Thanks for visiting. 'gethigh.co.uk' is a small enterprise run by me, Garry Smith and aims to offer inspirational training and guided days out in the UK for climbers and mountain walkers of all abilities.

It's a little hard writing about yourself. Probably the best way to get a handle on what I'm about and what's on offer is to look around the site. But here goes anyway... my background - I'm a climbing instructor (MIC) and have been teaching for over 8 years. Just as important as being qualified, I'm an active climber with stacks of climbing experience, particularly in Scotland and Wales. My alpine mountaineering trips have included over 100 significant peaks in the Mt Blanc Massif, the Bernese Oberland, the Dolomites, the Valais, Bregaglia and the Dauphiné. Further afield I’ve climbed in the Southern Alps New Zealand, the Cordillera Blanca in Peru, the Central Andes in Chile, and on Mt Kenya. Outside of 'gethigh.co.uk' work experience includes a year at Plas-y-Brenin, the National Mountain Centre, through to teaching freelance on winter climbing courses for both Glenmore Lodge and Jagged Globe.

I provide coaching and instruction on a daily basis to help you start or improve your climbing or mountain walking. There's beginner's climbing days, summer and winter mountain skills instruction, right through to advanced training for experienced climbers. What's on offer is extremely flexible and personalised which kind of sets me apart from the competition. Everything possible (well okay, within reason) is done to make sure you have the best possible climbing or mountain experience ... after all, it's also your holiday time.

If what you're after is simply a good day's climbing, scrambling or mountain walking, without any teaching, well that's fine too. Guided climbing and mountain days can also be arranged on a daily basis. You can enjoy some of the classic routes of the area or with the help of local knowledge, discover great climbs in the wilder parts of Wales and Scotland.

Guided days out and instruction are normally arranged on request. They can be organised for yourself, with a friend, or as a group. To enquire about making a booking just get in touch with your preferred dates and we'll take it from there. There's further information on the bookings page and feel free to call or email with any questions or ideas you'd like to explore.

Basically, climbing and venturing into the hills is about having fun and staying safe in what could be a potentially dangerous environment. Spend time with us and you'll not only get memorable days out that challange and inspire, but also new skills and knowledge to help you play more safely in the mountains.

Occasionally, if you make a booking as a group, to keep teaching ratios low, I'll be joined by other instructors or guides. These are all well qualified, likeminded people who I know well.

I'm currently based in Dinorwig, North Wales. I built (with a bit of guidance from Andy and Irene, some very patient friends in New Zealand) and maintain this website myself. The domain name was a present from my girlfriend Tania. Every sensible name seemed to have already been registered but hey I like it so we'll stick with it for now. Any comments on the site would be massively welcome, particularly on how to improve it. You can click on any of the images to get a bigger picture and some background info.