Rob Fairley talks to me about his journey as an artist - starting at an early age with a school visit to St Kilda, through Edinburgh College of Art and onwards to Mallaig and then Shona Beag island where he spent 5 years as its sole occupant in his early 20s. There he created what would now be described as land art, for example altering the movement of deer in certain ways to create patterns, or 'tuning' a causeway by moving rocks to change the pitch.

He used climbing mainly as a means of exploration, and undertook several mountaineering expeditions to the Himalaya with Mal Duff - sketching people in busy Kathmandu and creating vivid mountain watercolours.

Rob recounts the origins of Room 13, a child-led art project starting in 1994 at Caol Primary School, Fort William. The Room 13 approach spread internationally and allowed young people a creative freedom not found in mainsteam school art education. The 'outsider art' produced - freed from classroom or teacher influence - often explored adolescent themes neglected at school. Rob was involved with several Room 13 trips to Nepal including a road trip with Room 13's young people from Delhi to Mumbai to establish a school for Mumbai's street children.

I misnamed Robert Macfarlane's book 'Underland' when we are discussing the Chauvet cave paintings and 'thin places'.

Rob's website is at robfairley.co.uk

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

Dan Ashwood (Dash) talks me through the Flow Country Traverse which he pioneered in April 2025. This 100km route started at Berriedale on the Caithness coast and headed west into the Flow Country: one of the largest blanket bog systems in the world.

Dan has become a bog expert having worked in peatland restoration projects with Caledonian Climate for the past several years. Spending more time in peatland led him to appreciate these biodiverse areas both for their ecological importance in terms of carbon sinks, and also their abundant plant and animal life.

Traversing the Scaraben group he then moved into much less visited terrain with the Knockfin Heights area of complex peatland. Finding it drier than expected, he continued to the Ben Griams, and then Garvault Hotel for a welcome cuppa.

The route continued over Beinn a' Mhadaidh to Syre Lodge, Beinn Stumanadh, and Loch na Moine, before the final section on Ben Loyal and Ben Hope.

Helped at road crossings and at the finish by his friend Chris Wilkinson, the traverse took in bogland in a wide variety of conditions, ranging from degraded to thriving. In 2024 the Flow Country was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Dan chose to finish the traverse with Ben Hope partly as a symbolism of the hope he feels for the future of this peatland area, its abundant wildlife, wide open wilderness, and importance in carbon capture.

See Dan’s full write up here: https://caledonianclimate.com/news/2025/04/16/running-100km-across-the-flow-country/

Note: I am informed that 'flow' is a Scots word for bog or morass, possibly from the Norse / Icelandic word floi. Thanks to Nate for this.

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

I speak to Dominic Oughton, a Trustee of Climbers Against Cancer (CAC), which is a charity raising money for research and therapeutic projects around the world that support those living with or after cancer.

Founded by John Ellison, CAC has recently celebrated it's 10 year anniversary, and has raised over £700,000 to support cancer research and therapeautic initiatives worldwide. You will likely have seen the bright and bold CAC T-shirts at a climbing wall or crag near you.

CAC's annual Everest challenges in now underway, encouraging the community to climb, run, walk or cycle the equivalent height of the mountain, to raise funds and show support - go to the website to get involved.

Dominic outlines some of the recent cancer projects that CAC has supported and talks of the positivity he has seen as a result of climbing and physical activity in people living with cancer.

Also the president of the BMC, Dominic talks about recently completing his own Hard Rock Challenge - climbing all 60 routes in the iconic Ken Wilson book over 38 years of climbing.

Please checkout more details, donate, and/or take on the Everest Challenge at https://climbersagainstcancer.org/

Dom’s adventures can be followed at https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/

In this conversation with Helen Rennard we hear about her Winter Munro round of last winter in which she completed all 282 Munros in 80 days and 9.5hrs, beating the previous record of just under 83 days shared by Martin Moran (1985) and Anna Wells (2024).

Helen talks about her formative days in a local Staffordshire hill walking club, before her progression to many years of hard Scottish winter climbing. She has held the female winter Tranter’s round record in the past, as well as completing many winter climbing first ascents and hard repeat ascents around Scotland.

We talk about motivations, logistics, weather conditions, and some of the factors that made Helen take a very ‘under the radar’ approach to her round.

