Mountain climbing in flip flops...

[Quixoticgeek]

It's that time of year where the idiots are coming out onto the hill. Seems that a scottish MRT had to rescue someone who had been climbing in flip flops...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-27954358

Bloomin idiots.

Julia

 

[cranmere]

Been there, seen that. On the other hand, I grew up walking barefoot a lot of the time and have very strong feet that cope with rough walking in sports sandals. I rarely wear boots, my usual walking wear is decent trainers or walking shoes.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I once turned a couple of aussies back who were walking up onto kinderscout and didn't have a map or a compass, or infact anything other than the clothes they stood up in.

J

 

[GGTBod]

I used to work for British Airways many moons ago and was given a formal written warning for joking in the tea room that the monthly targets they had increased us to were like climbing a mountain in flip flops, even that was frowned upon never mind actually doing it

 

[Bonzo Frog]

We used to live in Keswick and some of the people you would see on the fells just shouldn't have been allowed out by themselves. We once stopped a family with 2 young children (6 or 7ish) walking up Catbells in tracksuit bottoms and cheap trainers (not walking shoes) and t shirts in January. Whilst it was nice down in the town, there was a strong windchill and snow and ice underfoot. A bit of advice and an explanation of the conditions and they walked back down with us grateful for the warning. People don't consider the conditions on the hills when they're down in the valleys. I believe there is lying snow in some places in the Cairngorms even now.

Dave

 

[cranmere]

I once turned a couple of aussies back who were walking up onto kinderscout and didn't have a map or a compass, or infact anything other than the clothes they stood up in.

I've walked people off Dartmoor who were not carrying map and compass (or didn't know how to use them) and discovered that the fabled Dartmoor mist really is as thick and as quick to appear as it's described. The other mistake people are making increasingly is to rely on GPS or even worse, the GPS on their mobiles, then learning that there are some serious blind spots in some areas, and batteries go flat surprisingly quickly.

 

[backpacker]

Few years back when doing the 3 Peaks Challenge there was loads of charity walkers for Breast cancer on Ben Nevis although there weather was fine lower down the mountain on top was thick snow which was hard to climb, but our horror we saw this guy walking for another charity with a Viking Helmet wearing a T shirt and shorts and trainers and he was shivering pretty bad we told him to get off the mountain quick, he said he was waiting for his freinds to catch up, but as much as we gave him advice to leave the mountain he still insistead on waiting for his freinds, I hope he got down safely.

 

[Bowlander]

Let Darwin do his work!!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

 

[Bigfoot]

My old Gaelic teacher used to roam the hills in his bare feet. Mad.

 

[mrcharly]

I've done a bit of hillwalking in bare feets. More sensible than flip flops; you can feel how much traction you have. I did have sensible clothing on, just lacked the boots. At the time I was running barefoot regularly, up to half-marathons on the road, so my feet were very hard.

However I don't think the idiot in this story was that well prepared.

 

[xylaria]

I've done a bit of hillwalking in bare feets. More sensible than flip flops; you can feel how much traction you have. I did have sensible clothing on, just lacked the boots. At the time I was running barefoot regularly, up to half-marathons on the road, so my feet were very hard.

However I don't think the idiot in this story was that well prepared.

I have seriously considered taking up barefoot walking properly. I have never felt totally safe on scrambles with boots on. People that get pulled off mountains in trainers and shorts tend not to have other kit like water proofs, map, warm clothes etc.

 

[cranmere]

I like walking barefoot where there aren't brambles or gorse. I also like walking in decent sandals, being able to slosh through bogs and streams without worrying about getting wet is remarkably liberating. I'm lucky in having hands and feet that rarely get cold though.

 

[Greg]

I once turned a couple of aussies back who were walking up onto kinderscout and didn't have a map or a compass, or infact anything other than the clothes they stood up in.

J

Must have been the same two Aussies who I came across at the top of Ben Nevis in the mid '90s...picture this...I was part of a military team doing comms for the 3 peaks yaght race...we had a couple of guys in the hut on top of Ben Nevis and every couple of days we'd swap around...I went up there one morning, we were in full military Arctic gear with safety bergens..the works seeing as there was a snow cap on Nevis at the time...it was raining most of the way up and the top was in fog and fairly cold and blustery.
We were just leaving the top as two people arrived...the pair of them were in shorts, t-shirt, a cagoule and flip flops carrying a plastic shopping bag with their lunch box in...no maps or compass.
We stopped them and asked why they were up there in those conditions in those clothes and footwear...their answer..."Our friends in Fort William said it was a nice walk so we thought we'd give it a go and followed a few other people up the path.."

Go figure..the insanity of some people is shocking!!

 

[mrcharly]

I like walking barefoot where there aren't brambles or gorse. I also like walking in decent sandals, being able to slosh through bogs and streams without worrying about getting wet is remarkably liberating. I'm lucky in having hands and feet that rarely get cold though.

Hmm - I've done a fair bit of this on Saddleworth Moor. Boggy endless moor it is, normally resulting in water-sodden-boots with half a ton of mud stuck to them. Walking barefoot (with knee-length walking trousers) is a different experience. The mud doesn't matter - rinse it off in a stream as you go - feet are light, you are nimble scrambling in and out of the gullies. People would say "Don't you get cuts?". Well, yes, the odd cut. But they are less painful and heal faster than the blisters I got from trudging in wet boots.

Bare feet aren't good on sharp, wet rock tho'. The wet softens your skin and you cut up too easily.

 

[Bluffer]

I don't judge others too harshly these days, seen plenty of 'no-blame' accidents involving well dressed and well equipped hikers needing help.

In fact, the majority of MRT 'customers' are not the shorts and flip-flop Mumsnet crowd.

I've done acclimatisation treks at 4000-4500 metres in sandals, it's very liberating to have the wind blow spindrift over bare toes knowing that you'll be back in the warmth of a tent or tea-house before it gets dark.

Always gets nods of acknowledgement from the porters and guides as well, shared hardship and all that

 

[Greg]

I don't judge others too harshly these days, seen plenty of 'no-blame' accidents involving well dressed and well equipped hikers needing help.

In fact, the majority of MRT 'customers' are not the shorts and flip-flop Mumsnet crowd.

I've done acclimatisation treks at 4000-4500 metres in sandals, it's very liberating to have the wind blow spindrift over bare toes knowing that you'll be back in the warmth of a tent or tea-house before it gets dark.

Always gets nods of acknowledgement from the porters and guides as well, shared hardship and all that

Fair Comment...

 

[Bluffer]

... went up there one morning, we were in full military Arctic gear with safety bergens..the works seeing as there was a snow cap on Nevis at the time...it was raining most of the way up and the top was in fog and fairly cold and blustery.
We were just leaving the top as two people arrived...the pair of them were in shorts, t-shirt, a cagoule and flip flops carrying a plastic shopping bag with their lunch box in...no maps or compass.
We stopped them and asked why they were up there in those conditions in those clothes and footwear...their answer..."Our friends in Fort William said it was a nice walk so we thought we'd give it a go and followed a few other people up the path.."

Nobody can top that story!

Love it!

 

[Tengu]

My friend who died in the Caingorms was an experienced climber.

 

[Greg]

Nobody can top that story!

Love it!

One I will never forget..

 

[Bluffer]

Aussie word for the flip-flop is a thong.

They say never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his thong.