brasher staff were given a belated Christmas present, a day out in the Lake District, snow and a pair of brand new boots! Not only were they brand new and fresh out of the box but also brand new for Spring Summer 2010, and they were lucky enough to be given them to test! What a perfect way to spend a Monday and a great way to start the week!

They all met up at the local pub, Swinside Inn, Newlands Valley where they were given a new pair of boots, a pair of crampons and an ice axe. The new boot they were putting to the test was Kanaga GTX, the new all year round mountain walking boot that is B1 crampon compatible and wearing it straight from the box was definitely a test for brasher's out-of-the-box comfort.

Ken Ledward was the guide for the day, Ken and his team has been testing the new Kanaga GTX for the past few months so he was looking forward to sharing his love for this boot with everyone.

The team was heading up Causey Pike which is a fell in the English Lake District. It is situated in the Newlands Valley, 5km south west of the town of Keswick. Even though it has a modest height of 637 metres (2,090 ft) it is one of the most distinctive fells when viewed from the Derwent Water and Keswick area due to its distinguishing summit "nobble" which catches the eye.

Taking a gradual walk to the summit and testing the boots GORE-TEX® membrane en-route through the stream.

The path to the summit, although well defined, was very rocky and covered in snow, this allowed the team to test the grip, support and stability of the boots. Prior to reaching the summit, the team enjoyed a section of scrambling, where the boots really did perform well in terms of grip and ankle support.

 

The summit was a perfect photo opportunity.

 

Blessed with snow on the summit and the temperature of -5 everyone put on their crampons to continue with the ridge walk, which was a great opportunity to see how the boots performed with crampons.

On the route down crampons and walking axe were definitely needed for support as the snow was fairly deep.

On arrival back to the pub at Newlands everyone enjoyed well deserved sandwiches, cake and a cup of tea and talked about what a great day it had been. Without a blister in sight, it was a fair to say the new Kanaga GTX delivered performance and out-of-the-box comfort.

It was no ordinary Monday and definitely a memorable one!

The new Kanaga GTX will be available in-store from end of March, so not that long to wait!

John Pilkington, a long-time friend of brasher, has been described as "one of Britain's greatest tellers of travellers' tales". His Radio 4 programmes have won him several appearances on 'Pick of the Week' and one on 'Pick of the Year' . Last year he took a pair of Lithium XCR's on a six-month journey through the Middle East.

Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran are in the news for all the wrong reasons. Starting in Beirut, I found situations quite different from the news stories as I followed a winding route via the Euphrates, the Caucasus and the Valleys of the Assassins to finish eventually on the Persian Gulf. I met a spectacular variety of people - Druze, Maronites, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Azeris and both Shi'ite and Sunni Iranians - and to my surprise I found families and whole communities working together to survive the harsh climate and political strife.

Iraq was fascinating of course, but it was the people of Iran who made the trip unforgettable. They must be the most warm and generous in the world - for days on end I was hardly allowed to buy any food or drink. Worringly I managed to get arrested in the holy city of Qom, but was let off and continued south through the desert to Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf, a rocky no-man's-land that hasn't changed much since Marco Polo was there in 1271. Marco Polo had been intending to take a local boat to India, but the boats looked so unseaworthy that he turned north and went overland to China instead. Have Qeshm Islanders got to grips with boatbuilding since then? Come to a talk and find out! There's more info at http://www.pilk.net/lecturedates.html

Incidentally my Lithium XCR's took a bit of a hammering towards the end of the trip in northern Iran. The ground was rough and steep and for the first time I had to do some real scrambling. Here's what they looked like at the end.

February is National Heart Month - an annual campaign increasing awareness of heart and circulatory diseases with various fundraising activities being held throughout the UK to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation.

This month The British Heart Foundation have launched a national health code and lifestyle check - BEAT. 

Be Active - Eat Healthy - Avoid Smoking - Take the Lifestyle Check 
(go to the British Heart Foundation website for more info)

Walking is a great way to Be Active and can help with your fitness and well being. Whether it be a regular walk each day or out for a full day at the weekend you can do as little or as much to suit your lifestyle.

The 84 miles of Hadrian's Wall running from Wallsend on the east coast to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast is to be lit up as part of a number of events in conjunction with the British Tourism Week.

On Saturday 13th March 500 beacons will be lit at 250metre intervals along the wall, creating an amazing 'line of light along the coast' which would definitely be worth a visit.

John Hill, Editor of Good Ski Guide and Mountain Magic dropped us a few lines about his trusty Hillmaster's.

"I've just turned in my brasher's which have seen service in some 20 countries. I used the boots to travel to ski resorts worldwide and as a snow boot round resort, and in the spring and summer used them for many treks in the Alps and in the Cairngorms. 
They saw great service in the recent Great Freeze when I was stuck in Aviemore for a week in metre-deep snow. I used them to walk to the shops in Aviemore for supplies and they initially gave up - well all that went wrong was that the join in the leather started to separate - not surprising after all those many thousands of miles.
The soles were hardly worn, and the boots were the comfiest, warmest and best water-repelling boot I have ever had and I have tested many boots over the years but always went back to my brasher's.

I now have a new pair of Hillmaster GTX which will be involved in many new adventures.

p.s The original boots were gifted to me by Mike Browne for our company's help in assisting him to set up his Snow and Rock chain."