“The run has been so much tougher than we had ever imagined. Physically; pain sprang around our bodies pretty much constantly for the first three weeks in the “freezer” of Patagonia. We thought that our bodies would seize up completely in protest to the day-on-day assault. But gradually and incredibly the 20 mile daily quota, six days a week, clicked by. Millions of tiny steps later, we’re now in Bolivia and everything seems so much more possible!

“Running is such a simple act. Anyone can do it, you only need a pair of shoes- and not always even those! Best of all, it’s about being outside, in the company of wildlife and running through magical wild places. We created the 5000mileproject so that we could do just that; run through some of the most biodiverse habitats on earth and share their beauty with people from around the world”

The couple are raising money for Birdlife International and Armonía to secure habitat for species including the critically endangered blue-throated, giant anteater and maned wolf. They present to schools along the way about the expedition and the environments they´re running through and share their adventures with schools, newspapers and magazines back at home.

Check out  www.5000mileproject.org and facebook/twitter@5000mileproject. To sponsor their charities click here:  https://www.justgiving.com/5000mileproject

Visit Berghaus Online Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, men’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.

You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

Choose from a range of cutting edge waterproof jackets, fleeces, trousers & more from Berghaus.

We recently provided kit to mountaineer and artist Susan Dobson who has just returned from a drawing trip to the Alps and Dolomites. Here Susan gives us an account of adventure!

 
I love my Berghaus Arête 30 Extrem rucksack. It’s travelled so many mountain paths with me in remote and beautiful places.

In February we had planned to spend a week or so based at Rongbuk, in Tibet, exploring around and above Everest North Base Camp.  I want to get some views of Everest and the surrounding mountains as part of my research for an exhibition next year. It will run alongside a Newcastle University conference, ‘Modernist Mountaineering: Climbing and Culture 1890 – 1940’. Tibet is the obvious place to go to get a sense of the early attempts on Everest – the only way in for expeditions at that time.

All set up with a lovely new Berghaus Liskamm Down Jacket and state of the art Argentium baselayer tights (thank you Berghaus) to keep me warm working in the bitter winds of the Tibetan plateau.

A week to go and our Sherpa, Lakpa tells us the Chinese won’t grant permits because of the political situation so trip postponed until the autumn.

So where to take my rucksack now? Well head for Switzerland and the Matterhorn of course! Its first ascent was made in 1865 by a party led by Edward Whymper. The north face was not climbed until 1931. This peak was a proving ground for mountaineers with their sights on Everest.

Last day of June dawns clear and bright so early train up to Gornergrat. A splendid view of the Matterhorn’s North face in the morning sunshine under a clear blue sky.

Two hours later, drawing completed as the clouds roll in and hide the peak once more!   Clear all around so more drawings – of Castor, Pollux and Monta Rosa.

A good morning’s work, wonderful glaciers and a great walk down keeping an eye on the gathering storm clouds!

Storms, torrential rain – time for a quick exit! Head for the Dolomites and Misurina, its lake surrounded by wonderful mountains with fantastic Tres Cime de Lavaredo dominating the view – Cime Grande another of the great north faces. Facing it at the other end of the lake, the massive bulk of Sorapis, the subject of my first drawing here. Hot, sunny days and my Berghaus Argentium base layers come into their own, keeping me cool in the sunshine and warm as the clouds build in the afternoons.

Cinque Torri calls – so off we go. Croda di Lago looks magnificent, especially glowing softly in the sunset with Antelau behind – just has to be drawn!

Weather holding, so climb the via ferrata  to the summit of Averau. Dog comes too! Cloud all around, but not here! Manage a quick drawing of Tofana despite the howling gale!

Last time I drew the Cadini di Misurina it was from under Tres Cime, in March on snow shoes, a gale blowing and two and a half metres of snow! This time, up to the superb viewpoint of Monte Piano to make a summer drawing. Wonderful cloud effects all around as the weather builds but the mountain stays clear.

Next stop Cristallo. Superb visibility except for its highest peak! Wreathed in cloud until the last minute when it cleared long enough for me to complete the drawing before the thunder started rumbling.  Make it down to the refugio just as the storm breaks!

But when all else fails, in the Dolomites in July, there’s always plant hunting!

