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Leeds University Union

Hiking Club



Frequently Asked Questions

Membership
What we do
Preparing for a trip
On a hike

Answers

Membership

How do I join the Hiking Club?

I am not a Leeds University student, can I still join?

Yes, everybody can join the club. In fact many hikers feel so attached to the Hiking Club that they remain a member after they graduate and get a job. Even if you have never studied at the University of Leeds, you can still become a member. Note however that the Hiking Club is in the first place a student society, so if you are not a student it might be slightly harder for you to fit into the group. But don't be afraid, we are very welcoming to everybody. And if you are not sure about it, you can always come along to one of our social activities and get to know the club, before deciding whether to become a member or not. If you want to join straight away, you can do so on the Leeds University Union website, by creating a non-student account.

I've never been hiking before, is it for me?

You don't need to have any experience to join the Hiking Club and to enjoy going on hikes. Hiking is a great way to get out of Leeds and explore the British hills and countryside. All our walks are guided by experienced leaders. There are always relatively easy walks available and many of our members are new to hiking, so you don't have to worry about keeping the group back.
All you need is a sense of adventure and a willingness to experience the great outdoors (including the unavoidable English rain) and we can guarantee that you'll have some very memorable days out whilst making some great friends.

How much does membership cost?

Membership for the remainder of this academic year is only £20. The membership fees are used to buy club gear, to send our leaders to mountain leading and first aid courses, to run the website and to reduce the cost of individual trips.
You need to be a member to be able to go on our trips. For every trip that you sign up for, you will have to pay a small extra price for transport and accomodation.

Do I need to participate in all activities?

Certainly not. We run a hiking trip every weekend in term-time, but obviously you can decide for yourself when you have time and are interested to come along. Naturally you only pay transport and accomodation costs for the trips that you join.

What we do

What is hiking?

Hiking is walking in natural environments, in particular over hills and mountains. People go hiking to get out of the city and into the fresh nature, to enjoy the scenery and to get the immense satisfaction of reaching the summit of a hill, where breathtaking views usually reward you for the effort of climbing up.

Is it just hiking or do you do other things?

Although hiking is our primary activity, we also do scrambling (see below), rock climbing and winter mountaineering routes! Our club member base spans everyone from complete beginners to hardcore alpine mountaineers, and we try to provide something for everyone. Club members are able to learn new skills and improve on their current skills by drawing on the knowledge of our highly experienced club leaders. Navigation, group management, rope work and climbing skills can all be taught to keen new members who are looking to push their boundaries.

What's scrambling?

Scrambling is halfway in between hiking and rock climbing. Scrambling is climbing on rough terrain, where it is necessary to use your hands on the rocks, but where the climb is still safe and gentle enough so that harnesses and ropes are not needed. Scrambling is exciting and challenging. The Hiking Club leaders have plenty experience in scrambling and can teach you all the techniques to make scrambling safe and enjoyable. Some of the best mountain routes in the UK (such as the Snowdon Horseshoe) involve scrambling and all you need to partake in these types of routes is a head for heights and a sense of adventure!

Where do you go hiking?

For our Sunday hikes we are limited to where we can reach within a few hours driving. Luckily Leeds is perfectly situated in the middle of some splendid hills and nature reserves. The Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District, the Sough Pennines, the Eastern Lake District and the North Yorkshire Moors are all within reach for a day trip.
Our weekend trips allow us to go further afield to area such as Snowdonia, Western Lake District, and the Scottish Highlands.
Summer trips allow us to go even further afield. Although there is no official club trip, usually members arrange summer trips amongst themselves, often to the Alps or the Pyrenees.

Where we go hiking in the UK.

Where do you stay on weekend trips?

We usually rent a bunkhouse, village hall or similar, to provide accomodation on weekend trips. This means that there are big shared sleeping rooms, sometimes with beds, but sometimes there's just the floor to sleep on. Hence you must bring your own sleeping bag and sometimes your own sleeping mat. Decent kitchen, toilet and shower facilities are usually available.
During the summer, we sometimes go camping as well.

Preparing for a trip

How do I sign up for a trip?

We hold weekly sign up meetings in the University Union building on Wednesdays, to sign up simply pop along, put your name down and pay the trip fee. Keep an eye on the weekly news for details about upcoming trips and sign up meetings. Can't come to the sign up? Any extra places can be reserved by e-mailing E-mail address; first part: secretary, at, second part: luuhc.com after the sign up meeting.

How much does it cost?

Sunday trips cost between £8 and £10 for transport, depending on location of the trip.
Weekend trips cost approximately £35 which includes transport, accommodation for two nights, and food (breakfasts and dinner on Saturday).
Winter trips in Scotland are at approximately £70 more expensive than normal weekend trips, because we stay three nights instead of two, and the Scottish Highlands are further away than our other destinations.
The Hiking Club subsidizes each person's trip cost using money provided by the student union, but unfortunately in todays current economic climate and with the cost of fuel being extortionately high, prices per person on trips cannot be as low as we'd like them to be.

What do I need to bring?

The most important points for day trips are:

Take a look at the gear guide for more details and for what to bring on weekend and winter trips. The Hiking Club has some gear (e.g. some waterproof trousers and sleeping bags) which can be borrowed by members. You can always contact the the gear secretary on E-mail address; first part: gear, at, second part: luuhc.com if you want more information.

Where can I buy hiking gear in Leeds?

