About
David,
Le Belge Alpin.
Hike high, write true.
Summits, trails, and the time to tell them.
Where I start, where I go
Embourg, 3000 metres
Embourg, in the suburbs of Liège. An improbable starting point for someone in love with the high Alps, the nearest treeline is 800 km away. And yet this is where it all begins: the Caddy Yak packed, the road, a French valley at dawn, the first step on a trail that climbs.
The gap between a flat country and the 3000+ is not a handicap, it's a filter. You rarely get up there, so you get up there well prepared. You read the map three times instead of once. You check the weather the night before, in the morning, on arrival. Maybe that's the "Belgian alpine" approach: a rigour you owe to the distance.
Why this journal
The artisan counterweight
Industrial platforms (AllTrails, Visorando, Komoot) have their use. They index everything, serve GPX tracks, display elevation profiles. But they don't tell stories. They don't warn you that at the pass, the summer 2024 storm swept away a bridge. They don't explain why this "moderate" grading turns sharp with 10 cm of residual snow.
Hiking3000 is a journal. Every account is handwritten by someone who was really there, with their own photos, mistakes, doubts, moments of grace. Safety pedagogy isn't a small-print legal disclaimer: it's woven into the narrative, because when the mountain reminds you of its rules, it reminds you loudly.
This site speaks to experienced hikers and beginners alike. No elitism ("real mountains start at 3500"), no hand-holding ("never leave without a professional"). Same standard for everyone: know what you're doing, know why.
Credentials
Mountains in practice
Most of the time, I hike solo. Not on principle, simply because the mountain is lived well alone when you know what you're doing, and matching calendars complicates everything. One or two weeks a year, I meet a friend for a series of outings together, the contrast is precious, but the backbone stays solitary.
Technical level: confirmed hiker on the FFRandonnée scale, with a regular foot in via ferrata and committed terrain. I go on E4/T3 without crampons, E5/T4 with them (occasional snowfield or steep scree), and some outings require belay gear. Hiking3000 doesn't publish alpinism topos or rock-climbing routes: that's not the site's remit. Accounts stay within the scope of committed alpine hiking, and when a trip involves real engagement (exposure, specific gear required), it's clearly flagged on the page, not hidden under the rug.
Going solo imposes extra discipline: no second brain to double-check the weather, no partner to say no at the wrong moment. Preparation replaces that voice. This is why safety pedagogy is baked into every account: ratings, mountain weather, gear. If you're starting out, these sections are your entry point before reading the first account.
Beyond the trail
Caddy Yak, climbing, alpinism, via ferrata
The Caddy Yak
My Volkswagen Caddy, hand-converted in light wood, spartan and sufficient. It's more than a van: it's the tool that turns a mountain craving into an actual departure. Sleeping on site the night before, leaving at dawn, staying an extra day if conditions earn it. The rigidity of valley hotels can't compete with that autonomy.
Rock climbing
I climbed a lot when I was younger, and still do easy routes from time to time. Over the years, I've grown slightly wary of exposure on big wall climbs, which is strange since it doesn't bother me on via ferrata or airy ridge hikes where I handle it well. Rock contact stays essential: lying against it for hours, a book or music playing, is one of the real joys of the mountain.
Alpinism
I practised, then paused, and I'm slowly picking it back up over the last two years. It's what I chase through technical hiking: getting as close as possible to alpinism without taking too much risk, and without the gear and financial commitment that committed alpinism demands. Ice and snow speak to me more than many other terrains.
Via ferrata
Pivot activity when the weather shuts down the hiking option. Belgium packs a remarkable concentration: Marche-les-Dames, Pont-à-Lesse, Fond des Cris, Adventure Valley Durbuy. The great Italian vie come during alpine weeks.
On video
The Le Belge Alpin YouTube channel
The YouTube channel documents what words can't: the sound of a windswept ridge, the shifting light on a snowfield, the slow rhythm of a valley waking up. The journal tells, the video shows.
Both formats are complementary. You'll sometimes find a video embedded in an article, not systematically, because not every account lends itself to the camera.
Working together
Collaborations and contact
Journalists, media, tourism offices, alpine clubs, outdoor brands: if your subject overlaps mine and is treated seriously, I'm open to a conversation. No partnerships disguised as "organic" articles, no promo codes shoehorned into content. Full transparency on what I receive, if I receive anything. That's the condition for the journal to stay honest.
Readers who want to support the project without going through advertising can do so via Tipeee. It pays the Scaleway bills, the coffee on the way home, and the next Caddy upgrade.
"The Belgian who climbs to 3000.
And comes down to write it."
- Journal signature