the lake) is often bypassed by regular Lakeland walkers, but three of the fells rising above it – Gavel Fell (1,726ft/526m), Blake Fell (1,880ft/573m) and Burnbank Fell (1,558ft/475m) – make a great outing into relative wilderness country. This trio of fells rise south-west of the lake above Holme Wood and provide interesting walking on easily followed paths with great views in all directions. Starting at Maggie’s Bridge near the south-east end of Loweswater, we use the broad north-east ridge of Gavel Fell to reach the summit of this remote top. This is a great viewpoint for the Crummock Water and Buttermere fells – and the chances are, you’ll have it to yourself too. From here, the way is northerly to the…

Beinn Eighe is one of the Torridon giants – a grandee among all the Highlands mountains. Aside from two Munros, its long, undulating backbone supports a further five principal summits. Located at opposite ends of the main ridge, the isolated peaks of Sail Mhor and Creag Dhubh are probably the least frequented of Beinn Eighe’s tops. You don’t need to visit either when on a mission to tick the Munros. There just happen to be two first-class and technically straightforward winter routes that can take you to both ends of Beinn Eighe’s magnificent ridge. Both are possible during the course of a single weekend. These starkly contrasting journeys will give far more of an insight into the complexity and grandeur of Beinn Eighe than simply climbing to its highest tops.…

Where is it? Snowdonia, north Wales, nestled between the slopes of the Glyderau, Moel Siabod and Snowdon at SH660558. What’s it like? Slightly… odd, in the best possible way. The Pen-y-Gwryd prides itself on being ‘a haven from the relentless grind of modernity’, existing almost as a live-in time capsule from the heyday of mountaineering. The PyG can trace its origins back to 1810, when it was built as a farmhouse. But it was the subsequent transformation to an inn that led to its most famous chapter. The team that made the first ascent of Everest in 1953 trained for the climb in Snowdonia, and the Pen-y-Gwryd became their base. The members of the climbing team who reached the summit of Kangchenjunga in 1955 also made the little Welsh hostelry…

GERMANY, DESPITE BEING the largest country in Europe, is often missed off most walkers’ to-do lists. That leaves a large chunk of country there ripe for exploring on foot, free from the crowds! Beginning in the Bavarian capital of Munich, this eight-day route weaves its way southward before culminating in the castle-rich town of Füssen, near to the Austrian border, the Alpine skyline becoming larger the further south you venture. It is ideal for the less experienced walker looking to experience a part of Germany you are all too likely to miss when speeding past in a car. Starting out in Munich provides walkers the chance to experience the bustling urban heart of Bavaria, not to mention feed up on würst and beer at the bierkellers. The entire route seems…

On 1 December the Glenridding Hotel on the shores of Ullswater opened again for business. Amid positive reports of refurbishments, a brand new kitchen and bar plus a fresh drive for recruitment, the sobering reality is it has taken almost exactly a year for the hotel to get back on its feet after the most devastating floods in England’s history. Storm Desmond’s impact on northern England in early December 2015 was unprecedented. There was the physical: the collapse of the A591, which split the Lakes in two for almost six months; the horrifying scenes of Keswick and Patterdale under water; Carlisle looking like a post-apocalyptic waterworld; Malham Cove featuring a waterfall for the first time in living memory. Then there were the numbers: half a billion pounds in damage; the…

Had new kit for Christmas? Got some no-longer-needed old stuff lurking in a cupboard? Then give it away to kids who’ll use it! Gift Your Gear takes old kit that still has miles of wear left in it, and distributes it to community organisations, youth groups and charities around the country. All beneficiaries are dedicated to getting young people outdoors, but many don’t have access to decent kit. Your redundant gear can help. Get in touch with them via www.giftyourgear.com…

