READER AWARDS 2021: THE COMPLETE SHORTLISTS
Walkers’ pub of the year
Your favourite place for a post-walk pint or quality pub grub
• Bear Hotel, Crickhowell
• The Blue Lion, Cynwyd
• Britannia Inn, Elterwater
• Clachaig Inn, Glencoe
• Golden Rule, Ambleside
• The Farmers Arms, Muker
• The Grouse Inn, Carrog
• Mhor 84, Balquhidder
• The Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore
• The Sloop Inn, Porthgain
Walkers’ café or restaurant of the year
Anywhere with sit-down dining, from chippies upwards
• Alpine Coffee Shop, Betws-y-Coed
• Bog Cotton Cafe, Cannich
• Chesters by the River, Skelwith Bridge
• Helvellyn Country Kitchen, Glenridding
• Moel Siabod Café, Capel Curig
• Penny Pot Café, Edale
• Pete’s Eats, Llanberis
• The Pine Marten Bar + Scran, Glenmore
• Shieldaig Bar and Coastal Kitchen, Shieldaig
• Yum Yums, Corwen
Hostel or bunkhouse of the year Casual accommodation catering for muddy boots
• All Stretton Bunkhouse, All Stretton
• Elterwater Independent Hostel, Elterwater
• Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, Corrour
• Newtonmore Hostel, Newtonmore
• Torridon Youth Hostel, Torridon
• YHA Helvellyn, Glenridding
• YHA Snowdon Pen-y-Pass, Nantgwynant
• YHA Wye Valley, Ross-on-Wye
• The Rocks at Plas Curig, Capel Curig
• The Star Bunkhouse, Bwlch
Campsite of the year
Celebrate excellent locations, friendly staff and great facilities
• Camping in Llanberis, Llanberis
• Great Langdale Campsite, Great Langdale
• Gwithian Farm Campsite, Hayle
• North Lees Campsite, Hathersage
• Rynys Farm Campsite, Betws-y-Coed
• Salen Bay Campsite, Isle of Mull
• Sands Caravan & Camping, Gairloch
• Shieldaig Camping and Cabins, Shieldaig
• Small Batch Campsite, Little Stretton
• Station Campsite, Carrog
• Stonethwaite Farm Camping, Borrowdale
Walkers’ app of the year
Anything you use on your mobile device to aid your outdoor adventures
• AllTrails
• Be Avalanche Aware
• Hiiker: Long-Distance Trails
• Hill Lists
• Komoot
• OS Maps
• Outdooractive
• OutDoors GPS
• Relive
• Topo GPS
Outdoor personality of the year
Who has inspired you in 2021?
• Belinda Kirk, for her work bringing out the importance of adventure to mental health
• Chris Packham, conservationist and presenter
• Dwayne Fields, presenter, adventurer and naturalist
• Iain Cameron, snow-patch researcher
• Impala on trail, long-distance hiker
• Laura Kennington, for her #Park2Park challenge visiting all 15 of the UK’s national parks
• Glyn Dodwell, Hillwalking for the Over 60s
• Hazel Strachan, for showing that women over 50 can do great things in the Scottish hills
• Mary-Ann Ochota, anthropologist, broadcaster and advocate for wild places
• Mel Nicholls, currently riding her handcycle around the coast of Britain
• Mohammed Dhalech, for championing diversity and inclusion in the outdoors
• Russ Moorhouse, for his mission to sleep on top of all 214 Wainwrights, raising money for MQ Mental Health Research
• Will Renwick, for successfully running
189 peaks in Wales and raising over
£12,000 for Mind Over Mountains
Outdoor book or writer of the year Guidebooks, memoirs, novels, photographic books and more
• Adventure Revolution, Belinda Kirk
• Coasting: Running Around The Coast of Britain, Elise Downing
• The Farthest Shore, Alex Roddie
• The Fox of Glencoe, Hamish MacInnes
• I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain, Anita Sethi
• The Mountain Path, Paul Pritchard
• Three Stripes South, Bex Band
• The Vanishing Ice, Iain Cameron
• The Wild Silence, Raynor Winn
• Wild Winter, John D Burns
Outdoor film or filmmaker of the year On the big screen or on YouTube, outdoor films help us connect with the great outdoors even when we can’t be there ourselves
• Andrew O’Donnell, ‘Beluga Lagoon’, wildlife and nature films
• The Alpinist, directed by Peter Mortimer
