UKH

Quick straw poll, given current travel limitations and beautiful mountain conditions. If you are not lucky enough to live within walking distance of crisp snowy hills, do other people's photos of them help you through the dark lowland lockdown days? Or do they frustrate you and make the time even harder, because you can't go there yourself? 

I guess for me it depends on what mood I'm in, whether I enjoy the latest views across the Ben or down the Coe, but I am within range of some small but well featured hills.

My partner is more the photographer, and she worries whether or not to post her favorite new shots. Are they welcome glimpses of freedom or tortuous teases?

I don't live anywhere near the Himalaya, but I still love seeing photos of the high mountains.

I don't mean that in an argumentative sense; I just mean that if one can't be in the mountain environment, being able to immerse oneself in it vicariously is a much better substitute for me than pretending they don't exist. I love seeing mountains, hearing about mountains and seeing what people are up to in the mountains. Wherever in the world they are, however close or far away they are and however fine the conditions are that I'm missing out on.

More photos please.

Seeing the reports coming from the Lake District at the moment is killing me.

Me too, but at least seeing them gives me the belief that good winter conditions do still form in the Lakes some years.

Depends.

Posting old pics, stuff from people lucky enough to live up north or whatever- Therapy

Ignoring all the Scottish travel guidance and not being bright enough to keep it to yourself rather than spraying it all over social meeja- Beyond infuriating. 

It could be torture, but thankfully I'm not compelled to look at photos online.

Can we have "Torture - show me more [X]" please?

Same here. Ralf Dujmovits' viral picture of the 2012 Everest queues popped up on my screensaver yesterday. Seemed strangely appropriate somehow.

As Eminem said : "I like the way it hurts"

I did think about not posting my most recent Snowy pictures from Wales but generally on other social media the response has been positive, I do understand that on here rather than general social media there is a greater feeling of being deprived if you’ve got a cupboard full of winter gear and winter guides on the book shelves😕

I know my most recent photos have had a number of 1* votes, probably a vote of frustration. For me the act of photography and the sorting and ultimately the sharing online and in print is part of my therapy for getting through this and is a ray of hope in moving forward as a semi professional photographer, when my other careers have hit a brick wall with covid, it’s  certainly in no way about sticking two fingers up to those who can’t access the hills and I have the greatest sympathy for those who can’t. I’m still looking at pictures of Scotland, Alps and Dolomites even though I’m unlikely to get there any time soon.

*no guidance or laws were broken to get these photos.

It is a bit of torture, but that's compensated for the fact that we have no restrictions other than travel here.  I like mountain pics and will never be able to go to them enough so they're always welcome.

just looked at the Oggicam https://ogwen-rescue.org.uk/webcams/. I could weep.

I'm thinking of the 100,000 people with a lot sadder things to weep about. Mountains don't go away. They don't die like people.

So am I Gordon, that's why I'm sat indoors, abiding by the guidelines, looking at the Oggicam. Doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Yes, indeed. I'm fearful it's going to go on for quite a long time yet.

Therapeutic torture.

Why do the posters feel the need to rub other folks' faces in it? They're lucky enough to be able to (legitimately I hope) get out in the snowy hills right now but the apparent lack of empathy with others less fortunate is verging on contempt in my view.

On my lockdown walk yesterday I could occasionally see the distant Lakes fells in all their sunlit snowy glory while I trudged around muddy fields and tarmac lanes under grey skies. By contrast to the city-bound I'm living the dream.

The pain is short lived and transient, the planning and future excitement they provide is timeless...

Same here, so I couldn't answer.  It's both, sometimes more one than the other.

Edit:  Oh, hang on..  apparently your poll lets me vote for both, ok then I'll do that.