10 hillwalking films to inspire your next adventure
Having a duvet day or a quiet night in? We've got you covered. There's nothing better than a day in the hills - but we think planning a day in the hills comes in pretty close second. If you're looking for inspiration for your next on-foot adventure, check out our lineup of ten of the best mountaineering, hiking and hillwalking films from the BMC TV YouTube channel.
Our YouTube Channel is full of films showcasing the many adventures mountain life can take you on in Britain and abroad. From epic scrambles, stories of overcoming adversity and diversifying the outdoors; how-to's and high altitude ascents, below, we're bringing you 10 of the best BMC TV films dedicated to those pointy landmasses we all love so much. Grab a cuppa and get stuck in...
The Wanderlust Women
There was a time when Amira Patel had never hiked, and upon her first 3km hike with her mother, Aysha, she struggled. A few years on, and Amira has now inspired and created an outdoors community of thousands of Muslim women in a social hiking group called ‘The Wanderlust Women’. This is Amira and Aysha’s story of joint turmoil resulting in a discovery of the outdoors, as well as their experiences of diversifying the space as Muslim women.
Winter Hill Walking: If They Only Knew
Craving a cold hit? This film by Ben Winston, who sadly died in 2015, is a magical gaze at the joys of winter hill walking, taking you to a world far above everyday life on the streets.
Everest: The 10%
Mount Everest – an icon of human exploration and adventure – is mostly the arena of men. Just over 10% of all Everest summiteers are women, fewer if you include the Sherpas. This is the story and science of one woman’s adventure to the top of the world, and why it meant so much to her.
How to use walking poles
Got your sights set on a more advanced adventure? Or perhaps you simply want to save your knees on those steep descents! Mountain Leader Louise Tully explains how to properly use walking poles to elevate your hiking experience in this handy how-to video from our Hillwalking playlist.
Where Walking Took Me
Where does walking take you? Jen Randall recalls her first steps into the wild with her father as a child, and how walking shaped her career as an adventure filmmaker later in life.
This sentimental and atmospheric film shot for BMC TV won best Short Film at Kendal Mountain Festival, and went on to be shown on Channel 4.
Mary-Ann's great walks: Scafell Pike
Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, can get extremely busy, especially in summer. But most of the crowds miss arguably the finest way up it. The walk up the Corridor Route from Borrowdale is long and demanding, but is the connoisseur’s way to the roof of England. This series features five great walks in the English Lake District with BMC ambassador and globe-trotting archaeologist turned adventurer Mary-Ann Ochota.
Britain's Mountain Challenges: Tryfan and Bristly Ridge scrambling
Trail magazine's Dan Aspel gives us a taste of the two classic ridge scrambles in Snowdonia: Tryfan's North Ridge and the continuation on to Bristly Ridge. While both ridges are popular introductions to scrambling, both are high mountain routes which require good weather, appropriate footwear and a head for heights.
The Destiny of a Sherpa Woman | Yangji
Step by step. To the rhythm of Yangji's sure and steady pace, we walk through her life journey, as she returns after many years of absence to the poor village in the Everest region where she grew up. She turned her back on the mountain as a teenager in the hope of escaping the misery that reigns in the valley of her childhood, never thinking she would come back, and even less so with the title of mountain guide...
Nantlle Ridge with Blackdog Outdoors
Blackdog Outdoors are a mental health charity that brings people together in wilderness to walk, climb and escape from the noise and bustle of everyday life. Join them as they lead a group along Snowdonia's Nantlle Ridge, finding joy, companionship and the inner peace that only a day out in the hills can provide.
Revel In The Climb
For some, the mountains offer a place of escapism from modern day living, whilst to others they are a place of inspiration for art and creativity. Maybe they are a place for challenge and personal growth, or a place for play, adventure, or health and fitness. But what happens when the mountains are your happy place and you then find yourself on an exposed and crumbling ridge caught in the strangling grip of a panic attack? This film by Abbie Barnes was shortlisted for the Women in Adventure Film Competition 2020.
If that wasn't enough to whet your walking appetite, head on over to the BMC TV YouTube channel for even more hillwalking, climbing and mountaineering videos to get you moving.
Boots at the ready but not sure where to go? Check out our favourite hillwalking routes on komoot for even more inspiration.
