Sharp Edge - outdoor resources

07/07/2014

Next opportunity to experience the great outdoors! We will be heading over to France once more, and have a time slot between 22nd July and 29th July. If you would like to book a course with us between these dates, please give me a call 01665 570755, or email [email protected]

30/05/2014

Currently out in the Alps around the Chamonix area. Here's a picture to whet your appetite. If you want to experience the beautiful French outdoors, why not give us a call? 07968184160 or email [email protected]

01/06/2012

Sharp-Edge

Back to the beautiful Lake District with Mark this weekend, mountaineering and camping in the Wasdale area. If you see us, why not come and have a chat to us? We'd love to see you. www.sharp-edge.co 07968184160

Due to the Malware attack and numerous potential vulnerabilities I took the site down for several weeks, rather than running the risk of being labelled a ‘Malicious Website’.

22/04/2012

Next Sharp Edge opportunity is a weekend in North Wales during the weekend of 5th-7th May. It's a bank holiday weekend, so no excuses! We aim to please, so feel free to choose from rock climbing, multi-pitch alpine routes or maybe a simple hike. Maybe you've always wanted to do the Snowdon Horseshoe, or just climb the beautiful Snowdon itself?
If you're looking for a change of direction in your career, just think of the skills and self-esteem this will give you, and it will look fabulous on your CV. Call us on 01665 570755 or email us on [email protected] to book your life changing weekend.

22/04/2012

Last weekend Tom renewed his mountain medicine qualification with Wilderness Medical Training at Nuffield Hospital, Oxford.
During the week he carried out five aerial rescue reassessments at Matfen's Go Ape course, and is currently in North Wales completing an observation of ML training courses, with the fabulous and famous Mr Andy Newton MIC.

11/04/2012

Currently having some upgrades to our website, which is currently under construction. Please feel free to follow us on Twitter -

09/04/2012

Currently out in the Haute-Savoie in France, with Monsieur l'Edge. Has been a great week so far, with weather conditions good enough for an Assez Difficile via ferrata, a spot of ridge walking on snowshoes, lead climbing instruction in Chamonix, and some on- and off-piste skiing. If you, or your friends, are interested in a mixed activity trip, either at home or abroad, why not give us a call? +44 (0) 1665 570755 or +44 (0) 7968184160. Or email us on [email protected] to discuss your requirements. Dare to live your life!

20/03/2012

Winter’s finale?

Winter’s finale?

Stephen + Oliver, Ledge Route Possibly the last gasp of winter managed to embrace Beinn Nibheis long enough for the luck of the Irish to hold good. The previous week had seen mild temperatures, grey skies and enough rain to continue the gradual thaw of the snowpack. Fortunately Stephen, Oliver...

14/03/2012

‘Moonwalk’ by moonlight

‘Moonwalk’ by moonlight

Alex & Dan traversing left from Gardyloo Gully Finishing our third route, of that first day, the waxing full moon cast our shadows onto the upper slopes of Coire Leis as dusk fell. As we made our way back down past the NE Buttress we were bathed in moon-glow and reflected on how Alex [...]

09/03/2012

‘Dank Days’ – Winter Climbing Course

‘Dank Days’ – Winter Climbing Course

Mishtu & Paul sat in thawed-out snowhole In conditions that could only be described as ‘mildly challenging’ Mishtu and Paul did remarkably well to get out and climb in an unseasonably warm, damp week. A four day winter climbing course, on behalf of West Coast Mountain Guides, should have seen...

01/03/2012

Team Scally

Team Scally

Liam & Rob, Intro Mountaineering course Over the weekend I had Liam, Rob and Mairi out with me for a West Coast Mountain Guides: Introduction to Winter Mountaineering course. I also had a trainee shadowing me: Jake, who provided invaluable assistance and enabled me to differentiate between the...

29/02/2012

‘Stray Days’

‘Stray Days’

Bone-weary, vacant-eyed, barely alive with the call of the wind rising in your soul. It is easy to lose yourself in the mountains, to see your reflection turn his back on you and walk through the door at the far end of the room. The gloom inside is so tempting, as at least once inside [...]

20/02/2012

Nerves of Steall

Nerves of Steall

Above the ‘narrows’, No 4 Gully Mal lay braced against the gale, shielding his poor hands from the icy cold, and waited for Sue and Ed to join us. He doubted that he would ever do this again, but was pleased to have had the chance to learn just how bad a storm can get. [...]

16/02/2012

Private Guiding

Private Guiding

Sebastien H, 1iere longueur Jet Stream IV,4 Two challenging days climbing, in less than perfect conditions, with different clients each day. It is always difficult to gauge the ability of clients that you have not worked with before, but I was fortunate in that both were honest about their...

