Club Activities

The club holds multiple events every month throughout the year. Below we explain the various types of activities, and what to expect from these. To see the upcoming list of activity events please see the events calendar.

Weekend Day Meets

These events are hill walks taking place at the weekend, happening once a month throughout the year (including winter) and can be either Saturday or Sunday. They usually use a minibus for transport and sometimes a coach (occasionally a car-share). The routes are usually in the range of between 10 and 30km and would often have a Munro-level hill as the main target. Some occasions will have the option for a shorter route. The attendance sizes are normally between 10-20 but split up during the day to smaller groups as pace and routes may differ.

Read a report from a typical day meet. What you need for a typical day meet.

Weekend Away Meets

These are a full weekend away, staying indoor at another club’s hut, hostels and on occasion hotels, and are mostly reached by car-sharing, some arriving at the base on Friday, some Saturday. We travel further away for these and during the weekend there are not usually any prearranged routes – the participants organise amongst themselves to tackle nearby hills and climbs, with a wide range of possibilities. Some weekend meets are camping based – either at a regular campsite, or wild camping.

Read a report from a typical weekend meet. What you need for a Weekend Meet.

Climbing Meets

Trad and sport climbing are actively pursued within the Club, as well as opportunities for ad-hoc winter climbing. Activities are on Saturday mornings, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, indoor and outdoor depending in the season, and there are weekends away some joint with the walkers. Beginners are welcome, though the ability to tie-in and belay safely is a pre-requisite for attending club meets.

Training Events

The club ethos is to improve hillcraft and associated outdoor skills. We run a number of subsidised courses for members mostly using qualified instructors, but with some peer-to-peer learning on occasion from experienced members. Courses include Outdoor First aid, Winter skills, Navigation and others. More info…

Indoor Talks

Indoor Meets usually take the form of a talk with a visual presentation, and are held about 6 times a year between October and March. All members, and guests, are welcome to come along. Indoor meets are an ideal event to meet Club members if you are interested in finding out more about the Club or other Club events.

No events found for indoor meets

Mid-week Walks

These are less strenuous (and sometimes low-level, e.g. coastal) walks, popular with those who have time off mid-week. They are usually held on the last Thursday of every month, within an hour’s drive from Aberdeen. Participants meet at a central location to share cars, or at the starting point. There is a stop for a sandwich lunch, and often a visit to a local café for tea afterwards.

Stravaig Walks

Stravaigs are also midweek short walks on a Friday once a month, and are typically around 5 miles in length, on quite flat terrain and with a social visit to a café usually included.

Camping

A few times a year we arrange wild camping trips – either single overnighters, or more involved expeditions that span a few days, and allows for exploration of remote terrain or distant areas. In the winter we also so a snow shelter overnighter as part of our winter skills training.

Example of a campsite trip | multi-day wild camping

Social Events

Our weekend meets are very social by their nature – staying together in accommodation. Day meets usually have a pub stop on the way back to relax and mull over the day’s action. We hold a number of informal and formal events: summer barbecue(s), our Burn’s Supper weekend at our hut is always very popular, and our annual formal dinner is a rare opportunity to meet up smartly clad instead of our usual outdoor gear.

Ad-hoc Meets

The club has enthusiastic members who arrange events, sometimes conditions-dependent at short notice, that lie out with the official calendar. These may include camping, winter activities, snowholing, scrambling and climbing.