Advantages: A must for mountian lovers in England - anywhere!
Disadvantages: NA

...in those days - even though it is not that long ago, no satellites in the sky to tell us exactly where we were. We continued upwards and found ourselves on a ridge as the mist began to clear. Great End did not seem to be there. Someone had moved it! But we soon realised, though, that we had missed Great End totally and were heading straight for Scafell Pike! It was snowy under foot and this snow was becoming harder the higher we climbed. We found ourselves in a col where the only way was upwards to the Pike. Unfortunately, this way was thick with very hard snow, snow which was like ten inch thick glass. We did not have crampons or an ice axe (but believe you me, I always have them now in snow!), so we had to 'very carefully,' almost tiptoe to the top without falling… And to fall would mean to plunge down the side of a steep mountain... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, relativly light
Disadvantages: Leash comes off

...Hi, Having doing hillwalking and low grade rock climbing for a number of years i though i would take the plunge into winter walking. Last year i bought myself a pair of Grivel G10 crampons and the above axe. The axe is 60cm in length with a wrist lensh on the shaft. The axe head is study and joined to shaft with an eyelet rivet, the same as most axes of this type. The shaft of the axe sounds hollow giving it it's light weight. This does not mean that it is weak, as I used it once as as a hanhold, jaming the axe horizontal across the top of two boulders and hauling myself up on it, the shaft did not bend and their is no sign of cracking. The shaft appears to have a protective coating on it that also allows for extera grip by having loads of small raised bubbles on it. The head of the axe, is quit tough, and has not been disfigured... Read review

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Advantages: Gives insight into the creation of Druss, the hero of Gemmell's first novel, Legend
Disadvantages: Although it's a prequel, it needs to be read AFTER Legend

...Legend was the first novel written by David Gemmell, the undisputed King of Heroic Fantasy, and this is the story of how Druss the Legend was created. For those that haven't read Legend and know nothing of Druss, he is known among the people of his world by various names: Deathwalker, The Captain of the Axe and Silver Slayer to name but a few. The story opens with a young Druss, felling trees in the mountain village that has become his home. He is a taciturn young man, with no understanding of others humour, which leads him to take offense when others tease him. Due to his prodigous strength this makes him feared by the people of his community, especially when he breaks anothers jaw simply because the man said that he was lucky to be married to Rowena, as he wouldn't mind bedding her. This leads to a converstaion with his father Bress... Read review

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Advantages: For folkies everywhere
Disadvantages: Not for rockers

...Fortune Street is Bostonian Alistair Moock's fifth album and he presents nine original songs and one cover. The album was recorded in just five days and Moock says that "it was the most fun I've had making an album". The eponymous title track opens this album and highlights Moock's slight gruff quality to his voice. It's a sedate opener, played in the open key of E that is firmly in the Americana fold. Yin Yang Blues is a quirky blues and Woody's Lament is Americana again. These gentle acoustic sounds blend into Moock's understated guitar and Sean Staples' vocal. This is a Woody Guthrie tribute with some harmony that confirms Moock's citation that "Woody Guthrie is the reason I'm a songwriter". Swing That Axe is old style folk blended with jazz and is a well executed good time song. God Saw Fit To Make Tears is a lovely title... Read review

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Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: none

...Vertical limit is really the first real depiction of mountain climbing that has hit the silver screen. It is more realistic than Cliffhanger but still has enough far fetched touches to keep you interested. The plot is basic but made excellent by the way it is told. It follows a rather mad Elliot Vaughn who wants to climb K2 so that he can wave to the first flight of his new airline as it flies overhead. There is a collapse and he and his two climbing partners are plunged down a crevasse fighting for there lives. Annie Garret is one of his climbing partners so her brother mounts a rescue attempt. It is a good plot but here comes the Holywood standard far fetched bit. An avalanche covers the mouth of the crevasse so the rescue teams carry nitroglycerine a highly volatile explosive to blast them out! The acting from all concerned... Read review

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Advantages: Thrilling, psychotic, will have you hiding behind the sofa!
Disadvantages: no bonus DVD extras.

...Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining has to be one of Jack Nicholson's best-acclaimed performances. He plays writer Jack Torrence who with his wife and young son has agreed to be a winter caretaker to the Overlook Hotel, while he can get some writing finished. But things are not what they seem at the hotel as ghosts of the past haunt the hallways and his family are in danger when he finds himself going completely insane! Filmed in the Colorado Rockies, the opening shots of the mountains and eerie music make a great backdrop for this thriller. Jack his wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and their psychotic boy Danny who has the ability to "Shine" and unlock images of evil, are excited to be looking after such a grand hotel. But their time is cut short when Danny starts seeing ghosts of girls hacked up in the hallway, a corpse in the bathtub... Read review

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Advantages: Giant killer snowman
Disadvantages: Cheesy dialogue

...Starring Stephen Mendel, F William Parker, Rob Labelle, Eileen Seeley and Scott MacDonald as Jack Frost! Packaging - Big scary skull with pointy teeth, this has nothing to do with anything in the film! Rating - 18 (UK) Plot - Convicted serial kiler Jack Frost is on his way to be executed when the van carrying him is overturned after colliding with an 18-wheeler and he escapes - however just as he breaks free of the prison van the tanker (which is filled with genetic material filled acid ) explodes and melts him into the snow below his feet. Needless to say he comes back as a killer snowman who travels to a small town in the mountains intent on gaining revenge over the police officer who captured him and sent him to jail. Review - The film contains lots of laughs as the townspeople concoct various ludicrous methods to finally see off... Read review

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Advantages: NA
Disadvantages: NA

...The End? Wizened old one, How do you see the world? With your cynical eyes of experience, And your ageless knowledge, Like an ancient forgotten idol, Or some petulant icon of trust, Our once stalwart companion, lost and forgotten, As timeless as the sea, And patient as the mountains, What do you feel when you see the decay? The anarchistic society that has developed, Like a plague that destroys all, And doesn’t give a damn. What can you do to stem the tide? As the timeless flow into obscurity, Remains unfettered, unadulterated, How can the destructive power, An evil might as raw as a waterfall, Be stopped before it is too late, Is it possible? Feasible? Or should we even bother? Should we save what has become a parody of life, An insult to the God who created it, Wizened old one, What do you say to your destroyer, As he... Read review

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Advantages: Educational but above all brilliant
Disadvantages: Its American

.... Some of them experienced climbers who had summated Everest several times. There were survivors and one was diagnosed dead when found before walking back to camp, and then left a second time for dead alone in his tent. He later walked off the mountain to safety. Rescue efforts were managed and in the main carried out by the IMAX expedition making world headlines. This is real adventure. What else to you get for your money? A fascinating and unbiased look at Napal and its people, plus an explanation of the IMAX technology and the heavy modifications they had to make to it for such an extreme undertaking. A normal camera would have lasted just minutes in the environment of Everest, for the movie to be completed this camera had to work faultlessly for months in conditions that will kill a person within minutes. This book is for so many... Read review

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Advantages: Atmosphere, performances, setpieces, story.
Disadvantages: A slow starter {which is good for me but not for some}

...SYNOPSIS : The Torrances are planning to move to the Overlook Hotel deep in the mountains to maintain it over a long winter. This is Jacks first stable job in years so he and his wife are thrilled to be involved in the project. Danny their son however is less optimistic and is beginning to see images of the Overlook which scare and disturn him. On arriving at the Hotel Jack begins to write his novel while Wendy and Danny explore the place. Jack however finds writing more difficult than he had anticipated and begins to become frustrated and irritable at the claustrophobic situation he has got himself into. Danny in the meantime sees visions of two murdered girls in the hallway. Later he is attacked by a mouldy old woman in one of the hotel bedrooms. Jack, becoming more and more distant from his family meets Delbert Grady {a waiter at one... Read review

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