Mammut Comfort High GTX Surround Boots

MAMMUT make some awesome gear, agreed?

The connotation of quality with Mammut was the final selling point when I was looking for new boots.

Now some of you loyal Fellists may recall a previous gear review when we looked at the Adidas Terrex Fast R GTX boots. In fact I am considering doing a where are they now article as they are still in good nick.

Why then do I have new boots I hear you ask!

Having Viggo means I’m out walking daily and I don’t just do a mile here and ten minutes there. My working hours allow me to be doing around 3-4 miles a day minimum.

Still with me?

This resulted in me destroying a pair of Hunter wellingtons through winter and making excessive use of the Terrex’s.

My Adidas’s are still fully waterproof and intact, they have been looked after in terms of cleaning and re-proofing. All I have had to do is re-lace them.

But the slipping point so to speak is on the soles. I have given them so much hammer that they have started to smooth out. This is not a problem at this time of year on my dog walks. But do I want to be sliding down Loft Crag in torrential rain?

No do I heck as like!

I’ve digressed slightly, this is supposed to be all about the Mammuts!

Those long winded names from the manufacturers sometimes leave you pondering what it’s all about.

In this case the last part of these boot’s title refers to the newer updated type of Gore-Tex that has been used.

So what’s different about this Surround variant as opposed to the standard Gore-Tex?

It’s all about breathability.

You still get that all important waterproofing that we have come to take for granted from Gore-Tex but now the Surround variant offers enhanced all-around breathability.

These models that include GTX Surround are ideal for warmer conditions as the construction of the of this membrane releases more warmth and moisture.

From my previous boot review you may know that I like lightweight footwear, now had I come from a bigger, full leather boot and gone straight into the Mammuts I would have noticed a difference instantly. But in relative comparison with my Adidas Terrexs the difference is more subtle.

Basically after a full days hike your feet aren’t so sweaty!

Lovely eh!

Now what do I like about these boots?

Well they too are lightweight, my pair of size elevens clock in at approximately 1100 grams. That’s pretty good considering the high cut you get with them. So far I haven’t had any falls in them due to an ankle giving way.

The pick-up is fantastic because the deceiving big, high and chunky aesthetic kids you into expecting far more weight.

When on the lacing system and high cut combine to wrap your ankle up in a cloud of protection.

The toe band is made from a really tough rubber compound and the texture that it’s finished in is such a texture that it never looks any different. This is ideal after a load of rocky scuffs.

The grips are good. A harder rubber than on the Terrexs gives me the impression that these will be up to much more arduous treatment.

The styling on these boots is epic if you like a modern twist. The red flashes stand out nicely but are not overpowering. This model also comes in blue.

Summary time?

These boots are expensive, there’s no kidding there. They are retailing at around the £140 mark and around £125 in blue here.  (Not sure why blue is cheaper)

These boots have featured in Trail Magazine and the funny thing was, I’d had my pair about a month when they were in an issue.

I purchased my pair from the German site BergFreunde and wondered whether, due to them being imported I got them prior to UK release.

They are exactly what I expected and are performing really well.

Any surprises?

A couple I suppose…

The weight is an amazing feature and twinned with their toughness you know that these have been superbly built and expertly designed.

That’s left me happy with a pair of hard core boots and good looking ones at that.

Quickly, thank you for all your continuous support!

Cheers,

#TeamFell

Summer Plans

SO another academic year has come to a close and it now gives me the time to get stuck into the blog and get regular content going again.

With summer now upon us, TeamFell are counting down the days until we get into the Lakes. We have a nice two-week period of time to conquer summits and enjoy the hospitality of Cumbria and if the weather is good that would be a bonus!

We are heading up to Birchbank campsite, which is just south of Coniston and we are going to try and cover a lot of the southern fells. Some of which we have already done but the main focus will be on the ones remaining.

Birchbank is a fantastic working farm with a campsite and cottage on the grounds, for us it is a pure Lakeland experience and an article will feature in our Hidden Gems section of the site to tell you all about this fantastic place. It is two miles from the main road and is tranquil, traditional and tremendous!

