Hello and welcome to the OUTDOORSmagic 2007/08 Virtual Awards
Ceremony when we reveal exactly who won the awards you've been
voting for over the past month.
And to present the awards, we have none other than digital
representations of top climber Alan Hinkes, the first Briton
to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks and climber, guide
and writer, Simon Yates.
The real manifestations of the pair were kind enough to doll out
the certificates at the weekend's OS Outdoors Show and obviously we'd
also like to thank everyone who voted and nominated and the team
behind the scenes at OM led by our publisher Ed Marriage.
So, without further ado, here are the winners of the 2007/08
OUTDOORSmagic Awards starting with the gear section :-)
Best Clothing Brand - Paramo
Paramo's Colombian-made alternative waterproof technology has
always been a bit hit with OUTDOORSmagic readers and this year the
brand landed the award for best clothing. Well done. www.paramo.co.uk
Best Pack Brand - Berghaus
Popular OM approval for the North East all-mountain clothing and
equipment brand in the pack section. Sponsored Berghaus mountain
biker and stunt-man Rob Jarman collected the award on behalf of the
brand. www.berghaus.com.
Best Boot Brand - Scarpa
Scarpa's excellent range of boots has become a default choice for
a lot of British hill and mountain walkers and they are the
OUTDOORSmagic award winners for Best Boot Brand 2007/08.
Unfortunately no-one from the UK importers, the Mountain Boot Company
was able to attend, but here's the certificate. www.scarpa.co.uk
Best Tent Brand - Terra Nova
Terra Nova has consistently produced some excellent tents both in
the high mountain category where the Quasar has become a default
choice for many UK mountaineers and more recently, in the lightweight
sector where the Lasers have set the standard for ultra-lightweight
tents. The brand is the winner of our 2007/08 awared for Best Tent
Brand. www.terra-nova.co.uk
Best New Product - Satmap Active 10 GPS
Satmap's Active 10 GPS unit is the best we've used, putting OS
mapping on a screen in front of you and being built specifically to
perform in the outdoors. The team have been working hard to improve
the Active 10 even further and launched a raft of upgrades at the
show. Congratulations to a very happy Richard Calthrop Owen and his
team. www.satmap.com
Best Outdoors Gizmo - Garmin
No-one from Garmin made it over to our presentation, but here's
the certificate to mark OM users' approval of their range of
GPS-based navigational and training products. Well done - www.garmin.co.uk
Best Specialist Outdoors Retailer Joint Winners - Cotswold Outdoor
and Backpackinglight.co.uk
It tells you something about the breadth of OM's readership that
the joint winners of the Best Specialist Retailer gong - and yes,
they really did dead heat - come from opposite ends of the
spectrum.
Cotswold is one of established pillars of the outdoor
retail world and offers and wide range of kit and clothing both in
its chain of stores and over the web. They are deservedly joint
winners of our best specialist retailer award - www.cotswoldoutdoor.com
By contrast, backpackinglight.co.uk is a web-based outfit
specialising in ultra-lgihtweight backpacking kit and, of course, the
legendary podcasts. The small but perfectly formed team of Bob
Cartwright and wife Rose manage to provide the sort of personal
attention that the internet was supposed to killl off.
Congratulations on a well-earned joint award and here's your
certtificate, the real one's in the post :-) - www.backpackinglight.co.uk
Best Online Outdoors Retailer - Alpkit
It's no exageration to say that Alpkit has revolutionised
outdoor web selling. By designing, speccing and sourcing their own
clothing and equipment direct from the factory then selling it via
their excellent and friendly web site, they've managed to provide
great kit at excellent prices and all with a big smile on their
faces. Unfortunately the guys were too busy selling sleeping bags,
tee-shirts, torches and more at the show to make it over, but we
caught up with them later for a team photo - www.alpkit.com
Coming next - the places you voted for.
john hee (http://WalkaboutUK.blogspot.com)
