hilltrek

With the higher hills in Scotland now sustaining snow cover, deep cover in places due the strong winds that accompanied the precipitation.  This has been to the benefit of getting safer conditions for early back country skiing.  Already, the enthusiasts of this pursuit have been out.  For example, here is a back country skier touring around the mountains south of Glas Maol.  Clearly a blue sky day in these photos but conditions can change fast, so this group of individuals really take the performance of the clothing and equipment seriously.  When you are miles from home and the elements turn again you, then you need all the support you can get.  Often the layering of the clothing is critical as the up hill climbs require the clothing to keep the body cool and allow moisture to escape, while an exposed plateau walk may produce a high wind chill and the need to keep warm.  Not forgetting the flexibility of the clothing the activity of skiing requires.  One way to ensure all these demanding features are met is to invest in  made to measure clothing.

Autumn is much like Spring in terms of walking in the hills.  The range of weather conditions that you can experience in such short periods of time, temperature changes with altitude or your placing on a hill or valley make a big impact on.  With such variability having good logic behind the clothing layers you put on make a big difference to the comfort level you experience while out in the hills.  Today, the temperatures had been in negative numbers for much of the night so the valley floor frost was melting back in weakening sunlight come mid morning.  Therefore, it was cold.  The first layer to think about was a woolly hat, time to put that in your pocket, ventile walking trousers for me and then a T-shirt, fleece and outer light shell jacket.  All layers were needed for the valley floor, even the runners had their hats on today but then the steeper climbs of the Fungle make you warm up from the inside so the outer shell jacket was opened up plus the big zip in the front of my fleece.  In a deep valley and tree lined the wind was light, also, with just a 100  metres of verticle added, the air was not so cold  (cold air sinks).  So having the ability to cool down is important but then the open heather hill top paths exposes the wind.  Time to zip up again, even put the hat back on but then the sun gets warmer and a dip in the hills provides shelter, time to zip down again but then turn the shoulder of a hill and the wind is blowing across 30 miles un-interrupted from the Cairngorms and its time to wrap up again, even in the even warmer sun.  Then its time to head down towards the valley floor, shelter and sun but then the sun disappears and the breeze disappears and the still cold air is still around in pockets.  While it is not as cold as when starting out the fleece provides the warmth.  No rain or wintry precipitation on this walk but that will come real soon.

What are the benefits of outdoor made to measure clothing?  Here are some based on my experience:

Fit
Comes without saying but this means nil to a shorter wearing in period thus you don’t have to limit your activities while you bed in the clothing.

Comfort
Not just for that early wear in period but for eliminating those annoy little snags and wearings that become evident in long distance and long exposure to outdoor conditions.

Convenience
The practical design of the clothing is fit for purpose.  The pockets are right for a map, ski gloves, carrying food and are located in the right place and the right size for access.

Personal expression
The ability to select the ethical and environmental values in the materials used and usually to support a local business.  Not forgetting the selection of colour and style.

Innovation
Customers wearing the clothing and the whole community of users can suggest feedback to further improve the clothing they wear, in short a more responsive feedback loop along the whole design, manufacturing and supply chain.

Price
Personalized to the value being gained from the clothing.

The sun hadn’t made an appearance for a few days so things were dull and damp in the hills.  Not particularly cold but a thin east wind you noticed when you stopped walking.  My choice of clothing was a t-shirt and a fleece.  For me my made to measure Lochnagar Fleece.

In fact, it was a made to measure day for me as I was wearing my double ventile walking trousers too.  The hills seem even more peaceful when wrapped in the mist and my Hilltreck clothing was making it comfortable in those conditions.

The July/August 2010  issue of Ethical Consumer Magazine includes a review of outdoor clothing and equipment.  The best buy and overall rated outdoor jacket was by Paramo.  They have an extract on the criteria used by ethical magazine on their site. The ethical score is out of 20 and Paramo scored 13.5 so the whole industry still has some work to do but it is clear some manufacturers have put the impact on the environment ahead of other commercial considerations.  The Trees for Life blog have a good summary on the history of Paramo and  ethical issues.

The calendar said 15th June but high on Ben Avon and in its gullies winter was still hiding.

The walk to the summit of Ben Avon is best characterised as three long plateau walks, the valley floor walk-in, then the moderate climbed through Fairy Glen to the moorland plateau before things get a lot steeper as the gully climbs the side of Ben Avon to the long flat top of Ben Avon.  I found it a gentle and less threatening walk compared to those around Ben Macdhui however, there was a still a lot of risk around.  Mainly, whether to trust the snow bridges that were clearly being used by other hill walkers?  There were three occasions where the path took a snowy turn.  The first couple looked safe enough as the main stream was some distance way, but I did get a ‘post hole’ on the way down.  However, the last snow bridge was a straight burn crossing.  Plenty of foot prints and boot dirt stretched over the snow but I opted to follow the stream up a side gully and to cross on some expose bare granite, no fear of that collapsing.  Safety first. The weather on the summit was OK but it started to rain and add in the wind, it was not a day for hanging around in the great outdoors.  I could have opted to put on my rain jacket on but I decided for a quick descent to the mid plateau.  I wore my Hilltrek made to measure venture trousers that were ideal for the walk up and half the way down but the lower valleys had heated up a lot.  A quick change into the CraigHopper shorts made for a more comfort.  A 20 mile, 7 hour summers day when winter thinking was still required.