You might have noticed that recently, Girls on Hills released a short survey to find out what our followers wanted to see more of in 2025. We got lots of great insights but we also discovered a number of surprising misconceptions about what we do and the scope of our events! This blog post will explore some of these and hopefully expound some myths about Girls on Hills...
There aren't many events for beginners
Many of our events are suitable for beginners, including Run Glencoe, Wild Knoydart, ULTRA Trail Skills, Munro Bagging 101, Over 50s Trail Run, North West Giants, Corrour Munros, Navigation Essentials, Run Stronger Over 50s. All our guided hill walks are suited for beginners too, but require a certain level of fitness. Concerned about your pace as a beginner in a mixed-ability group? See below for more!
This year we ran a number of Access Fund events which were ALL aimed at beginners with additional barriers to access. These included Hit the Trail, Running High and Hill Start. Every year we offer a slightly different range of events but we always have some courses suitable for beginners. There are three ways of keeping updated with new events as they come out. You can follow us on social media, sign up to our mailing list (go to our homepage and scroll to the bottom) or follow us as an 'organiser' on Eventbrite. This way you will get notified any time new events open for booking.
Most people sign-up with a friend or come as a group
In fact, few people sign up with somebody else, most come alone. Girls on Hills events are ideal for solo adventurers and solo travellers looking to explore Scotland or meet likeminded people (or for those folk who just like to be sociable in the hills). Don't feel awkward about not knowing anyone, as you're all in the same boat! We use a WhatsApp chat group (optional) to link everyone together for the purposes of planning, chatting, lift-sharing and photo-swapping. Often people choose to remain in these groups after the event because they enjoy keeping in touch or have found new adventure buddies to make future plans with!
Girls on Hills events are hard to get to, especially on public transport
One of the most appealing things about our Scottish events is that they take you to incredible, remote and far-flung places, or over terrain that you might not tackle alone. This usually means that our locations are not super easy to get to. However, Glencoe is actually only 2h from Inverness and Glasgow, and slightly more from Edinburgh by car. Glencoe has a bus stop which is a very short walking distance from the meet point for all our Glencoe based courses. You can also travel to Fort William by train and catch the regular N44 bus service from there to Glencoe or Ballachulish. For events which are outwith Glencoe, we facilitate car-sharing between attendees wherever possible.
We do our best to make your travel arrangements simple. Our Corrour Munros events are very remote but can actually be accessed directly by train (alight at Corrour Station)! Our Knoydart events include a return ferry journey and our Isle of Arran events require no transport once on the island (just book a foot passenger crossing to suit your needs).
I'd like to see more events further south or nearer to where I live
Until very recently, Girls on Hills has offered a few events each year in the Lake District or North Wales, to help improve access for people living further south. However we do realise that this is still a long way for some people! We believe that 'mountains hit different' in Scotland - where the summits are higher, more remote, less frequented and subject to greater extremes of changeable weather, compared to the rest of the UK. This is very much part of Scotland's appeal and the reason why our courses and events play an important role in faciilitating access to these mountains. As a company, we're not yet at a size where we are able to deliver courses in other locations across the UK.
If Scotland is simply too far, check-out our online courses for talks and workshops accessible from your own home! You can also join our Patreon community to get the 'inside track and be part of the team shaping the future of Girls on Hills!
Girls on Hills is all about running not walking
Girls on Hills definitely started out with trail running at its heart but we soon realised that exploring the mountains in an all-female group has wide-reaching benefits which should also be extended to hillwalkers. Not only this, we believe that hill-walking and fell running are all part of the same spectrum and are much less different than people think. It's actually probably easier to transition form hill-walking to fell-running than to transition from road running to fell running. And of course, running just isn't for everyone. We understand that many people prefer to take their time in the hills and soak it all up! Pace is irrelevant. We now offer a wide range of hill-walking courses from Navigation Essentials and a Munro Bagging 101 for beginners, as well as guided hikes up the most iconic summits of Glencoe and the surrounding West Highlands. As we approach the wetter months, we have fewer events listed but there will be a full programme for 2025 starting in April next year.
Most of your attendees are fit, slim and athletic - which is not very inclusive
Girls on Hills strives for equity for women outdoors and has won awards for our inclusive approach! We welcome women of all abilities, shapes, sizes and colour to join our events. Our Access Fund was set up to facilitate attendance by women with additional barriers (i.e. anything that makes it harder for people to access the outdoors!) This includes all forms of underpresentation such as size, colour or disability, for example. On social media we post images regularly (as close to real time as possible) of the attendees that join our courses - to show what we're getting up to. We would love to see more diversity in our groups and in our imagery, as we recognise the importance of representation in providing an open and welcoming space for all. We work with various community groups to tackle this issue and so far have delivered collaborative projects with the Wanderlust Women, Bonnie Boots, Black Trail Runners and the Jaguar-Landrover REACH network. We continue to advocate for diversity and inclusivity outdoors and hope that our approach will make everyone feel welcome at Girls on Hills.
Courses are aimed at 'older' women
There is no upper or lower age-limit at Girls on Hills - other than we cannot take U18s without a parent present. We see a wide range of ages attending our courses, with most women probably being 30-50 years. We do get our fair share of over 50s and even over 60s, especially given a few of our guides (including Nicky Spinks and our co-founder Nancy), also fall into this category of inspiring women! We tend to see fewer women in their 20s and most of those are in family groups or bespoke bookings from individuals looking to develop their skills or push their pace with a local guide. All ages are very much welcome and our run guides/mountain leaders also range from their 20s to their 60s!
I won't be fast enough or fit enough
At Girls on Hills we always run at a sociable pace on group events, with plenty of walking (i.e. all the uphills!) and stops built-in for snacks, photos and general blethering. Where possible we tailor our groupings and routes to suit the fitness and ability of those booking with us – we try and tailor our courses to you! You don't have to be super fit or experienced to join in. Our emphasis is always on the journey and on learning, rather than a target pace or particular summit goal. Nobody gets left behind and we encourage a supportive 'team' vibe out on the trail.
If you want to push your pace, chase a PB/FKT or simply don't like waiting for others, you can make a bespoke booking instead (for a one-to-one or for you and your group of pals), and we can match you with the perfect guide and itinerary for your needs.
You should run navigation skills courses!
Did you know we run monthly Navigation Essentials courses in Glencoe? We sometimes also run them in Glenmore Forest Park, nr Aviemore. These courses are aimed at beginner/intermediate navigators and we don't expect you to have any/much experience of using a map and compass. We run occassional Navigation for Runners courses and Night Navigation courses in Grasmere, Lake District too. All these events are sponsored by SILVA and come with an exclusive 30% off discount code. If these dates don't work for you, you can book a bespoke navigation day, which can be built around your experience base and specific areas for development. As women-only courses, these events provide a safe and supportive space for women to learn a new (and frankly often male-dominated) skill-set. There are no stupid questions on our courses, and all our instructors are women who are experienced, patient and encouraging in working with those new to self-navigation. It's a really fulfilling and liberating skill to learn - and women make just as good navigators as men!
I can't afford to pay all in one go but you don't take installments
Our current payment plan with Eventbrite does not allow for payment by installments but we realise that some of our events are a lot of money to pay all in one go! We would encourage anyone stuggling with costs to get in touch with us directly at info@girlsonhills.com. We can sometimes hold/reserve a ticket for a period or agree a more flexible payment plan. If financial difficulties make it hard for you to access mountain skills courses or outdoor recreation, then please apply for a fully-funded place through our Access Fund.
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