14/02/2012

Team Stew

Team Stew

Beinn Nibheis from the summit of Aonach Mor Traversing up beneath the cliffs of Aonach Mor we were bathed in an ethereal light as the sun slowly burned through the cloud shrouding the mountain. We were heading for our exit between the curtain of steep stone that surrounded us, as the heavens...

11/02/2012

Backcountry ‘Back Corries’

Backcountry ‘Back Corries’

Spike telemarking in the Back Corries Dropping in off the cornice, into the Back Corries at Nevis Range, was not the least bit stylish the first time, as I cartwheeled down the slope. By the third attempt I was able to stay on my feet and make the drop in on Telemarks, something I would [...]

09/02/2012

Moonlight Bivvy

Moonlight Bivvy

Moonrise over Lairig Leacach Huddled behind the cairn against the biting wind I realised what was meant by “suffering for one’s art” It was the night of the full moon but I was rapidly losing sight of it as the wind cut bitterly through everything I had on and the storm clouds thickened. Slowly...

06/02/2012

Green on Green

Green on Green

Will on the 1st pitch of Comb Gully A stunning end to the week on ‘squeaky’ neve and good quality ice. Granted the temperatures dropped significantly (-10C on the summit of Beinn Nibheis) with windchill making it feel twice as cold. The reward was a crystal clear summit on Friday and beautiful...

31/01/2012

An Unusal Gift

An Unusal Gift

As Nick discovered the pleasures of using tiny metal points to climb ice he must have seriously questioned his brother’s sanity, in ‘gifting’ him two days on an Intermediate Winter Climbing course. Neither Nick nor Emma had any real idea of what they were letting themselves in for and Simon’s...

31/01/2012

Winter has arrived!

Winter has arrived!

Driving through Glencoe in lashing rain and driving wind, on the Wednesday evening, had me convinced that winter had yet to arrive. I was plenty surprised the following day, however, when we climbed up on to Carn Mor Dearg to find it plastered in new snow. It was a cold, grey day with thick,...

26/01/2012

High Ropes

High Ropes

Aerial Rescue – rescuer approaches client Back down to Northumberland for a quick one-day reassessment on a High Ropes course. Against the forecast the weather is dry, though with a bitter northerly wind blowing through the canopy. A weak sun offers a hint of warmth from behind cold, leaden...

26/01/2012

March or Die

March or Die

Eric & Liz – walking into Coire an t-Schneada In winds of over 100mph there were only two choices: to keep moving or to settle for a slow death through hypothermia. This wasn’t what Eric and Liz had signed up to, but a measure of their perseverance and acceptance of suffering. The day had started...

16/01/2012

Marketing mayhem

Marketing mayhem

Having lost a couple of weeks, out of December, January has meant catching up with all the enquiries and forward bookings. In addition we have been writing management courses as well as some more specialised winter mountaineering workshops. Probably the most significant development was finalising...

16/01/2012

Sharp-Edge

Two new specialised winter workshops are now on offer via our website - A one-day "Winter Security on Steep Ground", plus a two-day workshop - "Teaching Winter Mountain Skills". For details, click on our website www.sharp-edge.co and follow the link from the courses menu.

Intelligent Mountaineering by Sharp-Edge and Tom Parkin, We are a small, friendly outdoors and mountaineering company, based in the beautiful county of Northumberland. We run a bespoke service to meet the needs and budgets of our clients. Our aim is to build self-confidence in the outdoors, whilst ...

02/01/2012

‘La Bagnole’ – the rebuild

‘La Bagnole’ – the rebuild

La Bagnole After a twenty-four hour drive we finally made it home on New Year’s Eve. We had had to wait until just before the garage closed, on Thursday evening, to learn that the Toyota was ready. We had hoped to pick it up that day as we knew that the weather was closing in [...]

29/12/2011

Col du Joux Plane

Col du Joux Plane

Chapelle St. Gras Wednesday is market day up in Samoens and it was heaving with folk compared to a fortnight ago. The weather was still stunning and there were almost too many out skiing. Jane, Julie and I did a tour of the very impressive food stalls before retiring for a midday coffee. In the...

26/12/2011

Morillon 2011

Morillon 2011

Kedeuze Telepherique Julie and I would like to wish everyone that has been kind enough to read our Blog, and visit our website, a very Festive Yuletide. Sunday was only our second day of ‘grand bleu’ over at Morillon, with relatively few people given that it was Christmas. Temperatures plummeted...

23/12/2011

Samoens 2011

Samoens 2011

Samoens Skiing 2011 After thirteen days of unremitting weather we finally got to ski under glorious blue skies, above a cloud inversion, this Friday. The weather looks set fair for the next few days and we could well be skiing on Christmas day. What could possibly go wrong? Two days previously...