want to trek 100km across the Sahara with a phone box?!

Former Cotswold Glasgow employee calling for trekkers...

Neil from Glasgow sent me an email from a former employee about an expedition that she is running for Scottish Epilepsy. Glasgow Cotswold are sponsoring her and we thought you might like to read about her plan to carry a replica of a phone box across 100km of the Sahara!

Story provided by Susan Sheridan

Susan Sheridan hopes that the skills she learned in the Glasgow store will help her survive the gruelling trek across one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Compeed and Platypus packs will be top of the shopping list as she treks 100km across the Sahara.

Susan now works with Scottish Epilepsy Initiative and is taking up to 30 participants across the Sahara Desert in Feb next year. Each participant will be trekking over 10 days with only the local Berber guides and camels for company.

They have the added challenge of taking a life size model of a telephone box with them to place on top of Chegaga, the highest sand dune in the desert, to make the ultimate long distance phone call.

Cotswold Outdoor, Betws-y-Coed build link Tree Top Adventure.

Are you brave enough to try the Powerfan Plummet?

Tree Top Adventure is a fantastic high ropes course based in Snowdonia, near Betws-y-Coed. Over the last couple of years a relationship has developed between TTA and Cotswold that recently saw an evening of  team building and adrenalin educing fun take place.

When Sean Taylor, Managing Director of TTA, asked us over for an evening of zip-lining and hurling ourselves out of trees, a group from both Cotswold, Rock Bottom and Royal Oak headed over for some fun. After playing around on the amazing TTA course and their new 31m Powerfan Plummet, the world’s highest parachute simulator, (see video) it was time for a spot of grub courtesy of Caffi Coed.

Your Questions Answered

Final lot of answers to your questions about the Catlin Arctic Survey

CAS team
Martin Hartley – www.martinhartley.com

Well the team had their welcome back party last night.  Sadly I missed it as I was not able to get to London but I am sure there were a few good cheers, beers and maybe even a few tears...of joy naturally!

So this posting marks and end to the answers - we hope your's got answered but if it didn't, we hope you understand as the team is still very busy sorting out kit, giving press interviews and getting some much deserved rest!

The intention with the findings is to publish a report that will be submitted to the Conference of the Parties (COP) - a meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol - in Copenhagen this December. You can see some initial findings on the Catlin Arctic Survey website as well as the raw data at www.polardata.ca/whitesnow/

But before the big party, Pen, Ann and Martin were able to answer a few more of your questions and those answers can be found below.

Questions and Answers

Q: What are you most looking forward to when you return home?
p.s. I have been following the entire expedition! 

Posted by: ja murray | May 12, 2009 at 20:09

 

Answer from Martin: Apart from seeing family and friends, the 2 things I most appreciate when I get back are sitting in the sun in a good pub with a beer followed by climbing into bed with clean Egyptian linen sheets.  Luxury!

On Thin Ice

the 2009 Cracknell, Fogel and Coats race to the South Pole

DVD Cover
from www.bbcshop.com

Geoff from our group sales team sent an email around to all staff raving about the cinematography of the recent South Pole race for which Cotswold supplied some of the kit. It aired on BBC2 last night at 9:00 - straight after Top Gear and features Double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, TV presenter Ben Fogle and Doctor Ed Coats. 

It is the first organised race since Scott and Amundsen's almost 100 years ago so not to be missed!

Geoff - maybe you can give us a quick break down on the kit the Cotswold supplied and how they got on with it?

See the 1st episode on BBC iPlayer here >

Norwich Triathlon (part 3) Rachael Kearns

Race day looms and my preparation for the Norwich Triathlon has begun.

I will be running the 10km leg at the end of the race. So any time lost or gained during the swim and ride will help us win or lose depending on whether or not I can pull a good time out of the bag, no pressure just a great challenge.

Meet Conrad Anker tonight in our Covent Garden Store

Free tickets to a lecture in our Covent Garden Store 25 June 7:00pm

Conrad Anker is launching the new WS4 watch from Timex and will be giving a lecture tonight in our Covent Garden store where he'll talk through some of his recent experiences. So if you fancy getting some inspiration from, sampling some free refreshments and checking out the latest kit, then simply fill out this form.  The doors open at 7:00pm and the lecture starts at 7.30pm.

