Bouldering in Fontainebleau with a Toddler

The woods around Fontainebleau have a reputation as one of the best places in the world to boulder. Thousands of sandstone boulders, with tens of thousands of boulder problems, scattered about a pretty forest that covers some 300 square kilometres. Fontainebleau also has a reputation as being a great place to take kids. That’s a reputation that my wife and I have found to be deserved on our trips over the last few years. Continue reading Bouldering in Fontainebleau with a Toddler

the Severe climberMay 19, 2017May 5, 202312 Comments

Rock climbing

Back in the Woods – Bouldering in Fontainebleau

I love bouldering at Fontainebleau. There are so many wonderful things about it. All those boulders scattered through a pretty wood. A stunning amount of climbing, in a wide variety of forms and often on boulders that weird, beautiful or both. The different characters of the climbing areas. The feeling of community among the climbers. The inland beaches that make for good landings and nice … Continue reading Back in the Woods – Bouldering in Fontainebleau

the Severe climberApril 20, 2017May 19, 20176 Comments

Via ferrata

Climbing a Cathedral and Ringing the Bell on the Klettersteig Pfeilspitzwand

A little over half way up the Klettersteig Pfeilspitzwand there is a brass bell hanging from the rock. If you want to ring the bell, then you need to take a detour that traverses the face of the buttress above a sheer drop. There’s a slightly tricky step to negotiate, before you stand on a very small ledge, hang off the cable with one hand and clatter the clanger in the bell with the other. It’s a bit surreal and a bit silly, but fun. Ringing that bell feels like you’re declaring to anyone who can hear that you’ve managed to climb this far. Continue reading “Climbing a Cathedral and Ringing the Bell on the Klettersteig Pfeilspitzwand”

the Severe climberSeptember 19, 2015May 3, 20239 Comments

Via ferrata

Small and Perfectly Formed – the Klettersteig Knorren

The Knorren is a broken mass of yellow, cream, grey and ochre rock that rises out of the side of its parent mountain, the Penken. One side is made up of steep stone faces, pinnacles and buttresses above a field of boulders and bushes. The other side, facing the valley below, is covered in trees and vegetation. A via ferrata (klettersteig in German) ascends the rock faces of the Knorren by alternating between sometimes strenuous vertical climbing and easier traverses. Continue reading Small and Perfectly Formed – the Klettersteig Knorren

the Severe climberSeptember 7, 2015May 5, 20234 Comments

Via ferrata

A Climb in the Woods on the Klettersteig Huterlaner

I did my first Austrian via ferrata last week, introducing my brother-in-law Nick and his son Ben to climbing with cables. The Klettersteig Huterlaner was a fun and varied climb with some good views down the Zillertal and of the town of Mayrhofen. As it starts only two minutes walk uphill from the base of the valley and is in the woods, it had a different feel to the mountainous via ferrate I’ve done elsewhere. Continue reading A Climb in the Woods on the Klettersteig Huterlaner

the Severe climberAugust 31, 2015May 6, 20239 Comments

Rock climbing

Fontainetoddler

As first-time parents, Valerie and I have had to work out as we go along how to continue to rock climb while also being Mum and Dad to Leo. Last year we had a fun and successful trip to the legendary bouldering venue of Fontainebleau with a teething baby. This year we went back with an energetic (and teething) toddler. Here’s what we learned the hard way so you don’t have to. Continue reading Fontainetoddler

the Severe climberJuly 2, 2015May 6, 20238 Comments

Via ferrata

Some top via ferrata

The Red Bull website has an article by Alison Mann with a list of some of the top via ferrata around the world. It was flattering to be interviewed by Alison for the article. Since Alison and I talked, I’ve been curious to see which via ferrata people suggested as some of the best and the article highlights some amazing routes. Reading about these via ferrata and seeing … Continue reading Some top via ferrata

