Feeling the winter blues? Finding yourself dreaming of sunny Alpine peaks while you watch the office clock crawling towards 5:30pm? In need of some summer travel ideas to get you through to the day when it's light enough to go climbing again after work? Last weekend's Adventure Travel and Sports Show at Olympia, Kensington, was chock-full of inspiration.
As usual, hundreds of Tourist Boards and outdoor adventure companies bombarded visitors with information about every destination you can think of and a few you can't. Name the continent, name the activity, they had it covered. Trekking (or 'tramping' as the Kiwis would have it), white water rafting, climbing, kayaking, paragliding, mountain biking, diving, more trekking, more rafting ... there was advice on hand. And when the oversize travel agency syndrome became overwhelming you could always take refuge in the hands-on 'outdoor' activities … inside the Olympia conference centre.
Water-babies donned wetsuits and submerged themselves in the PADI super-size paddling pool while those who preferred keeping their feet dry ice-axed their way up an ice wall made of - wait for it - polystyrene. And if that didn't reach up to sufficiently dizzying heights, there was always the hang-gliding simulator to supply the deficiency.
Not quite the Andes? The ice wall at the show...
...compared to the real thing!
If you were really looking for inspiration, though, the programme of talks was probably the best place to find it. General tips on travel health, advice on travel writing, country-specific information, or the reminiscences of renowned mountaineers - you could take your pick. The main problem was too much choice, rather than too little, and however nimble your feet on a VS slab, it was impossible to scuttle between all the interesting talks.
So, for those who missed out on this whirlwind tour through the (seven thousand and) seven wonders of the world, here are the seven pub-quiz wonders of the show:
- There are more 7000m + mountains in Pakistan than in any other country in the world.
- The highest peak in the Central African Massif is in Malawi, standing at 10,000ft.
- Yaks have right of way in the Nepali Himalayas, not trekkers.
- The second largest canyon in the world is Fish River Canyon, in Namibia, at 82km long.
- It's possible to drive a jeep over a wire-hung suspension bridge in the Pakistani Himalayas.
- Of the 14 tallest mountains in the world, five are in Pakistan.
- There are more 7000m plus mountains in Pakistan than in any other country in the world.
Can anyone tell there was a talk on Pakistan?
The glut of information meant that when the doors closed at 6pm the survivors were more than a little loaded up with travel brochures, catalogues, glossy photos … and the odd muesli bar. Oh well, we'll all just have to live to be about 300 to do justice to it all.
So, what will my next holiday be? Trekking in Nepal, mountain biking across Greece, or sea kayaking around the fjords in Norway? I'll need some time to think about that … err, what does the office clock say now? 5:30 already? Can't be.
To see some great companies offering to whisk you away to the four corners of the world, check out the OM travel offers section.
