New Mountaineer: ways to find hiking partners?

[MichaelpMcCabe]

Hi everyone,

I am an avid hiker and am getting into mountaineering and peak bagging in the Dacks and Cats (and jersey for lighter days). I am new to winter hiking but have all the appropriate gear and am very fit. My question is whether or not there are clearinghouse for upcoming hikes. I don't have many friends who are into this so I need to rely on others. Perhaps there are meetup groups, Facebook groups, forums, etc where hikes are regularly organized? Please let me know because I'm dying to get a few winter climbs in with my near gear!

Thanks!

Mike

[Wldrns]

Hi everyone,

I am an avid hiker and am getting into mountaineering and peak bagging in the Dacks and Cats (and jersey for lighter days). I am new to winter hiking but have all the appropriate gear and am very fit. My question is whether or not there are clearinghouse for upcoming hikes. I don't have many friends who are into this so I need to rely on others. Perhaps there are meetup groups,

Mike - You might want to check out the outing schedule published by many of the ADK chapters.

[DuctTape]

Quite a few of us on the forum have done trips together. You could also just post a trip in the event planning and meets subforum and see if anyone wants to join you.

[aburi]

Hi Michael,

You could also post your request on http://trekkingpartners.com (a website I started) where people can find partners to go hiking with.

Good luck,
Alex

[DSettahr]

I would be wary about any "come one, come all" advertisements for trips online. They tend to be not well organized at best, and dangerous (and even deadly) at worst.

I find that the greatest value in using the internet to find hiking partners is when you use it as only the first step in a multi-step process. IMO, any trip that is organized solely through the internet should be an easy, low risk trip. You can then use those easy trips with other hikers to gauge how well their skills and abilities (and especially their management of risks) mesh with what you are looking for in a hiking partner. Then, you can privately plan for more difficult trips with your new found hiking partners, with the comfort of knowing that interactions with your fellow hikers will likely go much more smoothly.

[MichaelpMcCabe]

Thanks everyone, very useful input!

[John H Swanson]

It is funny. When you are new you look for people to hike with. When you are expereineced people look for you and ask to join you on your hikes. When you are very expereinced, people look for you and ask you to lead them to the places they want to go to.

I would recommend group hikes with formally designated competant leaders with decision making authority. If you do a group hikes and find competant people the natural forward action is to plan your ow hikes teaming up with these people, but the group hike gives you an opportunity to see many people in action and choose compatible personalities

So, I would recommend a club such as the ADK and not recomend informal internet hikes. That said you might be able to find a few internet organized hikes that are good, it just seems that there are many stories ....

[SummitHat]

Adkhp

In addition to the advice above, check the 'Upcoming Trips & Events' page on the ADKHP Forum. As you are a member all you need to do is Log in to see it. In winter you will have a better chance of finding opportunities on that page to hike with experienced, knowledgeable, well-prepared and safe hikers than you will in the warm weather.

Winter hiking with good partners can be invaluable, especially when you are familiarizing yourself with the joys and challenges of the season of snow & ice. For many of us winter hiking seems crazy before you try it, yet in time it becomes your favorite season.

Best of luck in finding great partners.