BIOS
LIAN DOLAN is one of Ireland’s top triathletes DAVIDCOURTNEY is originally fromTullamore
having been practicing the sport for a few years now. and joined the Defence Forces as a cadet in 1980.
He has raced pretty much every distance of tri up to He was commissioned as an officer in 1982 and
this point with a fair bit of success and is now having qualified as a pilot 1983. He has flown helicopters
his first crack at the big one – the ironman – this July. since 1986. Initially he was an Air Corps Rescue
As for how he got hooked on this three-legged sport, Pilot and then joined civil helicopter Search AndBIOS.
he quips:“It started with the my first small triathlon Rescue (SAR) in 1994 operating as Coast Guard
on Louth’s Blackrock beach in 2004 and the statement‘This should be a bit of crack’ and SAR Captain until 2001. He has flown approximately 300 emergency flights of all
has somehow ended with me facing the prospect of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112 –mile bike types. David is married with four children. He lives in Co Clare and now works as a
ride and a 26.2-mile run.” Life can take some pretty weird twists eh?! commercial airline pilot.ors´
RICHIE FITZGERALD –bigwaversurferandstar BEN MARCHANT takes over as mountain
ofepicIrishsurfmovie‘Waveriders’–hasjustsigned biking editor while Evan Ryan is on sabbatical.
uptobecomeOutsider’s surfeditor,whichwethinkis Ben has been riding mountain bikes for 17 years.
quiteacoup!Atthisstage,heprobablyhassaltwater A career in bar management allowed him free
runninginhisveinshavingbeeninvolvedinevery reign to bike and rock climb during daylight
aspectofsurfingyoucanthinkofforover25years, hours but a change in direction has seen him
bothathomeandabroad.Butoursurferdudeisn’t combine a passion for extreme sports andntribut
justonedimensional.HisotherinterestsincludeStarWars,spearfishingandsoccer(he’s a journalism with a university career. He has produced a thesis on mountain biking
passionateChelseaman).Whenhe’s notdroppingintomonsterwavesortrawlingtheglobe in Ireland and is currently pursuing a PhD in entrepreneurship and adventure
lookingforthem,youcanfindhimrippinguphishomebreak–thePeakinBundoran–and tourism. Ben has also been busy writing for Outsider and setting up his ownCo
impartinghiswavewisdomtointermediateandadvancedsurfersthroughhisrecently website (www.spoke.ie), doing the arduous task of reviewing all the latest MTB
formedsurfacademywww.surfcoachireland.ie.Richiewillbekeepingusuptodateon gear.When not on his favourite trails he can be found whispering to his baby son
allthebigsurfingscoopsoverthenextwhileandpromisestokeephisNorthWestand about the merits of XTR over XT and this suspension design over that. Sod’s law
Donegalbiasleaningstoaminimum.Wellmaybetoneddownabitanyway. says the kid will be into football.
JANE LAWRENSON,our resident picture, DECLAN CUNNINGHAM hails from Kerry
eventsand news girl regularly attempts toboost where he picked up the walking and climbing
herOutsidercredentialsby falling off surfboards, bug.When he’s not Out‘n’ About for Outsider,
mountainbikesand skis,but she is most happy when he’s got a few other irons in the fire. He is
she’s falling off her horseJaffa.The duocanbe seen a safety trainer with Industrial Safety and
bashing their way though show jumping leaguesand RescueTechniques (ISRT)so if he’s not hiking
galloping uncontrollably at large,solid fences on or climbing for fun you’ll find him up a mast
cross-countrycourses throughout the year.Jane,who hasalso written for theSunday teaching people how not to fall off. He also runs Ascents Of Adventure where
BusinessPost,finished her mediadegree last yearand has just returned toalife of he organises and leads treks to high altitude peaks. Declan holds the Mountain
studentbliss tocomplete her master’s increative advertising this year.She is most Leader and Rock Climbing Leader awards and is also a member of the Dublin
noted for her work style,which tends to result inacombination of organisedchaos, Wicklow Mountain RescueTeam. Basically, he’s a level-headed lover of the vertical
half-eaten foodandat trail of destruction.Jaffahasalot tocontend with. who does all his own stunts!
MARKHAM NOLAN is a freelance journalist, BARRYROBERTS (www.bazroberts.com)isthe
sailor and all-round outdoors nut from Dublin. CommercialDirectorofWildernessMedicalTraining.
A yachting correspondent since the age of 17, He’s hadagreatinterestinwildernessexplorationand
Markham has 12 years’ writing under his belt, and his medicinesincetheageof15whenhesurvivedhis
work has appeared in several national newspapers firstexpedition–a10-daycanoetriptoJamesBayin
and magazines across Ireland and Australia.When Canada.He’s apassionategravitysportsathletewho
he’s not bashing out words, he’s running, mountain lovesparagliding,skydiving,climbing,divingandski
biking, surfing, sailing, or trying to fit an accumulation of toys in his cupboard. His mountaineering.Occasionallygravityhasgotthebetterofhimandherecentlysurvived
top places to be are in a boat off theWest Cork coast or in the Caribbean where (inadvertently)skiingoffacliffinNewZealandwhenheonlysufferedadislocatedshoulder.
he worked leading teen expeditions. Failing that, give Markham a mountain bike Hehasbeeninvolvedin23majorexpeditionsonwhicheveryoneinvolvedsurvivedexcept
and two free hours to tackle the trails at Ballyhoura or Derroura or Manly Dam in forafewmountaingoats,zebraandagazellewhichheate.Hewisheshehadaeuroforeach
Australia and he’s a happy man. Markham is also a coffee addict, a Pisces, and an ofthe266,000+viewingsofhisYouTubeMountEverestsummitpanoramicvideoclip.Helives
award-winning blogger. betweenChamonixandtheLakeDistrictwithhisCorkwifeandtwoyoungdaughters.
JASPERWINN hasalwayshadaninterestinsurvival. PETERMCCABE was born in Belfast and is a
Particularlyhisown.Thusfarhe’s survivedhistravels self-taught landscape photographer. He is a happy
mainlybystayingdry,warmandwellfed.Sofourdays man when he’s amongst nature and her elements.
campedoutinaKerryboglearningaboutbushcraft His imaginative use of colour and strong, yet
seemedahighrisksurvivalstrategy.Buthefi ndsthere’s simple, composition combine to create a spirit of
arealpleasureineatingbraisednettleleaves,sleepingin contemplation and appreciation. His determination
asheltermadeofheapedtreebranchesandconjuring to capture the perfect moment has seen him wait
firefromtwosticksrubbedtogether.Henowknows for hours and in some cases camp at a location to capture that alluring moment
thatforsurvival–andcomfort–inthewildsheshouldcarryagoodknife,afi re-startingkit when all of nature’s elements combine to capture the wild rugged beauty that is the
andacondom.Ormaybeafull-chargedmobilephoneandano-limitcreditcard.Jasper’s Irish landscape. It’s not just us that like Pete’s work. His images have been published
adventurestodateincludetheslowestcircumnavigationaroundIrelandinakayak,roller both nationally and internationally, and have been used by the ESB, Bord Fáilte and
bladingthelengthoftheNetherlands,horseridingacrossKyrgyzstanandmanymore. Photography Monthly.
4|June-July|OUTSIDER
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84