Equipment Fitness and Preparation FAQs

Walking up and down Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in under 4½ hours is a good starting point to aim for. Regular walking in the British hills plus endurance efforts when cycling or running beforehand is recommended for everyone.

Endurance efforts - running, cycling or swimming during the week. Walk in the hills as much as you can at weekends. Take a light rucksack initially but, as your legs get stronger, increase this to between 8 and 12Kg (adjust relative to your own bodyweight). Walk for 6 to 8 hours a day, preferably tackling high summits on consecutive days. Advice can be found here.

Yes. Each trip has its own kit list which we send to you when you book. Each list has been refined and adjusted over 30 years to keep it up-to-date and we’re happy to talk to you at any time about clothing and equipment.

Yes. We have arranged discounts for you from a leading outdoor retailer and a major manufacturer. Or, you can hire or borrow things from us to ease the cost further.

On treks and expeditions, you can hire suitable boots (not treks), sleeping bags, sleeping mats, down jackets, harnesses, helmets, ice axes and crampons.

On introductory ski touring and off-piste courses, you can borrow an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe. Also on introductory ski touring courses, you can borrow a ski touring harness, ice axe and boot crampons (not ski crampons as these depend on your ski binding).

On Alpine and Scottish mountaineering courses, you can borrow a harness, helmet, crampons and ice climbing tools.

Yes. You’ll carry a daypack with essentials for each day’s walk, ski or climb. For treks and expeditions, we will give you a kit bag for the rest of your stuff. This will be carried by porters or pack animals.

On mountaineering expeditions, with multiple camps above base camp, you will do some load carrying; please read the expedition’s itinerary.

For our treks and expeditions, we host a weekend in Sheffield so you can meet fellow team members and prepare for the trip. The weekend includes a destination slideshow, talks on clothing, equipment and altitude illness—covering causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment of AMS. For climbing expeditions, there will be a technical session outdoors, weather and time permitting. On Saturday evening, we’ll have dinner together and, on Sunday, a walk in the wondrous Peak District to cap-off the weekend.