2024 in review as a professional outdoor writer and editor
In 2023, my wife Hannah and I moved back to Scotland, which means that 2024 has been our first full year north of the border. So how has that been? And what have been my challenges and successes?
In these reviews I tend to focus on the outdoors, photography, work, and areas for change in the year ahead. I'll take a look at each in turn. I've been doing these since 2015 now; you can browse the archive from previous years here.
This is a long post with a lot of pictures. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy, or at least find it interesting!
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Outdoors
Like 2023, this year has been all about making the most of adventure opportunities here in Scotland. Last year I wrote 'I don't consider myself a Munro-bagger', but I think it's time to drop the pretence: most of my trips here in Scotland are based around outings to clusters of Munros. And that's fine! I'm not a slave to the list, but it does provide a useful framework for getting out and about, seeing some of this fine country. I've also made many return visits to favourite summits – and have spent a bit more time in bothies this year, both solo and social.
So, numbers. I no longer bother to record metrics such as distance hiked or metres climbed, but I do log my summits. I climbed 18 new Munros in 2024, bringing my total up to 118. Hannah joined me on several of these outings, and her confidence as a hillwalker is really increasing. Hannah and I have also been out and about for countless low-level walks, mostly focusing on woodlands or lower hills.
Let's take a look at some highlights from each season.
Winter
I've already written about some of the highlights of my winter in my post 'Highs and lows from a winter of outdoor gear testing: spooky summit camps, exploding stoves, and more', including photos. Yep, 2023/24 was a great winter for me, testing a bunch of kit for TGO including tents, down jackets and ice axes. I saw some breathtaking conditions. Here are a few photos I haven't shared on this blog yet.
Spring
Highlights of spring included a splendid summit camp on Ben Vrackie (see 'Perthshire, March, Kodak cine film' for more), a wintry crossing of the Tarmachan Ridge with my brother James and his partner Nicole, an exploratory tramp out to Ben Alder Cottage, and plenty of time in my local Sidlaw hills.
I also started spending a lot more time on my bike. Nothing impressive or special – just regular mileage in the local countryside. This year I've started to use my bike as a way to access local hills too, which is opening up new adventure possibilities.
Summer
Summer began with my only long-distance trail for 2024: the phenomenal Toubkal Circuit in Morocco. I shared some images from this trail in 'Postcards from Morocco', and I have a feature for TGO to write up about it some point over the next few weeks. Can't wait to share more thoughts from this very special trip. Here are a few photos I haven't posted here yet.
Other highlights over the summer include various weekend hillwalks with Hannah, solo trips into the southern Cairngorms, and a weekend of scrambling up in Gairloch and Torridon with James and Nicole. Yes, there were midges.
Autumn
This year's autumn was less good for vivid autumn colours than 2023 – due, I think, to a number of gales that passed through and ripped away the leaves. It was nice while it lasted, though! Hannah and I went on holiday to Balmaha this year, and did a bit of hillwalking in very nice weather. Other autumn highlights included an ascent of the Glen Clova Munros as well as woodland photography in a number of favourite local spots.
Autumn also featured the OWPG Big Weekend 2024, including an enjoyable walk over the Long Mynd. It was a pleasure to chat with long-standing member David Ramshaw, who sadly passed away on Christmas Eve.
Winter
A highlight of early winter was a trip to the Lake District for the Kendal Mountain Festival, which started off with a great outing to Mosedale Cottage bothy with Andy Wasley, Juls Stodel, and other friends.
I didn't manage to get out for any pre-New Year winter mountaineering trips, sadly... although 2025 has started well!
Photography
I haven't yet carried out my yearly task of selecting my top five images, but it's been another strong year for my photography. Like 2023, it's also been another year of leaning in to analogue work and away from digital. Most of my equipment dates from the 1940s and 1950s, and I love studying the method and craft of the mid-century masters to get the most out of this equipment.
My 35mm cameras of choice remain my Leica IIIc (1948) and M3 (1958) along with period-correct lenses. I favour the focal lengths of 35mm and 50mm. This year I found myself gravitating towards the 35mm focal length a bit more often than I used to, especially for everyday photography. 50mm remains my default, though – this year I've taken 1.5x as many images with a 50mm lens as with a 35mm.
However, especially in questionable weather, I've been reaching for my modern Voigtländer lenses a bit more often than my vintage Leitz lenses in recent months (they handle better with gloves, and they have more useful lens hoods for hill use). My Voigtländer lenses are also faster, which can be useful in low light. The resulting images do look very different, though – harder, more saturated, more digital.
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