If you've seen our new KEEN Footwear promo, you'll know that it's all about posting up your ultimate outdoors weekend with the winner to have their dream made real by the guys at KEEN. The only stipulation is that weekend thing, which means you're pretty much confined to Europe, though I guess you might just make North Africa or the Canaries.
Tower Ridge By Yak?
Unfortunately I'm not allowed to win, but what would I choose? It's an interesting exercise because it maybe takes you outside your normal zone of expectation. I started thinking 'Scotland', Scotland is amazing. Maybe Tower Ridge followed by a bivvy on the summit - and because it's a dream, someone's carried a nice comfy tent and luxury barbecue up there.
And next morning, because it's a dream weekend, not only do I have kippers for breakfast along with the best coffee ever, it just happens to be a perfect, clear, bright, summer's day. So after soaking up stunning views of serried Munroes spread out to the horizon and beyond, rather than slog down the tourist path, I get to hand my pack over to a handy yak driver, pull on trail-running kit, then run/jog/scramble down and along the CMD arete before dropping back down into Fort Bill.
Mont Blanc Without A Yak...
But that sounds, well, a bit normal-ish, apart from the yak obviously... so then I thought, wow, how about this. Chamonix on the Friday afternoon, chill out, carbo load, then up to a hut below Mont Blanc, climb Mont Blanc on the Saturday night/Sunday morning - something oddly, I've never done - but then rather than jump the phrique back to the valley, grab skis and make a full descent of the Vallee Blanche before a slap-up, celebratory meal back in Cham.
I like that plan. It has flaws, for one thing, I can't actually ski very well, so I'd probably miss the flight home, but seeing as I can't win anyway, it doesn't really matter. And we won't have to get the yak up or down a 4,000 metre mountain either which gives it a faint gleam of feasibility too.
Anyway, there's loads more - Skye Ridge in a weekend maybe. All the Lakes 3000s by llama. The Welsh 3,000s with slap-up luxury support. Up Snowdon by Clgwyn y Person arete and Crib Goch, luxury bivi on top then swap over to mountain bikes for a morning blitz down the Snowdon Ranger path. Something big and Via Ferrata-esque in the Dolomites...
Thing is, I can't win, but you can. See This Is My Dream Adventure Competition
