Welcome to the inaugural post in weekly round-up of the need-to-know stories in outdoor and adventure from the last seven days. Here’s what’s been going on…
Kendal Mountain Festival Is Around The Corner
It’s less than a week until the south Lakeland festival for outdoor enthusiasts returns. Running from Thursday through to Sunday (14-17 Nov) there’ll be talks from the likes of mountaineer Chris Bonington, Olympic snowboarder Jenny Jones and many more plus some juicy adventure film premieres.
Snow Arrives In The Mountains
Winter is right around the corner now, certainly in Scotland anyway. Parts of the north of the country and the upland areas have seen heavy snowfall over the last few days. Some of the Lake District’s fell tops remain covered from snowfall from the last few days as well.
Quadruple Amputee Climbs 4,500-metre Mountain
Alex Lewis, a 39-year-old quadruple amputee from Stockbridge in Hampshire, managed to successfully reach the 4,550m summit of Ras Dashen in Ethiopia this week. He used a ground-breaking buggy to get most of the way up, before climbing the last few hundred metres.
‘Gore ‘reinvents’ Gore-Tex Pro fabric
Beginning in Autumn 2020, Gore-Tex will be offering three new variations of its top end, Gore-Tex Pro fabric. One of these is the new Gore-Tex Pro Stretch which supposedly has the same durability as the original Pro but with 20% more stretch. They’ve also produced a new toughened up version plus one that can be combined with ultra thin and breathable face fabrics.
BackCountry Forced To Apologise
While it might not be too relevant for us outside of the U.S, the recent situation going on with American retailer backcountry is still an intriguing/bemusing one to follow.
Last week the retailer’s lawyers launched an all-out war against a raft of organisations that have the word ‘backcountry’ in their name. These included a coffee company, a denim jean company and even an avalanche awareness course provider.
Following a huge public backlash with #boycottbackcountry spreading on social media, the company backed off, posting an open letter of apology to the outdoor community.
The Passing Of An Outdoor Titan
In sad news this week, Gert Boyle, long-time chairman of U.S brand Columbia, has passed away aged 95.
Boyle and her family came to the U.S in 1937 as refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Years later, her husband set up the Columbia Hat Company which Boyle took over when he died in 1970.
