The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks, just wanted to say hi and give you a bit of an update.

March has been a really busy month for me and I can’t believe I’ve already completed six wild camps so far, covering England, Scotland and Wales. I’ve done 3 wild camps in the Lake District; on Blencathra, and the two night trip in my recent videos. I’ve done two wild camps in the Arrochar region of Scotland, one on a Munro and one near Ben Arthur. I’ve also just got back from a wild camp last night in Snowdonia. Busy busy busy 😁.

I also wanted to say a massive thank you for all your great comments on my recent videos. Unfortunately my last video (Part 2 of the Ennerdale Horseshoe trip) has not been so well received and a got a message from YouTube say that “regular viewers are choosing not to watch this video” and, that views are 30% down. When it comes to channel statistics, YouTube knows absolutely everything.

Just when you think your channel is gaining a bit of momentum, down it goes again. Doing YouTube takes a lot of time and effort and I think only those who have tried it can really appreciate this. When you put all your efforts and passion into something you naturally want have a standard for yourself that you strive to maintain and hopefully improve on, over time. It’s only human to compare yourself with others in the same field and sometimes you just feel like, despite your best efforts, you simply can’t keep up, while everyone else is improving. Anyone who thinks YouTube is “easy” and lucrative is sadly mistaken.

Anyway, I’ve got a few videos to edit but I’m gonna be giving myself a bit of a break for a few days. I’m sure you understand.

In other news my car has been back on the road since the beginning of March. It’s running great again and I’ve already done over 1300 miles in it since the (expensive 😬) repairs to replace my injectors.

I’ve been struggling to keep up with replying to all your great comments so I apologise for that. I certainly read every one of them and appreciate the time and effort you take to respond. It was also great to meet and chat with a few of you guys when I was in Keswick at the beginning of the month. Once again a massive thank you for your continued support. It really does mean a lot.

Take care my friends - Dave 🙏🏻

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1 month ago | [YT] | 208

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks, just nipped out for a local walk today and thought I’d give you a bit of an update on the hand injury.

As you can see from the pictures, the swelling has now gone down from what it was last week and I’m off the painkillers. I’ve now got much better movement in my wrist and hand and I can actually use it a bit.

Obviously, it’s not fully recovered but it’s a lot better than it was this time last week and hopefully it will slowly continue to improve.

Still need to be very careful with it though and build things up gradually.

As always, big thanks for your well wishes. Means a lot - Dave

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2 months ago | [YT] | 127

The Solo Summiteer

Just wanted to say thanks to you guys for your well wishes regarding the recent injury to my hand, and to give you a bit of an update.

If you watched my recent video, the injury occurred as I was collecting water from the frozen lochan (although you don’t see the incident in the video). I had three bottles of water in one hand and an ice axe in the other. I needed to use my arm to help me get out from the lochen but because my left hand was full, I couldn’t use the palm of my hand to push myself up like you normally would so, stupidly decided to use the back of my hand instead. This over stretched the tendons/ligaments in my hand and wrist.

I managed the camp without too much pain but when I got home a couple of days later the pain just got worse and the back of my hand started to swell.

The injury has gradually gotten worse this week meaning I was at a point today where I hadn’t been sleeping much and could barely use my hand at all because of the pain.

I decided to pay a visit to A&E at the hospital and was seen by a doctor, then sent for an x-ray. The x-ray showed no broken bones, fortunately, and the diagnosis from the doctor was a grade 2 sprain.

He gave me a wrist support and said to take a combination of ibuprofen and paracetamol for the pain. He suggested it could take 6 weeks to heal so I’ve just got to deal with it.

So, something as innocuous as getting up off the ground has put me out of action for weeks. Just shows how easy these things can happen.

Take care my friends 🙏🏻

2 months ago | [YT] | 225

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks. I was in the Highlands at the weekend and had an amazing camp up there in full winter conditions.

Unfortunately I sprained my wrist quite badly so I’m currently out of action until it’s healed. It didn’t affect the camp but has been quite painful since I got back so I’ve got it strapped up.

Anyway, at least my February camp is done so only one more month to get to 4 years 🤞

Hoping to have the video out sometime this week.

Best wishes - Dave

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 105

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks hope you are well.

I can’t believe I’ve been out on 4 camps in January already. The first one was my last video. An awesome winter trip to the mountains in a very snowy Lake District. My second camp was in the Highlands but unfortunately I’ve lost all of my video footage so can’t make a film of that one. I got out again last weekend for 2 camps in the Lake District. I filmed one of these and the video will be out this weekend. I’ve included a few pics of my January camps in the post.

Frustratingly I’m now struggling with a reoccurrence of my neck/upper back injury with pains going down my arm again which is really annoying. This also means I can’t go to the gym and train my upper body.

Anyway, it looks like there’s a storm coming over the next few days so stay safe and look out for my new video in the next few days.

