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Mountain Courses Summer Skills Winter Skills Skiing Climbing Courses Rock Climbing Winter Climbing
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Adventures for Young People Technical prep days Refresher days for RCI and ML Refresher days for WML, IML, and MCI Training for Mountain Rescue teams
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Article: Copies of the Professional Mountaineer articles I've Written
Article: Copies of the Professional Mountaineer articles I've Written
Simon Verspeak30 December 2023
Round up: Best of 2022
Round up: Best of 2022
Simon Verspeak1 January 2023
Round up: My Scottish winter 2022
Round up: My Scottish winter 2022
Simon Verspeak7 September 2022
Round up: Best of 2021
Round up: Best of 2021
Simon Verspeak2 January 2022
Round up: a welsh ski season
Round up: a welsh ski season
Simon Verspeak11 December 2021
Top tips: SIX of the best Scottish Winter MOUNTAINEERING routes. PART TWO:  Ridges, I-III
Top tips: SIX of the best Scottish Winter MOUNTAINEERING routes. PART TWO: Ridges, I-III
Simon Verspeak17 November 2021
Article: Into the Outdoors - my story
Article: Into the Outdoors - my story
Simon Verspeak28 October 2020
Top tips: consolidating for RCDI and MCI
Top tips: consolidating for RCDI and MCI
Simon Verspeak25 September 2020
Article: it's all in the core - ski building with Ronin Skis
Article: it's all in the core - ski building with Ronin Skis
Simon Verspeak19 June 2020
Round up: Winter 2020
Round up: Winter 2020
Simon Verspeak11 April 2020
Round up: Best of 2019
Round up: Best of 2019
Simon Verspeak3 January 2020
Top tips: SIX of the best Scottish Winter MOUNTAINEERING routes. PART ONE: Gullies, I-III
Top tips: SIX of the best Scottish Winter MOUNTAINEERING routes. PART ONE: Gullies, I-III
Simon Verspeak6 December 2019
Top tips: What is your assessor looking for?
Top tips: What is your assessor looking for?
Simon Verspeak10 February 2019
Top tips: Ten of the best, Winter Quality Mountain Days
Top tips: Ten of the best, Winter Quality Mountain Days
Simon Verspeak8 January 2019
Review: Rab Cirrus Flex hoody
Review: Rab Cirrus Flex hoody
Simon Verspeak4 January 2019
Round up: Best of 2018
Round up: Best of 2018
Simon Verspeak14 December 2018
Article: Quality and quantity. The Cassin route on the Piz Badile
Article: Quality and quantity. The Cassin route on the Piz Badile
Simon Verspeak1 October 2018
Article: changing up a gear - dabbling with mountain running
Article: changing up a gear - dabbling with mountain running
Simon Verspeak17 September 2018
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+44 7980747804 simon@orange-mountaineering.com

Orange mountaineering is a trading name of Orange outdoors ltd (14942523)

TOO COLD, TOO HOT

As Brits we love to talk about (and moan about!) the weather. It felt last week I was dodging the rain and this week the heat! 

1. Leading the brilliant Bauxed on the Orme. 📸: @mountainindependence 
2. Heading underground with Gi
EASING BACK IN

One of my aims last year post winter was to work a bit less in April to allow a bit of recovery and also to get some rock mileage in. I've really enjoyed the last couple of weeks doimg the same whilst bejng at home, visiting family wi
RETURN TO THE ALPS 

We're just down from my first major alpine summit for some time. Today we summitted the Grossglockner, Austria's highest peak. This involved a hut night, uphill and downhill skiing and some mountaineering. The weather was pretty
SEE SAWING

Whilst limited winter conditions have remained in the Cairngorms, the west coast of the Highlands has been dry and sunny. I had a final week of days flip flopping between winter and summer before heading home to Wales for a few days. Last
SWIFT CHANGE

It's been a busy and varied week on the west coast of Scotland. On Saturday Si and I were out working with @hebridesmountainrescue; this is the fourth team we've provided training for this winter. On Sunday I was off but Becky and I dec
SKI SUNDAY 

Nipped up into SCNL this morning as heard Broad Gully would make a good ski. Caught it passed it's best but we made some turns from the top to the coire floor and you don't know if you don't go! 

#instructordayoff #skiing #scottishskiin
WINTER IS A ROLLER COASTER...

This year, Scottish winter has flip flopped between okay and not okay. At the start of this week we were suffering from lack of snow after a big thaw but thankfully the outlook was for colder temperatures and snowfall o
Just finished a great week working for @rafmountainrescueservice with the RAF Valley team. It's been action packed; climbing on Creag Meagaidh, mountaineering, avalanche rescue and tech rescue skills training and we've even been on two callouts in th
DRY BUT COLD....

I'm just over 3 weeks in to my Scottish winter season and been on the west for the last two weeks. I've had a couple of my own adventures with friends (skiing at Glencoe and climbing Hayfork gully on An Teallach. But mainly been har
IF CARLSBERG DID MOUNTAINEERING...

Top day out with old pal Rory on An Teallach. The sun was shining and this was a perfect opportunity to catch up and tick a new peak for both of us. Sadly the strong summit winds (we could barely stand up) made the
GETTING IN THE GROOVE

I'm a firm believer as professionals we need to get in the groove at the start of the winter. Reminding ourselves how to manage in the winter environment and to get on the sharp end. We were lucky in exceptional early season co
SLOWLY, SLOWLY 

I've been enjoying some quieter time in North Wales and the Peak before the busy Scottish winter season starts. I've been running, hillwalking, plenty of indoor climbing and even underground. This morning with the near continuous sno
GETTING AWAY

It's been a fairly busy (and at times a bit stressful for various reasons) autumn so it was great to get away to Morocco for some sunshine before Christmas. I haven't been to North Africa for a long time but everyone seems to have gone
LEADERS IN THE MOUNTAINS

Some of my favourite and most challenging work of the year is training and assessing Mountain Leaders. I firmly believe @mtntraining has got it so right with this qualification. The standard is high, it's well respected and
GLORIOUS ADVENTURING

Another one off the bucket list in Scotland again! Despite the majority of my work and play being in the mountains, I've always been a multi activity outdoor person. I absolutely love journeying and this was another one we'd bee
TURNING 40...

A few weeks ago I celebrated 4 decades round the sun. I was a bit indifferent about it all to be honest but my partner Becky persuaded me it was really worth doing something... 

I've always been fascinated with journeying; the craft o
SNATCHED MOMENTS...

We've just been on a brief holiday to one of our favourite places, Pembrokeshire. We stay in the same cottage at least once a year. We love exploring the local area and revisiting now familiar haunts. We find time to run along th
SUMMER??

I've been working steadily away the last few weeks delivering various climbing and mountaineering days. The weather has been alternating between good and stormy but we've dodged the worse despite having to wear lots of layers of clothing at
EVENINGS...

Summer evenings are the best part of North Wales life. While it hasn't been hot and often rainy, the good bits have outweighed the bad. I've been incredibly rubbish lately at taking photos but I've definitely been enjoying the social sce