PUBLISHED
Articles and interviews from the hills, sea, and beyond
Coming soon NORTHERN HORIZONS
Set to launch at the Fort William Mountain Festival, Feb 2025, and published by Scottish Mountaineering Press, Northern Horizons will feature a collection of challenging hill and fell running routes across Scotland and Northern England.
THE WILD NORTH-WEST
Kayaking and Running Cape Wrath
Published by Sidetracked Magazine
Tortured by clegs that swarmed in the fierce heat, settling and sticking to sweat-soaked skin, bites boring into neck and calves, my shoulders burned. Swollen feet ached, and my lips cracked as I pushed the pace a little, sensing an end to the climb. Just ahead, the narrow road turned and passed through a wide col – the highest point I’d reach today …
ROW ZAMBEZI
An interview with European gold medallist, Zoë De Toledo
Published by Sidetracked Magazine
Raising awareness of the critical issues facing the Zambezi River Basin in addition to raising money to support WWF, a group of international rowers – RowZambezi – set out to explore 900km of the Kafue river and Kafue Flats. It is the first time anyone has taken rowing boats through the Kafue National Park, and the Kafue Flats.
It was a privilege to interview the European Rowing Championships gold medalist, Zoë De Toledo, following her return from the Kafue River Expedition.
Photos: A. Benoit, RowZambezi, Aesthetic Sport
CLOSING THE CIRCLE
A circumnavigation of Shetland Mainland
Published by Sidetracked Magazine
I didn’t see the breaker until the last second, my attention entirely focused on a dark wall of water rapidly steepening to my left. Angling the bow away from the cliffs and turning into the wave, only an instinctive glance behind registered the greater threat. As the first wave passed under the bow it collided immediately with the second, rebounding from the cliffs. White-water cascaded over my shoulders as the hull surfed, carving one way and then another. I let out a whoop, part relief and part sheer joy – Sumburgh Head, whose mist-shrouded cliffs rose in muted charcoal tones above the clapotis, was proving to be everything it had promised.
CROSSINGS AND CIRCUMNAVIGATIONS
Six days around Skye
Published by Sidetracked Magazine
Stumbling in the half light on boulders, numb fingers clawing at wet neoprene I swore and shivered into dry clothes before laughing with the mild hysteria that accompanies such moments. I turned to Tim – teetering on weed-covered rocks at the edge of Loch Snizort, engrossed in his own private struggle for dry warmth – and looked out over the wild expanse we had just crossed, the last of three crossings on a long day during our journey around the Isle of Skye.