 

Updates

We have been working on a photo album containing all our Wainwright summit shots (shown above). We are going to continue this until we have all 214 photographs. Fingers crossed!

Viggo has lost loads of weight and he is now what he should be for his breed. Here is a lovely photo that illustrates the difference, taken from Viggo’s very own twitter, @ViggoTheSmooth .

Cheers,

TeamFell

A week in Farrier Cottage

Roseberry Topping from the bottom.

AS some of you may know, in October TeamFell took a short break and headed up to the North York Moors. Since returning my writing and uploading routine has gone out the window, but take it as a good sign that I am sat here with a pen once again in hand. That’s not a false claim either, I write everything out initially on paper. 

In the three weeks of being back at home, we have a dog, Viggo to be precise, a three-year-old Smooth Collie, on Twitter be sure to follow: @ViggoTheSmooth. Other than that, we have had family and friends coming to stay for the other two weekends so time to get stuck into some writing has been some what hard to come by. 

Great Ayton bathed in autumnal sunshine.

But change settles into routine and all is returning to normal with the addition of a fantastic dog. Back to our break anyway! As some of you may know from a previous post we stayed near a village called Great Ayton, in the tiny village of Ingleby Greenhow.

After setting out on the friday night after work we flew up the A1 and A19 in pitch black conditions. An hour and half after leaving home we were greeted by the warm light glowing out from the glass door of Farrier Cottage.

Part of the family had arrived earlier in the evening and good old mum had got a curry on. The building is a converted farm structure and is renovated beautifully within. The stone flag floor was kept toasty by the brilliant underfloor heating which was powered by the biomass boiler on the farm. 

The exposed stone of the walls and the earthy colours of the wooden trim ooze cozy country cottage but the mezzanine upper floor gave this place a modern edge too. It was kitted out with a kitchen dining room, lounge, level access shower room, two bathrooms and three bedrooms as well as a double sofa bed. This accommodation was perfect for us and ideal for you if you have plenty of family to share this lovely place with.

If you want to have a look at the prices and availability for this place here’s the link for Farrier Cottage via the Sykes website: http://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottage/North-York-Moors-Coast-Ingleby-Greenhow/Farrier-Cottage-18059.html.

Falling Foss 

Whilst away we visited Whitby on 3 occasions. The first of these was part of a beach walk from Sandsend , just north of Whitby and at this time of year the beach is dog friendly, so Jasper had a great time doing the three mile each way wander. What we enjoyed was a cracking portion of award winning fish and chips from the Magpie Cafe.

We were also lucky enough to catch the seaside town preparing for is infamous halloween weekend, the streets were full of eccentric fancy dress so even a quick look round the shops packed some fantastic atmosphere. 

And the charming Falling Foss tea garden.

There was a nice short walk that we discovered at a spot called Littlebeck where a path followed a woodland stream and eventually ends up at the Falling Foss tea garden and its namesake waterfall.

On a beautiful day we had a pop at the area’s dramatic looking peak Roseberry Topping. The 1,050 foot hill took only thirty five minutes to scale but admittedly we did take the simple route from the main road. Other routes from Great Ayton via Captain Cook’s monument or from Guisborough forest looked to provide a better more fulfilling climb. Nonetheless the view over the surrounding valley was lovely, punctuated with towns, moors and the sea. 

All in all we had a fantastic rest and spent the rest of the time together as a family, so who can complain.

Last thing, if you haven't followed our dog Viggo, do it now! @ViggoTheSmooth

Cheers,

#TeamFell

Adidas Terrex Fast R Mid Gore-Tex Boot Review

TO begin, these are my everyday boots, they have done plenty of miles so this review is full of real life information.

Just an overview of the Adidas Terrex Fast R's.

These Terrex boots out of the box promise to be waterproof, lightweight, supportive and comfortable. And to give a small preview of what is to come, in my experience they have met all those promises and more.

