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Wild Country Crack School
4 May 2012, 11:19 am

Click here to view the embedded video.

Crack maestros Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker offer excellent technical crack climbing advice in part 1 of the Wild Country Crack school.

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Wild Country Crack School Part 2
8 May 2012, 5:57 pm

 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Ten iPhone Photographs From Nepal
8 May 2012, 7:13 pm

 





















Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Everest Base Camp Portraits
24 May 2012, 8:37 pm

In May I visited Everest Base Camp with white studio back drop and took portraits of Climbers, Guides, Clients, Sherpas, Cooks and Porters. The subjects included Kenton Cool, Conrad Anker, Pemba Tenzing Sherpa, Adele Pennington and Victor Saunders.



Four Sherpa Brothers who between them have summited Everest 31 times - Copyright Alex Ekins

 Everest Base Camp - Copyright Alex Ekins

 Jagged Globe tents at Everest Base Camp - Copyright Alex Ekins

 

 

 



Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Totally Rad
6 August 2012, 3:30 pm









Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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School of Adventure Photography
24 August 2012, 10:09 am

On the weekend of 12th-14th October I will running the School of Adventure Photography alongside renowned film maker Dom Bush. As part of the Alpkit Big Shakeout weekend of adventure and entertainment myself and Dom will be teaching, instructing and workshopping on all aspects of adventure photography and filmmaking. Using the events and courses of the Big Shakeout as subject matter we will look at all aspects of working professionally in visual media. We will cover setting up and preparing your equipment for outdoor photography, protecting it from the elements, composition, image editing, selling your work and copyright protection. There will be a prizes, a goodies bag for all participants and the opportunity to sell your completed work to Alpkit. We will be working in small instructor to participant ratios with eight working with me on Adventure Photography and eight with Dom on Adventure Filmmaking.

The Alpkit website says “Frustrated by the same old images that don’t really capture what you saw or come anywhere close to describing the outdoor adventure? In this unique Big Shakeout workshop you will have the chance to learn the skills and techniques necessary to give your work direction and see if you have what it takes to become an outdoor photojournalist, photographer or film maker”.

For more information and to book a place go to - http://www.alpkit.com/bigshakeout/event/2975



Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Clothing for Everest Base Camp Trek
4 September 2012, 2:25 pm

Choosing what equipment and clothing to take on a Everest Base Camp trek isn’t particularly easy. You will be in the mountains for a least two weeks and the temperatures can vary widely. It can be swelteringly hot, it might snow, rain is likely, you are limited by weight and you won’t be able to wash any of it very easily. it’s best to pick outdoor clothing that is quick drying, versatile and will combine and layer with other clothing when it gets colder at higher altitudes. In early 2012 I walked the classic Everest base camp trek and stayed a week at base camp hosted by Jagged Globe. I photographed all the key characters involved in climbing Mount Everest, porters, cooks, Sherpas, Kenton Cool, Conrad Anker and Adele Pennington amongst others. The photographs can be viewed here – Everest Base Camp Portraits and the clothing I used is listed below.

Rab Aeon Tee

These base layer tops are brilliant, soft and silky to wear, great on their own when its hot, great layered under other clothing when it’s cold, good to wear inside a sleeping bag and they don’t smell too badly if you don’t wash them much (however they do dry very quickly when you do end up washing them). I have used these in Borneo Jungles, Ice climbing in Norway, for Scottish winter mountaineering, in American deserts and summiting Kilimanjaro. I don’t go anywhere without one.



 

Rab MeCo 165 Long Sleeve Zip tee

Merino wool has been popular as a base layer for a few years now and this Rab long sleeve top is a modern update. 65% merino wool combined with 35% recycled polyester with Cocona® which is derived from discarded coconut shells in a process I don’t really understand. However it does work and the great thing about these tops is that they can be used as both a base layer and mid layer over a Aeon Tee depending upon the conditions.

