Hill walking - how to start?

M

marcellaf

Registered User
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hi all,

I'm considering taking up hillwalking, but don't know where to begin.

I am quite unfit right now, but hoping to change that.

Any idea what sort of walks I should start off on? Preferably in the Galway region.

If I was to build up to climbing Croagh Patrick, what sort of a training schedule should I aim for?

thanks.
 
Hi,
The website www.mountaineering.ie lists walking clubs throughout the country, a lot of which have their own websites. I think most run regular walks on weekends aimed at beginners and then longer treks for more advances walkers. I have thought about doing it myself and wimped out so best of luck to you!
M
 
Hello

This site might help.

[broken link removed]

The do seem to concentrate on the East Coast, but you could always ring An Oige to get similar info about your location.



Cheers
 
There should be hill walking groups in Galway city.The main thing to remember is that some clubs concentrate on advanced climbs,so be sure and enquire about the difficulty of any of the walks on their programmes.I only have info on East Clare walking club they go on walks every fortnight .
 

UCG Hiking Club is open to non-students. I would agree wholeheartedly with the comment re enquiring about difficulty. In the early 90's I went out hiking with the UCG club. My friend persuaded me to do the "medium" walk. I stupidly did it despite having a bit of a flu. She and the rest of the group disappeared into the distance (mostly Army guys who raced ahead) and I took a wrong turn coming down from one of the 12-pins. My water had run out and i was completely dehydrated. I almost went over a precipice. Exhausted I made it off the mountain about 1 hours later, and this was in winter.

I had been very lucky and very stupid, but wow was i happy. They found me and carried me the rest of the way back to the bus.

Suffice to say I went for the easier walks from then on and brought sufficient water, chocolate etc.

MCI have membership for about 50 euro per year including insurance, but you often get it through affiliated members... In Dublin www.glenwalk.com are very good and organise loads of social events too.

MCI also have a BEAUTIFUL and interesting magazine which you get with your membership
 
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hi again,

thanks for all the replies. I would be very hesitant to join a club immediately, as I would be afraid of an incident similar to Gearoid's happening. I'm not going to ever be a fast walker (which I'm ok with, but many groups may not be), so I had been planning on doing the walks on my own or with one or two friends.
The last thing I want to do is go at it hell for leather of a day, get blisters etc. and never again go back.

So for an easy start, where in Connemara should I go? Or should I build up my distance on flat ground before attempting hills?

thanks.
 
Hi

I'm a member of a few hillwalking clubs and can mail you the contact details for Na Beanna Beola club (walks mostly based in Connemara) if you require- the season finishes in June and starts again in September. The club has a varied range of walks suited to low level/moderate walkers up to the high grade endurance walks.

UCG is also a good club - they offer low, mid and high grade walks however you must have MCI membership or some other form of insurance to cover yourself. All hill wlking clubs have a stringent requirement for members to have the essential kit list for walking in mountainous terrains. Log onto the NUIG mountaineering club website and you'll get an idea of what the club is about.

There is also the Galway Walking club who again offer the low grade to high grade walks.Again you can find their contact details with the Mountaineering Council of Ireland (MCI).

Happy hillwalking
 
Hi marcellaf,
I disagree to be honest with the idea of not joining a club. Join a club and go on the easy walks. I was a) stupid and b) the group i was with at the time was not lead well, and people weren't looking out for each other. It was a one off bad experience I had in 1992. Been on a lot of great walks since.

The danger is going on serious walks where there is no leader, no good map reader and you are all new to hiking.

If you're just starting out go with a well lead group or go on flat forest park walks... Don't head out on the twelve bens or maams unprepared... By all means get fit first and just get out in the outdoors.

As I remember someone lost their life on the maam walk last year so connemara can be very dangerous to the unprepared.
 
marcellaf said:
I would be very hesitant to join a club immediately, as I would be afraid of an incident similar to Gearoid's happening.
Click to expand...
There's no way gearoid should have been left, surely a one off situation. Join a club, get the right gear, start off on handy walks, learn to read walking maps and a compass yourself. IMHO hillwalking is great, I love being in the mountains.
 
Is it not a problem in a group that if people are at different levels/speeds, that invariably either the slow people end up being pushed to do it faster than they would like or else the faster paced people get bored and fed up of waiting for the slow coaches?
I just really don't want to end up in a situation where I can't stop to take a breather when I want to, but have to wait until a group stop.
 
Most clubs, if large enough would have short, medium and long walks for walkers of different abilities.

By the way, I'm sure UCG hiking club is great. I would think the leader of my group at the time has now hung up his boots for good. And, one bad experience doesn't amount to anything.

I think inactivity is more dangerous. I have two friends who have had very serious conditions diagnosed successfully treated as they noticed sudden deteriorations in their fitness. They wouldn't have noticed had they been couch potatoes.
 
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