Sadly, it is still not possible to get permits for what I need to do in Tibet. Instead Manaslu beckons this September. With a high point of 5200m at Larkya La, my Berghaus duvet jacket will certainly be in my trusty rucksack! We’ll be in good company – Bill Tilman and Major James Roberts stood there in 1950 identifying a direct route to the summit! After four attempts it was finally climbed in 1956 by a Japanese team.

You can see more of Susan’s sketchbook drawings at www.susandobson.co.uk

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

Coaldale Junction. After hours of colors washed and brightened by the splashing monsoon rain, an image of utter desolation reflected in a mud puddle. Bar Sluts, the graffiti ridden sign announces. The restaurant used to be Coaldale´s most important building. In its own way, it still is. Ghosts are lingering on the wet white couch next to the puddle. With ghastly grins they point me towards the mound´s carbonized opening. A burned  TV is sticking out of a pile of ashes and water is dripping through the ceiling.

A few sips from my water bottle, a cereal bar, and I´m relieved to pedal away from Coaldale´s broken gas pump and its ghosts. There won’t be any more buildings before Tonopah, only desert and dustdevils that seem to be determined to thwart my passage through Nevada´s desolation. And yet the little water has been sufficient to cast a spell over the few obstinate small bushes on the side of the road. To turn the petrified dust into green, into life.

I’m exhausted from simply keeping my bike on the road, from stemming my body against the treacherous, sudden, gusts of wind, when Jerry pulls his camper over in front of me. The old man is wearing brown shorts and compression stockings. He is breathing with difficulty and he is lonely.

Jerry is from New Mexico and he is returning from his ex-wife’s funeral in California. He doesn´t know whether to be sad. It is merely a reminder of his youth that has died, he says. He proudly offers me to use his bathroom and then sends me on my way with a self-heating can of hot chocolate.

That can of hot chocolate is the illusion I hold on to when the wind drives me off the asphalt for the 100 time. Tonopah is only 15 miles ahead but I am too exhausted to keep going. Struggling, I push my bike up a sandy slope so as to conceal it as well as possible. Then I set up my tent.  I´m going to lay in it and have a cup of the frothy hot chocolate Jerry described to me. However, the futuristic green gel botton on my cup doesn´t seem to work. The can stays cold and continues reading: “If can doesn´t heat up, do not drink”. I finally fall asleep, empty with disappointment.

The next morning I set out early, before the merciless sun hits my tent. Just before the endless long solpe that goes up to Tonopah, I discover the first rest stop in 200 miles. It is equipped with running water  and actual trees. A slim elderly man in an explorer´s outfit  and small round glasses emerges from a huge camper with Arizona plates and walks over to me. Why do I have crutches strapped to the frame of my bike, he wonders. When I tell him about the 1100 ft fall, about the two days and nights on the glaciar, and my 13 surgeries, he falls silent. Then he shakes his head and with a condescending grin tells me that doctors don’t know anything. If I can hold on 10 minutes so that he can take his retainers out, he’ll invite me to pray with him. If I accept his invitation, he guarantees that Jesus will heal my foot within 15 minutes. He disapppears in the bathroom, and I take off, pedaling with all my strength towards Tonopah, towards the town that I know almost nothing of. I have found however, a list of notable Tonopah residents:

Andriza Mircovich, only prisoner to be executed by shooting in Nevada.
William Robert Johnson, Roman Catholic bishop.
Barbara Graham, the notorious Butcher of Burbank. Only woman to be executed in California.

An old dusty well from the gold seekers’ times is the first sign of Tonopah. What follows is just as dry. After sever bullet sieved signs I begin to pass bullet sieved, ruins, walls, houses. The ugliest women in the whole world live in Tonopah. The younger ones wear full beards and mustaches and the older ones are made of petrified dust. The rain didn´t do anything for them. He didn´t wash away the staggering husbands that bang into each other on the sidewalks or throw up in front of the gun shop.

In the casino (no weapons concealed or otherwise allowed) Scott, from California tells me that Tonopah had to stop publishing their police report. It had become too embarassing for the husbands bullied by their wives. The town keeps on growing he says, because whoever gets picked up by the cops around town, won´t get a ride home after coming out of jail.  I study the Nye County News and read about the local community leader in Pamruph who is (was) a role model as well as the leader of a child´s pornography ring. I also discover that the local sheriff is running for justice of peace. Among his credentials: married for 26 years and a vast experience in homicide. I leave Tonopah knowing that I have seen the wild west, and just in time to avoid an encounter with the the only image that could seriously degrade my image of Tonopah: a glimpse of Mitt Romney´s tour bus.

