Ambleside Yoga and Hiking Weekend

We had some great weather for our first event of the year.  Snow on the summits, lovely winter sunshine and a great group of people. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the yoga, hiking, food and even the accomodation at Ambleside YHA came in for praise.

On Saturday we were welcomed by some spectacular views across the lake at sunrise.  This one looking down the lake towards Bowness.

 And this was the view across the lake to a snow covered Wetherlam.

Following our morning yoga class and a hearty breakfast we started our walk for the day by taking the coffin route towards Grasmere.  So called as it was the route taken to carry coffins in days gone by from Ambleside to Grasmere, before a church was available in Amblesde.

 On reaching Grasmere we took the route back along the opposite side of the lake and over Loughrigg Terrace, to Rydal and then back.

 A stunning days walking in amazing weather conditions with the best still to come.  A spectacular sunset across the lake while we had our second yoga session of the day.

After our morning yoga session Sunday was quite misty, but still with some good spells as we hiked over Loughrigg fell.  (with the occasional gear and clothing faff on the way)

 Heading down through the woods to Loughrigg Tarn.

 To be met with rather misty view of the Tarn itself.

 And then on to Skelwith Force.

 Another view over Rydal Water.

 And a final moon rise over Windermere.

What a difference a week makes

This was the view this morning as we walked alongside the river Kent near Staveley.  Normally slow moving and stately, it was quite a torrent today after all the recent rain.

And then some rather cold and hungry looking sheep.

Compared to just a week ago, when we had a great cold, crisp and perfectly clear morning.

Up around Dubbs reservoir, near Windermere, the water was as calm and flat as a mirror.

And further along a distant view of Ambleside and Lake Windermere enveloped in cloud.

Happy New Year from all at Mountain Hikes!

We have some great trips planned for this year and some of them are already filling up, so this post is a short update on what's coming up and current availability.

Highlights

Easter Walking Weekend in Keswick - 3rd to 6th April (Good Availability)
A great Easter weekend of guided walking, exploring the hills around the lovely town of Keswick in the Northern lake District.  Hike to the summit of Skiddaw, catch a ferry across the lake to explore the western hills, as well as a chance to explore the town and sample its pubs.

Hike to the summit of Scafell Pike walking weekend - 19th to 21st June (Available)
Join us for a weekend based at the head of the Great Langdale Valley, where we will aim to climb Scafell Pike the highest mountain in England on Saturday, followed by a choice of lower level walks on Sunday. We will be staying at the award winning Yurts in the National Trust site in a stunning location.

Alpine walking week in Chamonix - 5th to 12th September (Good Availability)
We are spending a week in the spectacular walking country at the heart of the French Alps with views of Mont Blanc.  Based just up the valley from Chamonix, we are leading a week of day walks amongst the most stunning scenery in Europe with the option of staying one night in an Alpine hut.

Holiday talks and Social Evening - 7pm, Thursday 12th Feb
An informal evening to hear more about our trekking and touring holidays and join us for a beer.

Other great breaks and holidays coming up

Ambleside hiking and Yoga - 6th to 8th Feb (Last two places)
A mid-winter break to restore body and soul.  Four yoga sessions and two invigorating winter walks based at Ambleside in the Lake District.

Climb Ben Nevis Weekend in Scotland - 22nd to 25th May (Last two places)
We are based in Glen Nevis at the foot of Ben Nevis itself for a weekend of walking in the Scottish Highlands.  Transfers to and from Glasgow are included.

Yoga and walking weekend in Grasmere - 10th to 12th July (Good availability)
Based just outside the lovely village of Grasmere, we have our own dedicated accommodation complete with yoga studio, for a weekend of great walking and yoga.  Suitable for all levels in a great location.

Tour Du Mont Blanc - 19th to 31st July (Last few places)
The Tour Du Mont Blanc is rightly the most popular long distance hike in Europe.  Spectacular views of Mont Blanc itself, plus too many other snow capped summits to count, glistening glaciers, flower filled valleys, alpine villages and the opportunity to experience three different countries on one trip.


So dust off those boots and start planning your next adventure with Mountain Hikes.

Hope to see you soon in 2015.

Kevin & Yen
Mountain Hikes

Come and meet us and find out about our events for 2015

We are excited to announce that we will be giving a short talk at Cotswold Outdoor in High Holborn, London from 7pm on Thursday 12th February.

The purpose of the evening will be for you to meet us, hear more about who we are and the trips we are running in 2015 and then to ask any questions you may have.  Cotswold have kindly agreed for us to make use of the store and there will also be a VERY short talk from Costwold about some equipment recommendations for weekend walking in the lakes and trekking in the Alps.

The store closes at 7pm, but will remain open to let us in, where you can then take your seat, or browse in the store before we start.  The talks will be no more than 45 minutes in total and then we will move round the corner to answer any more questions you have, or just to chat in one of the local pubs.