- First ever litter pick on hard-to-reach Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) gullies
- CEO Update | September 2024
- Zoe Spriggins
- Roger Murray to step down as BMC Chair in November 2024
- Where to break your sport grade barrier abroad
- Safeguarding Surgery | Tuesday 1st October
- BMC Members Forum
- Top 10 Via Ferratas in France, Italy and the UK
- Climbing ban lifted in Carn Gowla, Cornwall
- YHA Festival of Walking | Ambleside Social Walk (September)
- Mend Our Mountains: BMC volunteers create 50m stepping stone path in Eryri (Snowdonia)
- BMC Annual Report 2023
- Essential Nutrients for Hill Walkers: Fuel Your Adventure with These Nutritious Snacks
- Zoe Peetermans and Sam Butterworth Crowned 2024 British Boulder Champions
- Five reasons why you need BMC Travel Insurance
- BMC joins the UN’s Sports for Nature initiative
- Mend Our Mountains: meet ranger Caroline from Fix the Fells
- Medal success in Villars at the Paraclimbing European Championships
- Watch live: British Boulder Championships 2024
- How to climb the Breithorn
- Wilton Fest | Climbing Masterclasses with Steve McClure and Ian Dunn
- BMC announces GB Climbing Team for 2024 IFSC Youth World Championships in China
- Mend Our Mountains: BMC volunteers make repairs to 100m of Lake District footpath
- YHA Festival of Walking | The Sill, Hadrian's Wall Social Walk | (September)
- List of BMC Access Reps
- Building on a Golden Moment for British Climbing at the Paris 2024 Olympics
- Mend Our Mountains: could you organise a Get Stuck In footpath repair event?
- Mend Our Mountains: seventh project for 2024 - Haytor Rocks, Dartmoor
- Safeguarding Surgery | Tuesday 4th February
- Basic Safeguarding Training (Children) | Tuesday 12th November
- Paris 2024: McNeice Flying in Fifth
- Find a climbing wall
- Toby Roberts Takes Gold, Hamish McArthur Finishes Fifth
- Paris 2024: Women’s Lead Semifinal
- The Big Clean Up on Yr Wyddfa (Fully Booked)
- BMC statement in solidarity against UK Riots
- Olympic detox: best practice for bouldering on sandstone in Font, 70km south of Paris
- Paris 2024: Men’s Lead Semifinal
- Olympic detox: escape Paris for the nearby bouldering paradise of Font, by public transport
- Paris 2024: Women’s Boulder Semifinal
- CEO Update August 2024
- YHA Festival of Walking | Boggle Hole Social Walk (October)
- An update on the Member and Stakeholder Consultation on the GB Climbing Proposal
- YHA Festival of Walking | Hartington Hall Social Walk (September)
- The Climate Project: Sphagnum season starts again - can you help us plant this carbon-sequestering moss?
- Paris 2024: Men’s Boulder Semifinal
- Peak Area Social Hike | Hope to Win Hill | Saturday 31st August
- Paris 2024: Sport Climbing preview
- How to watch climbing in the Olympics
- Unreasonable ban on climbing at Symonds Yat: climbers dismayed by ongoing climbing ban
Related Content
Indoor Climbing Skills
All the tips on how to move from indoor climbing to outdoor climbing
Mountaineering Learn Skills
Scrambling in winter is a step up in every way: here are some tips from the pros for getting it right.
Mountaineering Learn Skills
Here’s your heads-up to some of the most common winter walking mistakes and how to steer clear of them.
Mountaineering Destinations
Now is the prime time to plan your winter adventures. To help you explore the British mountains over winter, we have chosen six stunning winter ridges to guarantee a grand day out.
Rock Climbing Skills
A series of guides to some of the most popular scrambles in England, Scotland and Wales.
Hillwalking Destinations
Glen Coe's Aonach Eagach ridge is the most legendary Grade 2 scramble in Scotland. Do you have the skills to take it on?
Rock Climbing Skills
Here's what you need to think about when moving together for scrambling and climbing
Rock Climbing Articles
The BMC Incident and Near Miss reporting system helps to promote reflection and effect behavioural change to reduce the potential for future incidents.
Rock Climbing Skills
Scrambling is sometimes described as the middle ground between walking and climbing - and for the higher grades in particular, you’ll need some basic climbing skills. Here's our guide to staying safe on the rock.
Rock Climbing Gear
With an ever increasing choice from manufacturers, the hardest part about buying a dynamic climbing rope can be deciphering what’s on offer, and understanding how it relates to your chosen activity. The days of simply choosing 9mm or 11mm are long gone, and from a light single to a heavy half, things can get very confusing.
Hillwalking Destinations
It's no easy feat, but with a little advice, organisation, knowledge and determination, climbing the Wainwrights is doable for almost anyone. This beginner-friendly guide aims to teach you about the fells and how to plan for and complete them.
Hill Walking Articles
Chris Townsend's top tips on getting the most out of a long-distance adventure, plus three week-long route ideas for beginners, offering a mix of nature, history, solitude and challenge.
Rock Destinations
Here are five of the best places to go for a weekend of nerve-testing scrambling.
Rock Climbing Skills
Here's a run down of the essentials of using micro gear when climbing
Hill Walking Articles
Snowdonia-based fell running guides Sarah and Ian Ridgway share their top 10 tips for beginner fell runners.
Rock Climbing Skills
Lowering off from a sport climb isn't always as easy as it is at the climbing wall. Knowing a few techniques can make the difference between an enjoyable day's climbing and a trip to A&E.
Mountaineering Destinations
Get your hands and feet on rocky slopes and snow, taluses and airy gendarme-studded ridges. Why not challenge yourself to reach the summit, or traverse one of our top 10 alpine peaks this summer?
Hillwalking Skills
Are you a hill walker wanting to tackle steeper terrain, but nervous about heights? Don’t panic – there are steps you can take to fight the fear.
