Resources
These resources are mostly links or relevant reading material. The links are all services I’ve either used or am familiar with and confident to recommend. If you want to suggest additional links and resources to be included please contact me. I will be reviewing all the books I’ve listed and hope to continue adding links to trusted sources.
Weather
Relevant Organizations
- The British Mountaineering Council
- The John Muir Trust
- Mountain Bothies Association
- Brecon Beacons Park Society
- Snowdonia Giving
- Scottish Mountaineering Trust
- The Database of British and Irish Hills
- Leave No Trace [PRINCIPLES]
- Leave No Trace [Organization]
Alpine Clubs and Societies
Mountain Training Governing Bodies
Professional Membership Organizations
- Mountain Training Association
- British Association of International Mountain Leaders
- Association of Mountaineering Instructors
National Training Centres
Training Providers
- Joe Begley [Mountaineering Skills]
- Rick Shearer [GPS training]
- Mike Raine (Fauna and Flora of Yr Eryri]
- Mountaineering Instructors Community (Scrambling, Climbing, and other aspects of Mountaineering)
Location App
OS Locate A free App for non-commercial use that gives a Grid Reference/Co-ordinates using GPS signal.
Recommended Hangouts
- Moel Siabod Cafe
- Caffi Gwynant
- Pete’s Eats
- Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel [Smoke Room]
- Wasdale Head Inn
- New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel
Specialist Transport Services
- Sherpa Bus [Snowdonia] Offical Site
- Sherpa Bus and More [Snowdonia] Unofficial site
- Taxi Arfon [Snowdonia North Specialist Taxi Service]
Online Communities and Clubs
- UKClimbing
- UKHillwalking
- The Database of British and Irish Hills
- The Walking Club
- Peakbagger (Worldwide summits and related resources)
Mountain Rescue
- Mountain Rescue England and Wales
- Scottish Mountain Rescue
- Mountain Rescue Ireland
- International Commission for Alpine Rescue
- Mountain Rescue Association
Advice on Safety from non-commercial bodies
Challenges
- The Welsh 3000s
- The Bob Graham Round
- List of ultra distance mountain challenges including the Paddy Buckley and the Charlie Ramsay
- Killarney Ultimate High Peaks Challenge (Macgillycuddy’s Reeks)
- Black Dragon Challenge (Black Mountains)
- Big Black Mountains Challenge
- Long Distance Walking Association (Not Mountain related but do have a set of GPX for medium and long distance footpaths in the UK available to members)
Scrambling
Publishers and Map and Booksellers
Electronic Maps
Downloadable Topo Maps (Free)
The following links take you to sources where you can download free Topo Maps for much of the world. These vary massively and are typically created from OpenMaps. You may need to check how to save the files for GPS devices and you may need to download software to view them on your computer or handheld device. The Wiki link has some advice on this and I have included other sources of information.
Europe and Worldwide Maps
US Topomaps
- miscjunk.org
- gpsfiledepot.com: US Southeast
- gpsfiledepot.com
- gpsfiledepot.com
- My Trails Map
- caltopo.com
- switchbacks.com
- southwesttrails.wikispaces.com
Links to read up on OSM maps
GPS Resources
- Forum
- Resources and Information
- Javawa tools (Freeware for creating and translating files; e.g. txt to GPX and other forms; translating one form to another; and so on)
- GPSBabel (Freeware as above)
- EasyGps (Freeware as above)
Recommended Reading
- Mountaincraft and Leadership, Eric Langmuir, Mountain Training England and Mountain Training Scotland
- Alpine Mountaineering, Bruce Goodland, Pesda Press
- Mountain Navigation, Peter Cliff
- Safety on Mountains, BMC
- Nature of Snowdonia, Mike Raine, Pesda Press
- Hostile Habitats, Edited by Nick Kempe and Mark Wrightham, Scottish Mountaineering Trust
- Getting to Grips with GPS, Peter Judd and Simon Brown
Books and publications
- The Mountains of Ireland, Paddy Dillon, Cicerone
- Carrauntoohil & MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, Jim Ryan, The Collins Press
- Ridges of Snowdonia, Steve Ashton, Cicerone Press
- The Mountains of England and Wales, Vol. 1, John and Anne Nuttall, Cicerone
- The Mountains of England and Wales, Vol. 2, John and Anne Nuttall, Cicerone
- Long-Distance Hiking, Dan Feldman, Stackpole Books
- Scrambles in Snowdonia, Steve Ashton, Cicerone
- North Wales Scrambles, Garry Smith, Gomer Press
- The Hillwalker’s Handbook, Steve Ashton, The Crowood Press
- Hillwalking, Steve Long, Mountain Training UK
- Mountain Skills Training Handbook, Pete Hill and Stuart Johnston, David & Charles
- Navigation in the Mountains, Carlo Forte, Mountain Training UK
- Mountaineering, Alun Richardson, A&C Black
- Scrambles in the Lake District North, Brian Evans, Cicerone
- Scrambles in the Lake District South, Brian Evans, Cicerone
- Rock Trails Snowdonia : A Hillwalker’s Guide to the Geology & Scenery, Paul Gannon
- Rock Trails Lakeland: A Hillwalker’s Guide to the Geology and Scenery, Paul Gannon
- Rock Trails Scottish Highlands: A Hillwalker’s Guide to the Geology & Scenery, Paul Gannon
- The Big ROunds: Running and Walking the Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley, and Charlie Ramsay Rounds. David Lintern. Cicerone
- Scotlands Mountains and Ridges. Dan Bailey. Cicerone.
- The Ridges of England Wales and Ireland. Dan Bailey. Cicerone.
Military Mountaineering
US Army manuals on military mountaineering. Some of the best training-information manuals around. There is an absence of ego-stoking guff and nonsense about pseudo-leadership etc. and just the basic facts. Informative, insightful, worth a read.
PDF Basic Military Mountaineering Course Handout 2018