hillwalking, hiking, mountaineering Info and trivia

The term hillwalking is used to describe activities which might be referred to as hiking or mountaineering elsewhere, with the term hills being understood generally to include mountains, as these are referred to specifically using the term mountaineering only in specific circumstances.

Mountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking and climbing up mountains. It is also sometimes known as alpinism, particularly in Europe. It may be said to consist of three aspects: rock-craft, snow-craft and skiing, depending on whether the route chosen is over rock, snow or ice. All require great athletic and technical ability, and experience is also a very important part of the latter.

Fellwalking is particularly used to refer to hill or mountain walks in the Lake District as fell is the preferred term for both features in that part of England.
Britain offers a wide variety of ascents, from gentle rolling lowland hills to some very exposed routes in the mountains. The term climbing is used for the activity of tackling the more technically difficult ways of getting up hills involving rock climbing while hillwalking refers to the easier routes.

Some summits require climbing skills, and many hillwalkers will become proficient in scrambling. In Britain, the term "mountaineering" tends to be reserved for expeditions abroad to ranges such as the Alps, or for serious domestic hill walking, typically in winter, with additional equipment such as ice axe and crampons, or for routes requiring rock climbing skills such as the traverse of the Cuillin ridge. The British Mountaineering Council provides more information on this topic.

In Britain, popular locations for hillwalking include the Lake District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, Snowdonia and the Scottish Highlands, including the Cairngorms, the largest national park. The mountains in Britain are modest in height, with Ben Nevis at 4409 feet (1344 metres) forming the highest peak, but the unpredictably wide range of weather conditions and often difficult terrain can make walking in many areas challenging.

Peak bagging provides a focus for the activities of many hillwalkers. Among many lists compiled for this purpose, the Munros – mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) – remains one of the most popular.

Fell (from the Old Norse fjall, 'mountain') is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in parts of England and Scandinavia.

Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hillwalking and rock climbing.

Hazards
Falling rocks, Falling ice, Falls from rocks, Ice slopes, Snow slopes, Crevasses, Weather, Altitude

walking tours - hill walking