Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i The Great Outdoors

FROM THE AGE OF THREE, Ana Norrie-Toch danced ballet and jazz, dance styles, which instilled in her a “hyper-awareness” of her body in an environment that kept Ana “disconnected” from herself. The constant presence of the mirror and the aesthetic expectation of dance was a far cry from her memories of “bounding about in the waves on the east coast” where she grew up. At 11, she experienced “smiles, sun and fearlessness” along the Aonach Eagach ridge with her brother, father and family friends. “I think the exposure to that landscape stayed in me, dormant, until I returned years later.” After a period of living in Amsterdam, return to Scotland Ana did. Thanks to one adventurous friend and the Cycle to Work scheme, Ana, who previously hadn’t owned a bike…

For many, Winter brings a chance to slow down: the call of the indoors. But for hillwalking snow-obsessives the memories of cold-weather adventures are enough to have us reaching for the crampons and ice axe with glee. Here are some reader recollections from last Winter……

As ‘bloated’ English National Parks Authorities are revealed to be ill-equipped to cope with funding cuts and the ongoing climate crisis, Dr Rose O’Neill calls for a reconnection to the radical roots set down 75 years ago when our parks were first founded and suggests how you can help our National Parks become places for the nation THE PUBLIC, demanding greater protection for nature and freedom to roam the countryside. A new Labour government, pledging to rebuild the country after years of adversity. I’m not talking about 2024 – I’m talking 75 years ago, and the founding of our National Parks. The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was passed in 1949. It was radical, and left a huge legacy – including the foundations of nature conservation and…

• Keep dogs on leads in the mountains. This is particularly important during the breeding season, which is roughly the end of March until the end of July. • Watch your feet when moving through ptarmigan habitat during the breeding season. The birds nest on open ground, and the eggs and chicks are extremely vulnerable. The female will often refuse to move even if you are approaching quickly. • If you come across a ptarmigan with chicks, back off immediately and give them space. • The adult may actively follow you, but keep walking and it will eventually leave you alone. • If you pitch a tent for a wild camp and become aware you are camping near a nest, be prepared to move. • If you would like to…

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Our walks this month 1 Beinn Mhor Outer Hebrides 9 Yarlside & Wandale Hill Yorkshire Dales 2 Bla Bheinn Isle of Skye 5 Ben Starav & Glas Beinn Mhor West Highlands 3 Beinn a’ Bhuird & Ben Avon Cairngorms 4 Beinn Dearg Cairngorms 6 Blease Fell Lake District 8 Great Ewe Fell Yorkshire Dales 7 Fairfield’s Third Horseshoe Lake District 10 Amberley & Burpham South Downs 10 varied routes in Scotland, England and Wales Despite the increasing scarcity of snow throughout our UK winters, most mountain lovers still dream of deep drifts of the stuff: how it throws the lines of a white-blanketed landscape into stark relief against a pure azure sky; the thrill of leaving the first footprint atop a silent summit; the novelty of packing SPF lip balm for…

37.5km/23.3 miles/2 days Ascent 1355m/4446ft THE CAIRNGORMS didn’t hold my attention when I first started hillwalking in Scotland. I was obsessed with Lochaber and Glen Coe, and the more rounded Cairngorms with their endless miles of heather just didn’t seem as appealing. However, they grow on you; over the last few years I’ve spent more time in this range than any other. I’d ticked off most of the major peaks in the northern and western Cairngorms. Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon, however – two sprawling, complex massifs north of Braemar – evaded me. Although it’s possible to do them in a (very big) day in Summer, in Winter it’s almost impossible without at least one wild camp. It was early Winter, and the first snows were on the ground…

12.4km/7.6 miles/3.5-4 hours Ascent 442m/1450ft SMOOTH, rounded ridges; steady inclines; no walls, fences, gates or stiles; minimal bog; only the occasional area of bracken. Isn’t this exactly what we want from our hills when we’ve only got a few hours to spare on a sunny but short December day? It’s exactly what I got last time I headed for the northern Howgills – all of that, as well as superb views and an uplifting sense of openness. The walk starts from the village of Tebay. (Anyone who knows their motorway service stations will know that means it’s quickly accessed from the M6.) Easy walking along a broad, grassy ridge leads south to the 474m top of Blease Fell. There’s nothing challenging here, nothing to break your stride; just savour the…

