Blimey, it's many years since I started a post on here but I just had to vent a little.
I have a disproportionate hatred of the word hiking when used to describe going for a walk in the uplands of Britain. To me, it's always been hillwalking although I know 'hiking' was a popular term here in years past. It's likely I'll get bashed for this post but I'd still like to hear the thoughts of other hillwalkers.
Perhaps it isn't the word itself that bothers me but rather the new insta-breed of hiker that seems to have recently come to the pastime oblivious to the long traditions of hillwalking as the starting point in the mountaineering continuum, the battles -both historical and ongoing- for outdoor access and the codes of conduct adhered to by a largely self-policing community of outdoor lovers.
It could be said that my attitude is elitist and I should be pleased that many youngsters are taking to the hills. That, however, would be misplaced as I have been an advocate of 'getting out there' for many years and have promoted the myriad benefits of walking and climbing.
I suppose my annoyance with the word hiking is that it is emblematic of the attitudes that many new walkers are bringing with them to the hills. Their acquisitive nature which is shown in language such as "conquering the mountain", the over riding compulsion to document their feats with psychedelic phone selfies and pseudo inspirational quotes gets right up my hooter!
To such folk it is not a holistic and, perhaps, spiritual journey that can recalibrate the way we view ourselves and the environment around us but a vehicle for narcissistic expression and vacuous 'lifestyle' values in a race to the bottom in order to get a free pair of Salomans.
It seems to me that such an approach to the outdoors results in empty experiences tethered to the ego and the standards of modern consumer culture.
I say all this as someone who worked in what is probably the busiest 'walkers cafe' in Britain for 7 years where I came across the good, bad and ugly sides of the outdoor community and society at large.
Now, this is very much MY problem when it comes to a simple word, I realise that and perhaps I should book some therapy sessions.
It's, however, redolent of the commercialisation and commodification of our precious and fragile upland environments which is seeping into organisations that should know better but appear to be appealing to the lowest common denominator in an attempt to get some money in.
Plas y Brenin are now offering instruction on walking, scrambling etc and ML courses under the heading of 'Hike' while the BMC Hillwalking Essentials initiative has been rebranded 'Hiking Essentials'.
Does any of this matter? What do you think?
Pass me the valium
They're different words with different, overlapping meanings.
Hillwalking is, er, walking up hills (and mountains, but ones not serious enough to get into it being "mountaineering"). Walking down the canal, say, isn't hillwalking.
A "hike" is a longish walk that is a reasonably large undertaking. Bimbling up from Ogwen Cottage to Llyn Idwal isn't a "hike", nor is a wander to and around your local park, but going 20 miles down the canal on the flat almost certainly is, as is walking up Snowdon.
Some training, e.g. map and compass, is applicable to all hiking, even on the flat. Some training is applicable specifically to hillwalking, e.g. stuff relating to steep ground.
I don't think this is similar to making "jogging" cooler by "rebranding" it to "running".
FWIW at uni we used to say any walk can be categorised as a "big hike" or "little bimble", and the level of incline involved was not really related to that, it was more about how long it took, whether you put boots or trainers on etc.
I see from your profile that you are a professional landscape photographer, mountain leader and writer. I am somewhat at a loss as to how you can justifiably complain about the 'commercialisation and commodification of our precious and fragile upland environments' when that is how you make your living.
I suspect part of your problem is living and working in such a crowded place.
At a recent BMC Clubs meeting the BMC rep gave us a heads-up on this, to warn that the term "hiking" had been adopted for a promotion to get people outdoors and encourage learning skills. This was seen as more widely understood than hill-walking, and more inclusive since it includes more gentle walks as well as hill-bashing. I got the impression this is shared by a number of organisations and isn't just a BMC initiative. She sounded a bit apologetic and acknowledged that it was not a term most of those on the call would use.
As for the rest, selfie culture seems to be here to stay, unfortunately.
