Mountain a Month
In 2010 I have decided to climb at least one mountain each month.
Why?
12 mountains in a year may not seem like a lot for somebody who considers one of his hobbies to be mountain walking, however, in the past my mountain trips have tended to be quite clustered together. I'll go a few months without even seeing a hill, and then reach 3 summits within a couple of weeks of each other. Part of the reason for this is of course the seasonal effect; I simply walk more in summer than in winter, but part of it comes down to long spouts of laziness when it comes to organising the trips.
By the end of this year I hope to have a photo from each of the 12 summits. These will show, not only that I made it, but also how the changing seasons affect the experience. Hopefully the summits will reflect my circumstances during particular months, so they will give a glimpse into my life in 2010. For example; I may find myself in a particular place for a particular reason one month and so I'll link a summit to this trip, a busy month may lead to a mountain closer to home, or a longer holiday may take me further afield.
Variety will naturally occur, but I also wish to seek out diversity, which may come in many forms; who I hike with, the difficulty or nature of the hikes, the type of navigation I use, and of course the area of Britain (or beyond) that I go to. I want each summit to have a meaning, or a unique selling point, so to speak. I may go it alone, with experienced walking or with first timers, again adding a layer of variety. I hope to include summits with paths leading all the way up, as well as scrambles and hopefully 1 or 2 proper multi-pitch climbs. Even restrictions on the way I get to the mountain will help to maintain variety; how many British mountains can I get to from Birmingham just using public transport? Mostly the summits will be 'home grown', but at least one of the summits will be abroad (but more about that closer to the time!)
Ultimately I want 12 summits for 12 months, each with a different story to tell about what 2010 meant to me.
What is a mountain?
Finding a definition of a mountain is very difficult, so I'm rather arbitrarily picking summits over 1900ft (approx. 580m). I was going to go for a nice round 2000ft, but I really wanted to do Haystacks, which stands at a mere 1,958ft - but as you'll see from the photos is no less of a 'mountain' for it. So, 1900ft it is... so that's that!
Some months I will almost certainly reach more than one summit, but I plan to pick one of them as my mountain for that month.
Why Blog it?
Blogging gives me an extra incentive to keep it going all year, and outlet for all my photos and stories. Even if nobody reads it, the process itself is important and will give me something to look back on in 12 summits time!
As I write this it is March. Two mountains down, 10 to go! I'll start uploading January and February's photos asap, and then the rest appear on here as they happen!
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