The Outdoors Show in Birmingham is a weekend packed full of outdoors gear bargains, discovering the latest offerings from outdoor gear manufacturers and trying out new activities.
Novel Activities – Polystyrene “Ice” Climbing And Brushboard Surfing
“Ice” Climbing on high density polystyrene doesn’t sound as if it should work. But the collaboration between the Association of Mountain Instructors (who looked after those curious enough to try), DMM (who provided the Anarchist Axes and Crampons), and Beacon Climbing (who designed the polystyrene-covered tower) attracted plenty of visitors. Steve Mayers of Beacon Climbing Wall (based in Snowdonia National Park) explained “the foam was developed by the aircraft industry. It doesn’t survive being climbed on for very long - about the duration of the show – so its not perfect for climbing walls, but it’s ideal to demonstrate the ice tools on at an event like this."
And climbing on it was a real surprise – the texture was fantastic. Perfectly in between the two extremes of normal UK conditions – neither dinner plates of water ice that the axe bounces straight off, nor slushy snow that the axe just rips through – but so grippy that it is actually surprisingly hard work to retrieve the axes for the next move upwards!
For visitors more interested in learning to surf without drinking gallons of seawater, the Brushboard simulator could be a good experience. Hundreds of rotating brushes powered by compressed air give the participant a real sensation of surfing, but without the near-drowning often associated with learning in the sea. Kyle Dent, the founder of Extreme Sports Zone, who markets the product in the UK, explains that “it’s a total core body experience, a great way to gain fitness and learn the skills to do the sport for real, but in a safer environment”.
Giant English Map, Find The Four Emptiest Squares
This was the challenge set to participants: "find the four squares with the least information on them". Only problem was – this wasn’t an ordinary size 1:50,000map, but a giant map that covers all of England and Wales, laid out over a 13mx11m space. Never has staring at the floor looked so interesting to so many people! The map was the brainchild of Suzanne Hills and Chris Cromey of Mapland Britain – who already have a large size map of Scotland. That one’s made into a 180 piece jigsaw and is gaining great popularity among the 5000+ schoolchildren it has already visited as an educational tool.
New British Inventions – Grassroots Designs And Winking Cycle Indicators
Co-labs were showcasing the nine winning designs from its competition to find the best grassroots invention of the year, with participants getting to meet the inventors and cast their votes at the show. Products ranged from John Martin’s White-out Laser Torch to Kevin Beedon’s Squeezebox – a lightweight alternative cooking system. On a separate stand, the British designers of “Winkku” were showing off their patented cycling mirror with integrated indicator, front and rear lights. Weighing little more than the AA batteries that power it, the system is designed for the urban cycle-commuter, and its makers hope will make urban cycling a little less dangerous for the cyclist on busy roads.
As usual there were all the latest offerings from manufacturers such as Parámo, Craghoppers and Berghouse, and navigational guidebooks and aids from Cicerone (who celebrate their 40th birthday this Sunday), OS Maps and Garmin. The Outdoors Show provides plenty of chances for visitors to try new activities and see the latest outdoor gear. This year’s show runs from 27-29 March 2009 and costs £13 in advance or £17 on the door – which covers all outdoors activities, indoors.
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