We'll be the exclusive retailer of this new watch until August... 

Find out more and get your free tickets here >

Check out the watch here >

Find out more about Conrad Anker on Timex's Expedition website >

WIN 1 of 5 spots on the Garmin MTB Academy

and try out some new Garmin kit

We've been talking with Paul at Garmin recently about some exciting new products - like Basecamp- and have found out about a great competition they are running with BikeRadar.  Up for grabs are 5 spots on this summers MTB Academy. If your interested, read on for all the details or go to Garmin's website here. 

Details on MTB Academy from posting on Garmin's blog:

"This summer we’re offering the chance for five mountain bike riders to win a place in the Garmin MTB Academy – fronted by mountain biking legend Steve Peat. Throughout the summer, you’ll be able to

Successful Beijing Finish to Epic GlobeBusters Motorcycle Adventure

Cotswold kit put to the test over 20,000km journey of sand, sun and snow

The team from GlobeBusters sent me the below press release and I am sure they are having a good celebration in Beijing! We are going to be getting some feedback from them on the kit that they used so I'll be sure to update this story when we have more...

News release from GlobeBusters.com

After 3 months on the road since leaving the UK, covering 19 countries and over 20,000 kilometres, the GlobeBusters team, Founders, Kevin and Julia Sanders and their team mate, Mark Hamilton, have finally reached Beijing.

 

Into your 'geotagging'?

Garmin's BaseCamp manages GPS data + supports geotagging

Now I am a fairly 'basic' GPS user.  I have one in the bottom of my rucksack, switched off and have actually never HAD to use it - which is a good thing!  I have played around a bit with various devices and software packages and generally find that they distract me from what I am out there for in the first place - to get away from technology and enjoy my outdoor experience! However, some people seem to love using these gadgets to enhance their trips. 

One thing that intrigues me is Geotagging. Paul from Garmin sent me some info last week on their new BaseCamp software package that can be downloaded for free by anyone currently using MapSource TOPO Great Britain. It will allow users to plan and manage trips, routes, tracks, and waypoints then transfer them but it also supports geotagging. Geotagging is where you can assign data to GPS co-ordinates.  For example you could take a picture of

GlobeBusters Motorcycle Adventurers Reach Everest

Press release from GlobeBusters

The GlobeBusters team, Kevin and Julia, have reached Everest basecamp whilst on their journey from London to Beijing.  The team is currently researching a new motorcycle adventure and they say it has been one of their most challenging rides to date! We provided them with some kit to test out along the way

If you want to follow how the GlobeBusters Team get on visit www.globebusters.com and click on Tales from the Road.  You will then have access to pictures and more stories. It sounds like it is going to be a popular package as the first GlobeBusters London to Beijing – Silk Road East ride in 2010 is now full, with a waiting list!

Norwich Triathlon (part 2)

Prepration for the cycle - David Kearn

I'm the cycle leg..so a total of 39km on my trusty Trek Madone. The Trek is so good she's been imported from Australia..she's a goer. Trick is getting my legs up to speed for the big day.

Back to the darkness...

Cotswold team return from constant daylight in Swedish Lapland

The picture you are seeing here was taken an hour before midnight on our last night in the Swedish Lapland - obviously still quite a lot of daylight...or nightlight? Hmm not sure what you call it!  We ended our stay with some great food at the the Old Homestead in Jukkasjärvi - near where the world-famous Ice Hotel is located.

Overall the team had a great 3 days in the hills followed by a day of white-water rafting.  After a long day of traveling home though, I think most were happy to see the darkness approaching as we tucked up into our own familiar beds! Over the next few weeks I will bring you some reviews of the kit that we tested but if you want to get more information on what we got up to, please check out the great blog that has been put together by the Outdoor Academy of Sweden for which we are all now official Ambassadors!

Norwich Triathlon (part 1)

Preparation for the swim - Sarah Winnard

Training programme? Check. Wetsuit? Check. Steeled motivation? Hmmm...

So I have signed up for the swim leg of an olympic distance triathlon in just over 3 weeks. Truth be told I am excited and really up for the challenge, but also a little anxious.

The Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon

The LAMM (Low Alpine Mountain Marathon) this year took place in Kintail in North West Scotland. Myself (Giles Savage) and my race partner George Malkin competed in this event.