I agree that sometimes the people doing this for the "image" can be an annoyance at times. You only have to go up to Fan y Big on a sunny weekend and look at all the people waiting their turn to have a photo taken on the diving board to "flex" on their instagram followers that they did something far more extreme than anything they did while sat on the sofa. When you look at that sometimes you think, wow, THAT'S the only reason you came all the way up here? And perhaps it is, and that shallow and vain thing makes them happy...to each their own who am I to judge how someone enjoys the outdoors, they tend not to get in my way very often and you can always ruin their shot by blowing your nose into your buff behind them if you really want to be petty about it
For the most part they are harmless and perhaps say out of a 10 person sample of these insta hikers, a couple are hardcore legit people who like to share their experiences, a couple are fair weather people out for a photo op, and hopefully a few of them will be there for the photo op but come away with a bigger appreciation for the area than they went in with.
The outdoors is for everyone and there's no right or wrong way to enjoy it (unless it ends up with unnecessary callouts for mountain/search & rescue), that goes for hillwalkers, hikers and posers alike.
> As for the rest, selfie culture seems to be here to stay, unfortunately.
The "selfie culture" thing always seems like total bollocks to me, to be honest. I'm not that old myself, but whenever I meet younger folk doing outdoors stuff they pretty much always seem to be keen on getting out there because they find it exciting or inspiring or enjoyable or whatever, not because they've heard it's a great way to get a perfect selfie. To be honest, I've taken to treating the a reference to people "just being interested in getting the 'likes' on Instagram" as a sign that I can stop paying attention to someone's argument, because they're probably in the realms of fantasy.
When I was much younger in the Scouts, one of the tasks was a 12 mile Hike involving an overnight camp in upland Northumberland. Since then, long walks with heavy bags has been a hike to me. Days out in the hills with a light pack might be a hillwalk, a bimble or a meander depending on how I'm feeling at the time.
I know people who can't go out for a days climb or walk without getting the perfect photo for their instagram. It's quite sad to think that they'll never just have a day out without thinking about other people's approval of it. I guess it's similar to people recording live gigs on their phones instead of just enjoying themselves.
Obviously there are a lot of people getting out and about because they want to and like it but there definitely are people with a major drive to project an image of themselves.
Yes, "hiking" does grate. And if we need to differentiate with hillwalking, why not just "walking". I dislike "mountainwalking" too which seems to have been adopted by some official bodies.
But people have always taken photos of stuff and shown it to people - my parents have got drawers full of their old holiday photos and boxes of 8mm slides and Super-8 film that my grandad took, and the dreaded "family slideshow" is something of a running joke. The big difference now is that we (including my parents) have got camera phones and the internet, so it's easier for more people to take pictures and share them.
I mean, for sure there are influencers and wannabes for whom it's a day's work to get a perfect shot, but I've never met any of them, and acting like it's only after instagram was invented that people started wanting pictures of themselves on the cantilever stone or the top of Scafell Pike or whatever doesn't really ring true to me...
Not everyone certainly, but it just seems to be a feature of modern culture. But as Iboutside says, the outdoors is for everyone to enjoy in their own way. They're mostly easy to avoid, and everyone has to start somewhere. I'm not sure my own introductions to the mountains with the scouts and cadets was particularly spiritual (especially when I recall the songs we sang in the back of the truck).
> When I was much younger in the Scouts, one of the tasks was a 12 mile Hike involving an overnight camp in upland Northumberland. Since then, long walks with heavy bags has been a hike to me. Days out in the hills with a light pack might be a hillwalk, a bimble or a meander depending on how I'm feeling at the time.
I agree - 'hiking' has been around for years and certainly in the scouts in the 70s!
But back then the photos and slides would be limited to a holiday or special occasion with something of actual significance. Not just someone feeling #blessed on a Tuesday with a filter-touched-up photo of them in a field somewhere. It's toxic and most people (myself included) engage with it to some extent. I know some people who would have an anxiety attack if their phone was left in their bag.
