Where I come from
I grew up with the mountains in front of me. My family comes from high ground, the kind of place where the horizon always has a summit cut into it, and that stays with you even after the years pass and you change country. Nobody ever had to explain to me why it was worth going up: I brought that from home, along with respect for what's up there.
Eleven years crossing Spain end to end
I've been in this country for over a decade and I've walked and pedalled my way across it whenever I could. Pyrenees, Picos de Europa, Guadarrama, Gredos, the Canaries. On foot when the route called for it, on the bike when it was about covering distance. It was never a master plan: it was stringing together free weekends, short holidays and the odd madness of eight days straight sleeping in mountain huts.
From free tour guide to mountain guide
I started out showing people cities. I worked in free tours and that's where I learned what really matters in this job: people don't remember the facts, they remember how you made them feel. A good guide listens more than he talks. And the responsibility of taking someone somewhere and bringing them back in one piece is not something you improvise.
In time I took the step and got qualified: official mountain guide. That changed everything. Liking the mountains is one thing; being responsible for a group when the weather turns, when someone runs out of energy or when you have to say "today we turn back" is another thing entirely. That's what separates a nice day out from a scare.
Today: Trip Tours
Today I run Trip Tours, based in Madrid. We're still in the free tour world, which is where it all started, and we've grown from there to taking people across half of Europe. If you're curious, it's at triptours.eu.
And what's coming
After more than twenty-five years in the mountains, what I most want to do now is give something back. So I'm putting together trips and experiences for the people who follow me: real routes, small groups, with everything I've learned by getting it wrong. No posturing and no gear lists nobody has actually used.
In the meantime, here I write about what I'm testing: the gear I actually use, the routes I do and, above all, what goes wrong, which is usually the most useful part. If any of it helps you on your next outing, it's been worth it. See you out on the trail.