Walking In A Winter Wonder Land

Local auctioneer John Dowling, a keen mountaineer and hill walker, has had a long association with the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team (DWMRT) and shares his tips for some post Christmas exercise.

Now that Christmas is finally here, the season of over indulging and excess, what better way than to shake of the cobwebs than with nice walk in the Wicklow hills. As we all know Kilcullen has so much going for it, but for me the location is hard to beat. We are so lucky that in just a comfortable 25-minute drive away, we can find ourselves at the foothill of the Wicklow mountains, which is just an outdoor paradise. I have spent many, many years walking in Wicklow and I still haven't explored it all yet. It's vast, it's beautiful and most importantly, it's free and on your doorstep.

Hill walking in Ireland has grown tremendously in popularity over the past few years as the Irish have become more health conscious and are generally more engaged in outdoor pursuits. The most important factor about hill walking is that it has something to offer all, both young and old, from beginners to advanced. What�s more, the cost is relatively cheap, once you have a good pair of waterproof boots, waterproof clothing and a backpack. Over the years, my association with the rescue team has hopefully positioned me to share some little tips that might be helpful to get you started.

Hill walking can obviously be done alone but it is also a very social sport and can be a great place to meet like minded people. One of the best pieces of advice is to join a local walking club which will offer you an organised group walk which will give you confidence if you are new to the hills and also a great place to share information on equipment. Some clubs will arrange map-and-compass reading classes which are an integral part of hill walking, but this is the advantage of joining a club as if maps and compasses are not your strong point you can be guaranteed that your group leader will be. There are a few local clubs and you can check out the link www.mountaineering.ie which will show you some local clubs and no doubt a Facebook search will find even more.

From working with the rescue team in the past, I can safely say that what keeps the team busiest, is people underestimating the terrain and weather. As I said, Wicklow can be beautiful one minute, until the weather arrives in and then presents a different dilemma. Make sure you always tell someone the location you are going walking in and a rough time of when you will be back. Although the mountain area is not known for the best mobile phone signal, always make sure you have your mobile powered up as it will no doubt come in handy if something goes wrong. Always check the weather forecast before you leave the house. In this day and age we are blessed with a large amount of up-to-date and accurate weather forecasting to which we all have access. Two good accurate sites are accuweather.com and met.ie

Overall hill walking is a relatively cheap sport to get involved in but I do recommend that when you are buying equipment, that you buy the best that you can afford. Believe me when I say there are some serious differences in waterproof clothing and boots and this can mean the difference in you enjoying or not enjoying your days of hill walking. Try to get Gore-Tex boots and waterproofs as the brand has been the tried and tested market leader for many years now. Not cheap, but when you look after your equipment you should get many happy years wear from them. A good comfortable backpack is also important and make sure you take your time trying these on as it will be sitting on your back for a good few hours, weighed down with gear, so the cheaper option will not be your friend here. Once you catch the hill walking bug, Christmas will become a very pleasant time of year for loved ones that may normally struggle thinking of a present to buy you, but this will change for them as there is always something new to purchase, including torches, gloves, flasks, walking sticks and hand-held GPS systems. The list is endless.

My Christmas recommendation to all, is a trip to Glendalough where you�ll find a wonderful selection of safe and fully marked walks which caters to all walking levels from beginners to advance. Even the drive there from Kilcullen over the Wicklow Gap from Hollywood is very special and is worth the trip alone. You can check out www.glendalough.ie before you go where you can print off maps and walking guides.

I hope to see some local faces over the Christmas on the hills and I can guarantee you that this time of year is without doubt the nicest time to be up there. Enjoy your walking and be safe and if you do get into trouble, remember to call mountain rescue on 112 or 999 and they will be happy to assist. DWMRT.ie is a voluntary service and you can check out www.dwmrt.ie for more information on the team.