I much prefer hiking to rambling.
Agree. For me, hiking was a scouting term, we would have the odd "night hike" or organised march across country but my era did not use it for walking in the mountains. Has it drifted into use from the States? They certainly have hiking trails - how long before we have to surrender our mountain paths? Bah, humbug...
Edit - Re: Rambling - horrible term, just as unacceptable as hiking in my view, but the Ramblers as a group are pretty hard hillwalkers, in the same way the LDWA do an awful lot of jogging downhill during their monster walks...
I was briefly a member of a university hiking club (1978) so it's been around for some time. A little earlier I briefly went on a meet or two with Wigan Ramblers. I always thought 'rambling' was a bit soft sounding but then read about the foundations of getting access to our uplands and all those hard-as-nails ramblers who fought the law to get it.
what do i do if I fancy going for stroll?
> I see from your profile that you are a professional landscape photographer, mountain leader and writer. I am somewhat at a loss as to how you can justifiably complain about the 'commercialisation and commodification of our precious and fragile upland environments' when that is how you make your living.
> I suspect part of your problem is living and working in such a crowded place.
And he's a Brand Ambassador!
Not anymore I'm not!
Have you not heard the expression "Hike your own hike".
That was few years ago, I've neglected to update my profile. Not that it matters.
No, that's a new one on me.
I think we should call it wild walking.
Keep brand consistency with wild swimming and wild camping.
Let's have Wild Climbing too for trad!
It is the same in the cycling world - what used to be 'off-road touring' is now 'bikepacking'. Does it matter? - not a jot imo. The important thing is folk getting out into the fresh air and nature. To resent additional numbers being out there is, I feel, rather churlish and a tad selfish...
> The "selfie culture" thing always seems like total bollocks to me, to be honest. I'm not that old myself, but whenever I meet younger folk doing outdoors stuff they pretty much always seem to be keen on getting out there because they find it exciting or inspiring or enjoyable or whatever, not because they've heard it's a great way to get a perfect selfie. To be honest, I've taken to treating the a reference to people "just being interested in getting the 'likes' on Instagram" as a sign that I can stop paying attention to someone's argument, because they're probably in the realms of fantasy.
It is a very real phenomenon, I've seen too much evidence for it to be being a fantasy of mine.
Hike your own hike, maybe it comes from the US. Basically do your thing and leave others to do theirs.
> Hike your own hike, maybe it comes from the US. Basically do your thing and leave others to do theirs.
How profound!
At least no one is calling it "wild walking" yet.
To me both "hiking" and "rambling" have a rather old-fashioned feel to them. However fashions change, in language as in everything else, and it appears that "hiking" is undergoing a resurgence. Presumably the BMC and its partners believe this term will resonate more with the people they are trying to attract.
When I hear the word used it usually has a more specific meaning. "A hike" implies something a bit more committing than a mere walk. To describe somewhere as "a bit of a hike" means it will be long and arduous, and you'll be very glad to reach the end - typical British understatement in fact.
My father always told me with pride of his "First Class Hike" he had to do in the scouts - must have been in the late 1940s - I inherited his 1 inch linen O/S map of Middleton in Teesdale, the area where they undertook this rite of passage.
What about Rambling Hikers?
What about rambling hikers, down a hole, in the fog, with an owl?
Hence the name of the feature in the pennines incorrectly spelled by those who don't know it is really quite a "Hike up t' Nick", presumably told to the OS men by an old shepherd and misheard.
The Ramblers have a similar attitude to walking as the infantry
I think HYOH originated from the long trails in the states. It usually refers to pacing, as some people will go too fast/too slow, skip rest days, etc. in order to keep up with a group they like and burn out. It's often also used when discussing kit for said long trails; Different people have different comfort levels etc. (one person might be happy sleeping in a binbag whilst criticising the weight of someone's pack who has a nice big tent full of home comforts).
