This cold spell that is currently all over the UK has advantages for those of us that are mad enough to go winter climbing and after some snow and a cold spell there is some great winter climbing up the north face of Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons.

Thursday saw me take a day off university and head over to the brecons with my mum for a day out in perfect weather with sun all day and cold temperatures. Due to it not having risen above freezing all week the snow was still powdery but that didn’t matter due to it being so cold the turf had frozen up nicely which is the important thing on Pen y Fan.

It was a bit of an odd way of starting a climb as to get to the base we had to walk up to the summit of Pen y Fan to descend down the other side just to climb back up the north face. Though this did mean we got fantastic views on the way up with the early morning sun. When we got to the base of the north face we had two routes to chose from, a rib and a gully, in the end we chose the gully so I could gain some gully experience. We started the climb moving together with some runners in between us as the ground was not to steep, but after not too long it started to get steeper and more technical so we started climbing in pitches. There was some fantastic climbing after we started pitching the route including some great mixed climbing over rocky steps and even some ice forming allowing me to place a decent ice screw! When we got to the top it was nearly sunset and the wind vanished which was fantastic as it meant we could sit and eat some food on the summit as the sun was setting. This also meant that I got a rare photo of my on a mountain in all my winter gear.

Until we headed up Pen y Fan I had never actually done an ice climb above Scottish grade II, and I went from that to leading a whole grade II route myself! Though that was not the only first of the day, as it was also the first belay I have ever set up, the first multi pitch climb I have lead, the first time I have placed protection outdoors and the first time I have used two axes in an uncontrolled environment!

I had a fantastic day and am really looking forward to heading up with uni friends in the next cold spell, or if that doesn’t turn up Scotland in April where I will hopefully get to do a few more grade II gullies.

Over the new year I headed up to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands for some winter mountaineering and climbing, the weather however thought otherwise! Over the 9 days we were up there we had to battle with gale force winds most days, rain/snow every day though due to a thaw there was no snow when we got there, but the fresh snow then lead onto having too much snow with a huge avalanche risk! We did however do stuff on all but one day which was the day the whole of the UK was hit with storm force winds! Over the course of the week there wasn’t a time when there was snow and a low avalanche risk so we couldn’t get in any winter climbing, though we did manage two great ridge walks in winter conditions and another aborted walk in winter conditions. On the days that we couldn’t walk due to the weather being too bad we went biking at low level, but on each day we went biking we kept finding closed paths due to storm damage, we ignored these signs on the first day and ended up having to carry our bikes over/through lots of fallen trees!

The first walk we did was up the north east Stob Bàn and down the west ridge, there was a weather window early in the day so we got up before light and walked in the dark for 2 hours in an attempt to get to the first ridge before the cloud arrived, unfortunately the cloud came in earlier than forecast and was there when day broke. The ridges were great and I think would have been stunning if we could actually have seen anything! Though this was the one day of the holiday where the winds were low so being out on the mountain was nice and relaxing without having to worry about standing upright and the wind chill.

For our second walk the weather was supposed to be better to the east so we got up before daybreak again and drove over to the Cairngorms National park, where we climbed Càrn Bàn Mór with the intention to then walk along a ridge and do a horseshoe walk, though when we got to the summit again we were in hill fog, but also winds that you could hardly stand up in and horizontal frozen snow which was incredibly painful if it hit any exposed skin, so after finding the summit with the aid of GPS we aborted off the mountain back down into relative shelter.

After this walk there were a couple of days that we could not go up high due to the amount of snow/wind that was forecast so we went mountain biking again, but we also went to Ice Factor where you can go indoor ice climbing with a top rope. So not only can you practice/learn indoors out of the wind with no spindrift, you can also learn in complete safety and improve your skills before you hit the ice outside.

On the final day however the forecast was better, though high winds were still forecast and the met office mountain forecast said that any prolonged exposure to the wind on the hills would lead to hypothermia, this however did not stop us trying to get a good view so set out with a few escape plans in mind for in case it was too cold/windy. We headed up a grade 1 scramble/grade 1 winter route up out of Glen Coe and onto the middle of the three sisters, Geàrr Aonach, and then headed up the North East Ridges of Stob Coire nan Lochan before heading down the north ridge. All day we had fantastic views apart from 30mins or so on the NE ridge when we were in the cloud, but as we hit the summit the cloud rose and left us with fantastic views and a reminder of how beautiful Scotland can be in the right conditions. I even had to get a photo of me, so handed the camera to my dad and went and posed to get a rare shot of me on a mountain in winter gear. The decent down the N/NW ridge was stunning with great views so I placed myself firmly at the back and got my favourite photos of the trip of my parents descending the ridge with the view of Loch Leven and snow capped peaks in the background.

I am heading back up to Scotland, though this time we are heading to the Cairngorms, at the start of April with the Expedition Society of my university and am hoping for some slightly more favourable conditions in that week to enable some winter climbing and some winter walks with great views.

