Blog Spotlight: self powered

Image from www.selfpowered.net

self powered

(Backpacking, Mountaineering, and Photography)

Run by David Lintern

This series of articles showcases blogs of merit and interest, usually (but not exclusively!) connected with the topics of mountaineering, Scotland, writing, and history.

I discovered this blog fairly recently, after a certain article of stunning Scottish mountain photos was sent to me by a Twitter follower. Self powered doesn't focus exclusively on any single theme, although most of the articles look at the subjects of mountaineering, Scotland, and the environment.

What sets self powered apart from other blogs, in my opinion, is the incredible standard of photography, coupled with sparse and powerful writing. This isn't a wordy blog - the author lets his pictures tell the story. He only tends to post a few times a month but the articles tend to be good!

Some particularly excellent posts:

Nothing Ventured...

Big Mountain Days on Culra's Sleeping Giants

An Alpine Easter

Autumn Hobo, 2 wheeled pilgrim

Blog Spotlight: The Mountain's Silhouette

Image from http://goo.gl/N1tVii

The Mountain's Silhouette

(Backpacking and Outdoors)

Run by Nick Brahmhall

This series of articles showcases blogs of merit and interest, usually (but not exclusively!) connected with the topics of mountaineering, Scotland, writing, and history.

Scottish mountaineering blogs come in all shapes and sizes - some dedicated to clinical descriptions of routes and grades, others dedicated to photography, plenty run by professional instructors. However, only a handful are good enough to make readers come back again and again in anticipation of the next post. Nick Brahmhall's excellent blog is one of them.

I first came across TMS about three years ago. Unlike some blogs which publish several relatively lightweight posts a week, Nick's articles tend to be meaty and detailed, peppered with high quality photographs. As a backpacker his posts tend to focus on long mountain journeys in the Highlands, often featuring wild camping, and the style of his trip reports makes great reading. He often adds useful details such as route length and time, plus a link to a map of the journey.

Some posts I enjoyed:

Travels in the Ben Alder area - Part 1

Through the Great Wilderness

Gleouraich and Spidean Mialach

The Stuic Buttress and Lochnagar

Blog spotlight: Glencoe Mountaineer

Glencoe Mountaineer

(Climbing and Mountaineering)
Run by James Roddie

In this new series of articles I will be showcasing blogs of merit and interest, usually (but not exclusively!) connected with the topics of mountaineering, Scotland, writing, and history.

In the first article of the series it's my pleasure to introduce Glencoe Mountaineer, the well respected Scottish mountaineering blog established in February 2009. I ran the blog from its humble beginnings until 2011, and during that period it came to be known as one of the best sources of information for Glencoe winter climbing conditions. During the "Scottish season" it has been known to see many thousands of hits a week.

I left Scotland in 2011, and since then my brother James took over the blog's maintenance. I have continued to write the occasional guest post but it is now very much his blog, and under his editorship it has increased in popularity.

Today Glencoe Mountaineer has a reputation for quality content, thanks to a large extent by James' unbelievable photographic talents and his penchant for soloing serious mountain routes. There are many Scottish climbing blogs out there but Glencoe Mountaineer has never quite taken the mainstream course. James now lives and works in the Cairngorms, which has naturally changed the main focus of his explorations, but the blog has always roamed around the Highlands so the spirit of the writing remains the same as it ever was.