The most important feature for me in these boots were the waterproof qualities, after my previous boots fell short of this requirement. The Adidas Terrex Fast R’s have a Gore-Tex membrane lining which suggests that it will keep out the water, protect you from the elements and keep you comfortable. I can vouch for the waterproofness of these shoes as I have relied on them in about half a dozen heavy wash out days of varying severity and in every case they stayed fully dry. From straight down saturating deluges to cross wind fuelled fell top cloudburst, I really can’t complain with regards to their weather resistance. 

After previously owning a glorified pair of rubber clogs, I really liked the lightweight attributes of these walking boots, the numbers given for a UK size 8.5 boot weighted in at 405 grams. Adidas achieve this by using innovative materials such as the abrasion-resistant air mesh upper and the lightweight EVA midsole. I have to confess that when trying on these boots in Blacks in Ambleside, I recall telling Claire that is was like having clouds on my feet! These are ace for long days walking as in my experience you don’t find yourself dragging your feet in these.

In the past I have had a few fatigued tumbles due to my ankles involuntarily deciding they had done enough. But since changing into these it hasn't happened. The key features that offer such support are in abundance on this shoe. The nice mid cut comfortably wraps my ankle and the Formotion heel unit inspires confidence at any gradient. Both these features when used in conjunction with the lacing system add up to a fantastic design. The snug fit throughout the heel, fore-foot and ankle mean that you have sterling support across the whole foot. The boots work hard for you and keep the foot in comfortable, healthy shape, overall the cut and heel unit are game changing for my feet.

That tyre rubber showing!

Closely linked to the support offered by these walking boots is the comfort. The moulded Ortholite sock liner welcomes you into the boots and keeps you tucked in all day, the insole does feel moulded to you. The Adiprene+ cushioning adds another degree of comfort to this shoe as on trails your feet feel as though there are no imperfections to the paths you walk.

Now coming onto protection and durability, you would expect a lightweight pair of sport hybrid walking boots to show it’s weakest hand here. Well, so far, there is no sign of damage to the boots as you can see from the photos and video and they have kept me in good nick too! The toe bar is a god send on this product, this area as you know takes the brunt of the hits and the addition of this to the Terrex’s adds years onto their life expectancy. The synthetic overlays on the air mesh upper also adds to the structural rigidity and all round 360 degree protection of the shoe. The solid Formotion heel unit stops any accidental rear knocks from doing yourself a mischief and stands up to really tough tests!

The eye catching modern appearance is a head turner
for sure!

Apart from the previous fairly generic aims of a boot, there are a few features on this shoe that make it stand out from the crowd. The first is the brand, a few people will say: “oh, Adidas they just make sports kit and football boots.” In my experience the Terrex range is really fit for purpose. 

Another thing that stands out is the looks and styling and this was one of the main reasons I went for this boot. Yes your traditional outdoor brands produce boots fit for purpose, of course they do, but the styling of these in relation to the price point made the decision easy. 

The grips show very little sign
of wear.

Other boots that I looked into prior to purchase were colourful examples such as: 

The North Face Verbena II’s at £140

The Salomon Wings Sky GTX 2’s at £139.99

And La Sportiva’s Trango S Evo GTX’s at £200+

All these other modern, fresh boots are a fair bit more and as the Adidas Terrex Fast R Mid’s were just £95 on sale at Blacks, I made the leap so to speak.

The grip of these boots is certainly noticeable in comparison to my previous shoes and Adidas would say that it is down to the Continental tyre rubber that the soles are formed from that give great grip, especially in wet conditions. 

The lacing system is a nice touch too. The speed lacing works with a connected loop of lacing being tightened by a one directional toggle, with a release catch for loosening. This means no more stopping to tie soggy untied laces, should you need to re-tighten them, it needn’t slow you down, just a quick pull on the toggle and away you go. The system seems successful as my boots hardly ever need tightening even after a full days walk, and the aesthetic of the system adds to the overall modern appearance.

The instep of my UK size 11's.

Finally this product from Adidas is suited for someone who is fairly fast paced. Whether this comes in the form of a fell runner in need of a little more support or just a walker who likes the light minimal feel to these shoes, they still have enough grunt to protect you from the elements and keep you going all day. 