Once again surrunded by desert and dust devils, I discover a strange object on the road ahead of me. It isn’t an illusion caused by the heat and it grows bigger as I get closer. As it gets larger, it also becomes stranger. It isn’t a boulder, it isn’t a motorcycle and it isn’t a car either. Instead it is Howard West and his donkeycart. He´s a writer, and he´s on a book tour, he tells me. Besides he hasn´t just written one book. He has a whole series, called the Locked Gates. That´s why his donkeycart says: “facebook the Lockedgates”.  I am dumbfolded hearing that he lives on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and that he is now walking through Nevada presenting his work. Who to, I really don´t know.

Howard’s arrogant laughter under his grey bearded cowboy hat stays with me on the endless  steep and windy climbs that follow. I´ll never make it to Warm Springs he says, refusing to understand that the point of leaving Tonopah in the late afternoon was to ride under the starry sky, letting moonshine protect me from the glaring sun. Howard  is wrong. Around 10pm, I arrive at  the ghost settlement Warm Springs. Three empty buildings stare at me through the open wounds of broken windows. I lean Rocinante against the bullet holes and investigate my home for the night. Inside the buildings mold and violence are thickening the atmosphere. Shaking off apprehension, I return to fresh air and begin to look for a place where to pitch my tent. Little later, I am cooking pasta without daring to light my headlamp so as to remain invisible to the occasional trucks.

A white shimmer emerges from behind the buildings. I turn my stove off so as not be be seen and wait. Nothing. The shimmer remains silently in the same spot. Then I understand: it isn´t a car, it´s a cloud. It´s vapor raising over a hot spring. After dinner I undertake a nightly expedition guided by the white cloud. Keep out! Say the big red letters on the white wall behind the barbed wire fence. I carefully crawl through a hole in the fence and illuminate a big turquoise pool with my headlamp. Minutes later I am swimming in the warm water sprinkled with stars, smiling to myself-and laughing at Howard West.

The next day brings even more heat, a rather uneventful encounter with a rattlesnake, and wind. So much wind that I find myself pedaling downhill with all my might, and moving forward at 3 miles per hour. The Extraterrestrial Highway really is as deserted as I had heard. Dust devils come storming down the mountains that shield the infamous Area 51 US military test site that besides atomic bomb testing is said to have been the scenery to events as extraordinary and strange as abduction by and of extraterrestrial beings, UFO crashes and much more. With my blanket, I transform Rocinante into a dust and sun shelter and secretly hope for a UFO to appear so as to rescue me from what feels to be a strong dusty blow drier, pointed at me. I finish my canned pineapples and no UFO appears. However, at the end of the day I receive tangible proof of their existence: in front of the big UFO at the Little Alien´s Inn in Rachel, the hardest of Nevada comes to an end.

Over lemonade, water, more lemonade and a steak, I listen to Bob telling me the story of the famous black mailbox. The probably most photographed mailbox  in Nevada, belongs to ranger Steve. Steve and his family live far off the road, and ways away from their lonely mailbox. Their initial mailbox was black and word had spread that this mysterious mailbox belonged to Area 51. Ecologic activists, UFO seekers, defenders of extraterrestrial rights, opponents of  Martian cloning, as well as other activists had stated their concerns in both writing and smelly objects. Steve´s mail had been stolen, defaced, photocopied, commented, and mutilated in every possible way. When the black mailbox mysteriously disappeared, Steve and Bob acquired a new, white, bulletproof  depositor for Steve´s mail. They dug a deep hole in the ground, and the new mailbox was ankered in cement and locked with a massif lock that only Steve and the mailman possess a key to.

That night, as I fall asleep on my soft white pillow in the trailer behind the Little Alien´s Inn, I am staying in, I know for sure that Nevada, the desert state, definitely is a very fertile soil when it comes to harvesting stories.

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

On 27 July 2012 British couple Katharine and David Lowrie will take on an epic journey to run the length of South America; 5000 miles, the equivalent of 200 marathons in a single year, through some of the most awe inspiring and biologically rich ecosystems on earth.

The ecologist adventurer couple will run unsupported and each pull a convertible back-pack/trailer for camping, communications, science, food and water. The expedition will be a ‘world first’; first woman and first couple to run the continent.

