Gear

I was standing on a scree slope in the Cairngorms, three hours behind schedule and watching a bruised purple sky swallow the last of the …

I once spent four hours huddled under a granite overhang in the Cairngorms, watching a group of very expensive, very optimistic hikers shiver uncontrollably because …

I remember a Tuesday in late October, somewhere on the edge of the Cairngorms, when the mist turned into a relentless, sideways soak. I was …

I remember a group I was leading in the Cairngorms three years ago—it was late October, the wind was gusting at forty knots, and the …

I once spent six hours huddled under a limestone overhang in the Cairngorms, watching a group of well-meaning walkers try to navigate a descent in …

I remember standing on a ridge in the Cairngorms three years ago, watching a group of hikers huddle under what they thought were high-end shells, …

I was halfway up a scramble in the Cairngorms last October, caught in a sudden, sideways sleet that turned the granite into a skating rink, …

I spent three hours huddled under a granite overhang in the Cairngorms last November, watching a group of hikers realize that their “state-of-the-art” shells were …

I’ve spent twenty-two years watching people treat their boots like disposable fashion statements rather than the vital pieces of survival equipment they actually are. Most …