MEET NEW FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Website last updated 11th November 2024
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(1989 to Date)
About Us:
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 they will enjoy the beauty of the landscape and endeavour 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 more recent years we have welcomed new members from abroad.
The club have a varied programme of about eight meets throughout the year in all parts of Britain and typically between 12 to 35 people attend. We tend not to organise walks, apart from at the AGM, but split into smaller more informal groups. Some meander, whilst others attempt longer and more serious routes. Accommodation is varied and is normally in bunkhouses, hostels or camping, with an emphasis on low cost, so nobody is turned away on price.
International meets are also held all over the world in places such as The Himalayas (Nepal), The European Alps (France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy etc), The High Atlas Mountains (Morocco), Slovenia, Iceland and even The Netherlands? 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 25 years with the club, which is a great testament to the success of the club. The membership come from all 'walks of life'. As one member put it, "Hill and Mountain Walking Club is a club for un-clubable people, who enjoy the hills." Within the the club there is a wealth of knowledge and experience of the hills, which is all freely available 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 Corbetts, ex Mountain Rescue personnel, walked and climbed in all parts of the world, such as The Alps and Himalaya. 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, photographer and world renowned expert on Morocco. We owe Hamish a great deal, without him dreaming up The Ultimate Challenge, we would have no Hill and Mountain Walking Club today.
Club Benefits:
* BMC third party insurance, whenever you are out on the UK Hills, including The TGO Challenge (Only available to UK residents).
* 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 MCofS (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 huts, they should firstly contact John Donohoe to express their interest.
Click the underlined link above to see the many discounts.
Members must present their BMC Discount Card to the shop,
issued with Summit Magazine annually in March
