Speedflying In The Alps
The Kite Runners Originally published in the Financial Times It sometimes feels as though there isn’t much ground being broken by the new wave of outdoor thrill seekers. Kite surfing is arguably little more than self-piloted water skiing; volcano boarding is snowboarding on blankets of ash. Canyoning? Carpet skating? It’s hard to take a step...
Caving In Derbyshire
Hidden Depths Originally published in the Time Out Adventure Guide Having a fear of being trapped in a cave is no more irrational than being scared of great white sharks or finding bird-eating spiders in your breakfast cereal. That said, I’m genuinely bad in tight spaces; not clinically claustrophobic, perhaps, but scarred for life...
Snowboarding In Japan
Powder Play First published in the Time Out Adventure Guide, photography by James Mutter There are few dress rehearsals more disturbing than learning to dig your friend from an avalanche. Our guide, Watanabe, shows us how to switch our trackers to search mode before hiding one in the snow and having us converge on...
Surfing In Bangladesh
Breaking Bangladesh Originally published in Huck At 4pm on my second day in Bangladesh I wake from a jet-lag slumber in a paint-peeling, fly-infested hotel room in Cox’s Bazar. I flip on export strength Indian MTV as I dress, marvelling at its garish adoption of western norms – the ads for skin-lightening creams, the reality...
Kiteboarding In Egypt
Riders On The Red Sea Originally published in the Time Out Adventure Guide There’s something appropriate about our kiteboarding instructor’s nickname being Goose. It’s more than a mere facial resemblance – his beady eyes and broom moustache certainly recall Maverick’s dapper but ultimately doomed wingman in Top Gun, but it’s the tongue-in-cheek way he runs...
Indoor Climbing
On The Ropes Originally published in Time Out Newcomers to the aptly-named Castle Climbing Centre regularly get the fear with their feet still firmly on the ground. First there are those gothic towers looming over Green Lanes: add a little lightning, and you’ll be waiting for the bus driver to turn around and make you...