The Great Outdoors

TGO Magazine is your essential guide to hillwalking and backpacking in the UK and overseas. Get out more! We provide all the inspiration you need to plan your next trip, plus expert reviews and tips. The Great Outdoors is for anyone who loves walking in the hills, mountains and wild places. With information on the latest gear, in-depth features and stunning photography, The Great Outdoors will help you access the high peaks and long trails of Britain and beyond. Our enhanced digital addition includes even more great photos and interactive content.

Beyond the horizon, new perspectives

IN THIS ISSUE

The Great Outdoors

FEBRUARY in the mountains

Ben Nevis, West Highlands

DAVID SOLOMON Munroist • One of the first Black men to summit all of Scotland’s Munros, David is not here to ‘influence’ but to honour this mountain legacy

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Wildlife and Nature GREY HERONS GET TOGETHER • In February, grey herons gather to nest. Andy Wasley finds this steely-eyed stalker as present in our literature as on our riverbanks

Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain

Trust issues: inside the troubled John Muir Trust • In September 2024, a dossier alleging financial misconduct and plummeting staff morale at the John Muir Trust rocked the conservation sector. The Trust has played a unique role in Britain’s mountain story as both landowner and nature advocate through its policy and education work. The Great Outdoors spoke to key stakeholders to find out more…

RIDGE OFTHE RED CAIRNS • Jim Perrin returns to his own square mile, a landscape laced with memories of good friends, both climbers and shepherds

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NEW HORIZONS • From escaping anxiety to forging deeper connections with family, four authors all found a new sense of direction whilst out on a walk. Here, they recall key moments from those path-altering journeys

COLOUR REVOLUTION • In the last decade, the Indigenous Cholita Climbers of Bolivia have made a worldwide impression with their colourful clothing and a renewed sense of power and identity. Climber and writer Anna Fleming visits the high Andes to meet her heroines.

Hidden in plain sight • Scratch the surface of Britain’s pastoral landscape and you’ll often find uncomfortable tensions, secrets obscured by the scenic. In two story-walks drawn from her new book Our Island Stories, Corinne Fowler showcases how our imperial past is written into the rural modern-day

ADVENTURE ON THE LIKYA YOLU • What better way to spend your honeymoon than fastpacking Türkiye’s 450km Lycian Way? Ross Brannigan is bowled over by the history, honey and hospitality on this craggy coastal journey

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QUIZ: DO YOU KNOW HOW TO AVOID HYPOTHERMIA? • Test your hypothermia awareness with this quiz-based journey through a winter’s day on the hill, devised by the experts at Mountaineering Scotland

YOUR GUIDE TO LAYERING • Getting your layering system right is the best way to keep warm on the hill. Helen Gestwicki and Ross Cadie from Mountaineering Scotland explain how

GEAR • News from the world of outdoor kit, and product reviews from Britain’s most experienced gear-testing team

NEW REVIEWS • Equipment Editor Chris Townsend tests exciting new gear

HIKING TROUSERS • Alex Roddie and Kirsty Pallas stride out in a range of high-performance mountain legwear for all seasons

WINTER BOOTS • Mountaineering Instructor Kirsty Pallas and wildlife photographer James Roddie put their best foot forward in boots designed to keep you warm and safe in the snow this Winter

WILDWALKS

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