 

This is just a brief account of what happened on both days of the event.

 

 

 

b-logs from Swedish Lapland

Testing gear in Lapland's summer

A contingent from Cotswold is taking a few days in Swedish Lapland to experience the midnight sun, try out some new kit and check out Sweden's highest mountain - Kebnekaise. We've got Matt from Maidstone, Shona from Silverburn, Myself & Zoe from head office, Chris and Ciaron from The North Face Leeds and in the photo is Graeme from head office, Alex - Scotland and NI area manager and Chris from Keswick. We're just heading out now to Nikkaluokta for an induction on the Sami culture before hiking out to our wild camp at Ladtjojaure lake. We've got kit to try out on the way from Tenson, Ecco, Light my Fire, Tentipi and Bergens so will let you know what we think when back at a proper keyboard (posting this from my mobile). Oh yes, there is no ice hotel here currently for those that were asking before we left. It melted about a month ago...

It’s not a race; it’s not a race…

A 'cyclosportive' or a 'sportive' is a non-competitive event that combines elements of road riding and long distance bicycle touring.

Easy enough to say when you are sitting on the start line for the Norwich 100 on what turns out to be the wettest Sunday in quite some time.

Regrettably once off, these words (spoken to me by my riding companion, whom I was supposed to be chaperoning) seemed to disappear under a cloud of competitiveness. A few people from my cycle club (VC Norwich) and triathlon club (Tri Anglia) went past in a blur, I did what comes naturally and joined on. 

I would like to be able to say that I carefully considered my riding companion, weighed up the speed of the group and came to a calculated opinion that he would be able to stay on my wheel.  However, that wasn’t true. I didn’t even look back...

Bakewell Store Training - Satmap

With regards to keeping up to speed on new products in the store, i'm a big believer in "getting out there" and being right in the heart of the peaks, it doesn't take much persuassion for an evening in the hills with Ross, guest starring from Satmap.

First step in the store is to plan the route - i've got a fair idea in my mind, part of my running route on the moors above Froggat, the on line planning function that you get included in the price of the Active 10+ is very quick to use - I reckon from first mouse click to the GPS being ready to use is 3-4 minutes at the very most. It's very intuitive zooming in and out on the screen to allow for very accurate placement of way-points.

Conrad Anker launches the WS4

Timex's new rock-solid watch exclusive to Cotswold Outdoor

It's a new gadget and there are some great stories from Conrad Anker to go with it!  We've teamed up with Timex, Conrad, Trail to bring you the official (free) launch on Wednesday 24 June in Cotswold Preston and on Thursday 25 June in Cotswold Covent Garden (both 7 for 7.30pm!). We'll be the exclusive retailer until August so pop in, meet Conrad and check out some new kit...

Find out more and get your free tickets here > 

Check out the watch here >

Find out more about Conrad Anker on Timex's Expedition website >

The Fred Whitton Challenge

And a challenge it certainly was!!

"The Fred"is a grueling 112 mile sportive road around the Lake district, taking in the climbs of Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose Passes. The total ascent was around 3500 meters!

Since getting into road biking in a (semi) serious way, it's always been an ambition of mine to ride it, and, after missing out last year, I was determined not to miss out this year (the applications went on at midnight and then were removed from the website 6 hours later as the event was oversubscribed!)

I picked up Torin (Kingston store) at Manchester airport and made my way to a little campsite  found by Russ, that, despite the deliveranceesque ambiance, was perfectly situated with but a short drive in the morning for the planned 6am start! (needless to say, we were slightly behind that - me, faff in the morning?) It was a great opportunity to catch up with Graeme (Direct sales) who was riding as well and Tess, who's off to Scotland! (Good luck Tess ;-)

It's the company of great friends that makes this type of event, and the fred is no exception. It

Trailquest in The Peaks

what to do on a summers evening?

When making a short work related visit to the peaks last week, not only did I manage a couple of days on the hill, I also entered into one of the mountain Bike trailquests run by Dark and White Challenge Events. 

The format is pretty simple, register on the website before the day of the event, turn up at at designated carpark ready to go before 7pm. Then spend the next 2 hours riding randomly around the deisgnated checkpoints trying to get as many as possible in the 2 hour time limit.