Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We hope you've all been very good boys and girls this year and Santa brings you some shiny, new trail running gear.

To get your new gear broken in, why not join us on one of our 2013 trips. Places are now booking up, so book soon to ensure you your place is guaranteed.

All information and dates of our 2013 schedule is available on our website.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2013.

Annie

Contact Alpine Oasis on 0845 250 0648 or annie@alpine-oasis.com for further details of any of our trips.

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Dave's Dailies in the Peak District

Last time we introduced Dave Taylor, our new running coach. Since then we've been busy putting together "Dave's Dailies".

The Peak District in winter

Dave's Dailies are bespoke, one day specials designed to give you a taste of trail running without you having to fork out for a full weekend. We can organise these dailies to fit in with your schedule and we don’t need a minimum number, so tell us when you want to run and we’ll do our best to organise it!

What You Get

• A one day special – meeting places will be decided (depends on the route).
• Guided and coached trail running along a specially selected route. Full details of the route/timings/gradients/difficulty will be given.
• Pick Dave's brains: you get full access to his knowledge for the day – use it!

Highlights

• Run safely with Dave who has won both individual and team medals in British & English Fell Running Championships
• Learn some top tips on how to navigate while on the move
• See those parts of the Peak District you didn’t know existed
• Get wet/muddy/tired/elated and motivated

See our website for full details and information on Dave's Dailies and to book your own excursion into the Peak District.


Dave is a qualified teacher with 15 years' experience coaching sport and outdoor activities. He holds the Mountain Leader Award, British Orienteering L1 coach and the UK Athletics Leadership in Running Fitness Award.

Dave has contributed to Outdoor Fitness and Trail Running magazines, writing about navigation and hill running, and he's written articles for Men’s Running magazine on topics including mountain marathons, navigation and night running. In 2012 he assisted with route planning and organising the inaugural 2012 Ultra Tour of the Peak District.

Meet Dave Taylor

Dave on the fells

We're pleased to announce that Dave Taylor has joined the Alpine Oasis team.

Dave is a qualified teacher with 15 year’s experience instructing sport and outdoor activities. He holds the Mountain Leader Award, British Orienteering L1 coach and the UK Athletics Leadership in Running Fitness Award.

He is an experienced, competitive fell runner having won both individual and team medals in British and English championships and in his spare time runs with Dark Peak Fell Runners.

Dave has also appeared in Outdoor Fitness and Trail Running magazine writing on the subjects of navigation and hill running, and has written articles for Men’s Running magazine on topics such as; mountain marathons, navigation and night running. In 2012 he assisted with route planning and organising the inaugural 2012 Ultra Tour of the Peak District.

On top of all of this, Dave is an accredited canoeist. This can come in quite handy...because you never know when you might need an experienced canoeist when running in the Peak District!

Dave will join us on the fells in 2013. See the website for 2013 trips.

Norfolk Ultra Route Recce

We recently went to check out the route of the Norfolk Ultra. Having recently returned from running in the high mountains of the Alps we were somewhat stunned to learn that there was an ultra race on our door step in the flat lands of Norfolk. We had to go and investigate.

Our run took us through heathland and woodland before bringing us out onto the beach. After a quick stop to throw the dog in the sea (everyone does that right?) we headed along the top of the shingle beach. This proved the harder option as we realised too late that there was a flat, more stable path running parallel to the beach!

We were rewarded for the extra effort in Cley, a delightful village, where we enjoyed a swift pint of lime and soda before turning round and heading back, staying off the shingle beach this time!

What a fabulous run with great views (we had good weather too!), we could be tempted!

3 Peaks Training & CycloCross : Yorkshire Dales

As we are planning to run/walk the 3 Peaks, we picked a wet and cold weekend to go to for a bit of training over the 3 Peaks of Yorkshire and to check out the 3 Peaks Cyclocross Race. Our Yorkshire Dales “Introduction to Trail Running” weekend is in this neck of the woods so we know the terrain well.

Friday was wet and blustery with the occasional chink of sunshine up on Pen Y Ghent and we were up and down the other side within a couple of hours. Phil’s Achilles is playing up so we decided to do 2 peaks, not 3, choosing Ingleborough. Unfortunately the weather wasn't happy with our decision! Oh well, it makes you feel alive.

French Alps Trail Running Camps 2012

With a fine group of runners from Estonia, Germany and UK we enjoyed another great trip out to the French Alps. With every kind of weather, night runs, sunrises (without the sun), tackling sections of the UTMB and watching the start and finish of the UTMB, we left the Alps tired and inspired.

Day 1.

Drinking wine and talking running in
the company of Jez Bragg

We headed up to the Tre la Tete refuge and across the ‘route de balcon’ path to Lac Armancette. We covered about 15km and around 1000m of ascent and by the time we’d descended we had a well-deserved dip into a glacial river to cool the aching thighs.

Day 2.
The night run.

