OS Champion

David Love

Meet David Love – British Army Officer, Adventurer & survival instructor.

What drives you to spend time outside?

I love working with young people in the outdoors and in mountainous, austere or challenging environments and encouraging them to push the limits of their comfort zone – the outdoors is the best classroom in the world.

Where are your favourite places to go?

North Wales is my favourite place to adventure in Great Britain due to it being the closest and most accessible mountain range to the south of England. It also has incredible scenery, challenging terrain to suite every skill level and Pete’s Eats in Llanberis!

What is your favourite thing to do outdoors?

Usually a solo mountain walk or with a close friend up a route that I’m unfamiliar with that tests and develops my own navigation skills while sharing unforgettable memories with a friend.

Who inspires you and how?

I’m inspired most by the next generation of young explorers. I’ve met so many young people through schemes such as the DofE, many of whom come from challenging social or domestic backgrounds or suffer with mental of physical disability who, through the outdoors, show far greater levels of resolve, determination and resilience than I ever did when growing up.

What are your focuses this year to help people get outside more often?

My focus this year is to raise awareness of local exploration, accessibility for all and not having to travel to the other side of the country to have and adventure. There’s nothing I love more than getting hold of my local OS Map and dedicating a few hours to getting lost along the picturesque foot paths and tracks of my nearby green spaces – of course, if the route also includes a rustic village pub for lunch with an open fire then I’m happy to cut the walk short occasionally!

What are your 3 biggest life achievements?

Summiting Mont Blanc solo when I was only 18 and returning ten years later to lead a team to the summit for charity. Completing a world-first solo traverse of the Transylvanian Alps during winter and surviving a close encounter with a mountain bear! Having the honour to present Gold DofE Presenting awards to over 1000 exceptional young people at St James’s and Buckingham Palace over the past few years.

3 words you live by…

Push your comfort-zone.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Cream Teas and Sunday morning lay-ins!

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