This morning to work off some of the Christmas food I headed over to my sister’s place of work, Venetia Williams Racing Yard, to photograph her and some of the other riders out on the gallops exercising the horses. Due to tiredness the night before I didn’t have proper directions so crossed the river wye multiple times while my satnav kept changing its mind on where it wanted me to go (turns out it thought I should be in the middle of the river!) but I did manage to get there in time, though due to it being winter did struggle with the light at 8am as the sun had not risen by this point! It was nice to do another type of equestrian photography, though it would be nice at some point to get to take photos of pointing at an event with jumps rather than just on the flat at training.

After two rides out had been completed I departed to the regular boxing day hunt meet in Ledbury town centre where my parents were riding and it was wonderful to see so many people out on horseback and on foot in support of hunting despite the ban 7 years ago! Just goes to show the support that is behind countryside traditions and hunting! This is also shown by the fact that across the country record numbers showed up at the meets to show their support for their local hunts. Though it is a shame that I have not ridden at a boxing day meet for 5 years now due to not having enough time with university to keep up riding.

This weekend I headed up to the Brecon Beacons with the expedition society at my university for a weekend. It is always a really fun weekend as after the walk on the Saturday we have a Christmas dinner, this year we cooked for 40 people!

The weather on the Saturday was a superb winter day with mostly clear skies, sun and a sprinkling of snow on the higher slopes of the mountain. Pen Y Fan is a mountain I climb all the time due to it being under hour from home in Bristol, but I normally climb it from the other side so it was nice to do it a different way as we walked in a loop which started and finished at the Youth Hostel we were staying at. This meant we went up from the Storey Arms and then back down another ridge on the same side of the mountain, which also had the advantage that we were sheltered from the very strong and cold wind that we were hit when we joined the ridge which went up to the summit! Due to the great weather conditions the views from the top were great and due to it being winter there was no heat haze which was a large issue last time I climbed the mountain as despite it being crystal clear it was really hot which meant that due to haze the views were limited.

On the Sunday the weather was awful so rather than walking around a reservoir as planned in the pouring rain we visited Big Pit, a coal mine which has been opened to the public, on the way home, which was great though the conditions the miners had to work in was atrocious but it was interesting to hear the view of the person who showed us around the mine as while he said he doesn’t understand why they were shut, he is so glad they were as it means his children wouldn’t follow in his footsteps and have to work in those awful dangerous conditions!

This weekend I headed up to Snowdonia with the expedition society I am a member of. We went up with twenty people and braved the elements by camping in north wales at the end of November which was a tad chilly. Thankfully we were treated with good weather and it didn’t rain once all weekend which is a change to the last 3 weekends I have spent in Snowdonia!

On the first morning we headed up the north ridge of Tryfan which is one of the classic scrambles of the region and is a great first scramble as many people in the group had never done it before! It took us quite a long time as 20 people move slowly but this ended up being good as early in the climb the summit became covered in hill fog but by the time we got to the summit it had started to clear and by the time we had finished lunch we were treated to a fantastic view! That evening we were treated to a cloudless sky which was stunning as we were camping in the middle of nowhere so there was no light pollution which meant the amount of stars that were visible was amazing, though the cloudless sky did lead to a rather chilly night and morning!

The next day we woke up to a cloudless sky but unfortunately as we were cooking breakfast hill fog started to bubble up and by the time we were ready to go walking there was a large cloud covering. This didn’t detour us however and we headed up the rear side of Snowdon up the “Snowdon Ranger” path which is a lot nicer to walk on than the tracks up from Pen-Y-Pass car park even if it does mean a lot more ascent, the other advantage is that there are far fewer people and until we got to the summit we only saw two other parties which is a nice change to the normal walking route up which is a motorway of people. Unfortunately at the top it was cloudy so we got a wonderful view of fog, but it was still an enjoyable day and when we dropped out of the cloud we ended up in the sun for a while so managed to sit and eat lunch in the sun with a stunning view.

I am looking forward to heading back up to Snowdonia next year and hopefully next time will get to do the Snowdon Horseshoe again which includes the fantastic Crib Goch ridge.

This evening it was bonfire night again which meant it was time for my fourth trip to Ottery St Mary on the 5th November. At Ottery they celebrate the event by covering huge barrels with tar, setting fire to them and running down the streets which are crowded with locals and students. It is an event that I have no idea how it still happens with all the health and safety which controls everything else so tightly, but it is great fun and it will be odd possibly not going to it next year as I will have graduated.

It is always a challenge to get photos at this event as there are so many people getting a view of the barrel without people in the way is only possible when it gets incredibly close to you so you have to get a photo before you get hit by a burning barrel and often there are then too many people to get out of the way! This year on the final barrel was busier than I have seen it in the past and moving out of the way was extremely difficult and I managed to set my coat on fire and burn my hand slightly on my camera as an ember got caught on the camera body.

This weekend I headed up to Herefordshire with David for the North Herefordshire Hunt’s Opening Meet. Hunting is something that I want to photograph more often but finding time is always very difficult and I live a long way away from Herefordshire which is where I used to hunt so know the countryside well and the people who hunt there so it’s ideal for going and taking photos as hunts are very suspicious of new people turning up with cameras.

