Meet the team behind Big Trail Adventures.

We are a team of guidebook authors and editors, cartographers, race planners and app developers.

We've spent our lifetimes running, walking and hiking the best long-distance trails, with friends and with our children.

Sometimes we go fast and run through the night to get the trail finished. Most times we just take our time and enjoy the views, food and drink along the way.

We love adventure hiking, saving money and being self-sufficient.

Guidebook author & trail veteran

Stephen

Stephen discovered his passion for long-distance trails nearly 30 years ago when he first walked the West Highland Way with brother Richard.

Since then, Stephen has walked and run thousands of miles, capturing his extensive knowledge and enthusiasm in three bestselling guidebooks that feature nearly 100 of the best trails in the UK and central Europe — the acclaimed Big Trails series published by Vertebrate Publishing Ltd. As a director of Vertebrate, Stephen is part of a team that have published dozens of award-winning guidebooks.

In addition to his writing, Stephen organises the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon, an annual two-day mountain marathon in the Lake District, renowned for demanding the highest standards in route planning and navigation.

Stephen has run and walked the Cumbria Way and Dales Way in single efforts, but his favourite trail is the GR221 in Mallorca which he has walked in both directions a number of times. His most cherished memories are of walking the Tour du Mont Blanc in perfect conditions with a young family.

Stephen, along with the entire Big Trail Adventures team, also brings unmatched expertise in leveraging cutting-edge technology through their collaborative development of Skamper, an innovative running app celebrated for featuring Britain's best curated routes.

Co-founder & outdoor strategist

Rob

Rob spends his life in two states: on the trail, or wishing he was on the trail.

He's spent over twenty years working in and around the outdoor world — as a strategist, brand leader, and adviser to some of the most respected names in adventure. His work has helped shape how thousands of people discover, plan and experience the outdoors, from long-distance trail runners and cyclists to first-time hikers.

Before co-founding Big Trail Adventures, Rob was Marketing Director at Alpkit, where he built campaigns, launched new products, and partnered with some of the UK's most iconic events.

Rob has also spent years creating technology solutions. He led the delivery of the first ever mobile app for Leeds Building Society and looked after the online services for Yorkshire Building Society. Using that expertise to help more people get outside is a real pleasure.

Rob has ridden the unsupported Transcontinental Race across Europe, the Japanese Odyssey ultra-endurance race around Japan, and run the summer Spine Challenger along the Pennine Way. But what he really loves is being out on the trail to enjoy it. The highlight? Seeing grizzly bears in the wild on the Skyline Trail in Jasper.

Rob lives with his family in the Peak District. Where else?

Commissioning editor & ultrarunner

Kirsty

Kirsty is the commissioning editor for Vertebrate Publishing, working with authors to develop guidebooks which combine practical and comprehensive guidance with stunning mapping and inspiring photography.

These books span everything from short, accessible walks right up to the long-distance hikes we specialise in at Big Trail Adventures.

Kirsty commissioned the bestselling (17k copies sold) Peak Bagging: the Wainwrights book, which helps people to 'bag' all the Wainwrights in the most efficient way, as well as Elise Downing's Walk Britain, a guide to car-free adventures, and Walkhighlands' guide to Scottish long-distance trails, Great Scottish Walks.

Kirsty discovered the joy of long-distance trails via ultrarunning. She has completed races like the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc and Tor des Geants, which take in some of the most epic long-distance hiking trails in Europe. On home soil she has completed the Coast to Coast in under three days.

While Kirsty enjoys ultra races, she actually enjoys the training, planning and trips to recce the routes more, so she plans to do a lot more long-distance trails in the future. Kirsty has designs on the Alta Via 1 and GR221, as well as more home trails.

Cartographer & route designer

Richard

Richard is a professional cartographer with over two decades of experience in route design and mapping.

He has created detailed maps for major long-distance trails including the Tour du Mont Blanc, South Downs Way, West Highland Way, St Oswald's Way, and Northumberland Coast Path.

His early work includes the Peak District 'BikeMaps' mountain bike route series and a North Costa Blanca Cycling Map. He has planned thousands of running routes across the UK for the Skamper app and created maps for the Peak District Bagging the Wainwrights Guide and the Munros Guide, and has authored The Good Mountain Biking Guide: England & Wales.

He has also planned routes for multi-day cycle challenges for charity rides in various European countries including Italy, France, Belgium, Poland and Croatia.

Based on the edge of the Peak District he enjoys exploring the National Park on bike or foot. Further afield he has walked the West Highland Way, tackled the Lake District 3000ers in a single day, raced the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, taken part in multiple Mountain Marathon events and mountain bike raced the Isle of Man E2E.

Adventure travel specialist

Craig

Craig has over ten years' experience in sales and customer service within the adventure travel industry. His love of adventure began early — his parents had him on skis at the age of four — and he's been chasing new challenges ever since. After university, he jumped at the chance to live the dream and do a ski season. One thing led to another and he ended up doing three seasons.

When it came time to head back to Glasgow and 'get a real job', there was only one path that made sense: adventure travel. Ever since, he's been connecting customers to adventures, sharing his passion for getting people out on the trails to enjoy the same adventures he does.

Some of his most memorable trips include walking the West Highland Way (his local national trail), paddleboarding on Norway's Sognefjord, hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc, Alta Via 1 and the Tour of the Matterhorn, exploring the Azores, climbing Triglav in Slovenia, trekking in Colorado, biking in Moab, Utah, and — one of his all-time favourites — cycling from Thailand to Cambodia.

When he's not travelling, he's an avid hillwalker, working through the long list of Munros in Scotland (282) — now with his new baby strapped to his back. He's also climbed in Skye and the Cairngorms and takes to the water on his SUP whenever the wind lets him.

Next on his list is climbing the Matterhorn, ski touring the Haute Route, and taking a road trip through the Canadian Rockies — with a detour north to Alaska.

Writer & long-distance hiker

Elise

Elise is predominantly a writer but loves any work that involves shouting about how great being outside is.

She's the author of Coasting, a travel memoir about her 5,000 mile self-supported run around the British coast, and Walk Britain, a guidebook of 90 car-free walking routes across the UK.

Elise has worked with organisations across the outdoor industry, including The Ramblers, The North Face UK, Komoot, Suunto, ParkPlay and Living Streets.

Having really jumped in at the deep end with that run around the coast, these days Elise prefers a trail that doesn't take 10 months to complete. She's fastpacked the Tour du Mont Blanc, West Highland Way, Snowdonia Slate Trail, Cumbria Way, Haute Route and the Ridgeway, as well as plenty of self-devised routes. She's got a self-confessed terrible sense of direction but can always tell you where the best cafe or pub is.

Elise currently lives in Cumbria, where she's spent the past few years trying (and mostly failing) to get better at running up and down hills.