KNOYDART HIDE SCOTLAND For pure, unadulterated luxury in a fabulous woodland wilderness setting on the remote shores of Loch Nevis, this award-winning self-catering hideaway is a treat of a lifetime. AT A GLANCE ❤ Seclusion ❤ Hot tub and sauna ❤ Sleeps 2 (dogs and children can be accommodated by prior arrangement) ❤ Lochside location and views ❤ Complimentary bubbly! ❤ 2 nights in February from £550 www.knoydarthide.co.uk POINTS COTTAGE BLACK MOUNTAINS Set almost a mile up Hatterrall Hill near Abergavenny, this luxurious cottage is the epitome of romantic escapes, requiring a 4x4 to even get to the front door. If you lack traction, the owners can arrange private hire of a Land Rover Defender during your stay. The Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons are on the doorstep, with…

“This is magic, magic, magic. The kind of moment that with every passing second gilds itself onto your memory like dripped gold.” Apart from being thermally shrill, the other stand-out quality Scafell Pike possessed on this particular morning was silence. It’s England’s highest mountain, and quite possibly the busiest. Walk up here in the middle of the day and the mountain is less of an escape to higher ground than a social experiment. You may like lots of people, you might not – but climb within the usual constraints of the daytime and the choice of whether England’s highest mountain is going to be yours alone is entirely out of your hands. Want to take that choice back, at the most scenically incendiary time of day? We know it’s hard…

“ “That’s a white-tailed eagle,” Tom had murmured. The flying barn door passed on, ignoring us and the ptarmigan. ” For a few years in the first half of the 19th century, a time when the height of things had begun to seem important but the ability to measure them accurately was still a work in progress, Ben Macdui was the highest peak in Britain. Its demotion to second place behind its western rival Ben Nevis was not the result of some seismic shift, but rather confirmation by Ordnance Survey (which in 1847 was in the midst of a mammoth mapping project) that Nevis was the loftier Ben. Indeed, this had been widely accepted since around the turn of the century; but disgruntled supporters of Macdui were unwilling to…

My wife called it my ‘mid-life crisis moment’, but my plan to visit a bothy at the top of the world had been born out of passion and wanderlust rather than desperation and boredom – although, admittedly, she is right about me going bald. It all started when I watched a film called North of the Sun. Two eco-battling surfers spent an entire winter living on a magical beach on the Norwegian archipelago of Lofoten. The pair built a basic but amazing bothy using only what washed up on the beach – and the kicker was that this Nordic nook was only accessible via a breath-taking mountain hike. When I asked the farmer we were staying with in Lofoten about Kvalvika beach, my question was met with surprise and then…

No two snowflakes are ever the same, right? Well, sort of. It’s highly unlikely that you’d ever find two absolutely identical snow crystals; but they can be organised into 10, 35, 41 or 80 different types, depending on the categorisation you use. A snowflake’s shape varies, depending on the conditions the crystals grow in – mostly temperature and humidity levels. Relatively warm and humid places like the UK are more likely to see six-limbed star-shaped and needle-shaped flakes, but you can find some that look like feathers, bullets or even spools of thread. None of this is likely to greatly affect your day out in the winter hills, but it just goes to show there’s more to snow than you know!…

The promise of the new does not always live up to the hype. A computer upgrade, a long-awaited house move or a political vote can all result in unforeseen consequences. So when Scarpa decided to give its classic Charmoz 4-season boot a total makeover, the designers must have had their hearts in their mouths. The Charmoz has been highly praised for 10 years as the go-to boot for mountain scrambling, climbing, via ferrata and mountaineering – and as a general jack of all trades for the keener winter hillwalker who is determined to get to the top of the mountain no matter what. This new version may retain the name, but it’s had a complete makeover in terms of materials and design. The Gore-Tex lining has been removed and replaced…

Lake District 12.2km/7½ miles 6 hours You hear a lot about ‘soggy bottoms’ these days, but I don’t think the valley that tumbles south from the swampy land on Brownrigg Moss has ever featured on The Great British Bake Off . This long, marshy hollow is known as Greenburn Bottom and, although just a couple of lanes from the honeypots of Grasmere, it remains devoid of crowds. The amateur bakers are probably keen to stick with the famous local gingerbread. Higher up, a fine horseshoe walk swings along the skyline and takes in all of the bumpy tops that almost fully encircle the valley of the Green Burn. Helm Crag – aka ‘the Lion and the Lamb’ – might be a well-known landmark, but Steel Fell, at the…