Much love - Dave 🙏🏻

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2 months ago | [YT] | 138

The Solo Summiteer

It’s looking like another wild weekend for weather so you can guess what I’ll be doing. Yeah, staying at home editing and polishing my Allak ⛺️😂.

I’m planning to have my new video out on Sunday afternoon. It’s my last video of 2024 having released 29 videos this year and also recently hit 15,000 subscribers.

I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all your support by the way of Buy Me a Coffee, Super Thanks, Subs, Comments, Likes, Views, etc. It really means a lot 🙏🏻

Although my channel gets less views than it used to I really think theres a genuine community feeling about it now. I absolutely love reading your comments and reply personally to as many as I can.

I’ve also met a few of you guys when I’ve been out on my travels in both the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands and it’s an absolute pleasure.

I need to get back out in January to complete my monthly camp challenge. The weather in January and February can be pretty horrible but if I get them done I’ll only have 1 more month left to complete 4 yrs of a camp every month. Hopefully I can do it 🥶🤞

Hope you guys have a great Christmas and wishing you peace, health and happiness for the New Year and 2025.

Don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Facebook pages for more regular updates.

Stay safe my friends. Much love - Dave 🙏🏻

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4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 186

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks hope you’re having a good weekend.

If you haven’t seen my new video yet, go and check it out. It makes a refreshing change from the stampede of, Storm Darragh, Durston Dome, and “pushed me to my limits”, videos, that are all over YouTube at the moment. It’s a nice chilled one in a very quiet and beautiful part of the Lake District.

At the end of November I was in Scotland on the Galloway Fells with Evgenia and we had a really great wintery camp at over 2400ft on Saddle Yoke. I didn’t do any filming but Evgenia will be releasing her video tomorrow and you can check it out on her channel - Go Summit Solo -

https://youtu.be/zQPd8J8xkVI?si=P2fkj...

In other news. After a couple of freezing nights in the mountains recently, trying to sleep on a summer mat with no insulation, I’ve just received a replacement XTherm mat from Thermarest, so I’m back in business. Now I just need to return my faulty XLite to them and hopefully that will be replace, too.

I’m planning to have a new video out before Christmas so I’ll hopefully see you there.

All the best - Dave

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4 months ago | [YT] | 142

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks. Hope you are enjoying your weekend and not had too much disruption from storm Bert.

I’m busy editing my new video today but I got an interesting comment on my last video accusing me of selling out, and that they have unsubscribed! I’ve replied to the comment but thought it quite disappointing. I understand some of you might not have been interested in the power station but, for the few who are I thought it was an opportunity to have a closer look at the equipment, get my genuine thoughts and get yourself a bit of discount. If people aren’t interested and choose not to watch I have no problem with that.

Anyway, back to the freezing mountains in my next video and for those of you who haven’t unsubscribed, hope you enjoy it 😁👍.

Take care my friends 🙏🏻

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5 months ago | [YT] | 176

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks. Hope you are well and enjoying the weekend whatever you’re up to.

Just wanted to give you guys a bit of an update and good news about my back injury. It’s really improved over the past few weeks. So much so that I managed a couple of mountain camps in the Scottish Highlands. I still need to be careful as it’s not 100% but a least I’m getting out again.

It was another great trip in the TentBox roof tent and the weather was unbelievably dry and wind free. Unfortunately though it was constantly cloudy, but I really can’t complain. Also managed another viewing of the northern lights from a summit camp in the Western Ross region of the Highlands. I didn’t do any filming as I really wasn’t feeling it and wanted to just take in the experience and relax.

It looks like the first signs of winter could be upon us this week so I’ll be keeping an eye on the weather and hopefully able to get out.

Anyway, as always thanks for your comments and support on my videos. It really means a lot.

Take care - Dave

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5 months ago | [YT] | 165

The Solo Summiteer

Hey folks hope you are well.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone asking about my injury and offering advice.

I’m now nursing 3 different injuries 🤦🏻‍♂️. I saw a physio on Monday and he believes they are all linked. The main thing is, he doesn’t believe they are joint issues but all muscular. My lower back is slowly getting better. It’s ok when I’m walking but seems to seize up a bit when I’m sat down (e.g. driving).

I’ve also developed a pain in my hip. He believes this to be tightness in my glute muscle. Then there’s the problem with my ankle which he believes is related to a tight calf muscle (he’s taped this up).

After a torturous 😬massage he gave me some stretches to do each day. Hopefully things will get better over the next few weeks 🤞.

I managed to get out for a low level walk at the weekend. No mountains or camping involved but it was nice to explore an area of the Lake District I’d not visited before on a beautiful autumn day. I did a bit of filming and will get a video out for you guys at the weekend. No drama but some lovely autumnal scenes and a bit of peace and quiet 🙏🏻; oh, and a bit of bagging 😁👍

All the best - Dave

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6 months ago | [YT] | 159