MEET NEW FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Website last updated 24th November 2020
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In November 1989 The Over the Hill Club was formed through the coming together of a group of friends with 'Challengers', those participants of the Ultimate Challenge, now The Great Outdoors Challenge, coast to coast back-packing event across Scotland. The club was set up to keep like minded people together, to spend more time in each others company, enjoying the hills, mountains, friendships and the occasional drink, which had initially brought them together. The club has since grown and is affiliated to the British Mountaineering Council.
The aims of the Club are to provide the kindredship of the hills and to promote the awareness of and conservation of wilderness areas. Members must be proficient hill people, over 18 years old, interested (some fanatical) in taking to the hills and mountains in all kinds of weather where we enjoy the beauty of the landscape and endeavor to protect it. Members live in all parts of the UK, so we are a national club or should that be an international club, as in recent years we have welcomed new members from abroad.
The club has a varied programme of about six weekend meets throughout the year in all parts of Britain and typically between 15 and 45 people attend. We tend not to organise walks, apart from at the AGM, but split into smaller informal groups. Some meander, whilst others attempt longer and more serious routes. Accommodation is normally in bunkhouses, hostels or camping, with an emphasis on low cost, so nobody is turned away on price.
We also hold international meets all over the world in places such as Morocco, Poland, The Dolomites, Corsica, Slovenia, Nepal, the Austrian, French, Italian and Swiss Alps and even Holland. In 2001 a small party reached the summit of Mont Blanc, which was no mean achievement considering the weather and avalanche risk.
Today the club has a healthy membership, with about half the membership having over 20 years with the club, which is a great testament to the success of the club. The members come from all 'walks of life', with quite diverse backgrounds and varying views on life. As one member puts it, the "Hill and Mountain Walking Club is a club for un-clubable people, who enjoy the hills." Within the club there is a wealth of knowledge and experience of the hills, which is all past on freely to younger, newer or less experienced members. Some members hold many formal outdoor qualifications, such as Summer / Winter Mountain Leader Awards, compleatists of all the Munros and / or the Corbetts, ex Mountain Rescue Team Members, walked and climbed in all parts of the world, including The Alps and Himalayas. The club membership, as a whole, have well over 600 coast to coast 'Challenge' crossings of Scotland.
The patron of the club is Hamish Brown, the well known mountaineer, writer and photographer and to him we owe a great deal; without him dreaming up the Ultimate Challenge, we would not have the 'Hill and Mountain Walking Club' today.
Benefits:
* BMC third party insurance, whenever you are out on the UK hills.
* Join like minded people and share The Great Outdoors.
* A wealth of knowledge, which is freely available.
* Members can join any Club meet, if not full.
* Receive regular Club newsletters and information.
* Discounts at many retailers, due to BMC affiliation.
* The Club is affiliated to the BMC, therefore members are entitled
to utilise other affiliated club’s huts and huts owned directly by the
BMC or MCoS ( 'Click' HERE for a list of all these huts ) for group
bookings and in some cases by individual members or small group
bookings. If anyone should be interested in visiting any of these
locations they should, firstly contact John Donohoe to express
their interest.
Click the underlined link above to see the many discounts
