A Look At The November Issue Of The Great Outdoors

The November issue of TGO sees the start of a new gear spot in conjunction with Nikwax in which reviewers describe their long-term gear favourites and how they care for them to ensure they last. I begin the series with some favourite boots, Brasher Hillmasters, now over twelve years old and still going strong.

Also in the gear pages David Lintern reviews the Jottnar Asger HS fleece and Steph Wetherell reviews the Osprey Tempest 33 Extended Fit Pack. In comparative reviews Pete Macfarlane reviews four stoves, Kirsty Pallas and Alex Roddie review three midlayers each, and Steph Wetherell and James Roddie three pairs of three-season gloves each.

The opening spread is a wonderful photo by Lizzie Shepherd of twisted birch trees in autumn in Inshriach in the Cairngorms.

In the main features Norman Hadley tells an astonishing tale of a navigational error on the Cairngorm Plateau in winter. Five artists, writers and musicians talk about the ways they take inspiration from the outdoors. Phoebe Smith climbs Mt.Kinabalu on Borneo and learns about its place in the culture of the indigenous Dusan people. 

This issue is 2025's TGO Challenge one and there are stories of this years event from many participants.

In the skills section Alex Roddie sharpens up his map and compass skills on an Austrian Alpine Club - organised course in Eryri.

In the regular columns Nadia Shaikh describes hoar frost in On The Lookout; Stew Hume reviews And So I Run by Jamie Doward; Sunny Huang, who recently completed her second round of all 1124 UK hills on the Scottish Mountaineering Club register, describes her extraordinary life; Jim Perrin covers the Fiacaill Couloir, a winter climb in the Cairngorms, as his Mountain Portrait; and Juls Stobel gives advice on how to get teenagers into hillwalking in Uphill Struggles.

Wild Walks covers short trails and sections of longer trails that can be walked in a day or less. in Scotland Stefan Durkacz walks the Dava Way from Grantown-on-Spey to Forres. Vivienne Crow walks the Great Whin Sill in Northumberland, where the Pennine Way and Hadrian's Wall Path unite. In the North York Moors Ian Battersby walks Cringle Moor and Round Hill on the Cleveland Way. Over in the Lake District James Forrest goes from Rosthwaite to Grasmere on the Coast to Coast path while in Wales Andrew Galloway goes from Llanfairfechan to Conwy on the North Wales Path. Further south in Herefordshire Roger Butler climbs Bradnor Hill and Herrock Hill on the Offa's Dyke Path. Finally way down in Sussex Alex Roddie visits Cuckmere Haven and Seven Sisters on the South Downs Way.