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

In this episode I talk to Iain Innes about his season racing skimo in the ISMF World Cup series, before going on to chat about longer team races and our season finale in the iconic Trofeo Mezzalama race in the Monte Rosa region of the Pennine Alps.

Iain raced for Team GB as a downhill skier for over ten years, before switching to more mountaineering-centred activities. This season he has lived out of his van in the alps, training full time as a skimo athlete. Whether racing the furiously-paced skimo sprint, putting in big elevation days to Chamonix summits or cross training on foot or by paraglider, he has had a long and busy season.

Trofeo Mezzalama is an Italian high altitude ski mountaineering team race in which pairs traverse from Breuil-Cervinia to Gressoney-la-Trinite, crossing the Monte Rosa massif and reaching altitudes of over 4200m. Named after Italian military ski mountaineer Ottorino Mezzalama, the race was started in 1933 and is one of the oldest and best known skimo races in the world.

Due to the altitude and terrain involved, it is difficult to get perfect conditions on race day. Thus we were delighted to be met with exactly that: even atop the 4225m Castor there was no wind, perfect visibility and sun, with good snow and well established tracks. The race involves around 3200m of ascent over 40km and pairs must be roped together for the glacial section of the race.

We talk through the preparation for this race, as well as race day itself, where an excited 320 teams set off at 5.30am on foot through the dark but crowd -lined streets of Cervinia.

Iain is supported by Black Diamond, Augment and Tillicoultry Quarries.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smp6_jYcbAY for a video of Mezzalama

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

In this episode I talk to Will Herman about his new book Northern Horizons. The book explores the hills of Cumbria and Scotland in a series of personal reflections illustrated with the author’s photography. Will has been a fell racer, a runner, a kayaker and a climber - but his book is primarily about mountain experiences themselves. He takes us on long and often unusual routes which are woven with detail of these precious places and some of their wider human and geologic history.

Northern Horizons will be published by Scottish Mountaineering Press on 17th February 2025. Much more than a guidebook, we are transported to the hills, and for many this book will both trigger memories and bring inspiration for future adventures. 

In discussing the book we delve into the history of the land: the Clearances, deforestation, changing land use as well as changing modern attitudes to these wild spaces which are increasingly commodified and commercialised. 

Northern Horizons can be pre-ordered online, and will be in bookshops from the 17th February.

Will has a website at www.runswithaxes.com which gives further information on his writing and photography.

Correction - I translated A’Chailleach as ‘witch’ when it is more accurately ‘the old woman’. The stories in the book The Bone Cave by Dougie Strang that I mention often feature a witch figure ‘A’Chailleach’.

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

In this episode I meet Dr Mia Burleigh at the University of the West of Scotland in Blantyre, Glasgow, to undertake some physiology testing. I had Lactate Threshold and VO2max testing done and we discuss the results.

Dr Burleigh is a Senior Lecturer and Laboratory Director at the university’s Sport and Physical Activity Research Institute, which is the only BASES accredited lab in Scotland (British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences).

First I undertook Lactate Threshold testing, which involved running for 4 minute blocks at increasing speed increments, with a fingerprick lactate blood test every 4 minutes. This allowed calculation of Lactate Threshold and Lactate Turnpoint.

Next I donned a breathing mask and ran to failure at a set speed with gradient increasing by 1% every minute, to test maximum oxygen delivery, and calculate VO2max. This was a much tougher test!

Lab details: https://shop.uws.ac.uk/product-catalogue/schools/school-of-health-and-life-science-hls/maximal-exercise-test

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

This is a live recording of a conversation at The Barrel House, Kendal as part of Kendal Mountain Festival on Saturday 23rd November 2024.

Finlay Wild talks to The Selkies (Suzy Connor, Lizzie Goodfellow, Heloise Le Clanche and Cat Riaz) about their journey to the finish line of the 2024 Scottish Islands Peaks Race (SIPR), as the first all-female team to compete in 19 years. The SIPR is a gruelling sailing and running race involving sailing between - and running up peaks - on Mull, Jura and Arran in a non stop race from Oban to Troon, held in May each year. The fifth member of the team was sailor Kirsteen Woods.

The team first had to find each other and a boat to even get to the start line. Muir Anderson lent his boat Dipper, and after a significant amount of work to make her race ready, the team were ready to compete. Navigating what is traditionally a male dominated race, they finished in a little under 68 hours in a close run race with the chasing boat.

