DIGITAL PRODUCTION
Winner Thomas Smallwood for The Armchair Mountaineer / www.armchairmountaineer.com
Judges Lois Sparling, freelance website writer/designer, and Craig Wareham of ViewRanger
Thomas Smallwood receiving his award from Lois Sparling
The Award for Digital Production is sponsored by
Cordee. Having started life as a sole distributor for
rock climbing guidebooks published by the largest
climbing clubs in the UK, the business now includes
distribution of titles encompassing all outdoor
activities. While climbing remains at our core we’ve
seen cycling books fl ourish in the last few years and
who’d heard of sea kayaking ten years ago. Owned
and managed by brother and sister Richard and
Jane Robinson, Cordee now has a unique and world-
renowned catalogue of books and maps.
www.cordee.co.uk
What the judges said...
We feel that this website ticks all the boxes, is by far the
most interesting, good looking and wide-ranging and
promotes the outdoors with passion.
26 Outdoor focus | winter 2017
About The Armchair Mountaineer...
I am Thomas Smallwood; Entrepreneur, Blogger, Mountain
Enthusiast and Bibliophile. In late 2016 I quit the rat race to
redesign my life in a way that was more satisfying, interesting and
adventurous both in my personal and professional life. I didn’t
know how to accomplish the large and vague objective of “living
better”, although I knew it meant being more entrepreneurial and
spending more time outdoors.
And so The Armchair Mountaineer was born… or rather,
evolved into a blog following my journey and a web site designed
to inspire others to do the same.
The Italian Alps: Redefi ning success
An Armchair Mountaineer article
L
ast week I was in the Italian Alps enjoying a colourful
Autumn and putting my legs through the kind of terrain
that I seldom encounter in Cambridgeshire!
It was a while since I had been to the Canavese region
of Piemonte and the Valle d’Aosta, from where half my
family originates; a while since I had kicked steps into snow
and felt my quads burning so fervently at the unusual strain
of uphill propulsion. Strange to hear on this kind of web site
I know, but hey, the whole idea is to get out of the armchair
and back into a more adventurous outdoor life.
So one day last week, amid the mists and mellow
drizzliness I set off up the Valley of Champorcher, to go