We’ve got an idea… and we think it could make a difference
Open Mountains: Because the outdoors should feel open to everyone
There is a moment we see again and again in the mountains, someone reaches a viewpoint, stands on a summit, scrambles over a rock for the first time or simply stops, looks around and realises that they love the outdoors and they can do it.
For those of us who spend a lot of time outdoors, it is easy to forget what a privilege that feeling can be. Because while the mountains themselves might be open, access to them isn't always equal.
And that's why we created BHW Open Mountains.
Sometimes the hardest step is the first one
There are countless reasons why someone might never have experienced a proper day in the mountains. Cost can be a barrier, transport can be a barrier. Disability, confidence, equipment, previous experience or simply not knowing where to begin can all make the outdoors feel like somewhere that belongs to other people. Sometimes people have simply never been asked.
Open Mountains is our small attempt to change that. Every other month, BHW Mountaineering will gift a mountain day to a group or organisation working with people who may have limited opportunities to access the outdoors. There will be no fee and no expectation that anyone already knows what they're doing - Just an opportunity to spend a day outside.
So what does an Open Mountains day look like?
That's deliberately difficult to answer because we don't want to decide what somebody's mountain day should look like before we've even met them. For one group, success might mean reaching a summit, for another it could be following a beautiful valley route, learning some simple navigation, exploring the landscape or having lunch somewhere with an extraordinary view. Someone else might discover scrambling for the first time and realise that they absolutely love it. The important thing isn't how high we climb or how many kilometres we cover.
It's that the day belongs to the people taking part.
We'll work with each organisation beforehand to understand the group, their abilities, needs and aspirations, and then plan something that gives everyone the best possible experience.
Mountains don't care about your starting point
Perhaps this is one of the things we love most about being outdoors - the mountain doesn't ask what job you have. It doesn't care whether you've climbed twenty mountains or none. It doesn't know how much your boots cost, whether you can name every peak on the skyline or whether you had to borrow your waterproofs. You simply start from where you are and you take the next step. For someone who has never considered themselves an "outdoors person", that can be incredibly powerful.
More than reaching the top
We love summits - of course we do, but some of the best things that happen in the mountains happen nowhere near them. It's the conversation while you're walking, someone volunteering to navigate the next section or the person who was nervous at the beginning becoming the one encouraging somebody else. The first time someone looks at a map and realises the shapes on the paper describe the landscape they're standing in.
The laughter when the weather inevitably does something completely different from what everyone hoped. Occasionally, it's sitting behind a wall eating a slightly squashed sandwich while somebody says they can do it again!
That's the bit we're interested in because one day outside might simply be a brilliant day. But it might also be the beginning of something.
Opening the door
Open Mountains isn't about turning everyone into mountaineers, it's about opening a door. Some people will walk through it, have a fantastic experience and go home with a great story while others might discover something that becomes part of their lives...they might start walking. They might even learn navigation, join a local group or take their family into the hills.
Perhaps one day they'll introduce somebody else to the mountains for the first time and that's when one gifted day becomes something much bigger.
This is just the beginning
We're currently starting conversations with organisations across North Wales and learning from them about what would make these days genuinely useful, accessible and enjoyable. Open Mountains will evolve as those conversations develop. We won't get everything perfect immediately. We'd much rather listen, learn and build something worthwhile alongside the people who understand their communities best, but the principle behind it will remain very simple...the outdoors should not feel like a place reserved for people who already know how to belong there.
Sometimes all somebody needs is an invitation.
So we're opening the door.
Welcome to Open Mountains.
Comments