Wild Walking
> Not that it matters.
I thought Harry's point was rather astute.
Surely, hiking is a contraction of hillwalking....?
> > Not that it matters.
> I thought Harry's point was rather astute.
I thought it was bitchy and totally missed the point.
> Wild Walking
Intrepid Perambulating trips easily of the tongue and has a nice wee ring to it......🙂
how about "Wild Walking" that would be in keeping with other social media inspired outdoor activities!
What about dogging??
Hiking the trails , backcountry, boot packing, are all mid-Atlantic terms probably promotes by equipment manufacturers to sell more stuff to athletes (another term that grates)
Feels like making a metaphorical mountain out of a pretty vague imaginary molehill. As long as they respect the environment it's their personal time and they can call it whatever the hell they like. You mention that you feel like your attitude could be called "elitist" and well... yeah.
> I thought it was bitchy and totally missed the point.
The point about hypocrisy seemed well made, and entirely to the point. A point which was fairly petulant and ranty...
I remember ‘hiking’ up Snowdon as a kid, back in the 80’s. That’s what my Dad and Uncle called it and that’s what I’ve called it ever since. It’s evident from some of the posts above that this isn’t uncommon.
So, linking the term with people who are new to the hills (and mountains) is inaccurate.
> It is a very real phenomenon, I've seen too much evidence for it to be being a fantasy of mine.
People taking selfies in nice places is not a fantasy. People only going out in nice places to take selfies and wouldn't go out if it weren't for that is *mostly* a fantasy.
To me 'hiking' refers back to a an earlier era and I don't identify with it. Walking is what I do in most of my outdoors activity.
> And even if they did, so what
Indeed. "Old man yells at cloud" comes to mind, which is fitting, seeing as the selfies will almost certainly live on the cloud.
My Garmin watch makes me log my hillwalking as hiking. Is it Garmin's fault?
Free-walking surely?
The thread seems to have established that the term hiking has been around for ages, that taking photos of ones self and each other on top of hills has been around for ages, so that just leaves a bit of a grumble about young people and Instagram.
The yoof of today eh?!
Extreme ambling?
What about rebranding walkers as 'pedophiles'?
NB Please refer to dictionary before disliking.
Wild perambulation? Or perhaps 'Nordic Stepping' sounds suitably energetic and exotic.
What ever happened to Yomping?
But with a haversack?
> What ever happened to Yomping?
I assume it’s covered by the Sexual Offences Act.
Interesting Nick. I too remember lots of people using the word "hiking" in the 70's. So not at all new. In fact my older brothers went on about "hiking the Lyke Wake Walk" as a goal in the late 60's. So maybe it has not been used as much in the last 20 years, until recently, when marketing/media people have decided to use it as a different pointer to going outdoors on a reasonable length walk.
A lot of people who are truly into walking in the outdoors often uses phrases to play down the amount of exertion and time needed. So it is not uncommon to hear things like, "Do you fancy a wander to go and do (or knock-off) those couple of Munros, on the south side of Glen X?" Where Glen X could even be Glen Shiel. So hopefully this sub-humour phraseology balances out the words that are hyped by organisations and commerce.
As regards the business of taking photos, you may be categorised, Nick, by some onlookers, as being broadly in that category, that you complain of: In that there is a sense sometimes of you posting on FaceBook, pictures of you/ and or friends on the Welsh hills, which gives out the feeling of, "Hey look at us, we're out here in the Welsh hills, and you poor buggers are stuck with that desk job". I see those images, and sometimes I have some jealousy, but mostly I see them with a wry smile, and appreciate the effort in taking them. In the back of my mind, I think, well I'd love to go with Nick and do a few Munros sometime. The choice of desk job and outdoor one have different backgrounds, and we all have possibilities, so I don't have a feeling over that issue (and many people would like to do what I do).
