This afternoon brought an interesting email on the spread of the outdoors to the urban environment with news of a major festival in the middle of Sheffield. It brings into focus what appears to be a major movement to integrate the two hitherto distinct worlds.

 

Of course the first inroads were when outdoor clothing started becoming fashionable. Now whether this was just down to millions of walkers finally deciding they wanted more than the standard boring colours and started making demands, or whether it was more commercially led as companies like TNF looked for new markets. The Mera Peak suddenly became the "must have" item for chavs - but again that could have as much to do with the properties of the garment and it's suitability for the the less than clement weather of the northern cities (and of course a good hood). Whatever the reason it's indisputable that outdoor clothing is almost as common on the high street now as on High Street.

 

Then came The Rat Race, with its urban adventure races around city centres. Now we The Cliffhanger, a festival of the outdoors in the heart of one of the country's biggest cities. Now Sheffield's always been an urban centre for c limbers, initially as a nearby base for the gritstone edges and then a standard setting centre for indoor climbing walls - but this event takes things a step further. Featuring The British Bouldering Championships, an Alpine Beer Festival, climbing walls, reverse bungee, orienteering races and the obligatory open air market the event is covering 90,000 square metres of Graves Park on July 14th/15th. For more info check out  www.cliff-hanger.co.uk .

 

I'm not really sure what to think about it all and the implications for the outdoors. On the one hand it's great to see the outdoors still attracting new people but at the end of the day it's a finite resource that's already suffered badly in places from overuse. Perhapos this movement will bring some of the activities to the urban environment and in so doing keep a percentage of people in that environment rather than adding pressure to the more scenic areas we love.