Rock Climbing on Lundy Island

Alastair BegleyRock Climbing Short Link

Lundy is one of the places I have wanted to climb ever since I started climbing, this is due to a few reasons. Firstly, I have heard lots of great things about it from my parents over the years and secondly, I love sea cliff climbing to so the idea of going to an island and climbing is brilliant. Due to injury and the alps with just over a month to go until the trip I hadn’t climbed for almost two months, and when I started climbing again I felt very weak. Due to wanting to get the most out of the trip I started training a lot, and it seemed to work as by the time I was in Lundy I was feeling pretty strong. The boat ride out in the fog was fairly rough and there were a few moments where I felt pretty touch and go, however I made it across and fixed myself up with a full english breakfast at the pub on Lundy. After we had dumped some stuff at the accommodation we headed off to the Flying Buttress to climb Horseman’s Route in the. Read the full article…

Two weeks in the Valais Alps

Alastair BegleyAlpinism, Switzerland Short Link

I have just returned from my annual Alps trip, this year I headed to Saas Grund in the Swiss Alps with the Avon Mountaineering Club. It was an amazing but very tiring two weeks which involved eight peaks, 5 of which were above 4000m and I climbed my first two AD routes. In addition to the climbing we had plenty of enjoyment in the valley with a few meals out and a night out in Saas Fee. The peaks I climbed during the trip are: Stellihorn (3436m) A 14 pitch sport climb on the Jegihorn (3206m) Strahlhorn (4190m) Alphubel Traverse (4206m) Lagginhorn Traverse (4010m) Mittaghorn (3144m) A half traverse of the Breithorn (4164m) Nadelhorn (4327m) Stellihorn – North West Flank To get to the alps we decided to leave on Friday evening and drive through the night, this drive went very smoothly and we arrived at 11am after having only had a few hours sleep during the drive. Instead of relaxing at the campsite we decided that it would be a good idea to walk up to a bivi site to sleep up high while we were tired before climbing the. Read the full article…

Barbury International Horse Trials

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

Due to some friends visiting for my birthday I had no plans to head to the mountains, but due to a great forecast I dragged my friends along to Barbury to take some photos of my sister competing. I am still feeling rusty which is frustrating me as I just am not getting the timing quite right which is something I used to be much better at, but practice makes perfect and I am sure I will get there again. The showjumping was challenging as it was a huge arena and the best angle involved shooting into the sun! Due to this I made the best of the situation and did some running and managed to get a few jumps in. Katherine had a great round, and I actually thought she went clear but she had an unfortunate four faults which was a shame. A quick move was made to the cross-country and I discovered that the initial jumps I had been sent to were challenging photography wise due to the sun and position of the tapes on the course, in the end I got the photos by ignoring the. Read the full article…

A Wet Day at Nunney International Horse Trials

Alastair BegleyEquestrian Short Link

Due to a combination of having a rare free day at the weekend and Katherine competing at Nunney International Horse trials which is close to Bristol, I headed down to take some photos of her eventing. This is only my second day out eventing this year so I am still feeling fairly rusty and its on days like this I really miss my 5D3, however I am happy with some of the SJ photos given the poor light. When I set off the weather forecast said that the rain was going to hold off until the afternoon, and it did hold off for the Showjumping. It was a great course to take photos from the edge on as a decent angle could be obtained on loads of jumps, it was just a shame about the flat light. Katherine did a great round and managed a clear which she was very pleased with. While she was getting ready for the cross-country spots of rain started to appear, and the weather just went downhill from here with the rain getting heavier and heavier. By the time Katherine was going around the course. Read the full article…