Alpine Stories
Talks, videos and written tales of epic alpine adventures.
Check out our archive of Alpine Stories online events below
Forming friendships and tackling peaks together - Lucy’s story about meeting El and Elouise within our community and their mountain adventures together…so far!
Elouise French shares her experiences on the Jonathon Conville Course this summer before she came on the WAAC Summer Meet and how this was a perfect stepping stone towards independence.
In our last of the winter series of alpine stories, join Kath James in the wilds of North West Scotland
Alpine Winter climbing, the power of belief and facing the fear of failure. Join us for Suzana El Massri’s Alpine Stories Winter Series talk ‘To Want is Power.’ During this talk Suzana shares her passion for climbing and the power of belief to move the mountains of self doubt into motivation to achieve your adventure goals. She will share her stories of Mt Kenya, Frendo Spur in Winter and Super Couloir in this inspiring talk that will have you pysched for your next adventure!
Slovenian mountain adventures, snow-shoeing and north face attempts! Join us for Mikaela Toczek’s Alpine Stories Winter Series talk about her adventures and lessons in the Julian and Kamnik Alps in Slovenia. These unforgiving and unforgettable mountains have been the arena for her biggest successful failures and most memorable adventures. She has found this the perfect place to push her limits and encourage herself to stretch for every ascent. During her talk Mikaela will share the stories of her first multi-day snowshoeing journey, first North Face attempt and more. Slovenia’s mountains pack a serious punch! By the end you are bound to love the wilds of the Slovenian Alps as much as her!
Sally Lisle tells us about her expedition to put up an adventurous 350m 5.11d (optional 5.12b) bolted route named “Eterno Optimista”. She unfolds how to start new routing and explores the drive behind it. Share the excitement to be found in exploring somewhere no one has been before, the physical challenge and both the pressure and merit in having to make all of the decisions within your team.
Join us on 22nd December for a WAAC-y Christmas Special!! We are thrilled to invite our community and supporters to a fun filled evening with quiz, fancy dress, a bivi building competition and general festive feelings.
In All That Glitters: A Climbers Journey through Addiction and Depression, world-renowned ice climber Margo Talbot shares her compelling story of healing and self-discovery amid the frozen landscapes of the planet.
Despite travel restrictions, lockdowns and last minute alterations to plans, Priti and Jeff completed a fantastic list of mountaineering objectives cumulating in the first ascent of K6 Central in the Karakorum, Pakistan.
Katie Baldwin shares her first ever alpine trip with the WAAC community - read more about how she found it, what she achieved and her top tips for other beginners
British Mountain Guide Tania Noakes shares her passion for climbing in the Dolomites in Northern Italy. The Dolomites have a unique geological and historical story which Tania outlines for us in this latest episode of Alpine Stories, as well as her mission to complete the Classic Climbs with clients and friends.
Rebellious women, Project Alpine Spirit and a year of 4,000m Alpine adventures! Join us for Becky Coles Alpine Stories Project Alpine Spirit. In this talk, she will share the stories of her all-women's team on their quest to summit all the 4,000m peaks in the Alps. In addition, Becky will entertain us with tales of the pioneering women who shunned social norms of their day to fulfil their passion for the big mountain adventures of Alpinism.
Two best friends, a special birthday and the Matterhorn. Adele Pennington shares her story ‘Two Girls in a Van’ with us and talks us through preparing for, and climbing, the Matterhorn.
Helen Teasdale shares her experiences taking her son Ollie on Alpine Adventures from an early age. Join us to hear about choosing sensible objectives, the best places to base your family adventures and the adventures Ollie and Teddy have had before turning 13!
Kath James, Senior Instructor at Plas Y Brenin, shares her journey through Alpine Climbing - from early beginnings with many lessons learnt, to succeeding on big bucket list routes. Join Kath as she shares her top tips about different areas and ideas for ‘trainer alpinism’.
Iona Pawson, Mountaineering Instructor, International Mountain Leader and Ski Instructor, shares her passion for ski touring and mountaineering expeditions. From the steep slopes of Mount Logan in Canada to glacier traverses and unclimbed peaks in Sweden and Norway, Iona tells us her top tips for expedition skiing and living.
Trainee British Mountain Guide Lou Reynolds shares 6 Grand Courses and her top 10 tips that she has learnt over her Alpine Apprenticeship. Grand Courses are Alpine routes that are more than 500m long, usually complex and committing and require full variety of skills to reach a large peak.
In this episode of Alpine Stories with Tamsin Gay, she entertains us with both funny stories and valuable lessons from her experience guiding TV celebrities up an unclimbed peak on the East Coast of Greenland.
The first in our series of inspiring online talks. Climbing adventures in Patagonia with Italian Mountain Guide Silvia Loreggian. It’s a beautiful talk with great pictures and practical advice on summiting Fitz Roy.
When people think about ski-touring, most of them think about the Alps. They imagine leaving the pisted boundaries and skiing ungroomed snow in quieter valleys. Perhaps they dream of crossing that col on the distant horizon and linking days with overnight stays in rustic mountain huts. Hopeful of finding their own quiet corner of mountain wilderness, away from the bustle and clamour of everyday life.
Claire and Mandy met on a WAAC alpine meet and hatched a plan to head out on independent adventures the next year with another friend Alison. They had a very successful trip on a variation of the Spaghetti Tour which is a high-level hut-to-hut alpine route taking in multiple 4000m peaks in the Monte Rosa Group. Find out more and Claire shares top tips on how to plan your own.