11.8km/7.4 miles/7 hours Ascent 858m/2814ft THE HOWGILL FELLS are a tight-knit huddle of hills clustered around the high point of The Calf. Most routes gravitate to this hypnotic hub, but there are five eastern outliers severed from the main grouping by the enduring and incising Borrowdale Beck, and the short-lived Cautley Holme Beck, which blunders into the Rawthey after its adrenaline fling from Cautley Crag. Three of the five break the 600m contour, and there are significant declines between these curvaceous cupolas – so prepare for more sweat than you might expect amidst these purportedly placid peaks. Effort expended is often increased with Winter’s snow, yet the unwary or overconfident might assume no significant difficulties will be encountered amongst the domes. But domes involve ever-increasing gradients, and you may be…

IN THIS ISSUE Meet some of the folk who made this mag… Dr Rose O’Neill is Chief Executive of Campaign for National Parks, the only independent charity dedicated to securing the future of National Parks in England and Wales. The mission is clear: the charity is here to unite, inspire and empower everyone to take action and enjoy wilder National Parks. In this issue, Rose responds to recent revelations that England’s National Park Authorities are ill-equipped and overseen by ‘bloated’, mostly white, male boards on page 18. James Roddie is a professional photographer based in Inverness, and a regular contributor to The Great Outdoors. He specialises in wildlife, landscape and adventure photography in the Scottish Highlands. He has just returned from a trip to the ‘Accursed Mountains’ of Albania, Montenegro and…

On 21 September 2024, 31-year-old Virginia-based ultrarunner and long-distance walker Tara Dower completed the Appalachian Trail in the fastest known time for a supported thru-hike. Otherwise known by her trail name, Candy Mama, Dower bested Belgian athlete Karel Sabbe’s 2018 record of 41 days, 7 hours, 39 minutes by over 13 hours. Opting for the southward approach to the East Coast trail, Dower repeated the motto “Every second counts” to keep her moving. She also credited her support crew for their help on the trek. 3+ MILLION VISITORS EACH YEAR Tara’s time 40 DAYS 18 HRS 05 MINS LEFT THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT KATAHDIN, THE TRAIL’S NORTHERN TERMINUS, AT 5:47AM ON AUGUST 12 ARRIVED AT SPRINGER MOUNTAIN, THE TRAIL’S SOUTHERN TERMINUS, AT 11:52PM ON SEPTEMBER 21 Averaged 54 miles a…

THEY’RE QUITE DIFFERENT to any other Welsh hills, these vast and sprawling heights between Dyffryn Ogwen and Nant Conwy. This is the largest block of land above 3000 feet south of the Cairngorms, and they share a remoteness and difficulties of approach. Start from Ogwen if you like, which I don’t, and trail up past Ffynnon Llugwy to reach the bwlch in an approach that occludes the grandeur of the Carneddau. I prefer the Bethesda rounds. Sadly, there’s no longer the lure of Geoff’s excellent beer in the Douglas Arms, smartly served without sloshing it down his military blazer. It’s up for sale at present. Perhaps a public-spirited reader of The Great Outdoors will buy it? Whoever does won’t profit from the paltry amounts I drink. Two pints of bitter…

“PULL HARDER! PULL HARDER!” The rope burns in my hands as my grip tightens. I look into my friend’s eyes. They are wide with determination, and she too refuses to let go. Snow is falling in big, chunky flakes, making it hard to navigate more than a few hundred yards. The ground beneath my ski boots is slippery and threatens to throw me off balance. “Don’t give up!” A voice cuts through the snowy haze. It is close yet muffled by the swirling wind. Someone cheers, but it is a lost cause. My team has no chance against Jen McKeown and her Vikings, and we tumble over the line like snowballs down a hill. We have lost, but it is just a game of tug-of-war. It’s 17 May, Norway’s national…