Cairngorms 25.5km/15¾ miles 9 hours Braeriach. In winter, everything about it feels epic. Third highest point in the land, its sprawling tabletop is our largest expanse of ground above 1200m – bigger than Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui combined. In a howling white-out this featureless wilderness is a place to test the most experienced, its cliff edges overhung with treacherous snow cornices of a size that’s hard to fathom. But don’t get too close. Far below lurks the void at the heart of the mountain, the corrie complex of An Garbh Choire, where snow can pile up 30 metres deep – and patches famously last all the way through many a summer. But there’s more to Braeriach than this secretive central corrie. To the north lie a series…

13.2km/8¼ miles 6 hours The rocky 4km summit crest of Ben Cruachan is magnificently poised high above deep-cut corries and steep, precipitous crags. It is the sort of place that normally would have a huge fan club among mountain aficionados and would be constantly eulogised on blogs and forums. Even among guidebook writers it seems to be downplayed. This must be due to one of two things: either everybody is keeping it schtum, hoping to preserve the secret for themselves; or it suffers from a type of Cinderella syndrome. The Cinderella angle is sort of excusable as the view from its accessible southern side is, to say the least, dull. Combine this with the dam and hydro plant, and it doesn’t exactly appear the most attractive mountain to climb. If…

MAJORCA IS POSSIBLY best-known as a package tour destination for Brits trying to get a bit of Balearic sunshine. For the walker, though, the stunning coastline and undiscovered Tramuntana mountains offer some stunning rewards for those willing to put a few miles in. Instead of sun-baked beaches, this walking tour offers sun-dappled olive groves, stunning coastline, mountain passes and tranquillity far from the holiday-making hordes. Taking in some of the best that Majorca has to offer the walker, this tour starts out at the port town of Port d’Alcudia hugging the coastline, offering views over the Mediterranean and smaller Balearic islands on the horizon. From there the route sticks to the Tramuntana mountains on the northern side of the island. Weaving along rocky paths, passing oaks and olive groves, the…

THE SOUTH TYROL is rapidly becoming one of the most popular locations for active holidays and it is easy to see why. 80% of the terrain is classed as mountainous and because of its south-facing location on the Italian/Austrian borderlands, South Tyrol and Trentino receives an incredible 300 sunny days per year! This makes the region one of the greenest, most picturesque and fertile in Europe. The best way to explore the South Tyrol is on foot following the well-maintained walking paths, forest trails and some steep paths You will see turquoise lakes, mountain plateaus and river valleys. In fact, there are over 17,000km of walking and hiking trails to cover in the South Tyrol! The section between the South Tyrolean town of Meran and the shores of Lake Garda…

Just take a good look at this photo. Ingleborough is one of the UK’s most distinctive mountains, and a light layer of snow does a superb job of highlighting its unusual geology. The top, composed of sandstone, limestone and shale capped with millstone grit, sits above a thick layer of limestone. It’s riddled with cave systems and pocked with potholes, including Gaping Gill, into which the highest unbroken waterfall in England flows. Thousands climb it in the summer as part of the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, but fewer do so in winter. It’s their loss; under snow, Ingleborough is transformed. FIND A CRACKING WINTER ROUTE ON PAGE 114…

This month, a variety of grassroots environmental organisations will receive funding from Patagonia, thanks to the US company giving away 100 per cent of its retail and online sales from Black Friday – a sum totalling $10 million. Many outdoor brands make it their practice to maintain the mountain environment in some way, or to support charities or groups who do; but this was a large and considered step outside the norm. Patagonia has a history of trail blazing when it comes to more environmentally conscious business styles and kit design, so could this indicate a further commitment to that? Maybe. Berghaus bucked the Black Friday trend too, by challenging people to eschew the online frenzy and get outside instead. Vaude has recently partnered with Gift Your Gear (see right).…