These are boots that can keep up with you!

The Terrex range offers many different cuts of boot and also have a ladies range too. I have been amazingly impressed by mine so I have to recommend them to you! Be sure to check them out!

If you havent watched it already be sure to go watch our video review of the boot, go on, do it now! 

Thank you to all the supporters we have, all the Twitter retweets don't go unnoticed so thank you! As always, get your email in the sub box and follow us on Twitter @TeamFell Check out our Youtube channel and spread shirt shop too!

Cheers

#TeamFell

  

The Great Yorkshire Brewery Yorkshire Blackout

TO begin, this beer was kindly given to me by a colleague after a discussion regarding dark beers, bitters, stouts and porters. So thank you to them for introducing this to me.

Before I go into detail about the taste and texture of this ale, we’ll look into its origins. Hailing from the Great Yorkshire Brewery (TGYB) this beverage was created in the North York Moors village of Cropton, two miles from Pickering. 

The Yorkshire Blackout showing its true colour.

At 5.0% volume this is similar in strength to the Oat Stout we reviewed previously and like The Nook Brewhouse, The Great Yorkshire Brewery have other beers on offer that follow a similar formula to The Nook. For example The Nook produce Yorks while TGYB produce Yorkshire Classic. 

The intriguing Yorkshire Lager gained my attention as I would like to see if there is any difference in the depth of taste and quality between the commercial and corporate giants and something like the Yorkshire Lager. There is an idea for an interesting video and review. 

Curiosity is also burning away at me to get hold of some of the Yorkshire Cider! Cider is Claire’s go to drink and it would be another interesting concept to get Claire to taste TGYB’s cider against some of her favourites too!

I received some advice from my colleague to make sure the bottle of Yorkshire Blackout was served well chilled, this helps to bring out the flavours of chocolate and vanilla that are heralded on the bottle. 

True to form, the aroma is of chocolate and vanilla, and it really does pack a punch in terms of the smell. As it was chilled the porter was smooth and refreshing. Refreshment I think is the key word in this review as it was simply refreshing. 

TGYB has hit the right balance with the chocolate flavour, because as mentioned in the video if there was too much in the way of sweetness the porter would be too heavy and sickly. Yet in this smooth and light beer, the chocolate taste is a note among others that make this a really pleasant ale!

I definitely recommend getting a bottle of this, just give it a go, I think you will be equally as surprised as I was. 

Be sure to head over to the brewers website at: http://www.thegreatyorkshirebrewery.co.uk/ to have a browse through there range of beers and ales, and head to their online shop to pocket yourself a bottle of this great porter!

Finally you can follow the brewer on Twitter - @yorkshirebeer and Fell at - @TeamFell . 

Give us a +1 and put your email in the sub box in the top right and check out our online shop for lovely Fell merchandise, our YouTube video is embedded  so give it a watch and a like, favourite and subscribe if you enjoy what we do, we have loads more cracking content in the pipeline so be sure to stick around!

Cheers 

#TeamFell

A Month In

SO here we are a month down the line.

I think the site is looking good, there is something in every category at least. The YouTube channel is active and Twitter is ticking over nicely. Now it is time to start promoting the site through Twitter and try and get some visitors to come from the YouTube channel once we get some reviews uploaded. 

We received our first shirts from SpreadShirt this week and they look fantastic, I couldn’t be happier with the design. Claire is going to look at expanding the range to tailor for a more feminine palette while I am going to spend a little time expanding the Summits Tackled range.

Now, in the coming weeks you can expect a few gear reviews from us with some embedded video from youtube and some across the board content as well. 

I don’t know what else to say, I just wanted to give you a quick update so you know what we’re up to.

Cheers 

#TeamFell 

The Mountain Rescue

IN England, mountain rescue is a free service, funded by charity. The mountain rescue teams around the country offer such exceptional service that it is hard to believe that their history is a relatively short one. Exploring the higher places of England for pleasure began as an enthusiasm of the rich. 