Leeds has several specialized outdoor shops, such as Cotswold (in The Core), Millets (on the outside of St. John's Centre), Nevisport (on the outside of the Merrion Centre) and Blacks (in Thornton's Arcade). Here you can find a wide choice of hiking shoes, waterproof clothes, rucksacks, OS maps and other hiking gear. The staff will be happy to give you advice their products. Hiking Club members can get a discount card from the gear secretary (E-mail address; first part: gear, at, second part: luuhc.com) which gives them a 15% discount in Cotswold and Nevisport. But always compare prices, as even with the discount in Cotswold and Nevisport, other shops will have their own offers and might still be cheaper. Moreover, some non-specialized shops such as Tk Maxx (on Headrow) often have good offers on outdoor clothing.
Sometimes outdoor shops hold special sales evenings with even bigger discounts; these will be announced on our weekly news.

Where can I find hiking maps of the UK?

Excellent topographical maps covering the whole of Great Britain are made and published by the Ordnance Survey (OS). Both the 1:50,000-scale Landranger maps and the 1:25,000 Explorer maps show walking paths and public rights of way, and can be used for planning and navigating on hikes. Yet, we recommend to use the large scale 1:25,000 maps, because they contain many extra details which will be useful for orientation and navigation on a hike.
Printed OS maps are sold in any major bookstore and in any specialized outdoor shop. You can also buy them online from the Ordnance Survey website. You can see OS maps (in both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scale) online on several mapping websites, such as Streetmap.co.uk, Multimap.com, and the Ordnance Survey's own Get-a-map service.
A rival to the OS maps are the British Mountain Maps, made by the BMC (British Mountaineering Council). The British Mountain Maps are 1:40,000 topographical maps of popular hiking and mountaineering areas in the UK. Although the 1:25,000 OS Explorer maps contain more details, some people prefer to use the BMC maps, especially because of their colour codes altitude zones and because the 1:40,000 scale gives a compromise between the detail of the 1:25,000 and the general overview of the 1:50,000 OS maps. British Mountain Maps are harder to find in shops, but they can be bought online from the BMC website.

Where can I find a good weather forecast?

The Met Office (the national weather service) has many forcasts on its website, including specific mountain forecasts. The Mountain Weather Information Service provides detailed forcasts for mountain areas. Good rain radar images, where you can tracks the rainfall of the past hours, can be found on the MeteoGroup website.
Always remember that the weather in Britain, especially in the hills, is often unpredictable and can change quickly. So if you are going for a hike, you need to be prepared for any weather, whatever the forecast.

On a hike

How many people go on a hike?

Our weekend trips are usually fully booked with 40 to 50 participants. Sunday trips are especially popular in the beginning of the year, when all new students are eager to try out hiking and to explore the British hills. These trips can also have about 50 hikers joining. Later in the year, when the exams and other deadlines get closer, Sunday trips tend to attract slightly smaller groups. But whatever the total number of hikers, we always split up into smaller groups of about 10 persons. Every group will walk its own route and there will usually be a choice of easier and more difficult walks. Every group is led by one of our experiences leaders.

What is the schedule for a Sunday hike?

For a Sunday hike, we usually leave at 9am, at the Parkinson steps if we go by bus, or in the Leeds railway station if we take a train. But this can change, so always check the meeting time and place for every trip you sign up to. We arrive at our starting point after on average about 1h to 1h30 travel time. We then split into smaller groups and start our hikes. We stop to eat our lunch somewhere on the way. We finish our walks between 3pm and 4pm, and usually stop to warm up at a pub or café before heading back to Leeds. On arrival in Leeds, traditionally a large group of hikers goes to 7 Spices in Woodhouse for a curry dinner.

What is the schedule for a weekend trip?

The schedule for weekend trips is usually something like this: we leave from Leeds on Friday around 6pm. We can stop to get some dinner on the way. In the evening we arrive at our bunkhouse, where we have a relaxed night. Early Saturday morning we eat breakfast and leave for a first day of hiking. We split into groups and eat lunch on the way, just like on a Sunday hike, but usually the total walking time is a little longer than on a day trip. In the evening we cook dinner together and have fun at playing games or just drinking and chatting. But it's an early wake up call again on Sunday morning, for another day of hiking. When we have completed our walks in the afternoon, we pack our bags and drive back to Leeds, stopping somewhere along the road for dinner.

I don't feel very fit; will I struggle on a hike?

The Hiking Club tries to organize walks for all different abilities. On a trip we usually offer a choice of walks of different difficulty, amongst which is always an easier and relatively relaxed option, which should not be a problem for any healthy person. But as hiking does require a basic level of fitness, we recommend that members try an easy route before attempting longer and harder routes. And don't forget that by going out on regular hikes your fitness will improve to a surprising level!

The winter trips look very hardcore, is it really difficult in winter?

Hiking during winter in the Scottish Highlands is certainly harder than your average Sunday hike to the Yorkshire Dales, but you don't have to be a superman or superwomen to take part. Once again a taste for adventure, a spirit of determination and a sense of camaraderie with your fellow hikers will enable you to tackle challenging snowy mountain terrain and to experience some of exhilarating joys which only winter can bring. Rest reassured: also on winter trips we will offer you walks of varying difficulty, and there will always be a group that does a relatively easy and relaxed walk in the snow, suitable for newcomers to the Scottish winter. And don't forget that our experienced leaders will be on hand to show you the skills and give you the support you need to safely partake in the routes we run during our winter trips.

Some of my mountaineering friends tell me that hiking is only for beard wearing ramblers, is this true?

Not at all. Here at the hiking club we do most of the things that you would ever want to do out in the mountains. Although hiking (and sometimes scrambling) is the main focus of the club, many members also do rock climbing and mountaineering, either during a club trip or on their own. Even many international trips (Ski touring in Norway, mountain biking in Scotland, rock climbing in Spain, Alpine mountaineering in France, via ferrata in Italy...) have been organized privately by friends that have met in the Hiking Club.
Although if pure rock climbing is your thing the LUU Mountaineering Club will be happy to have you!