the Severe climberJune 18, 2015July 30, 20163 Comments

Rock climbing

Mostly Yellow in Fontainebleau

If it were not for bad customer service, I wouldn’t have been bouldering at Fontainebleau this week. On my first trip to Fontainebleau a year ago I tore the meniscus in my right knee while pulling hard on a heel hook. Since surgery on the knee, I’ve been trying to get back into climbing in a way that is slow, gentle and careful enough to avoid injury. Bouldering outside on boulders that often have sloping holds and rounded top-outs wasn’t necessarily what I would have picked as my reintroduction to climbing on real rock. Continue reading Mostly Yellow in Fontainebleau

the Severe climberMay 23, 2015May 6, 20239 Comments

Rock climbing

Fontainebaby

An Easter break to the woods of Fontainebleau to climb on its famous sandstone boulders was our first real test as rock climbing parents. We had been taking our baby son, Leo, to the climbing wall on a regular basis and to some artificial boulders not far from where we live in London. He’d enjoyed the trips and we had managed to get a good amount of climbing done. But several days of outdoors climbing in a foreign country, with a teething seven-month old baby, felt like more of a challenge. Continue reading Fontainebaby

the Severe climberMay 18, 2014May 6, 20232 Comments

Rock climbing

Font First Timer

Sometimes places live up to the hype and Fontainebleau is one of those. The thousands of boulders in the vast woods are legendary among rock climbers. Fontainebleau is regularly described as a magical place, with the purest, most engaging climbing. Now that I’ve been there for the first time, I agree how brilliant and fun bouldering at Font can be. Continue reading Font First Timer

the Severe climberApril 30, 2014May 6, 20236 Comments

Rock climbing

Yorkshire Grit

he greatness of Yorkshire has been getting serious recognition recently. In August, Yorkshire was bestowed the accolade of being Europe’s Leading Destination 2013 at the World Travel Awards. Yorkshire will host the opening stages of the 2014 Tour de France and the route through this iconic English region was announced in October. October also saw Lonely Planet declaring Yorkshire the third best region in the world to visit. For me, a big part of Yorkshire’s greatness is the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, with their wealth of amazing walking and climbing. Continue reading Yorkshire Grit

the Severe climberNovember 10, 2013May 7, 20238 Comments

Hiking

Walking the rim of the Creux du Van

Approach Creux du Van from behind and it’ll surprise you. Walk over Le Soliat from the south and it looks like the rest of the Jura – a pretty landscape of rounded mountains covered in woods and meadows with the odd bit of limestone sticking out of them. But as you walk towards the northern side of the mountain, a crescent moon of rock appears, dropping roughly 150 metres deep and stretching around 1,400 metres wide in-front of you. Continue reading Walking the rim of the Creux du Van

the Severe climberAugust 26, 2013May 7, 20232 Comments

Via ferrata

Via Ferrata on the Edge

Murren is a pretty village of wooden chalets and hotels perching on slopes covered in woods and meadows. In the summer, men farm the meadows for hay accompanied by the clanking of cowbells. Tourists sit in cafes or wander streets kept quiet by a ban on all but electric vehicles. The Eiger, Monch and outlying peaks of the Jungfrau across the valley provide a dramatic horizon of dark rock and bright snow. Standing in its centre it’s easy to not realise that this quiet Swiss village comes to an abrupt halt at sheer limestone cliffs that drop hundreds of metres to the bottom of the narrow Lauterbrunnen Valley. Continue reading Via Ferrata on the Edge

the Severe climberAugust 11, 2013May 7, 202312 Comments

Via ferrata, What they don't tell you in the guidebook

A Little Bit of the Eiger – the Rotstock Via Ferrata

“All the Grindelwald via ferrata are closed.” The woman at the tourist information office said these words in a firm, brisk tone that indicated that she didn’t realise that I would find them disappointing. I knew that there was a risk that the long, cold winter might mean that some mountain routes would still be impassable with snow that the hot July sun had not yet melted. I had started to accept that this might be quite a high risk when I had seen snow clinging to slopes and hiding in gullies as I looked out of the train window on the way in to Grindelwald. Continue reading A Little Bit of the Eiger – the Rotstock Via Ferrata

the Severe climberJuly 22, 2013May 7, 202327 Comments