about the site and author

Mark Salter on the summit of Tharpu Chuli in Nepal

Welcome to "Armchair Mountaineer". I set this site up a few years ago for a couple of reasons, firstly as a means to show some of my better photos which might otherwise rarely get seen, and secondly as a learning exercise to teach myself how to design web pages and about the various web technologies available.

I have subsequently added more to the site such as the articles page, and intend to add more as time permits. Unfortunately I do have a real job and therefore don't have huge amounts of time to spend developing the site, and even if I did have I'd probably be off climbing somewhere.

I have been climbing since about 1988, never at a particularly high standard but regularly nevertheless. I have followed what you might call the traditional route into mountaineering by first getting into walking, and steadily progressing through scrambling to climbing and mountaineering.

My climbing has taken me all around the UK, I have done a number of trips to the Alps and have also climbed in Africa and Nepal. My preference is for long multi-pitch routes, especially over mixed terrain. I'm also happier when I'm pushing myself towards my limit, although that isn't exactly very far at the moment.

I have a part-time job as a Senior IT Support Officer working for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (RCT CBC) in South Wales. I was also working as a freelance outdoor pursuits instructor until recently when I suffered a major climbing accident about which I will soon be adding an article to the site.
My on-line CV can be found here.

I have become increasingly keen on photography, and love the combination of mountaineering and photography. I have recently bought A Nikon F80 film SLR, and Nikon D70 digital SLR with Nikkor 18-70, 28-100 and 70-300 lenses and am quite impressed so far. Much of my photography up until now has been with a Pentax MZ-10 SLR with a Sigma 35-80 lens and a Sigma 100-300 lens, and a Ricoh GR1V, Olympus Mju II or an Olympus Mju Zoom when the bulk of an SLR is impracticle. I have also used a Pentax P30n manual camera which I regretted part-exchanging for the MZ10 as I did enjoy fully manual photography. On reflection I wish I had kept hold of it and not part-ex'd for the new camera.

"I really rated this one .... The patterns of hoar ice give an almost abstract quality and pack a feeling of menace overhanging the climber. A shot you can believe in."
Ian Parnell

Stock photography by Mark Salter at Alamy