Results from the Health Survey for England (HSE) show that in 2014 an astonishing 31.2 per cent of children aged 2 to 15 were classed as either overweight or obese. The World Health Organization recommends that kids should do at least one hour of physical activity every day, but in a hand-held, screen-obsessed digital world this can be a battle. ReimaGO aims to counter that by offering an additional incentive for children to get active. A collaboration between Nordic clothing brand Reima and Finnish precision instrument manufacturer Suunto, the ReimaGO system includes a wearable motion sensor and a collection of kids’ clothing featuring an integrated pocket for attaching the sensor. The device is not a GPS tracker – so it won’t tell parents where their children are or how far…

MONT BLANC GRAIAN ALPS Celebrating at the highest point in Europe are Maximilien Czech from Market Weighton, Ludovic the guide and Max’s climbing partner Jean Marc. Max said, “When we arrived at the top we saw the sun just rising above the mountainous horizon, and I cried like a child when I reached it!” A Spanish climber recorded their achievement. MAM TOR PEAK DISTRICT Here are Ceri Brown and Bella from Sheffield, having a breather on what was only their second hike. Ceri’s better half Shane Ward, who took the photo, said they’re really looking forward to their next adventure! CAT BELLS LAKE DISTRICT This pic of Beth Kirby from Cumwhinton and her 6-month-old son Charlie having fun in the sun was taken by Charlie’s dad Ian Pipes. Beth told…

FIRST FOOTPRINTS Look at that snow: pristine, untrodden, not a mark on it. Crrunch , one footstep; crruuunch , another; you’ve just taken the first footsteps on a fresh sheet of virgin snowfall. FEELING EPIC WITH YOUR ICE AXE AND CRAMPONS Hacking the pick of your ice axe into a frozen lump of hard snow; the steel claws of your crampons biting into ice... having the kit and skills to climb a mountain in winter feels brilliantly hard-core because, for most of the population, it is. BLUE ICE Stake the shaft of your ice axe into the snow, then look down at the hole it makes and you’ll notice the ice inside is blue. This is because water acts as a kind of filter. The further the light penetrates, the…

From myth and legend to Trail readers’ own tales of the unexplained, the hills are alive with supernatural encounters that will make your hair stand on end. There is clearly something about the mountains that makes them a magnet for supernatural experiences. According to a YouGov survey, more British people believe in ghosts than in God. But are there rational explanations for these strange phenomena, or is there some substance to the spiritual presences so often felt in the hills of the UK? Trail decided to delve a little deeper into the ghost stories of the mountains that create such mystery and intrigue...…

The navigation term grid magnetic angle (GMA) sounds daunting, but it isn’t! Here you will learn exactly what it is, and how and where to use it. If you stick a pencil vertically through an orange and imagine it is the Earth on its axis, the point at the top would be true north. This is where all lines of longitude originate. Running across the orange, imaginary parallel lines would be lines of latitude. This is the universal coordinate system used on maps the world over. The British Isles cover a small section of the Earth, and lines of longitude and latitude curve, so Ordnance Survey introduced its own grid system: the National Grid. These are the blue lines on OS maps (grey on Harvey), and all the vertical ones…

Generally an ice axe of 60-70cm in length is good for hillwalkers, but you can find your ideal length by holding the axe by its head at your side with a straight arm. The tip should be a couple of centimetres above the ground. Shorter axes are better for scrambling and steeper slopes but not so good for general walking or performing an ice axe arrest (stopping a slide). Once you start to walk across snow slopes you should hold the axe by its head in your uphill hand with the pick facing backwards. As you walk you can plant the spike into the snow like a walking stick. If you were to slip and fall you can lever the pick into the snow or ice slope and lean your…

