How fast do you really walk?

This November I spent a very valuable week with my friend Ian Campbell from Mullach Mountaineering. He passed his assessment in October and had lots of great tips.

Ian's first question to me was "How fast do you really walk?" To which I replied the standard 4km/hr. Then Ian produced a basic Garmin GPS from his backpack so we could get a feel for our speed more accurately.

On a steady track I found that a fit hill-walker is more likely to be walking at 5km/hr, or maybe even 6 if it's down hill and you're in a hurry!

Over rough terrain it completely changes. No matter how fit you are, bog and uneven terrain can slow you down to as much as 3km/hr.

Ian recommended to walk at 4km/hr ongood tracks as this is the pace most people walk at and you wouldn't want to tire your group out too quickly, especially if they are not used to walking day after day.

It's important to get a feel for your pace so you can more accurately judge your distance. I'll be borrowing a GPS from Trail mag and giving this a go in the run up to my assessment, hopfully this Spring.