2025 started off cold, and it was only going to get colder. The Spine Race in January began in bitter cold, with snow on the Pennines, and ended up with star lit nights, and bog. Within days of heading home, producer Dave Hanna and I were on a plane to Alaska, to launch ‘Frostbitten’ at the Talkeetna Ice Festival. To keep the cold theme going, I then joined friends and crossed the Hardangervidda Plateau in Norway. It wasn’t until late April that I finally thawed out..!
2025 was the year we formally launched ‘Frostbitten’ on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Adventure Sports TV.
I entered my 56th year with new ideas about engagement. I opened up about my life in field sports and the outdoors – two fields which traditionally have clashed. Eventually you get to an age, where you care little for folk slagging you off, and I’m a great believer that all sides in the outdoors need to engage more. Meeting County Deerstalking at the National Outdoor Expo and recording on the Countryslide Podcast, have firmly nailed my colours to the mast. I’m no activist, purely an educator, and care little for folk who shout and chuck their teddy from the pram. Engagement is everything, and politics should never get in the way.
2025 has also been a year filled with pilgrimages. At the Alport Love Feast, I experienced a revelation and suddenly understood what my purpose was in the world of travelling. My adventures had been a continuous pilgrimage. In May I took a huge step as I crossed the Rum Ridge with my friend Dean. In 2017, I had crossed the Cuillin Ridge with Martin Moran, and he had pointed out the ridge on Rum, as my next mission. That climb was the list time Martin and I were on the hill together, and this year, I toasted his memory with a dram after a huge mountain day.
Listening to the King on Christmas Day, speak of life’s pilgrimages, brought my feelings and experiences of 2025 to a head. Life is a journey, and how we live it, rather than grasp onto the last few minutes is everything.
During the summer, I sea Kayaked in Norway, and spoke on a Cunard Cruise in Alaska (yes I do sometimes take a holiday..!!!) I then crossed a section of the Drakesnsburgs, before settling into the film festival season.
Frostbitten opened the Kendal Mountain Festival, and made the red carpet at the ARFF Film Festival in Berlin. Where it takes us next, is anyone’s guess…
On top of everything else, I was offered a job in Australia, have spoken up and down the country, and made a move into the world of Disability and Inclusion. A call with Lloyds Bank, where I was laughed at for having short fingers, promoted the move, where I have begun working with the Bendrigg Trust, and many future projects (and another film) are to come.
The year has closed with another film – ‘Wild Witness – Frostbite to Fieldcraft’, where I speak about my life outdoors, and how spending time outside has been my saviour on more than one occasion.
As you can see, a very busy 2025. Will 2026 be any quieter, somehow I doubt it as there are many crazy and exciting projects already in my diary..!
May I wish you all a wonderful 2026…