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Adventure-Racing      Backpacking       Biking

 

Adventure Racing

 

Single skin tents: An ÔAÕ shape, a transverse arch, and a tiny tunnel.  Three ultra-light tents suitable for UK conditions.

 

Rough Ground: How the first OMM and the kit we used shaped up

 

OMM or S&M?: Sado-masochism in the mountains without whips and chains.  The pain and pleasure of a mountain marathon and what kit IÕll use on the 2006 OMM.

 

Mountain Marathon Kit List:  My selection of ultra-light gear for a mountain marathon with alternatives

 

Barefoot Philosopher: From nowhere to everywhere in three years. The man behind Inov-8 shoes.

 

KIMM to OMM: The Karrimor becomes the Original Mountain Marathon. WhatÕs it like for a beginner?

 

Get Lost!: A two day  navigation and Adventure Race training course in the English Lake District

 

Slob or Superman?  Are you wasting time, money and energy?  A fitness test will tell you whether the work-outs are working.

 

Free Money?: Raising money for Lifeboats during our Hebridean Challenge race was easier than we first thought.

 

Hebridean Challenge Survived: TeamTGO completed the gruelling five-day adventure race, and collected a prize.

 

Hebridean Challengers: A five day race on foot, bike and kayak, from one end of the Western Isles to the other. 

 

Fit to Drop: At the age of forty six, Simon has decided to attempt his first Adventure Race, a five day event in the Outer Hebrides. 

 

Backpacking

Unbeatable Lightness of Being: YouÕve got the tarp, zip-less sleeping-bag and featherweight pack, but thereÕs part of your hiking system where you could probably loose pounds. You!

 

Light Van Man: He makes the worldÕs lightest backpack and teaches ultra-light techniques.  Glen Van Peski is the Godfather of ultra-light hiking.

 

Dry Up: Your kit is ultra-light so now itÕs time to lighten your food with the black art of food dehydration.

 

Starting from Scratch: The driving force behind the US-led boom in ultra-lightweight backpacking gear is a burgeoning cottage industry where home-made gear reigns supreme.

 

CoupÕs Scoop: HeÕs the co-founder of GoLite and the man credited with popularising ultra-light hiking.

 

Toward the Light: Finally, ultra-light gear suitable for UK conditions is here - Ōthank youĶ!

 

Costa Blanca Mountain Way: A five-day backpacking trip through the mountains of SpainÕs Costa Blanca is a hot adventure, eventually!

 

Knoydart Crossing - North to South: A three-day backpack across one of EuropeÕs most beautiful mountain areas. North to South across Knoydart

 

The Minigaig: One of ScotlandÕs highest hill tracks presents a winter backpacking challenge

 

Home of the Giants: A Norwegian nirvana for hill walkers

 

Rotary Club: It sounds a soft option but in Canada heli-hiking can have its heart-stopping moments

 

Peak Practices: The world's great peaks were once the sole preserve of heroic climbers; now most of us can have the world at our feet - trekking peaks

 

A Walking Encyclopedia: Trekking companies offer a dizzying array of trails to all corners of the globe. A complete guide to getting on the right track.

 

Boots and Saddles: Like summer camp - but for adults! Vermilion Valley and Muir Trail Ranch in America's Sierra Nevada

 

Walk This Way: Are the concepts 'walking' and 'holiday' mutually exclusive? Not if the scenery is lovely, the food good, the beds soft, and the company a hoot in the Spanish Pyrenees

 

Go Wild in the Country: It's healthy, it's cheap and wild camping is the best way to see Britain's beautiful hill country. Here we tell you how to make a start - where to go, what to take and how to avoid damaging the environment

 

The Big White: Alaska, where no one has ever been before, and the chance to name your own mountain

 

Rocky: ItÕs the strong silent type, the American National Park which connoisseurs would prefer to keep to themselves

 

Sea Kayaking: Can bobbing around the ocean really be better than backpacking? 

 

Winter Light: How light is right in winter?  We test ultralight gear on a crossing of the Fisherfield forest

 

Force Four: Walking in the wild, exposed moor land of Upper Teesdale where waterfalls are called "forces"

 

The Big White: Tackling previously unclimbed mountains in Alaska

 

Galen Rowell: An interview with one of the greatest landscape photographers.  Galen Rowell died in 2002

 

Galen Rowell Masterclass: Photographic advice from one of the all time greats.

 

Geocaching.com: Treasure hunting with hand held Global Positioning Systems

 

Head Game: getting underway, our equipment choice and the mental balance we're trying to achieve

 

Pack Light: Liz and Simon cross the Sierras, and compare their 30lb packs to that of their friend Chris Townsend who hiked the trail in 1982 with 100lb on his back

 

Body Light: It's not just packs weight that's dropped.  Skinny Simon thought he'd acquired a 'six pack' - turned out to be his ribs!

 

Success: What is feels like to finish a five-month, two-and-a-half-thousand mile hike.

 

Trail Pocketmail:  The light electronic device which allowed Simon to write and send stories and e-mails from the trail using pay-phones.

 

Prove It!: 2004 is the year those running Scotland's two new National Parks must prove themselves.

 

Writing ethics: By encouraging others do journalists damage the areas we write about?

 

Biking

Magic Circle Ride: Deserted single-track roads, two ferries, and the second largest Hebridean island.  A superb sixty-three mile circular road ride through Ardnamurchan, Mull and Morvern.

 

50 miles on Mull: Another route around this excellent cycling island

 

Saddle Sure: Dust, sweat and suicidal chickens are part of a Mexican mountain-biking holiday

 

Saddle Up: Since it opened, more than 30,000 cyclists have ridden the C2C route across northern England.  Now there is a return leg, the Reivers Cycle Ride

 

Tyred and Emotional: Mountain biking Scotland's new off-road coast-to-coast route is tough, but exhilarating

 

Chain Gang: Pristine beaches, laid-back locals and, crucially, the flat roads of the Outer Hebrides make them the ideal place to begin his cycle-touring career

 

Tour of the Cairngorms: A three-day ride around BritainÕs biggest, highest, wildest mountains

 

Behind the Pedals: A video about Sustrans' famous Sea to Sea ride is in the shops.  I reveal what went on behind the scenes