Expedition Planning Resources

Planning an expedition can be a scary prospect, but fortunately UBES members past and present have a fantastic range of experience in planning and undertaking expeditions.  We’ve tried to compile a few of the useful resources they’ve found over time to help with their planning and turning an expedition idea into reality.

We’re always on the look out for new resources, so don’t hesitate to email us using ubes-committee@bristol.ac.uk if you have any additions!

General Expedition Planning

The Royal Geographical Society’s Expedition Handbook is a fantastic starting guide to planning an expedition:

• https://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Publications/EAC+publications/Expedition+Handbook/Expedition+Handbook.htm

Alastair Humphreys also has some useful advice for those look for an adventure on a budget:

• http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/more/expedition-planning-advice/

Mapping

Google Maps and Bing Maps both provide fantastic access to maps all over the world.  Make sure to check out Google Maps 3D capabilities, and the free OS maps of the UK in Bing Maps:

• https://www.google.co.uk/maps
• https://www.bing.com/maps/

Check out this UKClimbing Article about using the full power of Google Earth:

• https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7328

From the 1950s-1990s, the Soviet Military mapped areas all across the world to 1:50000 – you can find them here:

• http://loadmap.net./

DigiMap provides free OS mapping of the UK through the University of Bristol:

• https://digimap.edina.ac.uk/

Maps of Slovakia with useful route planning tools included!

• https://mapy.hiking.sk/

FATMAP has some higher resolution 3D maps of areas:

• https://fatmap.com/

Ideas & Information

SummitPost have tonnes of information on different mountain regions and specific routes. For example check out their section on the Karakoram:

• http://www.summitpost.org/the-karakoram/170996

PeakBagger and PeakWare both have huge resources and lists of mountains which can be categorised in various ways:

• http://peakware.com/areas.php
• http://www.peakbagger.com/ListIndx.aspx

Alpine clubs have their own lists of unclimbed mountains and plebof useful trip report info

• Alpine Club Himalayan Index – search by mountain group and it will tell you if there are reports of each mountain having been climbed or not: http://www.alpine-club.org.uk/hi/screen1.php
• Pamir Alpine Club trip reports (Tajikistan, Afghanistan): http://www.pamiralpineclub.org/resources/#trip-reports
• more unclimbed mountains http://www.adventureplaybook.com/the-5-tallest-unclimbed-mountains/
• And even more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unclimbed_mountains_of_Nepal
• Unclimbed Himalayan peaks http://peakware.com/highest.php?list=unclimbed

Cycling

Excellent bike-friendly route planning tool for long-distance cycle routes!

http://cycle.travel/