Anyway, put up a few more posts, now that you have broken your ice again, and I may see you, if I come over for a work-meet on the club hut above Bethesda in the near future.
Rob
PS I certainly would want a beer or two and a Whisky chaser when I come over.
Yes, if you want your house firebombing by people who think that even paediatricians must be up to no good. My pedometer stays firmly in its box in a sideboard drawer.
Blimey, much of that reads like one of John Redhead's rants against the 'evils' of sport climbing. (Personally, having suffered over 20 years of pain from an ankle injury sustained in a fall when climbing, I think 'bolts' and 'climbing' should be as synonymous in the UK as they are in places such as France, and if the 'macho willy wavers' want to 'feel the tiger is about to pounce', they don't have to clip them. Even then I can't help thinking that the real reason many waffle on about 'ethics' is that they want to deter the 'riff raff' from cluttering up the limited amount of climbable rock that there is in England.)
Anyhow, back on topic, JR doesn't have much time for 'hikers' either...
> ...and if the 'macho willy wavers' want to 'feel the tiger is about to pounce', they don't have to clip them.
It just doesn't work like that though, does it? Be realistic — bold trad can't coexist with bolts on the same line, and if the trad isn't bold then why do you need the bolts to begin with?
Heard it all before, "Bold Trad is the essence of British climbing. It has nothing to do with ego-polishing, 'macho posturing' or keeping the game as elitist as possible." I even used to believe all that stuff about genuine risk being an essential part of the climbing experience. Then I fell off and have lived with the consequences ever since. For what? Ironically, shortly before that happened I read the following by Sally Haycock. (In issue 111 of On The Edge.) If only I had recognised its essential wisdom before I pushed 'the head game' too far and fell off!
The End of The Affair.
One moment I was a going out with a climber, the next I wasn’t. It was as simple as that, a single instant wound up in a cloud of bitterness, anger and magnesium carbonate, dissipated on the autumn breeze.
I always believed that the ending of relationships was down to drifting apart, perhaps culminating in a little infidelity. My mum was a golfer’s widow. She was perfectly happy with my father spending every single Sunday for 30 years knocking the bollocks out of a small white ball. She’d spend the time in the garden, planting geraniums and watering begonias. In winter she’d spend the morning reading the Sunday papers, waiting for the roast to defrost. She didn’t have to worry, and she was happy because my father was happy.
Climbers aren’t happy, and they certainly aren’t normal. That may sound incredibly banal or incredibly offensive, depending on who is taking offence. It is however true. I know it for a fact. You are all maladjusted weirdoes.
You hide away in terraced, mock-suburban ghettoes, waiting for real life to come and f*ck you over. You tell everyone you’re risk takers, adrenaline athletes, vertical ballerinas. Quest-seekers, the last great adventurers in a technological age. Meanwhile you come to blows over arbitrary, illogical, irrelevant ethics fervently praying that the real world blows over and leaves you be.
Alas, you can’t judge a book by its cover, and the one I met seemed confident, collected and cool. A knight in shining combats. It is all a front.
Our initial courting period was, I guess, fairly standard. Flowers and chocolates were replaced by a chalk bag and a second-hand pair of Ninjas. The Ninjas were hand-me-downs, rejected by previous girl-friends. The chalk bag was all my own, a symbol of commitment in
fake tiger skin.
I really did make an effort: I went climbing a few times, I hung out at the wall occasionally, I was chatted up by the “stars” and heard all the gossip — Jerry Moffatt becomes lighter by snorting helium — that explained the voice. But the effort can’t all be one way — how many times can you watch Hard Grit without thinking, ‘what a complete
waste of time”.
Because at the end of the day climbing, like running or swimming, is a physical activity that can be practised and performed. It is not a noble art giving the artist enlightenment and superiority over ordinary mortals. It is a hobby. Why can you not all see that? You all use it to avoid the challenges of real life - wake up, do something productive. Why must it permeate every aspect of your life, a ringworm for the brain where everything always comes back round to climbing?
