Outdoor Gear Blog - CheapTents

CheapTents Outdoor Gear Blog

…not just tents…a camping equipment blog too!

Mountaineer Matthew D Thornton with winter tools

Matthew D Thornton summits Stob Dearg in winter conditions.

What’s the best way to the summit of Mount Everest? You could answer that it is the south col route from Nepal or maybe that it is via the north east ridge from China. Either way, the journey really starts at a point somewhere else altogether.

In order to stand a chance of reaching the summit you will require mountaineering skills and experience of climbing at high altitude, as well as physical and mental stamina. Proper planning and support are also essential. It can take several years or more to develop these skills.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:
Paul Roberts climbing a crag

Paul Roberts climbs Pitch 2 of the El (5.8.3)

Following on from our recent blog post, in which solo climber Mike Dunne talks about his loves and hates of the climbing in the Lake District, we are pleased to present a post written by a climber from the United States.

Paul Roberts is from New York state and has spent the past 3 years climbing in many parts of the USA, from New Hampshire to California. In June this year he’ll be launching a cross country/get to college/climbing trip that will take him climbing all over the country, ending in Prescott Arizona where he’ll be studying adventure education and environmental policy at college.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

Mike Dunne tackles a bouldering problem

Mike Dunne Climber

We always enjoy hearing from you, our readers, about the adventures that you have been having in the great outdoors. Not only that, we like to give you the opportunity to use the CheapTents blog to promote yourselves if you’re looking for sponsorship. Recently we were contacted by Mike Dunne, who loves climbing in the Lake District. We asked him to tell us about his climbing experience, his thoughts on the climbing scene and who he rates as a climber.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:
Rafal Krol exploring the jungle in Haiti

Rafał Król during his expedition in Haiti. Photo: Paweł Łączny.

Rafał Król is a Polish adventurer and explorer who has pushed himself to the absolute limits of endurance! His expeditions include traversing the Greenland icecap in whiteout conditions, a 400-kilometer solo expedition across Spitsbergen and pioneering a route through Sarek and Padjelanta, Laponia, Sweden, which is of the largest national parks in Europe. Sponsored by Berghaus, Rafał Król has put their outdoor gear to test in extreme conditions and helped to improve their designs.

The Greenland traverse saw Rafał Król and his expedition partner Norbert Pokorski face conditions of extreme cold and near constant whiteouts. Not only was there snow but towards the end of the journey there was also rain, which resulted in a lot of their equipment becoming wet and then frozen. It took five days to hike from the coast up to the icecap, followed by 14 days for the icecap traverse. During blizzards it was not possible see anything except for the end of their skis. Beating the monotony of this extreme environment took immense mental will power.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

Explorer Louis-Philippe Loncke in the Icelandic countryside

Louphi on an expedition in Iceland

Known as Louphi the Versatile Explorer, Louis-Philippe Loncke has embarked on some extraordinary expeditions. He first started hiking on a weekend trip to Ireland, but it was when he went to Australia that he started backpacking in earnest. Armed with a Lonely Planet walking guide, Louphi started trekking in Blue Mountains. After 6 months he had covered more than 1100km in 40+ bushwalks. Moving his sights onto bigger adventures, Louphi trekked the across West MacDonnells National Park and along the entire length of Frazer Island. In Tasmania he hiked from Cradle Valley to the South Cape on a 49 day solo and unsupported “insane” expedition. Spurred on by these adventures, Louphi became was the first westerner to hike solo and unsupported, north to south across the Simpson Desert in 2008.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

Lonnie Dupre endures the cold on high altitude climbsFor over 25 years Lonnie Dupre has been exploring the colder parts of our planet. Travelling by ski, kayak and dog sled, Lonnie has travelled over 14,000 miles across various regions of the Arctic. These expeditions include travelling across the North West passage, circumnavigating Greenland and two journeys to the North Pole.

With Australia’s John Hoelscher, Dupre dog sledded and kayaked the perimeter of [Greenland] covering 6517 miles all non-motorized in three visits. In being the first to round the island, the men dog sledded 3442 miles and kayaked 3075 miles.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

Leon McCarron cycled around the Far East

Leon McCarron
"The Cycling Reporter"

In March 2011 Leon McCarron completed a 14,000 mile solo and unsupported bicycle ride from New York to Hong Kong. The route took Leon across the northern states of the USA, up to Vancouver, then back down the west coast to California. Next it was top to tip of New Zealand, before riding up Australia’s East Coast. As if that wasn’t enough, the journey continued through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China through to Hong Kong. The encore saw Leon cycle from Paris to London! Dubbed the “Cycling Reporter” expedition, one of the main aims of this journey was make a video documentary about the people that Leon met along the way, focussing one people with a true passion for life.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

An adventure can be as big or small as you can imagine. Alastair Humphreys is an advocate for adventures of any size! He is an adventurer who has spent four years of his life cycling 46,000 miles around the world, an epic journey by anyone’s standards. Yet he is equally enthusiastic about taking on 24 hour microadventures.

Alastair Humprheys views a map in the desert on his cycling expedition

Alastair Humprheys rode his bike 46,000 miles around the world.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

When ‘PoleKitty’ left a comment on a post we wrote in February about the Gear needed to climb Ben Nevis,  the name made us wonder if it was spam at first. We soon realised it wasn’t as we watched in awe at the sight of Kat pole dancing at the top of Ben Nevis, as part of the 3-Peaks Challenge. The video is below.

Once we’d watched the video we decided to contact Kat to find out more about this rather odd celebration at the top of Ben Nevis. We wanted to know what had driven her to do it, and if there was any other mad outdoor stunts she had done. Here is our interview with Kat ‘PoleKitty’ Humphrey, outdoor enthusiast & extreme pole dancer!

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice:

You may not think it, but bats are a great friend to hikers and campers. To find out exactly why, you will have to read on! Now, whilst bats may have a bad name on account of Count Dracula, the truth is, like most other mammals, bats are furry and very cute. If you need proof, just look at some of the bat photos on this page! So, by now you must be wondering to yourself “Where do bats live and is it possible to observe them in the wild?”

A cute, furry Natterers bat

A Natterers Bat. Isn't she cute! Photocredit Chris Scott.

Related camping and outdoor news, reviews and advice: