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Hill Skills Series

Wind in the Mountains and its Effect on Hikers

High wind in the mountains can be a real game changer, it can have a profound effect on safety and morale. It can make it feel much colder than it actually is (wind chill effect), and can be unpredictable in direction and speed. Strong winds, (those over 50-60km/hr), are going to impede your progress, and…

Hill Skills Series – Top Tips for using Walking Poles

Many hikers use walking poles when out in the hills, and with good reason.  They help maintain balance, reduce the impact on our knees hips and ankles, (particularly in descent and when carrying a heavy pack), and are a useful support on slippery ground and when negotiating a river crossing.Using poles will also give you…

Layering for Hillwalkers

Layering, in a mountaineering or hillwalking context, refers to the principle of wearing layers of clothes to maintain comfort, dryness and warmth when being active outdoors. A good layering system would involve a baselayer, worn next to the skin for comfort, a midlayer to provide insulation, and an outer layer to keep out the wind…

Using the Five D’s in a Navigation Strategy

Long established with trainers and mountain professionals alike, using the five D’s at the beginning of each navigation leg, particularly when first learning these vital skills, ensures that no essential information is missed and adds structure to our decision making process when navigating in the mountains. Mountain navigation is often complex and difficult, with steep…

Assessing Personal Risk when moving on Steep Ground

When considering how to ascend or descend a particular section of steep terrain, whether steep wet grass or a rocky outcrop, it is important to make a personal judgment on your ability to safely negotiate the ground ahead of you. When assessing the risk to your personal safety it can often be useful to think…

Staying Hydrated in the Heat – What you Need to Know

Water is essential to life, and a lack of it will soon lead to serious health issues and ultimately to death. A lean person comprises around 70 – 75% water, losing just 1% of this will leave you dehydrated, losing 2% and things are getting serious. Water carries heat away from the vital organs and…

When is it the right time to turn back?

There is an old mountaineering saying, ‘The best decision you will ever make is the one to turn back’, and it is often true. To make this crucial call there are a number of criteria that must considered, and here I have outlined those I feel to be the most important. Weather Conditions The prevailing…

Taking and following a compass bearing from the map

Before being able to take an accurate compass bearing it is essential to understand the relationship between True North, Grid North and Magnetic North. The Three Norths Grid North Grid North is the navigational term for the northward projection of the north-south gridlines on a map. In Ireland it lies to the east of both…

Natural Navigation – How to find your way using the natural world around you.

It’s a clichĂ© to say we have become reliant on technology, and we certainly need a map and compass, and perhaps a GPS system, to find our way around unfamiliar hills. But how did our ancestors find their way around, and what natural features did they use to navigate across the land in times gone…

Essential Kit for Hiking in the Mountains

I was recently asked to produce a list of essential kit for hiking in the mountains (outside of winter), and I have reproduced it here, with some expanded explanations. The list is not comprehensive, and you may have a few items that you never leave home without to add to this list: Rucksack A pack…

Hill Skill Series – Understanding grid references

A grid reference is a series of letters and numbers that defines a unique square on a map, the more digits used the greater the accuracy and the smaller the square. Every country has its own unique grid, the lines are aligned north-south and east-west, forming a series of squares. In Ireland the grid is divided into squares 100…

Hill Skills Series – Navigation; setting the map

Setting the map is a fundamental navigational skill that all competent mountain navigators should be familiar with. When you open out a map, you intuitively hold it rather like a newspaper, so the writing can be read the correct way up. The straight lines you see running up and down the map are the north/south grid…

20 Top Tips for trouble free navigation

Accurate mountain navigation in misty conditions is one of the most important skills you can learn as a hillwalker. Mountain Rescue teams are regularly called out to hikers who have become disorientated by poor visibility in the mountains.  Always carry a map and compass, and have the skills to use them. However, even the best navigators…

Hill Skills Series – Navigation – a basic 3 step strategy for relocation when temporarily lost in the hills

It’s important when out in the hills to know where you are at all times. That seems pretty obvious, but unfortunately it is often ignored when hiking through open and mountainous terrain.  Navigation is essentially about getting from A to B, but unless you know where A is then how can you find B? If,…

Hill Skills Series – 8 Tips For Successful Night Hiking

As the nights draw in and the available daylight hours decrease, there is an increasing risk of having to finish your hike in the dark. Or on the other hand, maybe you want to try a bit of hiking after nightfall? Either way, hiking at night is a completely different experience, your perception of height…

Hill Skills Series – Fueling your body for the mountains – nutrition and hydration

Our bodies need fuel, food, to provide energy for our bodies to function, this energy is often quantified in terms of kilocalories, (Kcal). On average, a man will require 2800Kcal – 3000Kcal a day and a woman 2000Kcal – 2200Kcal. When we exercise this demand will increase, and we might burn another 1000Kcal on a…

Hill Skills Series – Winter hillwalking – layering for cold weather comfort.

By selecting the right clothing you can enjoy the hills in all conditions. ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing’, is a quote that has been used many times and in various forms. It simply means that if you have the correct clothing then the weather should pose no threat or impediment…