The Great Outdoors shortlist is published!
There’s no enthusiast like an outdoor enthusiast, but The Great Outdoors Magazine is on its annual mission to find the ones that inspired us the most. Yes, it’s that “list” time again and already the TGO award short list is announced!
So, at SplashMaps, we’ve studied the list of nominees, and from personal experience, we’re voting for the following;-
Personality of the Year:
We vote Nicky Spinks. She’s an amazing inspiration, having recovered from cancer to become the record holder of one of the toughest challenges on the Planet. The Bob Graham round of 42 Lake District peaks in 24 hours is famed throughout the world. She held the women’s record for this, but Nicky now holds the overall record for the double Bob Graham too! A record that stood since 1979!
The feat is extraordinary. As a Yorkshire farmer she’s tougher than the rest, but in my few contacts with her she’s been amazingly humble and supportive of others. Why this year? She’s done it again, with the Joss Naylor Lakeland challenge, gaining the women’s record earlier this year.
Quite how she finds her way up there at such speed I can only guess. But she did send us this photo. Isn’t that a Bob Graham Round SplashMap?
Independent Retailer of the Year:
Our vote goes Catstycam. Why? Just check what happens when you deliver a new product into their stores. They are the best of our retailers when it comes to social engagement via any of the channels. There’s a strong local and visiting community around this retailer in the Lake District. Follow them on twitter and have some fun.
Chain retailer of the year:
The prize goes to Decathlon. Having met them at the Outdoors Trade Show this year, the other names in the list were conspicuous for the absence. Decathlon’s range challenges many others on price, yet their Quechua own-brand still contains innovations I don’t find elsewhere. Huge in France, growing steadily in the UK it was great to meet their product designers and the UK team leading the charge.
Brand of the Year:
For me this remains solidly Osprey. I still find the versatility of their smaller ruck sacks cover all bases for a commute, mountainbike ride or hike. Utterly reliable and with clever thought on all those features, I’m still finding new things stitched onto the Escapist pack I took up the Three Peaks this year. Their presence at the smaller shows gives me the assurance they are in touch with their customer base.
The Extra Mile award:
This award is new for 2017. We’re thrilled that we can vote for Steve Layt and the team from the Corwen Walking festival. Over 6 years they’ve built up the event to make it one of the must-go-to walkers events in the country. A deserved winned of the SplashMaps vote as the team get more people to love the outdoors more often! Steve himself has been helping us position ideal maps of Snowdonia, is a DofE leader and never leaves home without a…
Campaign of the year:
We voted for nominee, Ordnance Survey for their #GetOutside campaign. Seriously, you can’t move for this hashtag. It’s retweeted so often. It genuinely feels like the team at OS have taken their mission to get people loving the outdoors to heart. The team have learnt from recent years’ campaigns where, perhaps, they’ve lavished too much money on famous faces and too little on the walkers’ soul. This year seemed different, and certainly more balanced and generous in spirit. The ambassadors for the campaigns are well known in their communities. They all care a great deal for their surrounds and their unique way of indulging in them. Their engagement is natural and somehow the #GetOutside ethos is something that seems to bind them.
The team at OS have not missed an opportunity (I look on with envy at the spend on ads) but the outdoors community on-the-whole is benefitting as the campaign’s many posts make great meeting points (many of their ambassadors are wearing Ordnance Survey maps now 😉). So, our vote… Ordnance Survey.
