The Great Outdoors September 2022

UNTIL THE WEEK I am writing this, there were only two places I have ever experienced temperatures at or close to 40 degrees C. The first was Melbourne, Australia. The second was the Jordan Valley, in occupied Palestine. To this small list I can now add the place where I grew up and now reside – the town of Otley, West Yorkshire. The first occasion was on a notoriously sun-baked, increasingly wildfire-ravaged continent. The second was about 400 metres below sea level in a geological depression in the heart of the Middle East. As for the third? Despite what some of the older folk might tell you (“I lived through 1976!”), this was not remotely normal: the local record of 39˚C beat the previous one by an entire 4.6 degrees. This…

Emma Schroeder First-time contributor Emma is on a mega walk – wild camping, wild swimming and wild garlic munching her way around the entire coast of Britain, yet only rarely getting lost. Read more of her adventures at mylegshurt.co.uk or see her tackle dodgy river crossings and even stumble across a bay full of seals on Insta (also mylegshurt.co.uk). Her legs are a bit better now, by the way; after 3700 miles they’re toughening up. James Roddie James is a professional photographer based near Inverness, and a regular contributor to The Great Outdoors. He’s been trying to make the most of the summer by wild camping as much as possible, with a recent camp above a cloud inversion in Knoydart a highlight. He has a backpacking trip in the Swiss Alps coming up…

“After a windy night on the flanks of Great End, overlooking the Sty Head Pass, I poked my head out of my tent at about 4.40am. To both my excitement and dismay – I am not much of a ‘morning person’ – the dawn was worth getting up for. “I crawled out of the tent and watched the sunrise unfold, with delicate light illuminating the flanks of Great Gable and blurring the hills around Derwent Water into a wistful, honey-coloured haze. Within 20 minutes or so the light was gone, giving way to an average overcast day.”…

WHERE ADVENTURE and social issues meet, you’ll find Rachel Sarah. Rachel is as comfortable danging from a crag with her camera in hand as she is filming in icy water. Whilst long-distance travel doesn’t sit well with her environmental values, she’s grateful her work has taken her to Chamonix, Argentina and Turkey – although she spends so much time in the Highlands people often think she lives there. (“Maybe one day!”) Despite the geographic range of her camera lens, there’s a common thread linking this “opinionated” creator’s projects. Rachel enjoys challenging world views through her camerawork. It speaks of the human experience and how nature soothes the journey. During personal mental health challenges, she wishes she’d seen more films to relate to. She now amplifies authentic voices tackling subjects such as…

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. A satisfied customer The August issue of The Great Outdoors saw us launch a new look for our front cover. Many thanks for Colin Fraser for these kind words. I’m just writing in to say how much I love the look and feel of this month’s The Great Outdoors. I really think it’s one of the best magazines of its kind, but you’ve taken it up another notch. The content is consistently high too. I’m only halfway through this month’s edition, but I had to stop to email you. Well done to everyone involved. Rosie and Sophie’s Lake District adventure Two young friends have proven that adventure is…

FOR SOME TIME NOW, mountaineers have been sounding the alarm about the threat of climate change to those who walk and climb in the high mountains. Serious rock falls are becoming more common as permafrost melts: collapsing rock faces have destroyed famous Alpine climbs such as the Lepiney and Les Untouchables in recent years, and 93 of the routes in Gaston Rebuffat’s classic book Mont Blanc Massif: The 100 Finest Routes have been affected by climate change. Just as this issue was going to press, Alpine mountain guide associations decided to stop guiding clients on classic routes in a host of regions, including Chamonix, Courmayeur, Cervinia, Lauterbrunne and Grindelwald. Last month, the Dolomites witnessed the most serious climate-linked mountaineering accident in recent years. Eleven people were killed when a glacier on…