Before the formal mountain rescue was formed, any accident may be fatal as the unfortunate subject may be left for dead unknown or die of their wounds in transit due to the arduous journey over rough terrain with improvised rescue parties, which could prove too much for already damaged bodies. 

‘The leader does not fall’ is a climbing saying that was regrettably not so in the ‘Scafell Disaster’ in 1903. On the Scafell pinnacle a team of four climbers fell to their deaths after the leader slipped, to cause what was the worst climbing disaster that Britain had known. The increase of mountain related activity and subsequent increase in accidents, twinned with the lack of rescue provisions led to first aid and rescue equipment being placed in key areas and rescue posts. 

An accident at Laddow (Peak District) in 1928 was the catalyst for the formation of the Mountain rescue Committee. Edgar Pryor was knocked from the long climb stretch at Laddow in the November at a Rucksack club meet, he fell some 40ft and broke his skull and thigh. Makeshift rescue gear was made at the scene using what supplies were available, forming a splint from a rucksack frame was just one example of the improvisation that took place in a crisis at this time.

A rescue team in action.

After four hours of being roughly carried to an ambulance and and a one and half hour journey onward to Manchester Royal Infirmary, Pryor was in a worse state. The surgeon at MRI, Wilson Hey, claimed that the casualty was so shocked he required a blood transfusion before he could be operated on, and that “the absence of morphia (morphine) with the transport had done more damage to the limb than the mountain.”

Now this Wilson Hey was quite a character. So convinced was he that morphine could greatly reduce suffering in casualties, he went around supplying morphine to the rescue posts without a licence and at his own expense. It is a very good job Hey wasted no time as the government deliberated over the use of morphine, it took fifteen years to get Whitehall to share in his surety in the analgesic drug. Hey argued that, “morphia reduces suffering, suffering produces shock, and prolonged shock causes death.” 

The Nook ale as mentioned.

By 1949, the government came round to Hey’s way of thinking and supplied a stock of morphine to each post, more going to the likes of Glencoe. The use of morphine in the mountain rescue cases is the huge legacy Wilson Hey left and will have undoubtedly saved a great deal of suffering and lives in a relatively short space of time. Today mountain rescue teams (MRTs) have an authorised morphine dispenser in their team. 

The first two MRTs most similar to those that operate today were Coniston and Borrowdale’s (Borrowdale MRT now Keswick) MRTs. The Coniston Team formed in response to the search for Ernest John Harris Sivyer who in December 1946 headed up onto the fells at first light and did not return. An assembly of locals set out to search the area around Dow Crag and Coniston Old Man but to no success. The following day 50 policemen and farmers joined the search in terrible conditions and Sivyer’s body was found having fallen around 400 feet down a gully. Following this exhausting effort, the first civilian mountain rescue in England was established, led by Jim Cameron. 

A 21 hour rescue effort on Great Gable to save a climber who had fallen from the Sharks Fin resulted in the Keswick team’s formation as another tiring effort in terrible conditions emphasised the need for a dedicated force. 

From here the teams sprung up in the individual areas to deal with the needs in their catchments and today work together both through the national body and locally to bring a first class highly trained service to those in need. 

A RAF Sea King, working alongside the Mountain Rescue

Run by just volunteers, the MRTs across England, Scotland and Wales function because of the generosity of others. If you have a local team or know of one that could someday be there for you at your favourite destination, try and show some kind of support, whether it is taking part in the various fundraising events they host, buying a t-shirt for a fiver or making some kind of donation. One of the ways I support my local MRT is by drinking a certain beer. Yep, you heard correctly. One of the local pubs nearby brews their own beer and donates 10 pence per pint they sell to the Mountain Rescue. The beer is brewed by the Nook Brewhouse which has been mentioned on Fell before. The ale is called Rescue Red, which I hope to feature in the near future. A link below will take you to the pages of my local MRT and the Nook’s website for your perusal.  

National Mountian Rescue: http://www.mountain.rescue.org.uk

My local MRT: http://holmevalleymrt.org.uk 

The Nook Brewhouse: http://thenookbrewhouse.co.uk/our-ales-2/

Cheers

#TeamFell