Hillwalking Safety - Route Cards @ Hillwalking.org.uk

You might know where you are going on the hills - but does any body else?

The purpose of a route card is to let others know where you are going, so that if you fail to come back off the hills the relevant authorities will know where to start looking for you.

There is a strong counter argument against route cards, as they could be seen as encouraging people to be less reliant on themselves and place unnecessary expectations on the emergency services. As people in this day and age think that they are going to get bailed out by the emergency services if it all goes wrong on the hill. Perhaps the concept of self-reliance needs to be encouraged more - this article by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, puts that argument forward

Getting into more detail, a route card may contain information such as:-

• Name of the Group Leader (if Applicable)
• Other Members of the Party
• Start Point
• End Point (if different to start point)
• Objective(s)
• What route you plan to take
• Time Out
• Expected Time Back

Preparing Your Route Card
A route card is a good training tool - as it forces you (or as a learning exercise for members of your group) to review the route that you are going to take and work out timings. It makes you fully appreciate the terrain that you are going to tackle and perhaps help you re-appraise you and group's capabilities.

A route card can be as simple as the below:-

Sunday 4th January 10:00
Fred Bloggs and John Smith
Mam Tor via Hollins Cross returning to Castleton via Limestone Way
Estimated Time of Arrival: 16:00

The above has covered off the main points of when the group is leaving, who is in the group, the route the group is taking and their anticipated time of return.

A more detailed route card is available from Boot Across Scotland, a hill walking safety charity.

Now that you have your route card it is important to leave it with someone who will realise you have failed to come back from your trip. People you may consider leaving a route card with include:-

• Youth Hostel Wardens
• Local Police Station (assuming it will still be open when you return)
• Local Shop
• Local Pub
• A member of your Group not going on your walk

It is also important that on your return from your trip that you collect your route card - many call outs to Mountain Rescue Teams have resulted from people failing to collect their route cards after a walk!

Below are links to safety related topics within the site.

Skills	What to Wear	Equipment	Route Cards
	Links	Countryside Code

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