On The Hill Magazine to Close

Rob / 06.05.2002

Of all the magazines on the newsagents shelves ‘On The Hill’ has always been the strongest supporter of adventure racing in the UK, and the news that the magazine is to close is a heavy blow.

Editor Steve Duffy told us the reasons why. \"We had a hard time of things during foot and mouth, as did the entire industry, but we were hopeful that this year advertising revenue would pick up. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. I\'d like to thank all the readers, writers and companies who supported OTH - .”

So Foot and Mouth is still hurting our sport, not long after the demise of Blue Eskimo, who never recovered either. The magazine was the only true multi-sports outdoors title and became the home of much of the adventure racing coverage in the UK. (The first issue had 6 pages on the first ever Blue Eskimo race and full page ads for the Hi-Tec ARS and Salomon X series.) It was produced by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, and it showed.

Editor Steve Duffy and News and Gear Editor Steve Watkins are regular competitors and took on the Eco-Challenge in Borneo together, then went on to organise the inaugural Red Bull Northern Exposure this year. Under their leadership the title sponsored races (it is currently a sponsor of ACE Races) and was always there to help promote the sport. Now we’ll have to get along without them.

Steve is still looking out for the sport and planning to compete though and added ”I hope that SleepMonsters will now take OTH\'s place and provide the Brit scene with the high quality coverage it deserves. See you all at The Rush!\"

If you are a subscriber you’ll get details of what’s going to happen through the post shortly, but we’re told issue number 23 will be the last.