CHRIS WALDRON
Still finding new ground after 35 years in the hills
Wild camping, honest gear reviews and routes worth the walk in — built on 35 years of getting it wrong long enough to know what’s right. Framed maps too, for when you want it on the wall as well as under your boots.
Built on 35 years in the hills, not a marketing plan
I’m Chris Waldron — Mountain Leader, fell walker and cartographer. 35 years of wild camping, all 214 Wainwrights done, and still finding routes I haven’t walked yet.
I write about wild camping and gear because I actually use the stuff. I map mountains because it’s good to have something on the wall that means something. And I teach mountain skills because it’s nice to know I’m helping people achieve more in the mountains than they thought they could.
What are you after?
Most popular
Wild camping
Honest advice on shelters, sleeping systems and pitching somewhere properly wild — from someone who’s spent more nights on the fells than he can count.
Tested for real
Kit lists and Gear reviews
Tents, sleeping bags, mats and kit — reviewed after actual nights out in bad weather, not a fortnight in the back garden.
Wainwrights
Walking & routes
Routes, route cards and the honest story of every walk — including the ones that went sideways.
Wall art
Maps
Framed contour maps and the 214 Checkmap — something on the wall that means something, because you earned it.
WILD CAMPING
35 years of getting cold, wet and eventually right
I’ve wild camped under a two-man tent on Clogwynygarreg, under a tarp on the summit of Sergeant Man, and in a bivvy bag more nights than I can count. I still get the pitch wrong sometimes — that’s how you learn where a mountain actually wants you to sleep.
So the advice on here isn’t theory. It’s the Vango Banshee 200 I still recommend to people starting out, the MLD Trailstar I trust when the forecast turns properly bad, and a full wild camping kit list built from what’s actually in my pack — not what a brand paid to put there.
GEAR & REVIEWS
Reviewed after a night on the fells, not in a camp site
Every review on this site has actually been up a mountain. The tent I’d buy again, the sleeping bag that’s kept me warm at minus eight, the mat that means I sleep instead of shiver — tested until it either earns its place in my pack or doesn’t. If something’s no good, I’ll tell you it’s no good.
WALKING & ROUTES
214 Wainwrights. One hike at a time
I’ve climbed all 214 — the famous ones and the quiet ones nobody talks about. Every walk gets a full route card: distance, ascent, difficulty and a GPX file, plus the honest version of how the day actually went.
New routes go up regularly as part of Walking the Wainwrights — 214 fells, told as they happened.
THE 214 WAINWRIGHTS CHECKMAP
Every Wainwright, marked and named — colour them in as you climb
The 214 Checkmap has every Wainwright fell marked and named. Colour each one in as you climb it and you’ve got a record on the wall that actually means something — because you earned every summit on it.
Fun ticking off the Wainwrights
Love our map! Had fun ticking off the Wainwrights we have already done and looking forward to many more!
Thank you!
LAKE DISTRICT CONTOUR MAPS
Topographic art for a wall that’s earned it
Framed contour maps of the Lake District ranges — proper topographic detail, printed on quality paper and ready to hang. Helvellyn, Scafell, the Central Fells, Blencathra. If you’ve stood on any of them, you’ll know exactly where everything sits. If you haven’t yet, you’ll want to.
Love the map
We absolutely love the map. It is beautifully framed and is always being looked at as we make plans for trips to the mountains!
MOUNTAIN CONFIDENCE
Learn to read the mountains properly. In the mountains.
A Mountain Leader-guided day covering what actually matters: navigation with map and compass, reading terrain, kit decisions, and how to make sound calls when the weather turns. No classroom, no slides — just a fell, the right conditions, and someone who’s been doing this for three decades.
Small groups, Lake District locations. See the page for what’s involved and how to book.
The rest is taken care of
Top event with top people, great chance to empty your batteries then recharge them back up again on the same event. No stress, just bring yourself and your kit and the rest is taken care of to the finest detail.
a fab day!
What a fabulous day! Just been on a navigation day course…thoughts: Absolutely Bloody Brilliant!
Chris is incredibly knowledgeable, not only about all the finer details to spot on navigation but his surroundings, weather and equipment! It’s been a great day and would highly recommend Chris for this navigation course and all the others he runs! I’ll definitely book myself on more!
Thanks, Chris for a fab day! 👍🏼