66 North launches clothing range for Winter Icelandic brand 66 North has released a new clothing collection called The Traveller that features insulated and shell garments in men’s and women’s sizes. The Kjolur is an unusual shirt-style down top filled with 800 fill power down. It has a stud fastened front opening and cuffs. The cost is £315. The Tröllaskagi shell jacket is made from Gore-Tex with a nylon shell fabric and a soft and quiet C-knit mesh inner. YKK Aquaguard zips are used for the hand and chest pockets, the front opening and the big armpit zips. The hood has a stiffened brim and is helmet-compatible. The cost is £485. RRP: from £315 66north.com Garmin announces inReach satellite communicator with photo and voice messaging The new inReach Messenger Plus…

15.6km/9.7 miles/6 hours Ascent 927m/3041ft ON A FIRST visit to the Outer Hebrides you might be forgiven for expecting a land of gentle undulations. There is that aplenty; but, from the boat, Lewis looks to have an agreeable gathering of mountains in its southern reaches. As the ferry heads on by, rolling islands tail into the Sea of the Hebrides. Amongst these isles, South Uist will lure those looking to gain some paltry altitude along a simple saunter. Admittedly, Winter can always deliver a challenge, but you may be forced to revise such casual opinions at any time of the year. Beinn Mhor is highest of a group of three at just 620m, and its whaleback profile hides a startling rocky arête. At least there is a path all the…

36.3km/22.6 miles/2 days Ascent 1060m/3478ft I HAVE A SOFT SPOT for bite-size winter backpacking adventures. Not as full-on or committing as a week of winter Munro-bagging, with all the uncertainty over weather and conditions that can entail, but something with two or three Munros and a wild camp you can slot into an appropriate weather window. The full Ring of Tarf is a massive and committing route taking in four Munros and vast distances of heather and bog. But leave the northerly two for another time, and plot a half-circuit from Old Bridge of Tilt over Carn a’ Chlamain and Beinn Dearg, and you have a route that’s feasible in two short winter days. The approach to the first Munro is straightforward, after which you have a few tricky kilometres…

10.5km/6.5 miles/4.5 hours Ascent 963m/3160ft THE FAIRFIELD HORSESHOE is nationally, even internationally, famous – so you might think that a hill is doing well to feature not one but two horseshoes. You probably know the second one too, looping around the Deepdale skyline from Arnison Crag to Hartsop above How. Is it overdoing it on Fairfield’s part to offer a third horseshoe? Like nutty chocolates at an embassy function, this hill really is spoiling us. Admittedly, this ‘other other’ horseshoe feels slightly less horseshoey than its more famous cousins, but makes a fine outing on its own merits. Essentially it makes a circuit of the Tongue Gill drainage basin from the pastures of Grasmere, and will add a couple of outlying Wainwrights to your tally if you’re keeping score of…

21.2km/13.3 miles/6 hours Ascent 383m/1257ft DESCRIBED as the ‘Pearl of Sussex’, Amberley is a picturesque village with many thatched cottages and a 12th-Century church and castle (now a hotel). Located at the foot of the South Downs on a low ridge above the River Arun floodplain (known as the Amberley Wild Brooks), it is duly popular with walkers with three long-distance paths, notably the South Downs Way, passing through it. The railway station, where this walk starts, is about a mile to the south, just above the river at Houghton Bridge and on the scenic Arun Valley line. Next door is the popular open-air Amberley Museum. From the station, the walk follows a fine stretch of the South Downs Way eastwards, then turns off to the south along downland tracks…

Writing in The Great Outdoors, Mary-Ann Ochota defended fundraising ravers who took the party to the summit of Ben Nevis for a good cause. Here’s what you had to say on the issue of music in mountains. Kat Ryan (@katmakestracks/Instagram) “Personally, I’m very sensitive to noise and the mountains are one of the few places I can go to escape it. I wouldn’t go up the Mountain Track fully expecting quiet but on the Ledge Route or Tower Ridge I might need it. Concentration there is pretty vital.” Robin Wallace (@walkwithwallace/Instagram) “It’s a great cause. As long as they leave no trace I don’t see a problem. Ben Nevis isn’t a mountain you climb for solitude.” Professor Emily Zobel Marshall (@profemilyzmarshall/Instagram) “I have been thinking about this a great deal…

• Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) are on the UK Red List of birds of high conservation concern • In the UK, ptarmigan are only found on the mountains of the Scottish Highlands. They mainly live above 700m altitude, but can be found at lower altitudes in some locations. • Ptarmigan are most commonly seen in boulder fields and on rocky hillsides. • They lay their eggs on open ground. • Their plumage changes with the seasons. In Summer they have a mottled grey or brown appearance. In Winter their feathers turn white. • Ptarmigan are a species of grouse. They are related to the red grouse, black grouse and capercaillie – all of which are also found in Scotland. • The ptarmigan’s genus name, Lagopus, is derived from the Ancient Greek…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Montane Terra Pants £100 380g (38in Short) comfort, durability, thigh vents, 3 leg lengths no women’s fit Materials: Tactel nylon with PFC-free DWR, Cordura rip-stop knees, seat and instep with PFC-free DWR Features: zipped, mesh-lined thigh vents; zip and press stud ankle adjustment Pockets: 2 zipped hand, 1 zipped rear Sizes: men: 28-40in, 3 leg lengths Women’s version: no montane.com Chris Townsend takes a fresh look at an updated classic The classic Terra Pants have been in Montane’s range for many years. They were updated in 2023 and I’ve been testing this new version, which has a PFC-free DWR and bluesign-approved and Oeko-Tex-certified fabric. As well as several shorter trips I’ve worn them on the Cape Wrath Trail, where they dealt with many days of wind and rain and…

8km/5 miles/5 hours Ascent 940m/3085ft SOARING ABOVE miles of rugged coastline, Skye’s mountains are a steep, mythical place. The island’s dramatic terrain offers unique winter walking, amidst a backdrop of coastal vistas. Bla Bheinn is the only Munro on the island that lies beyond the famous Cuillin Hills, thanks to the shifting of geological time. This short but steep, out-and-back walk begins beside Loch Slapin. Despite its intimidating appearance, the mountain proves to be a surprisingly achievable winter walking objective. From above a forested gorge and open slopes, the route leads into the peaceful surroundings of Fionna-choire. An unlikely ascent is then woven amidst vast buttresses of black gabbro and slicing gullies, towards the crest of Bla Bheinn’s east ridge. Once established on the east flank, the route-finding remains straightforward…

17.3km/10.8 miles/8 hours Ascent 1529m/5016ft BEN STARAV is a vast mountain deep in the Highlands to the south-west of Rannoch Moor. Its summit towers over the quiet end of Glen Etive and is the highest Munro for many miles. This long and committing ridge traverse links Ben Starav with the neighbouring Munro of Glas Bheinn Mhor and four subsidiary peaks. Given the route’s 1500 metres of ascent, strong fitness is a must. From the wooded banks of the River Etive, the route makes a long and steep ascent of Ben Starav’s sprawling north ridge. The top section of this is narrow and rocky, but the real crux awaits on the traverse towards Stob Coire Dheirg. Here, an exposed and rocky arête requires mild scrambling and sure-footedness. For a winter walker…

12.2km/7.6 miles/3.5-4 hours Ascent 284m/930ft NO MATTER WHAT time of year it is, it’s always a joy to wander under the big skies of the Westmorland Dales. Here, in the Cumbrian corner of the Yorkshire Dales, the calcareous grasslands offer a chance for striding out and basking in these quiet, expansive uplands. Here and there lie blocks of limestone pavement and, in between the low hills, secluded gills are hemmed in by the pale-grey scars of the Carboniferous rock. For a taste of both the hills and valleys of this area just to the west of Kirkby Stephen, this walk crosses Great Ewe Fell before dropping into the divine dale of Potts Valley. Here, the crystal-clear waters of Potts Beck flow through verdant pastures, towered over by impressive rock outcrops.…