It was a pleasure to meet the team and hear their recollections of the journey - complete with anecdotes about purgatorial rowing, 7am champagne, and terrible singing!

And if anyone has a spare yacht for 2025...

See the team in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVsgGC0mtBU

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild

If you delve into the history of almost any endurance mountain running challenge in the UK you will likely see the name John Fleetwood. Usually flying under the radar solo and unsupported, his website www.longdistancechallenges.blogspot.com reveals a plethora of epic mountain adventures in the wild trackless bounds of Scotland, England and Wales.

John first became 'hooked' on endurance runs in the late 90s following his 'first proper run' - the 100km Bob Graham Round. Long before the current boom in ultra running and 'FKTs' he was having intense experiences as he sought to bring dream lines on a map into reality by following them on the ground. More interested in 'first known completions' than speed itself, he has made huge aesthetic loops in wild places. A winter Broxap Round in Glen Shiel over 120km and 61hrs; the Glen Lyon Watershed, a 121km 47hr loop of rough grass, bog and heather; or the Strathfarrar Watershed, 99km over 50hrs in deep snow.

We talk in more detail about John's Scottish Haute Route walk, his Lakes 40 Peaks at 40yrs challenge, and his mind bending Winter Rigby Round - a 54hr odyssey around the dark December Cairngorms in 2010.

John is also an author of two Cicerone guides to Scrambles in the Lake District. His book Beyond the View is his 'pilgrimage through nature', a hardback photography book interlaced with his personal story and deep connections to these wild places. Seeing 'beyond the view' is about connecting with our surroundings in a deeper way. He has also worked with Big Issue vendors in a project which gave them new access to outdoor experiences. He hopes to set up a charity further expanding this work which aims to heal the disconnect many people (and arguably society as a whole) feels for nature.

John is speaking at Kendal Mountain Festival next week (Sunday 24th November 2024)

Beyond The View book: https://beyondtheview.org.uk/product/beyond-the-view-the-book/

* Ian Stewart attempted a Winter Rigby Round in Jan 2019 but was forced to bail after 16 of the 18 Munros. His write up is here: www.trailrunningscotland.com/news/14/1/Rigbys-Round-A-winter-attempt

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠

I took the audio recorder along on the OMM Elite course in Glen Artney over the weekend of 26&27th October 2024.

I was paired with Phil Rutter of Kendal who has won the Elite race in 2022 and 2023.

The OMM is a 2 day mountain marathon in which teams of two navigate between checkpoints to a midway camp, carrying all the food and kit they require to survive in the October weather. A very popular event, it has different courses to fit different abilities, and is held in a different area each year.

Phil talks us through the OMM and we have some chat as we progress through day 1. Arriving at the midway camp in second place, we talk to Martin Stone of SPORTident timing. Martin features in my Bob Graham Round episode (Episode 16), and has his own episode about his Midwinter Solo Unsupported Bob Graham Round in 1987 (Episode 10).

We then debrief with the race leaders, Felix Wilson and Dan Ashwood before settling down for an early night in our tiny tent.

Setting out on day 2 we had a seeded start 3 mins behind the leaders, but with only 70 seconds of time to make up on them. Catching them, we then had a long fight on our hands as each team would try and outpace and outsmart the other. This included taking very different lines between checkpoints 4&5, only to come together again at checkpoint 5 with seconds between us.

Racing hard, we all navigated to the wrong stream bend for checkpoint 7. Felix and Dan relocated quicker and were off. It looked like we had lost the fight for first place. But we managed to claw back level with the guys - who then put on a sprint finish in the final field.

Over two days and 11.5hrs of racing we won by only 90 seconds - apparently the closest winning margin in the OMM for years.

For me, the OMM stands for traditional UK hill running values: held on rough terrain, in often difficult weather, with proper navigation, route choice and a requirement for mountain self sufficiency. With around 1300 competitors this year, it’s a much loved event.

The OMM is also the subject of Episode 28 with Victoria Thompson and Janie Oates, who were the female Elite course winners (and only elite course female finishers) in 2022. 2024 saw three female teams complete the Elite course (and many, many more over the other courses).

If you want to buy me a cuppa to help support the podcast, thank you and please do at: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/finlaywild⁠