2025 was quite a year! Graduating uni, climbing on the Basso thrice, (and reaching the top this time), and walking 500 miles across the Alps, lots was done, and it’s nice to look back at some of the best moments!
So many moments were on the Rock with good friends: Noah on Spigolo Fox, Ben and Dylan on Diedro Armani, Robbie on Dream of White Horses, and Santi on Lewis sea cliffs, but for me, the highlights again come down to nights spent in the mountains.
Here are my favourite camps of the year!
Camp Ibex
This first one was on Day 4 of my big walk. I was finding the first week really tough – I was overwhelmed by the challenge ahead of me! This day marked a real change in the walk – prioritising enjoyment rather than just getting to the end, drinking coffee, making a nice lunch, and nearly dying of thirst on the 2000m climb straight up from the valley after lunch. I reached the pass exhausted but euphoric and had a brief swim in the lake before settling down to watch Ibex fight for the top spot on the cliff opposite. Bliss.
Goatfell
In March, I walked the Glen Rosa skyline and camped at the top of Goatfell. It was a beautiful night, and the way the clouds moved over the hills opposite was one of those euphoric mountain moments that makes your stomach feel knotted with excitement, joy, and awe. It was made all the better by the fact that I’d been walking in the rain all day, so as the rain cleared and I reached my camp, it truly was special!
Great Lakes Camp
Mountain Perfection – there is no other way to describe this day. A beautiful ridgeline with stunning views of Lake Maggorie and a manic and insane level of happiness as I wandered across the broad shoulder. I reached the final summit laughing like a madman, looking across the entire Alps stretching on for miles and miles. I was King of my own world – my own wandering, stinky, slightly insane world.
Garbh Corrie Mor
A cup of tea in a remote hut in my favourite place in Scotland. Listening to The Lord of the Rings, relaxing in a state of pure bliss. Perfection? Pretty dam close.
Segantini
It feels wrong to include a Rifugio in the list – but this morning says it all. We went to climb a rarely repeated route staying at the Rifugio Segantini, but that didn’t quite go to plan. Luckily, the early start felt all worth it – we walked in above a sea of clouds, and it was one of those mornings which make you feel alive in a way only the mountains can.
What a day to be alive…
The Isle of Rum
10 of my favourite people, a Scottish Island, a wonderful bothy, a mighty fissure, and some of the best hills in the country. Rum was a dream and one of my favourite mountain moments of the year.
We spent the evening cooking chorizo pasta, running from hordes of midges, and just laughing about life. A really special night in the hills.
So…those are my favourite camps of the year. I spent so much time in the hills this year, and I feel immensely fortunate. Despite spending all this time in the mountains, my awe and love for them has only increased, and each day I spend on the hils brings a deep appriciation for the incredible wild spaces that surround us.
What does 2026 hold? It’s hard to say…I’ll need to do a lot of climbing in the UK working towards my MCI, and I’ll certainly try to get in another long walk (currently looking at Atlantic-Mediterranean over the Pyrenees). Most of all, I’ll try to spend as much time in wild places with good pals, after all, that is what life is about.
Oscar Outdoors 