ESCAPISM & INSPIRATION

I never thought I’d have to write a Trail welcome message like this one, when mountains and the very essence of adventure have probably never felt further away for any of us. At the time of writing we’re just over a week into COVID-19 lockdown, limited to one form of outdoor exercise per day, unsure of what even the next hour may bring in a fast-changing global crisis. The content of this issue was planned, walked and photographed long before coronavirus came anywhere near the UK, but by the time we finished it we were all shut away in our own homes with babies and pets climbing all over us, staring at the pictures on these pages and wondering when we’d see our favourite mountains for real again. But that’s the key thing to remember – we can still use mountains as forms of inspiration and escapism, to fuel our dreams of future adventure. My wonderful team and our many great contributors will keep writing Trail and making magazines with the sole aim of filling your heads with so many ideas for great mountain trips that you’ll come out of this awful period with a lifelong bucket list of peaks to escape to. Every article, photograph, map, route and gear review we publish over the coming months will be designed as an antidote to the sense of isolation and confinement so many of you are feeling right now. We’ll keep offering you a window into the mountains, to remind you they’re still there waiting for you when all this is over. And hopefully we’ll see you out there when it is. Oli Reed, editor (Twitter @the_outdoordad)