I started working on this new website back in 2003. Since then I have developed it and worked to present it in a format suitable for me working professionally in the outdoors and as a resource to others with similar interests. I hope the website is of interest for you as a walker, climber or mountaineer and will give you inspiration to enjoy the outdoors either on your own or on a guided trip. You may also with to develop your own skills and knowledge base.
I selected an extract from T.S.Eliots work to start the site as I think it really sets the right mood for you reading these pages. Certainly for me, discovering new areas or climbs and exploring ones own boundaries are two of the great elements of outdoor activites.
An adventurer and geographer I admire, both for his spirit of adventure and ability to convey the spirit of being in the outdoors, is Nicholas Crane. He has written Clear Waters Rising, Two Degrees West and Mercator. In Clear Waters Rising, he describes his 18 month solo mountain journey across Europe from Cape Finisterre on the west coast of Spain, via the Cantabrian mountains, Pyrenees, Cévennes, Alps, Carpathians and Balkan mountains to Istanbul in Turkey. A journey of 10000km. Two Degrees West describes his journey along the 578km long line of longitude 2 degrees west through England - he never strayed more than 1 km from the line of two degrees west. Incidentally, two degrees west is known as the line of zero convergence or central meridian by the Ordnance Survey. It is the reference line that was selected for mapping of the British Isles by the Transverse Mercator Projection. This neatly leads one on to his book Mercator, a biography of the great 16th century cartographer Gerard Mercator - the man who defined modern mapping and without maps where would we be today?
I have almost 20 years experience of mountain walking and 10 years experience of climbing and mountaineering. I am a qualified International Mountain Leader (IML) and member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML). I also hold the British Summer and Winter Mountain Leader Awards, the SPA qualification and a National Navigation Award (NNAS) gold certificate. I am also trained in mountain first aid. In Denmark I am on the committee of Hjerm Climbing Club and I am an exam censor for the Danish Climbing Federation. I regularly work in the outdoors throughout Europe.
My name is Peter Chapman and I grew up in Lincolnshire in England. After college, I studied Electroacoustics at the University of Salford near Manchester and upon graduating I worked in the Department of Acoustics at the university for some time before moving to Denmark in 1997 to work as a loudspeaker development engineer for Bang & Olufsen. You can read more about my career in acoustics here. Bang & Olufsen are located where they were founded in the small town of Struer by the Limfjord in west Jutland. I currently live in Struer with my Danish wife Susse, our daughter Freya Eowyn, and our dog Liska, a Samoyed.
If you are familiar with Denmark then you may think that it is not the best place for someone interested in climbing and mountaineering to be based, Denmark is quite flat - like Lincolnshire. However, I am active in the local climbing club and moving to Scandinavia has given me the opportunity to visit many new and less exploited areas. The Alps are also within easy reach. I have learnt Danish as a second language which allows me to communicate in Norwegian too, and Norway is a fantastic country for outdoor activities. I have chosen to combine my career in acoustics with working professionally in the outdoors as an International Mountain Leader and I look forward to helping more and more people enjoy the mountains of Europe.
I have been walking in the mountains of England since my early teens through CHA and HF Holidays. However, it all began for real when I moved in with a colleague at university in September 1993. Steve was (and still is) a very good climber, climbing up to F8b. It was his love of climbing that got me started. I began reading the magazines and I took a week long training course with Chris Ensoll (a UIAGM Guide) at The Rock Outdoor Adventures based in the Lake District. Chris is an excellent guide and his firm still operates (see the links page). The Lakes is an area where I have spent a great deal of time. Back in Salford I joined the mountaineering club at the university and was quickly involved in all the trips as I was able to lead climbs and drive the minibus. I later became a committee member and used time planning and organising trips to all the areas around Manchester, The Lake District, North Wales and Scotland. Between the weekend trips I would train on the climbing wall, usually 3-4 times a week, and my climbing ability was up to leading HVS 5a trad and E1 5b on bolts outdoors.
In 1996 I took the Mountain Leader training course. The week long course was based at the White Hall Centre in the Peak District with an expedition to North Wales. The ML scheme, and the other rock climbing and mountaineering qualifications available in the UK are described in the Qualifications section. My first serious winter walking/mountaineering season was 1995 with several weekends in the Lakes, the Peak District and North Wales and again the following season with several trips including one to the Cairngorms and another to the Ben Nevis and Glencoe areas in Scotland. See the Winter section for more information.
Since then I have been climbing and mountaineering throughout the UK, Scandinavia and the Alps. I have also gained the SPA award for leading individuals and groups on single pitch crags and climbing walls and the Winter ML award for leading groups in British mountain terrain in both summer and winter conditions. I am also qualified in mountain first aid and hold the National Navigation Award Scheme gold certificate - an award indicating a high standard of navigation skill, recognised by the MLTUK and British Orienteering Association. From week to week here at home, I am involved with running Hjerm Climbing Club near Struer (see the Rock Climbing section) and working regularly as a freelance instructor. I am also an exam censor with the Danish Climbing Federation.
In 2002 I was appointed as a walking leader for HF Holidays (see the links page). HF Holidays are an established holiday provider offering walking holidays throughout the World. Since 2002, I have also completed the International Mountain Leader (IML) award enabling me to offer a complete range of tailored mountain walking holidays throughout Europe both in summer and winter. For details of courses and guiding, see the Courses, Consultancy and Guiding section.
Throughout many years, I have also been interested in photography and I always have a camera at hand, even on nasty winter routes. I made the transition to digital photography a couple of years ago and now use Canon digital SLR equipment rather than 35mm film. I spend many an hour working with the images I have taken on trips and the quality and possibilities are breathtaking. From 2007, together with a good friend and experienced photographer, I will be offering tailored digital outdoor photography courses in conjunction with mountain walking. Our first courses will be based in Jotunheimen in Norway in September.
I am a member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML), the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) and the Austrian Alpine Club (AAC) and Den Norsk Turistforening (DNT).
