We look back over the highlights of the second half of 2002 through the strangely distorted glass that is OUTDOORSmagic
Here's part two of our cliché-packed review of 2002 on the
site from July through to December. Fight boredom, but watch out for
that lethal left hook delivered while you're yawning...
July
• Serious controversy hit OUTDOORSmagic when site member Guy
Newbold wrote a scathing
critique of Three Peaks charity challenges based on his personal
experiences as a resident of Wasdale.
• We unbuttoned the flies on TNF's new A5 casual range to
reveal the funniest logo placement we've seen for ages, take
a look...
• Meanwhile, Rambler-baiting Nicholas van Hoogstraaten went
down
for manslaughter, to a restrained reaction from the RA.
• Plus: Doug
Scott interviewed, and TNF's
new kit,
August
• Things normally get quiet around high summer, but
Scotland's first
national park opened in the Loch Lomond area.
• We scooped the rest of the UK's outdoor media with news of
Gore's new, most
breathable fabric ever.
• Closer to home, massive rains hit northern England and we
brought you firsthand pics of the impact
on the western side of the Peak District.
• It was also the month when we spotted Elvis
on Crib Goch and interviewed him, who said we weren't a serious site,
eh?
• On the gear front, Karrimor released a new pack made from
the same fabric as Zodiac launches, we dubbed it the 'toughest
ever rucksac'. It does smell a bit rubbery though...
• Plus: Everest
Base Camp trek in detail with pics and Simon Kirwan's guide to
travel
photography.
September
• We brought you another scoop with first
impressions of Berghaus's brilliant new 2003 lightweight range of
kit, very nice it is too. And that topless pic of Alan Hinkes was
just a bonus, sort of.
• Meanwhile, the last
paths closed by foot and mouth were, almost unbelievably, opened
to the public again a year after the final case of the disease.
• And we selflessly investigated all the newest kit for 2003
at the Go Outdoors trade show in Harrogate. It was hell, believe me,
nobody should have to go through that... Part
one and part
two.
• Plus: Lowe's
new eVENT fabric, the most breathable ever, they say...
October
• A sad start to October with the news that Swedish explorer
Goran
Kropp had been killed in a rock climbing accident in the US plus
more depressing news from Kilimanjaro
where two porters died mainly because of inadequate clothing.
• On the gear front, Salomon announced the
end of the faithful X-Adventure 7 boot. But just ten days later
we had pics
of its replacement.
• On a lighter note, a Welsh farmer was sentenced
to anger management classes after driving his tractor complete
with hedge trimmer at a group of walkers in North Wales. Nice...
Plus: first ever Gore
meet up from Patterdale, you tried new Gore kit and OM readers
mass test of Paramo in real conditions report.
November
• In a confusing start to the month, everyone's favourite
climber Stevie Haston was held
to ransom by Maoists in Nepal - locals later claimed that the
amount demanded was 4,000 rupees or £40 rather than the
£4,000 claimed at the time.
• A US television programme turned Everest
into a game show by offering winning contestants the chance to
climb the mountain. Serious climbers were no amused...
• We rubbed shoulders with the stars at the Kendal Mountain
Film Festival where sober climbers - shome mistake there shurely -
were scandalised
by John Redhead's 'One For The Crow', poor dears...
December
• Back to the present day then, dinosaurs walked the earth
etc. A young British backpacker survived a three-day ordeal on an
Australian mountains thanks,
she claims, to sugar-free gum. The forum is divided over whether
she's a dippy loon or a resourceful young lady.
• Extreme Ironing upped its profile with two
telly appearances in a week after the Brits won the World Team
Championships.
• Plus we highlighted news that girls
really are wimpier than boys, they just can't handle the pain as
well you know.
• And we launched free
OM wallpaper to beautify your desktop, go and take a look.
And that's it. Not a bad year really, but roll on 2003.
