Rob's blog

Over the next few weeks the Experience Swap Blog will be updated with some of the best outdoor activities we got involved with last year. From Wake Boarding, to digging snow caves to sailing around the Isle of White, this will be a series of blogs, videos and pictures to share our world of outdoor activities, outdoor adventures and also some more chilled stuff like watching salmon returning to spawn.

  What were your adventures in 2010?

We also want to hear about what were your adventure highlights last year. Did you climb a mountain for the first time? Did you learn to ski? Maybe you just made some great mates doing the activities you love. Send a couple of hundred words with a few pictures or even better a link to a video and we’ll put it on our blog.
As an extra incentive we have an Aquapac waterproof video camera or SLR case to give away worth £80!!! To take a look at what we mean visit the Aquapac Website.

Simply send your entries to Experience Swap and we will choose a winner. Closing date is 14th of February.

Send your entries using our Contact Form

We haven't updated the blog for a while because we've been recovering after putting on our first event... The Swansea Outdoor Show!

Held at the LC leisure complex in Swansea on the weekend of the 2-3 October the show brought together all the cool activities of South Wales, Swansea and the Gower.

It was a lot of fun with a load of really cool exhibitors, competitions and activities. The main hall of the LC where the majority of the exhibitors were also looked amazing. Many of the exhibitors brought along all their toys with them. Mumbles Yacht Club brought along a fully rigged dingy, SUPGower had paddle boards and kites and Up&Under had lots of Kayaks and Canoes on display which looked brilliant.

To see all the pictures take a look at the slideshow below:

Here at Experience Swap we’re not normally biased, we love any activities, anywhere. Whether it’s Paragliding in Peru or Mountain biking in Mongolia we want to be there... except this October... we want to be in Swansea!

Swansea is the un-sung hero of adventure activities and outdoor pursuits in the UK. There aren’t many places where you can go Surfing in the morning and then in the afternoon be nearly 3000ft up a mountain. Swansea and the surrounding area has the stunning Brecon Beacons for climbing, hill walking and kayaking, the Gower peninsula and Swansea Bay for surfing and kite sports and then Pembrokeshire just down the road for Coasteering and sea kayaking, to name just a few activities.

Because of this, Experience Swap has decided to put on an Outdoor Show to celebrate and promote all the amazing outdoor activities you can do around the Swansea area and also South West Wales in general. The event will be held at the LC leisure complex on the 2&3 of October and because of its location we will be offering taster sessions in:

• Kayaking/canoeing
• Climbing (indoors)
• Surfing (indoors)
• Paintball
• Sailing/windsurfing
• Kite surfing/Powerkiting
• Wakeboarding
• Plus may more activities that are yet to be confirmed.

On top of that entry is FREE! What’s the catch? Well... umm... hmmm... damn it I can’t think of one!

The doors will open from 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.

To check out the list of exhibitors and get more info go to the Swansea Outdoor Show or become a fan on facebook.

If you’ve been following Experience Swap on Facebook and Twitter you will have seen some unusual posts and tweets about outdoor shows, and business networking events as well as the usual videos and random stuff. The reality is that Experience Swap has now got its fingers in several pies!

 1. The Swansea Outdoor Show

Experience Swap has got together with the fantastic people at the LC Leisure Complex to organise Swansea’s first, and Wales’ newest, Outdoor Show. Affectionately called SOS, The Swansea Outdoor Show has a fantastic line-up of exhibitors who will be treating people to demos, taster sessions and be on hand to chat about adventure sports and outdoor activities until the cows come home. For more information visit Swansea Outdoor Show. The really cool part is that because the beach is only 10 minutes walk away and the marina a mere 30 seconds walk away and there is an indoor climbing wall and indoor surfing... you will almost certainly be able to demo something that gets your heart pumping.

This completely awesome show will be coming to your on the 2&3 of October and will cost you £0 to enter, yes that’s right it’s FREE entrance.

All we ask you do is sign up to Experience Swap as a member (also FREE!) either before or on the day. Some activities may have small charges.

Quite often on Experience Swap we talk about a lot of activities that go on in the ‘Wilds’ either up a mountain, on a river or the beach but there are still tons of experiences to be had in the more genteel parts of Great Britain. This weekend Experience Swap was out in the Northamptonshire countryside enjoying some 4x4 action in a classic 1943 jeep and also trying out Geo Caching for the first time.

“This was the predecessor to the first Landrover” shouts Jon over the noise of the 2 Lt original Ford engine. “It’s like God said; let there be 4x4s, this jeep is Genesis!” Jon is the proud owner of a completely original 1943 ‘Willys’ Ford Jeep that was left behind by the Americans after the War. It was made for reconnaissance but nearly 60 years later it is also awesome fun to go ‘Green-Laning’ in!

Across the UK there are approximately 2000 miles of byways or green lanes as their known. These are often unpaved, muddy and overgrown stretches of road that are no longer used by the general public but are perfect if you have a 4x4.

Byways shouldn’t be confused with Bridleways which are only for non-motorised vehicles so you need to check the maps first. Exploring  green lanes is brilliant fun and definitely comes recommended from Experience Swap.

Here’s a quick run-down of what’s going on with Experience Swap at the moment.

Experience Swap on Facebook

The Facebook group has gone over the magical 100 members mark. This is a small but great milestone but as it is our primary news channel of what is going on with ES. If you want to find out about the latest news, and get some inspiration for your outdoor adventures (or tell others), then sign up as a fan today.

The other really cool development is that Experience Swap is now producing its own outdoor activity guide videos. The Activity Guide section of the website picks the best videos and guides on the web and then shares them with you. We are also now producing our own. Check out the latest Stand Up Paddle Boarding instructional video from SUPGower here:

Experience Swap's new website is finally here after several months of planning and building. It's by no means perfect (yet!), but the new website has the following benefits:

A Gog is an affectionate name for the North Walians from the Welsh; Gogledd Cymru meaning North  Wales. Just as South Wal es  is a paradise for beach activities, North Wales is one of the most ideal and accessible places in the UK for mountain and river pursuits. Experience Swap is lucky enough to have an amazing team of dedicated outdoor activity addicts, so  when Mark suggested a trip to  Snowdonia for some ‘big hills and white water thrills’ we jumped at the chance!

The drive to Snowdonia, though long, can only be described as epic, with incredible views and winding mountain roads so by the time you get there you feel like you’ve earned your first beer.

We were camping at the foot of the mountain Tryfan in a comfortable but truly wild campsite (www.tryfanwales.co.uk ). The advantage is that in the morning you are just a stone’s throw from the base of the mountain. That night with zero light pollution, we were treated to a stunning display of shooting stars and satellites streaking across the sky. The clear skies had their disadvantages too as it was absolutely freezing so none of us woke up full of the joys of spring!

Mountains however, are the perfect place to shake away any grogginess and as we looked up at Tryfan in the morning light we thought “that’s not too high”. Then we saw the ant-like specks that were other people who had started off earlier only about quarter of the way up and realised that we were going to have to several bacon sandwiches to be able to face the mountains!

Experience Swap is working on a brand new look and feel for the website and also a ton of new functionality for the site. To do it justice we thought we’d invite a few mates Powerkiting and then hit the beach with a garden rake and a ball of string to show the public what the new logo will look like and chat to them about the site.