In prepartion for their adventure Katharine and David have been undertaking numerous training challenges in South America, including training in Bolivia, Patagonia and Uruguay.

Through the challenge Katharine and David hope to raise money for wildlife charities to buy and conserve, threatened habitats in South America ensuring their conservation through local governance and employment.

You can find out more about 5000 Mile Project and read their blogs along the way at www.5000mileproject.org

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

On 4th July Ollie Mason began his challenging trek, which he’s aiming to do in 60 days, carrying 20 litres of water unaided on his head and upper body. His challenge is all in aid of emulating the struggle faced by millions of people who are forced to walk huge distances to collect their daily water needs.

Ollie says:

“We take water for granted. After all it’s just a matter of turning a tap. But elsewhere in the world water is a luxury. And access to a well or borehole is a godsend. With thousands of children still dying from water-related diseases every day people think they can’t make a difference. But they can! It takes just £1.00 to provide a child with clean, safe water for 10 years when they are at their most vulnerable.”

And if walking for over 180 miles carrying 20 litres of water isn’t enough, Ollie took his jerry can on a detour up Ben Nevis on Friday 13 July. He described the detour as “one of the most exhausting and frightening experiences of my life”.

“If I’m honest I’m scared of heights so it wasn’t the weight I was carrying that worried me on the way up. But it was an exhilarating experience and I’ll never ever forget the breathtaking landscape, amazing views or the herd of deer who followed me along part of my journey.”

Through the challenge Ollie is hoping to raise funds for a number of charities including Oxfam. You can take a look at his Water Run page here.

Berghaus Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including men’s waterproof jackets, women’s rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

We’re showing our support to a Keswick family, who have organised a 10 in 10 Challenge to raise awareness of Multiple Sclerosis, by sponsoring the event.
 
This year’s event will take place on Saturday 23rd June 2012 where 150 walkers will head up the first peak – Causey Pike followed by Sail, Crag Hill, Wandope, Whiteless Pike, High Snockrigg, Robinson, Dale Head, High Spy and Maiden Moor.
 
Yvonne Booth decided to organise the Ten Mountains in Ten Hours challenge after her husband, Duncan, was diagnosed with MS in June 2010. Before MS struck, Duncan Booth was a very keen climber and alpinist but since his illness has affected his balance he has swapped climbing mountains for more aquatic pursuits of open water swimming and sculling.
 
Not wishing to be left out of the 10 in 10 challenge, Duncan recently sculled up and down Derwentwater throughout the night for 10 hours. You can read about the challenge, in his own words below.

 
Feeling a little tired after my ten hours of sculling. It all went to plan. I checked out the weather forecast for Tues night and saw 4mph wind at midnight dropping away to 1mph by 5 am. This was enough for me to decide that it was on. I spent the morning trying to arrange all helpers and safety boat, then i thought it would be best if i got a bit of a sleep before departure. Unfortunately it was hard to sleep as I kept going over everything in my head.

I jumped out of bed at 5pm and started making final preparations. Before I knew it we were all assembled at the lake ready to go and being waved off by a mixture of friends, pupils and parents. I started to scull at 9pm. the lake just got calmer and flatter as the time went by. The first couple of lengths of Derwentwater were good, plenty of light, warm , with flat water.  As it got darker and darker it became more difficult as I had to navigate by the lights from hotels and houses around the edge of the lake, and I struggled to see my oars which was quite important. I lost my safety team, and could see their lights going in circles. It turned out that they had lost sight of me and were all over the place trying to find me! I thought I may have to rescue them!  The time just seemed to fly by and I had soon crossed the equivalent of the English Channel. I just managed to keep on sculling , all the time nearing my ten hour objective and clocking up more Km’s.

The middle of Derwentwater is a lonely place to be when alone in the dark, the geese kept me company, as did a few deer who showed up at first light in the reeds at the edge of the lake. The darkness certainly got to me and when dawn started to appear with the first hints of light my mood was lifted enormously.  The sun rose and soon I was sculling in the sun, sunglasses back on! Only 3 or 4 more hours to go. I was tracking my progress on a garmin GPS device, interestingly I sped up towards the end, as it got lighter.

More changes to the support team, and I was soon on my last lap. This went OK until the wind got up and made the lakes surface ruffled and bumpy, I summoned up a bit of concentration so as not to capsize so close to the end.

I was soon back in the isthmus bay, from where I had begun 9 hours and 57 minutes ago.

