In our Common Ground series of short interviews, we aim to find out what makes our fellow outdoor enthusiasts tick, the experiences they share and their hopes for the future. Our latest interviewee is Grant Moir, the Chief Executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, the UK’s largest National Park.
Can you begin by telling us a bit about yourself and your background?
I grew up in Scone just outside Perth and went to Aberdeen University (mainly to be close to the mountains and for the Dons season ticket) to study geography and history. Having the Cairngorms within an hour meant I spent a lot of time out with friends tramping around mountains near and far.
I had a few years working down in Cambridgeshire – about as far away from mountains as you can get in these isles – then moved back up to Scotland and joined Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority in 2006. It was a great time to be working in national parks as they were relatively new in Scotland and I ended up as Director of Conservation and Visitor Experience. In 2013 I got my dream job as CEO of the Cairngorms National Park Authority.
How did you first get started? Can you remember your first trip outdoors?
I was seven when I did Schiehallion with the Boys’ Brigade in October 1985 but really it was my Dad that got me into the outdoors. We were out with friends doing munros most weekends from that point onwards all over Scotland and he is still doing mountains with me at 76. One of my earliest memories on the hills was in June 1987, walking between Cairngorm and Ben Macdui on snow all the way across the plateau and coaxing a friend’s dog off the cornices above the northern corries.
Can you describe your ideal trip in Scotland?
It would have to be camping with friends after walking high on a ridge or a plateau for hours and having a dram as the sun sinks. It would have to be either in the Cairngorms or out west in Kintail or Torridon.
What does getting outdoors mean to you?
The world can be a stressful place and it feels angrier than ever, with less time given to understanding nuance and complexity, especially online. Getting outdoors and getting away from it all is my way of unwinding. Breathing in a fresh northerly on a mountain that has been there forever doesn’t half put things into perspective.
Have your outdoors’ experiences changed you in any way, perhaps affecting other areas of your life?
I am not sure if outdoor experiences have changed me, but the mountains have been part of me my whole life. Having tramped all over Scotland for 40 years I think the thing I notice is that my perspective has been changed. When I was younger, I looked for remoteness and wildness and equated that with it being natural. These days I look for the signs that land is recovering and nature is thriving.
Looking forward, if there was one thing you could change about Scotland’s outdoors – whether that be in something in the environment itself, or in the culture around walking and mountains, what would it be?
I’ll be cheeky and say two things. The obsession with gear sometimes sticks in my craw and I think can be alienating to people. I did my first 100 Munros in knitted socks from my gran, an old rain jacket, a brown rucksack and a decent pair of boots. I know that the weather in Scotland is highly changeable but for summer walking in Scotland we exclude too many by making it appear an expensive pursuit.
Secondly, the impacts of climate are evident for all to see and the future of the Scottish uplands from iconic species to snowfields are under threat. How often in the future will snowfields lie on the plateau between Cairngorm and Macdui? I think all of us who love the outdoors have a profound moral obligation to tackle the nature and climate crisis.
