Surviving a fall in the icy Cairngorm mountains
I left the office of the Expedition Advisory Centre of the Royal Geographical Society with a heavy rucsac loaded with winter climbing gear. Less than 24 hours later I was laying face down in a boulder field with two broken legs and one of my nine lives definitely used up.
Mountains and mental wellbeing
The World Health Organisation predicts depression will be the second greatest cause of ill health globally by 2020. A study by Essex University on behalf of the mental health charity, Mind, showed that tension, depression and self esteem all improved when subjects went for an outdoor walk, rather than an indoor one.