It was great to see my mum and dad and others from earlier support who had come down to cheer me on. Challenge complete, what next??

Visit Berghaus Online Store

For outdoor clothing from Berghaus including waterproof jackets, rucksacks and more then please visit our online store.

You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

Berghaus was one of the outdoor companies to support the group in their venture which involved descending some of the biggest canyons in the world.

The canyons total 131km in length and 28km in height and are amongst the most technical, challenging and impressive canyons in the world.  The fearless foursome overcame 140m waterfalls, 25m jumps and 15m toboggans during their three week journey through one of the most amazing waterparks mother nature has to offer.

Next month, hundreds of people from across Britain will take to the fells to raise money for research into this debilitating disease.

Yvonne Booth decided to organise the ‘10 in 10 Challenge’ after her husband Duncan was diagnosed with MS in June 2010.

Last summer saw the inaugural event above Buttermere in which 120 participants raised an outstanding £24,000. As the walkers took to the skyline, Duncan took to the water and swam across ten lakes. His brother Simon Booth, a one-time British fell running champion, did himself proud too by completing the challenge as a run in two and a half hours.

This year’s event takes place on Saturday 23rd June 2012 when 150 walkers will leave the Swinside Inn, in the Newlands Valley, at 6.30am and head up the first peak – Causey Pike followed by Sail, Crag Hill, Wandope, Whiteless Pike, High Snockrigg, Robinson, Dale Head, High Spy and Maiden Moor.

Yvonne Booth said: ”The ten peak challenge, to be completed in ten hours, is a charity event to raise money for the MS Society to use for research into Multiple Sclerosis. It’s not a competition, just a challenge, and it is encouraging to see so many people in training for this year’s event. I hope one day the MS Society find a cure for this nasty, debilitating and unpredictable disease. We’re so grateful to Sir Chris Bonington, who is fully supporting the event and kindly asked Berghaus to sponsor it.”

Before MS struck, Duncan Booth was a very keen climber and alpinist. His illness has affected his balance and so he has swapped climbing mountains for more aquatic pursuits of open water swimming and sculling.

Duncan noticed after his diagnosis that taking a dip in a cold lake had quite a positive effect on the feeling in his legs. He got equipped with wetsuit and goggles and began swimming every day in the local lakes. Duncan now swims all year round and had to break the ice in order to get in throughout December of last year.

Not wishing to be left out of the 10 in 10 challenge 2012, Duncan plans to scull up and down Derwentwater throughout the night staring on Friday 22nd June.  He will attempt to clock as many kilometres as possible in his Sculling boat during the 10 hours.

Anyone wishing to donate to the 10 in 10 challenge can do so here.

Berghaus recently sponsored the Women with altitude mountaineering event at Gartan Outdoor Education Centre, Ireland. The event which was held on 20th-22nd April was attended by our Tech Support Rep’s Sarah and Angela.
 
Here Sarah shares her adventure:

 
In total 110 women attended from all over Ireland. The course included a Mountain Skills Assessment and Mountain Leader Training courses for women, plus mentoring from the Women with Altitude team.

The other activities were varied and ranged from long walks and scrambles to multi-pitch climbing on sea cliffs covering a range of abilities. There was also a photography competition which Berghaus sponsored.

Angela and I participated in the weekend by getting involved with a mixture of outdoor activities including climbing, gorge scrambling and walking. This was great as we were able to get out on the hill with the ladies and answer a lot of questions they had around kit.

The event was a great success and a great time was had by all!

As part of his BRIT Challenge, this week Phil, the founder of the British Inspiration Trust, visited Berghaus HQ where he had the opportunity to meet young people from Witton Gilbert Primary School in County Durham. They where also joined by Sir Chris Bonington, chairman of Berghaus and a trustee of The Outward Bound Trust, which has helped pupils from the school to develop skills and confidence through outdoor experiences.  With 1,272 miles of his challenge to go Phil also got the opportunity to walk a further 8 miles from the Berghaus office in Sunderland, joined along the way by Sir Chris Bonington.

Over the rest of 2012 Phil will continue to make his way through locations chosen by young people in every county of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, finishing in London in mid-December. On the way Phil is meeting thousands of Great Britain’s youth in every county who have faced difficult challenges in their lives to understand the difficulties they face and listen to how they feel they could regain their self-worth, self-belief and self-confidence.

You can find out more about Phil’s BRIT 2012 Challenge here.