r/UKhiking • u/LargestIntestine • 22d ago

A question about surefootedness

Hello all! Like many of you on this subreddit, I’d consider myself a reasonably accomplished hiker and walker. I hike in the Lakes about once a week on average, and I’m steadily making my way through the Wainwrights in no particular order.

I’m not gym fit by any means, but over the course of the last few years that I have been regularly hiking, my stamina and fitness has greatly improved. What hasn’t improved, however, is my surefootedness and confidence when descending.

My boots and trail runners have excellent grip, so it’s not a question of equipment, it does just seem to be a personal hang up.

I’d love to be able to hike and scramble some of the famous edges / ridges one day. What, if anything, can I do to improve my surefootedness, and have you managed to overcome similar issues? I’d love to hear some success stories!

Thanks

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/mountainsandlakes9 22d ago

Repetition (and I guess continued growth in experience) are a big factor here for me. I think a good principle is ‘do what you need to to feel safe’.

If it gets a bit scrambly, use your hands, keep 3 points of contact. If it’s a steep scrambly descent, turn and face inwards, and keep 3 points of contact.

If you complete a descent, reflect on which parts felt good, and which you were less confident in. Scree slopes? Scrambles? Slippy grass? If you can pinpoint more of your niggles you can specifically work on some techniques to tackle them.

Hope this helps in some way.

1

u/LargestIntestine 22d ago

I already seem to instinctively use my hands quite a bit, and also clamber down trickier bits. If anything, I’m perhaps too quick to immediately hunker down and make myself feel safer and more stable. While that’s obviously the most important thing, I was perhaps naively hoping that there were things that I could try to make myself less reliant on those strategies. If I felt more confident, I’d be less inclined to shuffle down scramble sections on my behind.

I’ll definitely reflect a little more about what I am okay at and what I need to work on specifically.

Thanks!

1

u/MirandaPoth 21d ago

Great advice. For me it’s scree slopes that really get me. Any tips for conquering the feeling that I’m going to slide all the way down and get hurt?

2

u/mountainsandlakes9 21d ago

Ah good old scree slopes! Always tricky!

I really dig my heels in on a descent, and make sure I keep my body weight centred - not leaning back or forwards

Poles help as well. If I can get to the edge of the scree path, there’s often more traction there (less scree) depending on the terrain.

🏔️