Phil Geng

Researcher, Climber, Mountaineer

Welcome to geng.co.uk v2.0

A source of information, opinion and ramblings from a (thankfully still) young, old hand in the outdoors. If you find the site is missing anything or you would like to suggest topics or items of gear for review then please let me know via the contact form.

Happy reading,
Phil

When was my map last updated?

Not only is this one of the most asked questions for the Ordnance Survey (OS) Customer Service team, but also one of the most frequent for me when people realise I work for the very organisation "making" the by now iconic orange and purple outdoor maps. In short, the answer can be found in the OS Leisure product catalogue which is updated regularly. Especially where maps were recently reprinted due to logo changes and overall branding changes, many users believe the maps themselves were updated at the same time when this is not the case.

View of Ben Nevis behind the Carn Mor Dearg arete from the summit of Aonach Beag in stunning winter conditions.
© Phil Geng

Why

Picture of random outdoor paperwork scattered across a desk after an evening of updating risk assessments.
© Phil Geng

Paperwork Hell

Picture taken out of the inside of a green and black tent of Sgurr Alasdair in the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye.
© Callum Taylor

Call of the wild

A Silva compass on top of a 1:25,000 OS Explorer map of South East Cornwall, aligned in West South Westerly direction along the measured nautical mile between Looe and Polperro.
© Phil Geng

Back to Basics

Picture of the author descending a snow dusted and deserted Moel Hebog in western Snowdonia.
© Callum Taylor

Adventurous solitude

Picture showing an OS Explorer active map for the Lake District with a Silva Explorer 4 Compass and a tablet in its rugged case.
© Phil Geng

Go on - get lost!

Close up image of the ever popular DMM Highball bouldering mat.
© Phil Geng

To spot or not?