• JB Mountain Skills (YouTube channel)
• The Last Mountain, directed by Chris Terrill
• The Last Wilderness of Scotland, Jamie Barnes
• Life of a Mountain: A Year on Helvellyn, directed by Terry Abraham
• Murray Wilkie, ‘Scotland’s Mountains’
(YouTube channel)
• Robin Wallace, ‘Walk With Wallace’
(YouTube channel)
• Summit Fever Media, film production company
• Zeyn Lambat, filmmaker
Campaigner of the year
Inspiring campaigns that matter to walkers on access, conservation, and environment
• 3 Dads Walking, campaign raising awareness of suicide
• Campaign for National Parks, campaign
• Guy Shrubsole, conservation and rewilding campaigner
• Joe’s Giants, a free mental health service campaigning for how the outdoors can improve mental health and well-being
• Keep the Ban, campaign against fox hunting
• Amy and Ella Meek, Kids Against Plastic, environmental campaigners
• The Lakes Plastic Collective, anti-litter campaign
• Dr Mya-Rose Craig, ‘Birdgirl’, wildlife activist
• Dr Ruth Tingay, Raptor Persecution Scotland, wildlife campaigner
• SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, conservation and rewilding charity
The Open Outdoors award
Recognising individuals or groups who have inspired people to head into the outdoors, widened participation, improved outdoor education, or encouraged diversity
• BBC Radio Scotland Out of Doors, for bringing the beauty of Scotland’s landscape to all
• Black Dog Outdoors, promoting mental health through outdoor sport and recreation
• Black Girls Hike, providing a safe space for Black women to explore the outdoors
• Corwen Walking Festival, for encouraging countless people to get out walking
• GetOutside, helping more people to get outside more often
• Haroon Mota, for being a role model for underrepresented communities and for setting up Muslim Hikers
• Mind Over Mountains, a mental health charity offering support through the outdoors
• Rehna Yaseen, for being a great role model and creating opportunities for young people from minority communities to access the outdoors.
• The Scout Movement, for helping young people to access the outdoors throughout the pandemic
• Tom Tindale, Shieldaig Outdoor Adventures, for running adventure days for local primary schools and helping people with disabilities to access the outdoors
The Extra Mile award
Outstanding voluntary effort helps make a real difference to our experience in the outdoors. The Extra Mile award encompasses rangers, Mountain Rescue teams and personnel, and anyone else who volunteers their time for the benefit of the countryside and other walkers
• Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team: “Heroes who have supported so many events and responded to incidents.”
• Caru Eryri: “A group of over 100 volunteers organised by the Snowdonia National Park
Authority and Snowdonia Society who engaged with visitors & lifted over 700kg of litter from the national park in about 10 locations every Wednesday, Friday & every weekend from April to September.”
• Chris Lewis, Mountain Rescue volunteer: “Poor Chris had a serious fall whilst on a winter call-out during lockdown. He is the mark of why mountain rescue volunteers are heroes.”
• Edale Mountain Rescue Team: “They are always happy to help someone without judging.”
• Fix the Fells: “They work so hard in all weather to preserve what we, through our use, are helping to damage. Where would be without them?”
• Lindsay Buck: “The ‘Wasdale Womble’ deserves to be nominated for her tireless efforts in keeping Scafell Pike clean of rubbish.”
• Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team: “They get a lot of call-outs and always treat the public with patience.”
• Mountain Rescue England and Wales: “
For having to put up with so much this year!”
