Features

Review: Downhill from Here – Running from John O’Groats to Land’s End, by Gavin Boyter
Gavin Boyter's 'Long Run' down the length of Britain got off on the wrong foot and the threat of disaster was never far away for the whole trip.
Dismantle current governing structure of BMC, review body says
Seven months ago, 170 or so members of the British Mountaineering Council crowded into a meeting room at the National Mountain Centre at Plas y Brenin in north Wales.
Kendal Mountain Festival: the land of white waterproofs and false moustaches
For many years I didn’t get mountain festivals. Why travel to a town surrounded by enticing hills and sit in a darkened room watching celluloid t...

The death of mountaineering? One climber's view of the recent British Mountaineering Council turmoil
In April 2017, a group of members of the British Mountaineering Council, the representative organisation for climbers, mountaineers and hillwalkers in England and Wales, tabled a motion of no confidence in its executive committee.
Review: Camra’s Wild Pub Walks by Daniel Neilson
There has long been an affinity between the hillwalker and the pub. What better way to round off a hard day on the fells than a couple of pints in a w...
Adventurer Paul Rose reveals his 'beautiful secret' Yorkshire Wolds Way in BBC show
He has been attacked by a polar bear; had an Antarctic peak named after him and spends much of his life diving below remote ocean waters, but adventurer Paul Rose has found himself hooked on a little visited walking route in northern England.

BMC president Rehan Siddiqui drops bomshell decision on members at annual meeting
The sun shone brightly on the Snowdonia mountains surrounding the national mountain sports centre at Plas y Brenin, but inside a packed meeting room the atmosphere threatened to be stormy.
Review: Annandale Way, by Roger Turnbull and Jacquetta Megarry
This latest addition to Rucksack Readers’ range is a guide to this gentle trail, which leads walkers from a river’s source to its meeting with the sea.
The outdoors in 2016: take a look back at a year of amazing events
The year 2016 was a momentous one for world events, with political upheavals, continuing conflicts and uncertainty characterising a period of historic happenings that upset many established institutions.
The great big grough guide to Christmas gifts for your outdoor fan
Christmas is fast approaching and the outdoor enthusiast’s thoughts might well be turning to those little gadgets and gear that may enhance his or her excursions into the hills and countryside of the UK and farther afield.

Film review: Bonington – Mountaineer
As Sir Chris Bonington ‘creaks’ along in his eighth decade, this film by Keith Partridge and Brian Hall offers not just a retrospective on a long career but also on an era of mountaineering that is unlikely ever to be seen again.
Film review: Alan Hinkes – the First Briton to Climb the World’s Highest Mountains, by Terry Abraham
Ask a member of the general public to name a famous British mountaineer and chances are the answer won’t be Alan Hinkes.
In search of the holy grail in a snow globe with Montane's Icarus jacket and PrimaLoft ThermoPlume
It’s a cool, breezy day on Tyneside and on Newcastle’s Exhibition Park’s lake the resident swans are doing what swans do: swimming around with a passing glower at the gathering of visitors on its shores.

Review: The Top 500 Summits, by Barry K Smith
The number of hill lists seems to grow every year. Here’s another. It’s actually surprising that no-one has come up with this particular one be...
Review: There is no Map in Hell, by Steve Birkinshaw
When Alfred Wainwright began writing his celebrated series of Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, little could he have imagined that, 31 years later, the mountains he described would become the subject of one of the toughest running challenges in Britain.
Blue-light callout interrupts training as Calder Valley rescuers hone their skills
The radio hisses into life: “Be prepared for a live rescue. Stand by.” Within seconds, men and women begin gathering their equipment and repack...

Tears, triumphs and terrors: Terry Abraham reveals his path to mountain film success
Terry Abraham is currently riding high. His second major film in a trilogy of portraits of Lake District mountains aired on BBC Four for the first ...
Meet the men who climb a Lake District mountain every winter day – for your safety
As thoughts turn to turkey and mince pies with the approach of Christmas, spare a thought for the man who will be pulling on his boots on Christmas Day to make the ascent of England’s third highest mountain, no matter what the weather.