   Rab Treklite Trousers I decided that I was only going to take one pair of trousers up to base camp so I had to be quite choosy. After years of trying various fabrics I have concluded that for hiking pants, a thin stretchy soft shell fabric works best in a variety of conditions.  They are very breathable, dry extremely quickly and layer well with thermal underwear when things start to get colder. Choose a dark colour to mask the dirt and dust.



Rab Xenon Jacket

I have been using Primaloft jackets instead of fleece and soft shell jackets as a mid layer for a few years now. They are lighter, warmer, more wind proof, dry quicker and layer better. Again this jacket has been with me everywhere over the last couple of years. Put it on over or under the Rab Infinity when it gets really cold.



Rab Infinity Down Jacket

As you get higher it’s gonna get colder and a good quality down jacket  will help make those chilly evenings a lot more bearable. I chose the Infinity for its incredible light weight but there are many alternatives including the Rab Neutrino or Rab Summit jacket and if you feally feel the cold pick the new Rab Jannu jacket.



 Rab Stretch Neo Jacket and Pants

Unfortunately it can rain quite a lot in the Khumbu region of Nepal so a good quality set of hard shell waterproofs is essential. The Stretch Neo jacket and pants aren’t the lightest waterproof available but the Neo shell waterproof fabric is excellent. Durable, more breathable than Gore-tex and stretchy.



Rab Expedition 1000 Sleeping Bag

Choosing a sleeping bag is always difficult. Make the wrong decision and those cold, cold mountain nights really drag. Ideally you will need a four season sleeping bag, preferably down which is warmer for the weight and packs smaller.  You may find a four season bag a tad too warm lower down but I would rather be too warm early on than too cold higher up.  The Rab Expedition sleeping bags are built on the roomy side to accommodate the  wearing of high altitude down clothing inside the bag, you won’t actually be climbing to Everest summit, so you won’t need to do this, but this design does make the bag a bit easier to move around in and the extra  internal space may suit larger trekkers. A disadvantage of this extra room is that the bag does take a little longer to warm up.  A good alternate would be a Rab Andes 1000.





Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Reel Rock 7 Trailer
10 September 2012, 9:28 pm

Here is the trailer from Reel Rock 7 featuring wideboyz Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker on their incredible journey to climb the world’s hardest offwidths and to make the first ascent of the legendary Century Crack.

Click here to view the embedded video.



Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Bob Scarpelli
11 September 2012, 3:50 pm

With the guest appearance of the fearsome Bob Scarpelli in the Reel Rock 7 trailer I thought was it worth showing this Hipstamatic pic of the gnarliest of gnarly Vedauwoo off-width climbers.





Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Jagged Globe Equipment for Scottish Winter Mountaineering
21 September 2012, 10:52 am

Here is Mountaineering Instructor Ed Chard talking though his recommended equipment for Scottish winter mountaineering and climbing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Reel Rock 7 Poster
7 November 2012, 5:14 pm



Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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The Wideboyz film is now available for sale and download
21 November 2012, 4:36 pm

The Wideboyz film is now available for sale and download on the Hot Aches site.

The blurb says it all  - The world of offwidth crack climbing is a strange sub-culture rumoured to be dominated by knuckle-dragging, bar-brawling dirt-bags! The climbing is tough,? painful and bloody. Two climbers from England, Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall, set out to explore this world and climb the world’s hardest offwidths. They complete a brutal two-year training regime, mostly spent hanging upside down in a suburban Sheffield basement, before embarking on a tour of the USA. The tour culminates in the first ascent of the ultimate offwidth test piece, Century Crack, the world’s hardest offwidth.



Buy the Wide Boyz film here – http://hotaches.com/shop/wide-boyz/ 

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Rab Clearance Sale
11 December 2012, 6:16 pm

     

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

[lagerstarfish]

I expect Fiend will be there

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Sheffield’s Park Hill Flats in the Snow
26 March 2013, 1:08 pm

















Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Pete Whittaker in the Patagonia Catalogue
29 March 2013, 12:54 pm



Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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F-stop Life in Focus
24 April 2013, 2:01 pm

F-stop Gear who make some excellent camera bags for adventure photographers have just released a nice short film called F-stop Life in Focus featuring fellow F-stop Pro Tim Kemple Click here to view the embedded video.

