Fellwalking Advice
A few hints and tips on the skills and knowledge required before seeking the high ground. Please remember that this is an advice page and not an instructional page. The information on this page cannot prepare you for fellwalking. If you intend to go on to the fells, acquire the knowledge and expertise from a qualified instructor.
About This Page
Fellwalking is an activity that is enjoyed by an increasing number of people. Fellwalking is, however, more than simply putting one foot in front of the other. It requires physical fitness, the ability to use a compass and map together, and, perhaps most important of all, the knowledge and ability to react quickly and correctly when things start to go wrong or disaster strikes.
"British mountains can be killers if proper care is not taken."
The Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association. - Accessed from their advice page 12/04/2001
Follow the Mountain Advice provided by the Mountain Rescue Council. You know it makes sense!
There have been a number of occasions, during military service and as a civilian, where I have witnessed situations that could have been avoided with adequate knowledge. This has provided the inspiration for this page. To provide a series of links that could be of use in informing potential fellwalkers before they venture on to the high ground. Accidents will happen and people will, unfortunately, continue to suffer injury and death in the mountains.
This page is not an instructional page. The links provided are for information only.
The Ramblers' Association
The Ramblers' Association is a charity (registration number 306089) with a claimed membership in 1999 of 127,500. They claim to be the leading organisation for walkers in Britain. They are a campaigning organisation. Their principle aim being the promotion of all kinds of walking and the protection of rights of way. The site is aimed at providing information to beginning and experienced walkers, disabled people and overseas visitors. The Information page has an extensive list of fact sheets. The site is well presented, clear and easy to navigate. The site includes links regarding Foot and Mouth and suggested alternative urban walks.
In recent years the freedom to roam on uncultivated land has been high on their agenda. Whilst much of their campaigning can be interpreted as based on opinion, some aspects of this campaigning is a direct result of their members reporting their observations. Much of their advice and information, however, is supported by a varying amount of links to other organisations and other reference sources.
Map Reading
Links to Ordnance Survey pages will open in new windows as requested in their Links Policy.
Simply close the windows in the normal way on completion. Thank you.
The ability to read and interpret a map correctly cannot be overstated when you are on the high fells. The Ordnance_Survey is the UK's mapping agency. The site makes extensive use of Java applications and some features require the Flash plug-in. The site is large with many internal links. Most of these links are of a commercial aspect, aimed at projecting the services offered by the Ordnance Survey. There are some educational links. If you need to learn about maps, this is the place to start. However, it is just that, a start. Map reading made easy is a Flash driven presentation providing an introduction to map reading. (There is a downloadable version of the content on the Ordnance Survey site if you do not have or wish to obtain the Flash plug-in.) The instruction is kept to the basics. The site does market an Interactive MapExplorer CD-ROM, providing further map reading instruction.
The Ordnance Survey is a government department that supports itself through commercial operations related to it's work in mapping and data access and supply. Much of the site's content is opinion supported by internal links, with relatively few external links.
Compass Work
Map reading is one thing. To navigate effectively requires the use of a compass with a map. Kjetil Kjernsmo's illustrated guide on how to use a compass provides an extremely good introduction to the way a compass should be used. The compass used here is a Silva compass, one of the most popular compasses available. This section is just a part of Kjetil Kjernsmo's personal site. The author is Norwegian, and while his use of English is not perfect, his meaning comes through well. A visit to his personal description page provides an insight into this person and his experiences and outlook. The site is bright and easy to navigate. Evidence of the experience behind the site's content can be seen in the pictorial history provided by the author in other parts of the site. Although the content has a strong orienteering aspect, it is the author's declared aim to inform people who travel in wild areas in general.
The instructional content of the page is supported through a table of links, but not all of these appear to be active. These pages are linked to by the tutorial pages of Chasetrek, an annual Youth Challenge Walk based around Cannock Chase. This provides some evidence of the reliability of the site's contents.
Survival
What happens if things go wrong? The Wilderness Survival Guide is part of the Interactive Broadcasting Corporation's website. This is a Canadian based company with interests in broadcasting, electronic publishing, web hosting services and tourism, particularly in British Columbia, Canada. The pages on survival are part of their Adventure Tourism in British Columbia site. It is a strongly commercial website with the added value of pages that supply real content to educate and inform. The content of the survival pages is quite comprehensive, well laid out, easy to follow and well structured.
The survival advice content in the pages is not supported by external links and must therefore be classed as opinion and observation.
Guided Walks
On occasion it may be beneficial to use local knowledge. A source of information in Cumbria is John Dawson's Lake District Walks. This site is the work of one man who has lived, worked and walked in the Lake District since 1990. There is an element of commercialism about the site, in the services offered by John Dawson. These relate mainly to photographic work connected with the Fells. In addition he occasionally works as a walking guide when he has the time. As an alternative to personally guided walks the site provides information about walks that can be undertaken. This information includes route cards and photographs, that can be downloaded, to guide the walker. Whilst not as good as a guided walk, it is the next best thing. Local knowledge straight to your hard disc. Included in the content is advice for the fells on equipment and safety.
The content is largely unsupported by external links and is based on the author's observations and opinion. The site does provide some qualitative evidence of it's nature through a visitors book, providing testimony from people who have used the site previously.
Conclusion
We've got the gear, we know how to use the map and compass. We've armed ourselves with life saving survival skills. Some times, even though we have taken all the precautions in the world, things just go wrong. Weather, accidents or other influences outside our control intervene. This is the time to summon the resources of your local emergency services. Here in the UK such an organisation is the The Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association. A Registered Charity (No 506349). Their site is clear and organised to provide information directly relevant to their work. Here you can find advice on weather, general advice on using the mountains and fells and details of what you need to do should you ever need their services.
There is a link to a table of data providing quantitative evidence of accident numbers and causes. The advice within the site is attributable to the content of this data.
Disclaimer
The author can provide no guarantee that the use of the information supplied within the links is free from risk. All content is for information purposes only. Instruction and training should be sought from an accredited instructor before venturing into remote areas.
Comments, suggestions, ideas to
Stuart Banner