What kinds of members and activities does Ptarmigan Hillwalking and Mountaineering Club have?

Ptarmigan Hillwalking and Mountaineering Club is an Edinburgh-based club whose members span a wide range of ages, abilities and interests — from hill-running and serious climbing to low-level walking, geology, bird-watching and botany. The club's activity centres on a monthly Sunday bus to the Highlands (occasionally the Borders or the Lake District), and it keeps a friendly link with the separate Highways Hillwalking Club, also based in Edinburgh, whose members may join Ptarmigan trips and vice versa.

Who the members are

The club describes itself as friendly and draws members with very different goals and fitness levels. The range includes:

• Hill-runners and serious climbers looking for demanding days out.
• Low-level walkers who prefer gentler routes.
• Members with specialist interests such as geology, bird-watching and botany.
• Experienced hillwalkers — several members have completed the Munros, Corbetts and even Grahams.

That spread matters if you are deciding whether the club fits you: you are not expected to keep up with the fastest group, because the bus model lets people choose their own routes and pace.

What members actually do

The monthly bus

The core activity is a monthly Sunday bus to the Highlands, or occasionally to the Borders or the Lake District. The key feature is freedom on the day:

• Members do their own routes at their own pace.
• You can leave and rejoin the bus at any point along the way.
• This opens up through routes and variations that are harder to arrange by car.
• Someone else handles the driving.

The bus convener records the day's routes and the groups of at least two or three people walking together. A monthly newsletter suggests a variety of walking routes.

Skills and advice

The club does not "lead" walks or provide formal tuition, but many experienced members are happy to pass on advice, and all members are encouraged to acquire and refresh basic mountaineering skills. As a Mountaineering Scotland affiliated club, members are entitled to discounts on formal weekend and week courses in summer and winter mountaineering at Glenmore Lodge near Aviemore.

The link with Highways Hillwalking Club

Ptarmigan has a friendly link with the separate Highways Hillwalking Club, also based in Edinburgh. The two clubs list each other's trips:

Members of one club are welcome on the other's trips, which effectively doubles the monthly options without a second membership.

What this means if you are considering joining

The club welcomes potential new members who already have some hill-walking experience. New members start as guests without any commitment. For a typical six-hour day in the hills you should have basic first aid, an emergency whistle, food, drink, and clothing including full waterproofs, plus an OS map of the area (or equivalent) and a compass — and know how to use them. In winter, extra clothing, an ice axe and crampons are often essential for safety.

If the mix of abilities and the self-paced bus format suit how you like to walk, the club's breadth of members and interests is the main draw; if you want led walks or structured instruction, that is explicitly not what it provides.