It is only the second time I have attempted to take photos of Hunting and last time was in an area of countryside I was not familiar with so spent most of the day driving around completely lost, but this time as I knew the countryside very well we spent the whole day on foot with a good idea of where the hunt was going to go next. This proved to be very tiring as we covered around 7 miles over hilly terrain while carrying heavy camera gear and quite a lot of the distance was done at a sprint to get ahead of the hunt for the jumps.

Towards the start of the afternoon we lost the hunt as they went the opposite direction from the car so we decided that it was time to call it a day as we were both hungry and thirsty as we had left all of our food and drink in the car (won’t be making that mistake again!)

The rest of the photos from the day are on my gallery and are available for purchase.

This week I headed up to the “Mach Loop” in Snowdonia to take pictures of the RAF practising their low level flying, it had been 15 months since I was last there due to work levels over the past year and 12 months since I last went to a lowfly area.

The trip was cut short by a day at the start of the week and a day at the end of the week due to the awful welsh weather, the weather however while we were in the hills was ok good with not much rain though mainly overcast skies and lots of wind! There was so much wind at times standing up was difficult. The traffic was a little slow on all of the days and was mainly hawks this was due to RAF valley being on nights this week and 3 squadrons of Tornado GR4s overseas on training or operational duties.

On the first day we were still being battered by really strong winds which made it difficult to stand up at times and was very cold, though at times the sun was out. I was expecting to blank due to the wind but thankfully we had 3 hawk passes though the hawks were being thrown around by the wind as the flew down the valley towards the sea!

On the second day the wind was significantly lower and there were a lot of people on Cad West, we were given a heads up about a pair of USAF F15-Cs heading to Wales for one of the pilots last flights in the UK but due to the low cloud base in the morning the pilots could not find a place to drop into low level so unfortunately we didn’t see them despite the pilots best efforts. After this it got to 2pm and we still hadn’t seen anything and were very happy to see a Tornado GR4 blasting out of one of the other valleys and turn towards us for a great pass. After that we had 3 hawk passes until everyone else left the hill and as we were staying so local stayed up for another hour or so and were rewarded for this by another 2 hawk passes, though the light had dropped off significantly and I was using ISO3200 for it!

On the final day the weather was the best of the week, despite still being overcast most of the time there was no wind at all and for most of the day I didn’t need to wear a jacket it was so warm. Unfortunately as with the previous two days the traffic was slow and we had four hawk passes but one of them was one of the best hawk passes I have seen as the jet was so low it was amazing to see.

Recently I headed down to Pontispool Horse Trials to see my sister, Katherine Begley, eventing due to the wind delaying my other plans for the week. To say it was breezy would be an understatement with the remains of Hurricane Katia hitting the UK. Other than the wind it was a pleasant day without any rain and even some sunny spells. It will unfortunately now probably be my last event of the season due to heading back to university and the season coming to a close anyway.

Due to the wind my sisters horse, George, was looking fairly wild before the dressage and this was unfortunately reflected in the test, though the mark given could have been worse as the score given was 41. A quick tack change and it was on to the show jumping where it was so windy that the planks had to be held on in the arena until the rider had jumped the previous fence and Katherine is still getting to know her new horse and had 3 down.

It was then on to the final phase, the cross country which is my favourite phase so I went off to the furthest side of the course to get her over the water and another couple of jumps, ignoring a few shouts of protest about my position by the over enthusiastic fence judge I was in a great position for photos of the direct route, though she dropped a rein so had to do her first long route cross country ever!

The cross country caused carnage so Katherine going clear was a great achievement and overall she came sixth despite the problems earlier in the event, she is really progressing with her eventing and new horse as she has now come fifth and sixth in consecutive events.

Today I headed up to Cheshire to take pictures of my sister, Katherine Begley, competing at Somerford Park. She was competing at Intermediate level and this was her first intermediate since getting her new horse, Gorgeous George IV.

I have been to many events but few that ran as quickly as this one, once the dressage had been completed early it was straight onto the show jumping and then after that straight onto the cross country. It was lucky I had my lunch early before the dressage!

I really struggled with the sun today as it was very harsh and I was not able to get into the positions I would have liked to cope with the harsh sunlight so there were some interesting shadows to deal with (typical Brit, complain when the sun isn’t out, complain when it is!). I have also decided that George is a difficult colour to photograph as I have now taken pictures of him twice and both time found it very hard to edit the photos, something I have never encountered before with other horses.

The dressage went very well despite George sticking his tongue out for a large proportion of the test and she got her best result that she has got with George in the 35s. The show-jumping went well but was a fairly twisty course which isn’t the best for George and this resulted in an unfortunate 8 faults as two fences were knocked down. Over the cross-country George jumped like a star and all the technical combinations were completed without him batting an eyelid which resulted in a clear round.

These good scores resulted in her getting her first placement on George of 5th which they are very pleased with, the full set of photos can be seen on my gallery page for those that are interested.