ODLO EVOLUTION WARM SHIRT L/S TURTLE NECK £60 Hot because… Staying warm starts with good base layers. The updated Evolution Warm collection includes boxer shorts and long johns, plus short- and long-sleeved tops such as these zip-necked shirts. Thermal zones provide extra insulation in heat loss areas, while silver-based antibacterial treatment keeps the fabric fresher for longer. Verdict: Moisture-wicking layers for active wear in colder conditions. www.odlo.com PRIMUS TRAILBREAK EX VACUUM BOTTLE £40 Hot because… High-grade stainless steel is wrapped in a removable silicone sleeve for better grip, comfort and protection, topped off with a double-walled cup that keeps your poured beverage warm for longer. It comes with two stoppers – one regular and one for drinking straight from the flask. Verdict: A good morale-booster. It’s heavy, though (694g empty).…

C1 CRAMPONS FOR BENDIER 3-4 SEASON BOOTS AND GENTLER SLOPES KAHTOOLA KTS CRAMPON £125 These are designed to be worn with running shoes and bendy boots. A flexible leafspring links the front and rear sections to allow these to bend easily, and they attach with webbing straps. There are 10 spikes, but the two front points don’t face forward like other crampons, which restricts their use to more level ground rather than steep slopes. The spikes are also shorter than other crampons so they perform best on shallow, level layers of snow or ice. They don’t have anti-balling plates either so snow can more easily cling to the base of them than others. When used on bendy footwear you also need to be aware that the boot itself will bend…

Lake District 10.3km/6½ miles 5 hours Hall’s Fell, high above Threlkeld, is a classic scrambling ridge, steep on both sides and rocky along the top. On a warm summer day it's Grade 1, and easy Grade 1 at that – a whole lot easier than the same-graded Sharp Edge at the other end of Blencathra. Sadly, Hall’s Fell faces south – in the snow-melty direction. And there's nothing we can do about that. Except wait. At some point in every winter, Hall’s Fell freezes up. And, when it does, that scramble turns into a classic ascent, serious and crampon-crunchy scrumptious, with a height gain of 300m to arrive like a clothes line at the very summit of Blencathra. It's an ascent that could almost be called Alpine –…

Snowdonia 14.2km/8¾ miles 5 hours The curvaceous, sweeping line of the Moel Eilio ridge to the southwest of Llanberis in north Wales is very enticing, and its modest beauty is worth exploring. Moel Eilio and its neighbouring peaks are very achievable when daylight hours or time are short. The ridge can be an exposed place in strong south-westerly winds, but the area offers relatively less technical ground than its higher parent ridges of Snowdon and beyond. Navigation is along fairly linear lines, and there’s much revelling to be had in the surrounding views to the Moel Hebog range and the Nantlle ridge, Snowdon, the Glyderau and out to Anglesey to the north. If you are counting Marilyns, Nuttalls and Hewitts [see www.hill-bagging.co.uk], this roller coaster of a route…

On a clear day, Ingleborough’s gritstone cap shows off its shapely profile, while pale limestone pavement shimmers silver-grey in the sun. But should snow come low enough to cover the landscape, why not venture onto Moughton Scars to look for ‘Alpine crevasses in miniature’? Of course they aren’t real crevasses, just grykes (wide, water-dissolved cracks in the limestone pavement) but they do look eerily similar, if on a smaller scale. Whernside by contrast is a generally straightforward mountain, a good first winter peak with an extended ridge, great views, hidden tarns and a ruined building. Oh, and a navigational challenge in low visibility! TRANSPORT The Settle to Carlisle train line runs through Horton in Ribblesdale and Ribblehead with frequent (inc early and late) services Mon - Sat, fewer services Sun,…

1 DEVIL’S BRIDGE ARIZONA Two miles on foot is all it takes to reach Mother Nature’s best bridge, and what a good job she did – though as the untimely end of several stumblers, selfie-takers and ‘tombstoners’ attests, she might think about putting handrails on her to-do list. The biggest of several sandstone arches in the Sedona region, it’s a relatively easy walk (though through 40° heat) from the trailhead, with 400ft of ascent. Come, cross it, enjoy; but as the locals will be only too keen to remind you: ‘This ain’t Disneyland’. If you see a scorpion, it isn’t because a child dropped a toy; if you lean too far over the bridge, airbags do not deploy. www.hikearizona.com 2 AIGUILLE DU MIDI PASSERELLE FRANCE No Bond villain had a…