Red Yeti's Blog

I wander about in mountains and take photos. I also get paid to design and program in Java (if that means anything to you), usually by banks. I seem to have a bit of a knack for it so I’m a freelance consultant these days. But mainly I like mountains and taking pictures of them. My real name is Dave Wood, but since I have a reasonably large amount of red hair (or at least red/brown/blonde – depends who you ask) “Red Yeti” has become a nickname and seemed appropriate when I started posting on Outdoors Magic (a silly name for a great site).

When I’m wandering about in the mountains I like to carry as little weight as practical. I’ve always been quite aware of not carrying too much weight because I was lucky enough to know people that knew what they were doing (thanks Loz!).

But one way or another I managed to carry more and more “stuff”. Partly in the name of safety, partly for comfort. But there’s nothing comfortable or safe about lugging a great big pack that’s so heavy you can hardly wrestle it on to your back.

It seems to me that like so many things in life, from riding a bike to running a business, the only way anyone ever really learns is the hard way.

So, once I’d decided that I needed to slim the pack down it became an ongoing and very interesting puzzle to me; how to balance the opposing demands of carrying no weight, the ultimate goal in a sense, without sacrificing safety and comfort.

And walking with others, they often want to know why I’m still comfortable despite the big climb or the awful weather. Hence the Blog.

Am I a wizened old mountain man? No. I live too far from the mountains (Brighton), am not involved professionally (I used to drag Sussex Uni students about for several years, does that count?) and have not been doing it long enough (the last ten or so years). I am ML and SPA trained but not qualified (one day maybe…)

I have managed to spend time with people who are wizened (but not old!) and professional mountain men. Notably Keith Fleming and Rob Keet. As well as many non-professionals with a lot of experience.

I, well, we (my girlfriend LB) have moved away from climbing in the last few years and towards the more “general” mountaineering. But who knows what next… that’s part of the fun!

Feel free to email me on redyeti@drw.me.uk