Chris Townsend (born 1949) is a passionate

hillwalker Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultiv ...

and author of over 20 books. He is also currently Hillwalking Ambassador for the

British Mountaineering Council The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...

. Although Craig Caldwell was the first person to climb all of the

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

s and Tops in one continuous journey, Townsend was the first to do so entirely on foot covering 1,700 miles (2,700 km) and 575,000 feet (170,000 m) of ascent over all 517 of the 3,000 ft (914 m)

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

summits listed in Munro's Tables. He was also the first person to walk the length of the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost par ...

, a distance of 1,600 miles (2,500 km). Chris Townsend has also hiked the 2,600 mile (4200 km)

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

, the 3,100 mile (5,000 km)

Continental Divide Trail The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (in short Continental Divide Trail (CDT)) is a United States National Scenic Trail with a length measured by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition of between the U.S. border with Chihuahua, Mexico a ...

, from

Land's End to John o' Groats Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two List of extreme points of the United Kingdom#Extreme points within the UK, extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The tradition ...

in the UK (1,250 miles, 2,000 km), south–north through the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n mountains (1,300 miles, 2100 km), 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south–north through the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

Territory, the 800 mile (1,300 km)

Arizona Trail The Arizona National Scenic Trail is a National Scenic Trail from Mexico to Utah that traverses the whole north–south length of the U.S. state of Arizona. The trail begins at the Coronado National Memorial near the US–Mexico border and moves ...

, the 1,200 mile Pacific Northwest Trail and the 700 mile Scottish Watershed. Townsend has been a long-term contributor to ''The Great Outdoors'' magazine, for whom he is currently the Gear Editor. His book ''The Backpacker's Handbook'' won the Outdoor Writer's Guild Award for Excellence in 1993. He is the co-author, with Annie Aggens, of the ''Encyclopedia of Outdoor & Wilderness Skills: The Ultimate A–Z Guide for The Adventurous''.

References

External links

Personal websiteChris Townsend on Twitter

Author page at Cicerone, publisher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Chris Living people British non-fiction writers British mountain climbers Walkers of the United Kingdom 1949 births British male writers Male non-fiction writers