The relationship progressed. My climbing career didn’t. You know the story; initial attraction was followed by desire, then exploration, coupling, partnership, habit, boredom. I could no longer pretend to be interested or impressed when watching again the No-Drainpipe Variation (6b) up to the bathroom window. The first time I was impressed. The 20th time it wasn’t even funny.
All along he could sense a problem, me versus climbing, me versus climbing. I knew that I could not win. How do you stop a climber climbing? You can’t just introduce someone into the real world like that, the shock could kill them.
But then came a lifeline, a top rope from the god of relationships. “What about a weekend in Paris?”
Monmartre, The Louvre, Le Tour D’Eiffel, fancy restaurants and flamboyant prices. If anything could save a relationship, then surely a weekend in Paris could. I should have known really.
I didn’t fully understand until an hour after Paris we pulled into a muddy, scrubby bit of wasteground. There were tents there and other climbers.
“It’s just a base. Any climbing we do will just be a bonus.”
I threw down my sack, knowing that I had lost, a cloud of escaping chalk filling the air.
The Dalai Lama once said ‘Forget your mistakes, but not the lessons.’ Some lessons last a lifetime, some will never be learnt.
> Has nobody mentioned trekking?
> That's what I do, apparently
That's not new is it? I've always thought of a trek as a multi day hike.
Thanks to UKC I am now able to call my 2-3hr local off-road runs as "wild running". Back in the day my partner and I went "backpacking" in Scotland, the Lakes, The Pyrenees, Corsica etc - I now understand it to be more appropriately known as "treking" (and that seems to be the wrong spelling - sorry) We were out this morning for a couple of hours off-road. I call these outings "piddle-walks" - pleasant in the sun, and no effort, but I would never call it "hiking". When I go climbing I call it "climbing" whether I'm soloing, quarrying, multi-pitching cragging etc . . .
. . . the name doesn't always define the game
Climbing probably needs a new name, people climb mount snowdon all the time simply by walking up the path.
> The outdoors is for everyone and there's no right or wrong way to enjoy it (unless it ends up with unnecessary callouts for mountain/search & rescue), that goes for hillwalkers, hikers and posers alike.
There is definitely a wrong way to enjoy the outdoors, leaving litter and / or human waste and setting fire to the moors with campfires or tinfoil BBQs springs to mind.
Anyone who's been to NZ might know that it's referred to as 'tramping' as in "I'm going tramping" or "I'm off for a tramp in the bush (wilderness)"
Which all sounds hilarious when you're not accustomed to it, or in my case, moving from NZ and saying 'fancy a tramp sometime?' Cue strange looks and laughter.
As a result, I just refer to it as hiking, or god forbid 'a trek'. Sorry if that irks you, but I just find it more universal. And its all semantics anyway.
I do miss tramping though
> Climbing probably needs a new name, people climb mount snowdon all the time simply by walking up the path.
Yep. I think it was it Andy Kirkpatrick that said Mount Everest wasn't a climb, as if you fall, you only get a face full of snow/ice, rather than end up dangling on a rope or fall to your death. (Very) high altitude walking instead!
> There is definitely a wrong way to enjoy the outdoors, leaving litter and / or human waste and setting fire to the moors with campfires or tinfoil BBQs springs to mind.
Bit pedantic? I would have assumed that went without saying, I wonder how many people who don't stick to leave no trace log in to UKC/UKH...
what about leaving hiking for the plainspeople and Ramblers and calling fjaellwalking Uphiking?
> and calling fjaellwalking Uphiking?
Well, you'd have to do some Downhiking, too, or the tops of those fjaells would get a bit crowded...
The second BMC Members Open Forum webinar took place on 20 March. Recently-appointed BMC CEO Paul Ratcliffe, President Andy Syme and Chair Roger Murray shared updates on staff changes, new and ongoing initiatives, insurance policy changes and the current...