The Great Outdoors October 2022

ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, my friend Tom asked me if I’d like to run the Edinburgh marathon. He was an inexperienced runner with no idea of what a marathon actually entailed. As was I. So I agreed – not because I knew how difficult it would be, but because I didn’t. I do a lot of hillwalking, I reasoned; I’m fairly fit. How hard can it be? Very hard, it turned out (who knew?!); but I somehow made it through in 3 hours and 52 minutes, at the minor cost of hardly being able to walk for a week. Tom then moved to China, and became an ultrarunner, recently running 100 miles across the precipitous mountains to the west of Beijing (see tinyurl.com/TomChina). Last weekend, I saw Tom again for the first…

Lucy Wallace It’s been a busy season for Mountain Leader and regular The Great Outdoors contributor Lucy at home on the Isle of Arran, working solid days in the hills with young people on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and on wildlife and conservation residentials. With the weather veering from biblical to tropical, there’s never been a dull moment. But there has been plenty of scope to test women’s waterproof jackets – read her verdict on p90. David Lintern The Great Outdoors contributing editor David’s return to international travel this year was to Sweden, alongside Mark Waring and packrafting pal Debra, on a ten day expedition to paddle the wild river Kaitum in Arctic Lapland. David’s photos accompany Mark’s words on the trip on p64, plus Richard Hartfield’s trip across the Cairngorms at the…

“The ‘Great Ridge’ separates Edale from neighbouring Hope Valley in the High Peak area of Derbyshire. It is a short but classic Peak District walk stretching from Mam Tor in the east to Lose Hill in the west. “Mam Tor literally means ‘Mother Hill’ but is also nicknamed ‘The Shivering Mountain’ owing to numerous landslips that occur along its eastern face due to unstable layers of shale. “There is surely no finer time to walk this route than at dawn during the transition from summer to autumn, when moist katabatic winds often create a temperature inversion in the Hope Valley, producing a blanket of low-lying mist and fog. “My image shows the paved path leading from Mam Tor as it climbs towards Back Tor and Lose Hill. Then, in the far distance, the…

KATIE TUNN seeks to capture the beauty of our wild coastal spaces within the confines of circular canvases using ink, paint, ocean spray and found objects from the sea where she lives on Skye. Her ‘Blue Planets’ collection reconstructs moments of connection with the landscape, recalling nebulous starry skies, stormy seas and crystal-clear bathing pools using countless blue hues. Katie grew up inland but developed a curiosity for the world’s oceans and the creatures that dwell within. In adulthood, she began to comprehend the threat to our waters. She devoted time to marine conservation whilst in London, but yearned for the sea. The artist told TGO, “We forget that we impact the oceans even when we can’t see them or live far from the coast.” Seeking adventure and purpose, she moved to…

After a summer of wild camping adventures, we take a look back at reader responses to Chris Townsend’s defence of wild camping in Dartmoor – and everywhere else. In his article, Chris responded as a landowner tried to get wild camping banned on Dartmoor. He argues that this integral part of hillwalking and mountaineering, aligned with Leave No Trace values, must be supported. Let’s hear our readers’ perspectives… Nick Lord (@NickLord57, Twitter) “On Kinder, I pick up over two bags of rubbish every day. I’ve lived and worked as a mountain instructor here for many years and the last few years have seen a massive increase in rubbish left on the moors. I’ve filled bags with BBQs, bottles, nappies, used toilet paper, three tents and two chairs.” Peter Judd (@aimhigh09, Twitter) “Heartily recommend this…

Share your views, your experiences and your favourite photos tgo.ed@kelsey.co.uk Postal address The Editor, The Great Outdoors, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL. Please include a phone number and postal address. Death of glaciers: a wake-up call On my first visits to the Alps in the 1970s, I remember being awestruck by the scale and beauty of the glaciated higher echelons of the mountains. The enormous glaciers like those of the Valle Blanche and the Mer de Glace were what put the mountains into a different ‘category’ to the more humble hills of home. Not only did they make climbs technically more challenging, they symbolised a wild world that seemed to exist above and beyond human concerns – a promise of wildness that I assumed would…