We will be talking about all of the events we have planned, but with a special focus on the Tour Du Mont Blanc and Alpine walking week trips and include recommendations on fitness, what to expect, accomodation, food and packing light.

Places will be limited, so please send an email to lakesmountainhikes@gmail.com to reserve a place.

Kendal Mountain Festival & Ueli Steck

We have had a fantastic couple of days at the Kendal Mountain Festival (KMF) so far seeing some great films, talks and shows.

The KMF is the largest mountain festival of its kind in the UK and attracts a huge number of people, from professional climbers, to outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world.  The focus of the festival is the films but there are also a huge array of talks by climbers, trekkers, skiers etc.

Ueli Steck

By far and away, the highlight for us has been a talk given by Ueli Steck yesterday afternoon at the leisure centre in Kendal.  Judging by the queue outside which wound its way down the street and round the car park, this was equally a highlight for lots of other people as well.

The hall was packed and Ueli gave an absolutely breathtaking talk of his many achievements.  For those not aware of his accomplishments he scaled the north face of the Eiger in under 3 hours, solo and without ropes.  Then in 2013 he completed an ascent of the South Face of Annapurna in record time, also solo without ropes, or oxygen.  Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world and over 8000m high in the Himalayas, which usually takes an expedition several weeks to complete and requires the use of Oxygen for most mortals.  Ueli scaled the summit and returned to base camp in under 28 hours, a quite staggering achievement.

So we eagerly awaited Ueli's talk and were not dissappointed.  He gave an entertaining and quite funny talk at times, illustrated with amazing photos and videos of him scaling the Eiger, Annapurna and other spectacular summit and ridge climbs.  One little quip, which maybe illustrates this, was when he was talking about how he came to climb so quickly.  His answer to this was that he had a very strict wife, who insisted that he was back for dinner each day.  Being Swiss, if she said dinner was on the table at 7pm, then he had to be back at 7 on the dot, so he developed his unique style and amazing speed to make sure he was home on time.

Arc'teryx Evening

On Friday we attended a series of talks and films sponsored by Arc'teryx which included a great film about budding climbing star Mina.  It showed the stresses and strains and shear hard work involved in becoming a professional climber and competing on the indoor circuit.

Saturday Film Fest

On Saturday we attended a large number of films about a variety of subjects relating to mountaineering and snow sports.

China Jam
Our favourite was a film called China Jam about an expedition by a group of climbers with musical skills, to attempt an unclimbed wall in a remote valley in western China.  It really showed the determination and effort involved in scaling a remote peak, with huge amounts of food and equipment needed to keep the team going for several weeks while they climbed.
The most memorable parts of the film though were the characters and the times when the weather was so bad they were forced to remain in their tents suspended high up on the cliff face.  To amuse themselves they got out a collection of instruments including mandolin, xylophone, flute and drums to pass the time.  Absolutely hilarious at times, great fun at others and inspiring in equal measure.

Herford: the life and death of an Edwardian climber
Affecting in a very different was a film about an Edwardian Climber called Herford, who was a contemporary of Hilary and considered the greatest climber to have lived before the first world war.  He made some great early ascents in the lake district, but unfortunately his climbing and life were cut short during the first world war.  So the timing of the film was very poignant given the 100 year anniversary of the first world war and the film inter-weaved a lot of historical information, about climbing at the time and about Herford and his life.

Dream Line
This was another fascinating film, but again in a very different way.  This told the story of a competitive skier and adventurer whose dream was ski some of the highest and steepest snow slopes in the world.  His final dream was to ski a face on Gashot in the remote Pakistan Himalayas.  The film told an interesting story about his life and how his dreams had intertwined with his life and reality and had a quite profound effect on him as a skier.

There were many other films we have seen and a huge number we haven't been able to get to, but this maybe gives a flavour for the event and hat we have seen so far.  More films today and then the best of Kendal screening tonight which we cant wait to see.

Sunset over Windermere

A few weeks ago we were really lucky to be out and heading past Windermere, when we saw this fantastic sunset.

Navigating in Wales

I have just spent the last few days in Wales honing my navigation skills in the hills and moors of Snowdonia.  Luckily the weather was extremely mild and stayed reasonably dry, except for yesterday when there winds forecast for about 50mph which almost blew us off the ridge we were on.  

              Looking  relaxed before the nerve racking navigation exercises

Navigation is a fine art, lots of things to think about, watch out for but it is quite logical.  However despite being a woman, I have discovered that I cannot count paces, look at the map and keep an eye on the time! So much for women being better at multi- tasking. 

We even stayed out in the dark one day to practice night navigation, lots of trampling through the gorse and heather, getting lost, peering into the dark with head torches, but we made it back safely without getting wildly lost. 

                                          Night navigation practice

Navigation is mentally exhausting, so am glad to be back home, but it is always great to go on courses and keep up with current events.