Independent retailer of the year Retailers who operate independently, with five or fewer stores
• Arran Active, Arran
• Braemar Mountain Sports, Braemar
• Camping Travel Store, Melbourn, Herts
• Catstycam, Glenridding
• The Outdoor Depot, Church Stretton
• Outside, Hathersage
• The Mountaineer Shop, Grassington
• Needle Sports, Keswick
• Trekitt, Hereford
Chain retailer of the year
Outdoor retailers with six or more stores
• Cotswold Outdoor
• Ellis Brigham
• Go Outdoors
• Millets
• Mountain Warehouse
• Rohan
• Tiso
Online retailer of the year
Your favourite places to buy gear, maps and books online
• alpinetrek.co.uk
• alpkit.com
• dash4it.co.uk
• facewest.co.uk
• shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
• sportpursuit.com
• sportsshoes.com
• ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk
• valleyandpeak.co.uk
• webtogs.com
Outdoor clothing or equipment brand of the year
Gear brands with consistently high-quality, good-value kit or with commendable customer service
• BAM
• Dirtbags Climbing
• Fjällräven
• Grangers
• Jöttnar
• Montane
• NEMO Equipment
• Páramo
• Patagonia
• Rab
• Salewa
• Sierra Designs
“IT FELT LIKE COMING HOME”: Brits return to the Alps for winter adventures
SNOWY ADVENTURES IN THE ALPS are back on the cards for Brits this winter, after a hiatus last year. The coronavirus pandemic put paid to the ski and mountaineering season in 2020/21, effectively barring British snow enthusiasts from Europe’s high peaks. But, thanks to the easing of travel restrictions and ending of lockdowns this year, Alpine adventures are once again within reach. Are you tempted?
Whether you’re into ski touring, ice climbing, winter trekking or bagging 4000ers, returning to Europe’s most iconic mountain range is likely to deliver the tantalising sense of adventure and exploration we’ve all craved during recent times. That’s exactly how it felt for Alex Foxfield, an outdoor writer from Bristol who recently spent a week in Chamonix exploring the Mont Blanc massif.
He told The Great Outdoors: “Seeing the white giants and preposterously sharp aiguilles come into view, after so long without the ‘big mountains’, was tremendously exciting. The pandemic has reminded us how special days like these in the Alps are – we should make the most of our wild places and not take them for granted.”
Jessie Leong, a photographer from Sheffield and a regular TGO contributor, had a similar experience to Alex during her recent trip to the Swiss Alps to tackle a traverse of the Breithorn (4164m) and Pollux (4092m). She said: “For me, returning to the Alps felt like coming home. Being able to see the mountains up close – the menacing hanging seracs and soaring gendarme rocky towers – was a real thrill. Being in the ever-changing, perilous Alpine environment was rather intimidating too. With fluctuations in temperatures, the crevasses were more filled in than normal; but it was still precarious and we were always conscious of the effects of glacial retreat.”
Many thousands of British tourists are expected to follow in Alex’s and Jessie’s footsteps this season to experience the Alpine snow. Tourist bodies from across France, Switzerland and Italy are reporting strong demand, with any residual pandemic concerns failing to dampen the urge to travel; and certainly everyone seems to be hoping for a vibrant, successful season.
You don’t have to fly either, with trains a viable option to many parts of the Alps. If you do decide to enjoy a getaway this winter – or further ahead – here are three adventure ideas to help with your planning...
1. Ski touring in Verbier, Switzerland
Verbier is best-known for its fusion of glamorous après-ski with high-octane, sporty adventure. But, in recent years, a new discipline has experienced a popularity boom – ski touring. It involves strapping grippy ‘skins’ to your skis and slowly travelling uphill, step-by-step, into the wild backcountry. The Swiss resort has numerous hut-to-hut itineraries and day routes, including the popular Les Ruinettes to Cabane Mont-Fort trail. More information: verbier.ch
2. Hiking in the Austrian Tirol New for 2022, the Austrian village of Kartitsch in East Tirol is hosting a new festival: the European Winter Walking Days from March 10-13. Guests can sign up to a selection of walks, such as the Dorfberg mountain, which will be led by official hiking guides.
The tours are offered in German, English and Italian, and packages cost from €165 / £140pp including three nights’ accommodation, shuttle services and the guided hikes. More information: tyrol.com
3. Climbing Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps
The towering, snow-capped dome of Mont Blanc is an iconic sight in the Alps – and reaching its 4809m summit is high on the bucket list of many mountaineering enthusiasts. With a climbing guide, this objective is within reach for most fit hillwalkers with an intrepid spirit. The most common route through the Aiguille du Goûter is not excessively technical, yet will give you a taste of ‘real’ mountaineering. The main window for Mont Blanc ascents is June-September, so this is more one to aim for in the future, perhaps with some UK-based training this winter. For more guidance, check out the feature on climbing Mont Blanc as a hillwalker in our free winter skills guide, bagged exclusively with this issue of TGO.