Hillwalking Skills
How to choose an ice axe for your next winter adventure
Rock Climbing Gear
Everything you need to know about the various types of rope for climbing and mountaineering can be found in our handy, free guide.
Hillwalking Skills
In this guide, we share tips to help you navigate your way back to safety in the event of a whiteout.
Rock Climbing Skills
A common and false perception of abseiling is that it is an adventure activity that is completely safe. But accidents do occur even in controlled circumstances.
Rock Climbing Skills
What are the different types of climbing and mountaineering and what do they involve?
Hill Walking Articles
The health and well being benefits of physical activity are numerous. Apart from the obvious physical benefits, there are many mental health and social perks to hillwalking and climbing too.
Mountaineering Learn Skills
Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor Rob Johnson explains the essentials of choosing and using your first ice axe and crampons for winter mountaineering.
Hillwalking Skills
The know-how, top tips and gear you'll need for scrambling safely.
Hillwalking Skills
The mountains at night can be hazardous, but also wonderful. Here are a handful of helpful tips for exploring the dark side.
Rock Climbing Gear
How often do you check your trad gear for damage or wear and tear? Here's the 'how' and 'why' of keeping your cams in check.
Hill Walking Articles
The best way to prepare yourself for the hills is to get out in the hills. But what if you can only get out once a month? Running guide Sarah Ridgway reveals her secrets to staying fast.
Hillwalking Skills
When should you use crampons? Our guide explains the 'when', 'where' and 'how' of deploying your spiky winter gear.
Article
Here are a few of the most gruelling, exhausting, rewarding and brilliant challenge walks Britain has to offer.
Hillwalking Destinations
Sarah Stirling lists five of the easiest Munros for beginner hikers to bag!
Mountaineering Destinations
Here are some facts, figures and background information on the world's highest mountain.
Mountaineering Learn Skills
A range of Chamonix's expert skiers offer their top tips to improve your off-piste: pro skier Ross Hewitt, Avalanche Academy Director and Mountain Guide Stuart McDonald, and off-piste skiing instructors Alison Culshaw and Dee O'Neill.
Hillwalking Gear
Friction blisters on the feet are a common and potentially serious complication of hiking or hillwalking and other outdoor activities. This guide explains how to prevent and treat blisters accordingly.
Article
We've totted up a few fun facts and some trail trivia about this iconic route, including some surprising statistics that are guaranteed to earn you points at the next pub quiz. Read on for everything you need to know about this pioneering path...
Hill Walking
Thinking of hitting the trails? Running is a relatively accessible form of exercise and can take you to some spectacular places, but getting off the beaten track comes with its hazards! From over-striding to 'app addiction', passionate trail runner Sarah Stirling shares her 10 most common beginner mistakes to avoid, to make sure you start out on the right foot.
Rock Climbing Gear
If you’ve never climbed before or have only climbed indoors, the equipment used for tackling real rock can seem mysterious, exciting and expensive. We've put together a list of the essentials...
Mountaineering Destinations
Forget cramponning down a death defying ridge before leaping over gaping crevasses – the Vallee Blanche is not what you might imagine. That said, it’s no pushover either; Charlie Boscoe uncovers the myths.
Hill Walking
Forget ghost stories and horror movies - a simple walk in the story-stuffed British wilds is the best way to get your skin crawling.
Rock Climbing Gear
Climbers use quickdraws to attach their rope to pieces of protection when lead climbing. A quickdraw consists of two karabiners connected by a textile sling. Find out about the different types and some of the key issues in this article.
Indoor Climbing Gear
We take a look at the culture of tight climbing shoes. Just how tight is too tight - and are we creating problems for the future?
Mountaineering Learn Gear
Do you carry a first aid kit in the mountains? We take a look at the essentials for any mountaineering first aid kit and how to use them.
Mountaineering Destinations
Mountains have always meant more to humanity than just lumps of rock. We take a look at five summits with mysterious, magical or mythological significance.
Rock Climbing Skills
Climb grade 5 outdoor sport routes, but want to progress? How do you start pushing your comfort zone, and what should you focus on?
Hill Walking News
Many people will have visited the summit of Great Gable in the Lake District and looked at the bronze plaque close to the summit commemorating FRCC members killed in World War One. This plaque was unveiled 100 years ago this year, on 8 June 1924, so this year, the FRCC held a commemorative meet with members staying at their huts in Wasdale, Borrowdale and Buttermere. This was attended by the BMC’s Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Lakes Area Rep Ron Kenyon, who sent this fascinating report of the day’s events and the history of the plaque.
Rock Climbing
Here’s a selection of the best novice sport crags in the UK along with tips on essentials such as parking, guidebooks and what each is best for.
Rock Destinations
The British Isles is famous for having some of the best trad climbing in the world, and for good reason: it’s all packed into a relatively small area, yet offers a huge variety of rock types and styles of climbing.
Hill Walking
It helps you cope at work, 'heals' your brain, makes you more creative and it could even be better for you than running. Here are six ways walking could be more powerful than you realise.