Scotch Malt Whisky Society – Unfiltered
Heres an article I wrote for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, about my recent trip to Alaska…
Read More »Scotch Malt Whisky Society – UnfilteredHeres an article I wrote for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, about my recent trip to Alaska…
Read More »Scotch Malt Whisky Society – UnfilteredImagine braving minus 60°C temperatures and 60-mile-an-hour crosswinds on North America’s highest peak. In this gripping episode, we sit down with seasoned mountaineer Nigel Vardy, who recounts his harrowing survival story on Denali. From his childhood passion for the outdoors, nurtured by his parents, to facing life-threatening challenges, Nigel takes us through the critical decisions that led to his survival and the severe frostbite that forever changed his life. His story is not just about survival but about sheer resilience and the human spirit’s capacity to endure.
Read More »Man: A Quest to Find Meaning PodcastThe media loves bad news. Stories of failure, funding cuts and violence fill the airwaves, screens and newspapers, and in the Peak District it’s not been a great few weeks.
I grew up just south of the Peak District National Park and have spent much of my life enjoying the fresh air and freedoms it brings. COVID was an awful time for us all, and its effects seem to be more far reaching than I even imagined. I hoped that once we were allowed our freedoms again, that the old world I once knew would return, but how wrong I was.
Read More »We Didn’t Start the Fire…Heres a BBC Radio Derby interview, recorded when I returned home from Alaska. In the picture, I’m speaking to the wonderful Daryl Miller.
Read More »Post Alaska BBC Radio Derby Interview…25 years can feel like a lifetime, or like an instant. My rescue took over a day, yet I only remember fleeting moments as the cold took control of my mind, and its bitter grasp mists memories and slows reflection. I thought I knew it all, yet I still had so much to learn. Heading back to Alaska might help clear the clouds and reveal icy truths buried deep in my soul.
Read More »Alaska 2024 – A Time to Remember…Recently Steve and I were featured on the Real Survival Stories Podcast. We tell the story where, in 1999, we almost perished on Denali. Click here to go to the Podcast
Read More »Real Survival Stories Podcast – Cut off in a Frozen Wilderness…Upon my return from Alaska, I was featured again on BBC East Midlands Today. Heres the clip..!
Read More »BBC East Midlands Today Interview…Before I headed to Alaska, I was interviewed by BBC East Midlands Today. Heres the clip..!
Read More »On BBC East Midlands Today…To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Buxton Mountain Rescue Team, Wincle Brewery have produced – ‘Frostbitten’ – a golden, dry hopped english ale. Every pint sold will raise funds for the team, so there’s no excuse to enjoy a bevvy..!
Read More »Frostbitten – Wincle Brewery Supporting Buxton Mountain Rescue TeamThe last time I donned snow shoes, was on the Kahiltna Glacier in Alaska, and we all know how that ended..! Twenty five years later, I clipped them onto my boots in the Swedish town of Abisko, and began a ten day trip down the Kungsleden.
Read More »Blow, Northern Wind – Kungsleden 2024When planning a Highland Mountaineering trip, we all hope for snow – buckets of the damn stuff. It would be nice if the avalanche risk were low, the pack hard and consolidated, and the sun shining. Now let’s get back to the real world…
Read More »A Hazy Shade of Winter – The (almost) Twelfth Frostbite Report…For many, the dark nights of January bring dismay and boredom. Christmas is over and the weather is cold and damp. For some of us however, winter brings great excitement at the prospect of ice, snow, and for the really energetic – ultra running.
Read More »Gimme Shelter – The Spine Race 2024Once I had fingers…
Read More »Montane 30 Years of Progress…Years ago, it was said that life began at 40. Through healthcare, diets, and the like, it now (apparently) begins later. I’m not sure what number has been picked, but a recent visit to my GP made me think.
Read More »Does life end at 50..?I rarely go to the same place twice. Perhaps I want to keep my memories as they were and enjoy seeing new places, but as Heraclitus said – “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man”. The fjords of Greenland are no different. Their ever-moving ice bergs and glaciers are never the same from one moment to the next.
Read More »Through Silken Waters – Greenland 2023…The isles of Harris and Lewis are famous for ancient stones, deep peat and tweed. They also have stunning coastlines which can be explored only one way – from the seat of a Kayak.
Read More »Roll With It – Hebrides 2023…I love the mountains (if you’ve not worked that out, go home now), and the thought of remote peaks, ski touring and mountain huts was too much for me to resist. I had barely recovered from climbing Toubkal in Morocco, before I boarded another flight – this time to Norway.
Read More »Slip Sliding Away – Norway Ski Tour 2023…Morocco had always brought me bad luck. When I say that, I mean that every time I’d tried to visit, something bad happened. I’d been halted by terrorist attacks, COVID and sadly, the death of my father. It was about time that luck was on my side.
Read More »Rock the Kasbah – Toubkal 2023…I adore the music of Kate Bush. Recently her 1985 hit found new life due to the Netflix series Stranger Things. My dad also enjoyed her music and to me, he was always ‘the man with the child in his eyes’.
Read More »Running up that Hill…By the end of 2021 I was exhausted. COVID had caught me over the Christmas period as the loss of my Mum began to take its toll. I hoped 2022 would give me time to rest and reflect. I certainly reflected, but spent much of the year on the road, on the sea and on the mountain..!
Read More »2022 – On the Road Again…