Jan/Feb 22

As I write this I’ve just returned from a long weekend in Kendal and
specifi cally the Kendal Mountain Festival. It’s been a while since
I’ve been, four years in fact, as Keith Sharples has often covered theevent for me but decided the warm delights of Kalymnos were moreimportant – really Keith? Obviously last year was a bust with thepandemic so it was great to have the opportunity to attend in personthis year. I must say I had a wonderful time, some great, inspirational films and talks but above all the chance to catch up with friends for the first time in what feels like ages. I’ve sorely missed this interaction and I know I’m not alone.
One of the things I’ve noticed about KMF over the years is how it’s
become much more diverse, moving away from its core climbing and mountaineering background and opening it up to many more sports andpastimes. One of these that always brings a chuckle for me is wild swimming. Not that there’s anything wrong with it but it’s the new trendy moniker with which it now comes that I struggle with. Not too long ago it was just swimming but, of course, that wouldn’t be cool, #swimming isn’t quite the same as #wildswimming. So it brought to mind a possible re-brand of climbing outdoors and even Climber mag. What say we become uber-cool and refer to climbing outdoors as #wildclimbing and the mag re-branded as Wild Climber! No? I think we’ll just stick with Climber and going climbing.