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Irish Challenge Hillwalker of the Year

Do you have what it takes to claim our annual challenge hillwalking award? If so, we are delighted to offer you that chance. The Irish Challenge Hillwalker of the Year award is a unique outdoor sports competition designed exclusively for challenge hillwalkers. The award is open to all hillwalkers who successfully complete any of our 24 Irish mountain challenges in a single day during the Sport Hillwalking season. To take part, challenge hillwalkers must log their chosen challenges' respective mountain summits on location using the Peakhunter app.

The Irish Challenge Hillwalker of the Year award is the highest level of recognition in this specialist Sport Hillwalking discipline. A dedicated award is also available in each of the other two disciplines: Highpointeering and mountaineering.

To qualify for this award, challenge hillwalkers must also take part in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships - the official national-level multi-discipline Sport Hillwalking competition open to all challenge hillwalkers, Highpointeers and mountaineers in Ireland - and complete a Championships Entry Form at the end of the competition season.

Take part

In order to take part, hillwalkers must complete any of our 24 Irish mountain challenges in a single day during the Sport Hillwalking season. Challenge hillwalkers must log their chosen challenge's respective mountain summits on location using the Peakhunter app.

Instructions

Download the Peakhunter app to your smartphone and set up a profile. Peakhunter is our official logging partner.
Sign into the Peakhunter app on your smartphone. You should only have to do this once.
Register for one or more of our 24 anytime Irish mountain challenges on Peakhunter.
Undertake your chosen mountain challenge(s). Log all mountain summits visited along the way while present at their respective locations using the Peakhunter app. You can only earn points for a mountain challenge if you complete it in less than 24 hours during the Sport Hillwalking season.
For a single-day completion, you will earn one point for each mountain summit featured in that mountain challenge. For example, a single-day completion of the Mourne Mountains Challenge would earn you 14 points.
To claim points for completing a mountain challenge in a single day, you must provide the absolute minimum evidence to prove that you are a competent challenge hillwalker. The evidence we require is a photo you have taken at one of the respective challenge's mountain summits which shows your own hand holding a traditional magnetic compass and a hardcopy of a map recommended on the challenge's official information page on The Ireland Walking Guide website. We only need to see the map's front cover so please fold the map for the photo. The image must be attached to one of your Peakhunter logs. You will be asked to supply the URL of this log entry when you submit the one-off Championships Entry Form at the end of the Sport Hillwalking season. This image is the minimum evidence of hillwalking competence we require, and points will not be issued without it.
The Sport Hillwalking season generally starts on 1st March and ends on 31st October each year. During this eight-month-long competition, you are permitted to count each mountain challenge once.
You are also welcome to take part in the Irish Highpointeer of the Year and Irish Mountaineer of the Year competitions as well as the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships.

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Winner selection

The individual who scores most points from single-day mountain challenge completions during the Sport Hillwalking season will earn the Irish Challenge Hillwalker of the Year award.
In the event of a draw, the winner will be top-scoring individual who logged their mountain challenge locations in the shortest time.
The winner will be announced in mid-November.