A Look At The March Issue Of The Great Outdoors

In the March issue of The Great Outdoors, out now, I have a big feature on a winter camp in Coire Ardair, Creag Meagaidh, last December, on which I used a mix of old and very old gear. The trip was with James Roddie who took the photos.

Also on gear matters Fiona Russell and David Lintern review ten pairs of trail shoes and Anna Richards tests environmentally friendly base layers made from seaweed, castor bean oil, and eucalyptus. 

In the other big features Sue Fletcher enjoys bivvying in the Lake District, Hanna Lindon picks nine of the best treks in the Alps, Peter Elia explores the Accursed Mountains in Albania, and Charlie Jarvis traverses Italy's Val Grande National Park.

This issue also contains The Great Outdoors Reader Awards 2022 with a host of well-deserved winners and a surprising award for me as Outdoor Personality of the Year. Thank you readers! I am honoured.

The magazine opens with a splendid double-page photo of a snowy Beinn Alligin in Torridon taken by James Roddie.

In shorter pieces Andrew Wasley describes the Cape Wrath Trail, Mary-Ann Ochota bemoans the lack of suitable clothing for plus-size bodies, Jim Perrin praises Rhos Fawr in the Radnor Forest, coastal walker Emma Schroeder has some excitement with waterfalls, and David Lintern shares some hard-won advice on winter wild camping.

In Wild Walks Alex Roddie walks from Blairmore to Cape Wrath and on to the Kyle of Durness ferry crossing in the far northwest of Scotland, Craig Weldon traverses the Pentland Hills in central Scotland, Ian Battersby visits Hadrian's Wall, James Forrest walks from Coniston to Langdale on the Cumbria Way, Vivienne Crow walks from Grasmere to Patterdale on the Coast to Coast Path, Ian Battersby makes a circuit of the Howgill Fells, Andrew Galloway visits Rishworth Moor and Stott Hall Farm in West Yorkshire, Roger Butler links Offa's Dyke and Llan-fawr in Powys, Fiona Barltrop walks the west side of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, and Ronald Turnbull walks a chalk ridgeline on the Isle of Wight.