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

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Alpkit Zhota Mountain Tent
22 August 2013, 11:06 am

Just over two years ago myself, Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker when to America for two months on the Wideboyz off-width climbing tour and road trip. We needed a 3-man mountain tent that would accommodate us for two months in a variety of weather and terrain. We took a Alpkit Zhota. Of course when you get hold of a new tent you should always try and pitch it in the garden or your front room. You need to see how it goes up and where the all poles go. But predictably we didn’t and so of course inevitably we ended up pitching it for the first time jet-lagged in the rain and dark at 3am in the Wyoming wilds of Vedauwoo. But it was fine, it was quite easy. And so having got the Zhota pitched the three of us tentatively piled into it wondering how we would fit and how we would cope with living in such close proximity to each other for the next two months. It was quite exciting zipping up the zips and discovering the various pockets and places to hang things and we settled down nicely with plenty of space and lots of head room. The only downside proved to be Pete’s ridiculously broad Alpkit Wideboy sleeping mat which enabled him to claim more than his fair share of space and Tom’s dangerous bag of dirty socks and pants.

The Alpkit Zhota in Indian Creek in Utah A couple of Desperadoes and the Zhota in Vedauwoo As the trip continued we subjected the tent to all sorts of abuses: It was harassed by a moose in Vedauwoo while Tom hid up a tree, It was anchored by one guy line to a spiky bush in Canyonlands on the night before the first ascent of Century Crack. Then worst of all we left it untethered and unpegged in the desert above Moab while we were out rock climbing and the whole thing and all its contents blew away . We were quite upset, it really had just disappeared into the desert. So we looked and we looked and we looked and then we found it about a kilometre away. It was stuck upside down in a thorny tree. The whole was still intact, the flysheet still attached. There were some small rips in the top of the flysheet which we easily repaired.

Tied to a bush in Canyonlands  Over the years I have used quite a few high quality mountain tents in a whole variety of terrain and conditions. I have used Terra Nova Quasars and Hyperspaces and I have used North Face and Mountain Hardware tents. I would definitely say that the Alpkit Zhota is up there amongst them in terms of quality. The Zhota is very durable and  is very well made. The Zhota is great 4 season high mountain and expedition tent and I would happily sit out the worst weather in it .

The inner tent in some desert in Utah For more information go to the Alpkit website here -https://www.alpkit.com/tents/zhota

 

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog

[SA Chris]

I think somethings wrong with your upload system, all the photos look like crap polaroids from the early 80s.

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School of Adventure Photography 2013
1 October 2013, 9:24 am

In September 2013 I ran my second School of Adventure Photography at Thornbridge Outdoors as part of the Alpkit Big Shakeout Festival. Seven photographers took part in a series of informal lectures, discussions, critiques, editing sessions and loads of picture taking. A feature of the workshop is the bag of nice things and this years goodie bag was packed with some lovely stuff very generously donated by Rab, Wild Country, Beta Climbing Designs, F-Stop and Clif Bar.

The Legendary School of Adventure Photography Goodie Bag  Beta Climbing Designs had kindly provided a Snap bouldering mat as a prize for the best picture of a Snap mat in use and Alpkit were offering a prize for the best photograph of the weekend.

The winning photo from the Beta Climbing Designs Snap Bouldering Competition taken by Lilla Horvath  

 

The winning photograph in the Alpkit School of Adventure Photography competition taken by Lilla Horvath.  

Thanks to Helen, Stephen, Lisa, Lilla, Chris, Melinda and Ned for a great weekend, I really enjoyed looking at your wonderful photographs. And thanks to Alpkit for making it all possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: ALEX EKINS » Blog