Several years ago I was walking up Musala in Bulgaria on my own in miserable wet conditions. Reached the Everest shelter near the top to hear "Why does it always rain on me?" by Travis belting out.
I think for me it was hearing Roger Whittaker's "I've gotta leave old Durham Town" coming out of a shiny HiFi to a mixture of voices haggling in Russian and Highland dialect (and pointing out what a good product it was for the price) in the Post office in Ullapool some time in the 1980s. The Russian I suppose was from one of the Klondikers out in the bay wanting something to take home.
Back in March 2012 I was at Stanage Plantation with Ralph, one of my long-term climbing partners and a very good mate. We were savouring the joys of retirement and mid-week cragging. It was a glorious Spring day and it felt like we had the whole edge to ourselves. Gradually we became aware of a strange music drifting up from somewhere in Hope valley: the skirl of bagpipes swirling on the breeze. It accompanied us all the way up Pot Black (E2 5b) as we creaked our way out of winter rustiness. We surmised it must be some poor exiled Scot adrift in the Peak and indulging some Celtic melancholy. We sat on top surveying our kingdom, enjoying the distant lone piper and gazing at all the time we had ahead of ourselves, planning future trips and escapades. Our last climb together was less than 18 months later. Shortly after Ralph was dead of a brain tumour. The moment will be forever precious to me.
> In 1976 I was walking through a then-wrecked Huaraz, in Peru, when 'Farewell' by Rod Stewart came blaring out of an adobe shack.
We were in the boondocks of Mongolia where a Kazakh father and daughter duo, were regaling us with traditional tunes, when they suddenly burst into a rendition of Rod Stewart's "Sailing".
Fri Night Vid Ethan Pringle on one of Portugal's Hardest Sport Climb
In this week's Friday Night Video, we follow Ethan Pringle to the 'not-yet-popular' but world-class sport crag of Meio Mango in Portugal. In the film, Ethan attempts one of the country's hardest lines, Filipinos, which was first...
Press Release Arc'teryx Alpine Academy returns to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc - July 4 – July 7, 2024
Gear News MPOWERD Luci Site Lights – Innovative "Stake" Lights.