Ultrarunning Day with Andy Mouncey

Alpine Oasis ultrarunning coach Andy Mouncey is putting on a special ultrarunning day on the 18th of August at The Climbers Shop in Ambleside, Cumbria.

Andy will be joined on the day by Lakeland’s top ultrarunning couple, Terry & Annie Conway. Fresh from smashing his own course record at the recent Lakeland 100, Terry Conway and his wife Annie (who placed 6^th overall in the 50 mile event) will be special guests, providing a Q+A session.

Night Time Is The Right Time - Being comfortable at night running for ultras

You will need to be comfortable running at night in an ultra.

It is a different skill set for a different sensory experience. Many of your usual indictors of progress will be missing – the view ahead, for example. Learning to relax and enjoy the beauty and challenges of running at night can transform your ultra running.

Jez Bragg to join us in the Alps!

UTMB: our view from the startline

We're delighted to confirm that Jez Bragg is to be our special guest in the Alps this summer! Our full press release is below. If you like the sound of what we've got in store, there's still time to join us for a week, a long weekend ... or both!

Press Release:
Alpine Oasis are proud to announce Jez Bragg, a member of the North Face Global Athlete Team and the Uk’s no.1 ultra runner, is to be their special guest at their ultra trail running training camp in the French Alps.

A Night of Adventure with Phil

What a night! On Monday 25 June, our International Mountain Leader Phil Coates was one of 20 adventurers speaking at Night of Adventure in London. The event, the brain-child of adventurer Alastair Humphreys, was a sell-out and brought together adventurers, explorers, daredevils and pioneers to share their experiences with a live audience.



The evening was all in aid of Hope and Homes for Children, an international charity working to ensure that all children have the chance to grow up in the love of a family.

Phil gave a thrilling account of his adventures in the North Pole, and shared the stage with an intrepid bunch of adventurers with some inspiring stories to tell, including:

Running French Mountains: Why Would You?

What's so great about running in the Alps? Our coach, Andy Mouncey, gets to the heart of the matter ...


"Now I freely admit to not having the most objective of perspectives on this – I am Coach In Charge for the week, after all – but I figure, put my hands up to this from the outset, get it out of the way, and we can get onto the reasons why running the French Alps is an experience you shouldn't miss out on.


"This year will be my third August in France with Alpine-Oasis. On my first outing I arrived at night and woke to one of the most jaw-dropping views from the apartment balcony I’ve ever seen: I mean, I’d seen the pictures but the real thing literally took my breath away. Peering south towards the high point of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc route at 2500meters it all looked so staggeringly huge that I remember thinking, 'how on earth do you run through that lot?'

Lake District trailrunning camp: 'from muppetry to mastery'

Educational, exhilarating, engaging, enlightening … and wet! 

Those are just some of the words that sprung to mind when we asked Ant, Tim, Neil, Chris & Simon to describe their experiences on our Lake District training camp last weekend.

Our runners had travelled from all corners of the country to converge at the Keswick B&B on Thursday night, and over dinner at the local pub (and a couple of pints of Snecklifter, the local brew),

Phil's Night of Adventure

For Alpine Oasis cameraman and photographer Phil Coates, you could say that adventure is a way of life. He's clocked up more than 30 expeditions to date, with destinations including Everest, Makalu and Broad Peak - right now he's thawing out after a springtime trip to the Arctic - and his film credits include documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV, ITV and Discovery International. Phil has worked in some of the most challenging environments on the planet, filming in temperatures of up to (or down to!?) minus 48 degrees, where simply existing is a challenge - let alone documenting the experience!

He's also a qualified International Mountain Leader,

Magic, Madness & Ultramarathon Running

Andy Mouncey: if you see his name on the
 start list, it's not going to be an easy race ...

If you've ever experienced an Alpine Oasis running camp, then you'll know the force of nature that is our coach Andy Mouncey: an inspirational ultrarunner; a great coach and motivator, and an all-round nice chap. If you haven't met Andy yet, then hold on tight ... and read on.

Amidst his hectic programme of training, coaching and public speaking, Andy's made the time to pull together the gripping tale of his own ultrarunning story so far in his inspirational new book, Magic, Madness and Ultramarathon Running. In it, he gives an entertaining and very honest account of the highs - and lows! - of his experiences

Peak District, Easter 2012: trail-tastic!

Run, eat, run, eat, sleep. Run more, eat more, sleep sounder. Eat more, run again. A perfect recipe for a trail running Easter, and that’s exactly what Simon, Hannele and the Alpine Oasis team enjoyed in the Peak District last weekend.

We all met up on Friday night at our B&B in a rather wet and cloudy Hope, and over our evening pub supper - complete with Guinness! - we all got to know each other and talked through the itinerary for the weekend.

The Outdoors Show - London, Excel

Well we did it - our first ever show for Alpine Oasis...at the Outdoors Show at Excel,London this January...

Hard work - but great fun - we met loads of our current clients and hopefully we also met loads of potential new ones...

Our show offer is still available - closes end Feb...email me for the details...