Hi Elizabeth welcome to the LDWA and hope you have lots of good events to keep you going. Social events give you a chance to meet up with walkers in your local area and pick up useful advice about gear, events and the walking scene in general. Do a selection of both social & challenge events till you find your feet so to speak and work out which is best for you. Speaking of that LDWA sense of humour The Founders Challenge is a superb event run by the London Group and as Fiona said offers lovely walking through the Surrey Hills. However the weather last year was diabolical. Is it true this year it's going to be renamed to The Flounders Challenge?

Hi Elizabeth,

Welcome to the LDWA and to the London Group. I belong to Surrey and London groups, but tend to do more challenge events than social walks, which I find a bit slow going.

Since joinging the LDWA just under 4 years ago I have been all over the country doing challenge events, and encourage you to give them a go. In the local area there is the Tanners Marathon on 1st July, Guildford Boundary Walk on 8th July (I will be at CP3), and the FOunders Challenge on 21st OCtober (which is the London Group event, and one of the best routes through the Surrey Hills you'll find). There are plenty of others, and you don't need to go too far to get some hard walking - try the Dorset Doddle in August (love that LDWA sense of humour).

If you want a chat about events, you can reach me through the contacts for Events (Events@ldwa.org.uk) or my phone no. is in Strider (and the latest London Group newsletter under the Founders Challenge item).

Fiona

Thank you for the advice - ironic about the NE, that's where I moved from!

I shall look at the events list and contact my local group.

Many thanks.

Hello Elizabeth. I'm sure you'll find people in your local group who will advise on an event to enter, or walk with you on your first event. Even if you start an event on your own, you'll soon match up with someone who goes at a similar pace. I suggest you try a mix of group walks and events - the best of both worlds. And then move to the North East for proper walks

Hello Elizabeth - welcome to the LDWA ! You'll get plenty of varied replies in this forum so I'll not try to cover all your questions at once. The Challenge events are just that and their favoured domains are the wild open spaces of moors, high plateaus and forests. The going can often be hard but the thrill magnificent. Constant navigation in all weathers is required as well as a keen eye on the clock. Only a few events take to mountains and these, naturally, are the most demanding - The Fellsman Hike comes to mind.

I'd advise you to do a shortish (say 25 miles) event first so you can get the hang of what happens. Although each event is unique in flavour, they all follow a similar template.

The more ad-hoc happenings you enquire about are more likely to happen as a result of getting to know the members in your local group. (You'll have been told which this is when you received your membership pack.)

Once you've been "out there" I guarantee you'll never look back !!
Garfield

I'm hoping this is the appropriate forum to post a 'help' note!! I've just joined the association in the hope of finding outdoors people to walk/mountaineer with. I'm looking for something more than 'rambling' but not exclusively climbing - is this it? It looks good so far! I haven't taken part in an event and am curious how a beginner gets involved. Am I right in thinking that the challenge events are an ambitious and solo start?! Any thoughts? Do people ever combine the distance with sociable high fells/remote camping weekends? Oh lots of questions....asking has to be the way ahead! Look forward to your thoughts!