Whilst on a caving expedition earlier in the year I managed to talk my good friend Emily into joining me on the GR20 in Corsica. "Europe's toughest long distance trail" promised us 180km of sharp granite peaks, picteresque rivers and dense pine forests. 11,000m of ascent, a broken tent and several stomach bugs later we had finished!

I was in Corsica for a white water kayaking trip but arrived a couple of days ahead of the main party and so decided to attempt a mountain near Corte (I'm not sure which it was!). The sunny trail soon gave way to snowy terrain and with very limited equipment (I'd flown out with only hand luggage) I decided to turn round after a cold bivvy.