Meet the Ambassador: Hamish Frost
We've recently launched our Supported by Tiso scheme, so what better time to meet our ambassadors? We chat to adventure photographer Hamish Frost.
Right now I live in Glasgow, but I grew up in Cambridge. I moved up here around nine years ago to study at university. Cambridge is pretty flat, Scotland largely isn’t, and on that basis I decided to stay put here. Living in Glasgow is great as you get to be in a buzzing, fast-paced city yet can escape to the Highlands in just over an hour – it really is the best of both worlds! I have some big plans and changes in my life coming up in the next month or so, however for the time being I’m keeping them close to my chest – follow my Facebook page to watch this space!
My early experiences of the outdoors have helped define me as a person. As a teenager, I was in the Scouts and my school Cadet force, and remember weekend-long trips to Snowdonia and the Lakes, taking part in multi-day orienteering competitions and learning to climb. Eventually these trips led to expeditions between the ages of 16 and 18 to Ecuador, the Indian Himalayas and my first climbing trip to the Alps. These were incredible opportunities and experiences to have at a young age, and I’m extremely grateful for them. They’ve brought me to where I am now.
My journey as a photographer started out on my phone. For the first five years I was in Scotland, I actually didn’t get out in the hills much. I was caught up with most of my time playing other sports and enjoying myself too much at university. It was only a few years ago that I started making the effort to get out again and almost immediately I was completely blown away by the mountains we have in Scotland. So I’d take photos and share them on Instagram, trying to inspire mates to get outside and have similar adventures themselves. But it’s grown into far more than that. I want to try and put Scotland on the map as a world-class steep skiing and ski touring destination. That’s why my skiing photography has been my main focus lately.
We’ve got terrain in Scotland that can rival the very best. My ideal day would be spent skiing the steeper lines in Scotland, in spring preferably, when the weather is more amenable and the snow conditions more stable. I’d start early (so that you take in the sunrise during the ascent or on the summit), get in some technical sections to add interest to the ascent (be it a scramble, some exposure or a few pitches of climbing) and most importantly of all, there’s got to be good company!
Kit-wise, there’s a few things I always take. First off – on the safety front – I always carry my avalanche rescue kit for ski days: transceiver, shovel and probe. Make sure the probe has batteries and you know how to use it too! Second, my Rab Infinity Jacket always goes in the bottom of my bag. It’s something that I don’t often end up needing to use, however the times I do (be it out on a winter camp or waiting at the top of a gully line for weather to improve) it’s absolutely invaluable. Thirdly, dry bags. Camera kit doesn’t tend to like getting wet so I always keep a few to hand to chuck equipment in when the weather turns for the worse (so in Scotland that’s pretty often!)
I guess I see myself as a jack of all trades (and master of none!). During the winter I’m out skiing and winter climbing, whilst during the summer I’m hill running, climbing and recently I’ve even been trying my hand at mountain biking. I’ve deliberately tried to make myself versatile, as I really like the idea of packing up a car with kit and equipment to cover every eventuality and disappearing for the weekend, totally prepared for anything. Mountains can be inherently intimidating environments but they’re also some of the most incredible and awe-inspiring places on earth. The idea of being able to navigate them and climb them safely and without incident... that’s the ultimate reward for me.
