Last week I touched base with Andy Woodward of Antarctica Tents to have some gear made up for this summer.  Andy has been in the busniess for some time now, and is renowned for his ingenuity when it comes to designing and making equipment that can stand up to the rigours of an Arctic (or Antarctic) expeditions. 

Andy lives in a rambling old house in Newbridge-on-Wye in Mid Wales, and much of the house (plus most of the yard) is dedicated to designing, making, repairing and servicing tents, clothes and stoves from all over the place.  It was fascinating to see so much stuff floating about from expeditions and people that I'd met, heard about or read about, including quite a few old friends.

Tents are an interesting issue for us in Greenland.  We need something that's light enough for summer treks and lightweight expeditions in the mountains, and yet will hold back a winter's gale and a dump of snow.  We think we've found the answer in the Spire 2 from Mountain Hardwear, so armed with a generously supplied sample tent, my partner Katherine and I headed deep into Mid Wales the other weekend for a test.

It was an area that I'd never been to, and only 70 miles from home near Cardiff.  An area of rolling yet rugged green hills, deep valleys blanketed by bluebells and pristine (probably ancient) woodland and tumbling trout streams.  ...