The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships are a unique set of outdoor sports competitions contested in the Irish uplands. At the end of each Sport Hillwalking season, four champions will be announced: an individual hillwalker, a walking club, a county team and a province team.
To take part, hillwalkers must participate as individuals. This flexible competition requires participants to log their visits to Irish mountain summits and High Points while on location using the Peakhunter smartphone app. Competitors are also required to officially confirm their participation in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships by submitting a single one-off Championships Entry Form at the end of the season.
The Sport Hillwalking season starts on 1st March and finishes eight months later on 31st October.
The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships also gives third-party organisations a unique opportunity to host and manage their own community-based hillwalking competitions. We have coordinated with Peakhunter to put all the tricky technical stuff in place to make this community initiative possible.
To take part, hillwalkers must participate as individuals. This flexible competition requires participants to log their visits to Irish mountain summits and High Points while on location using the Peakhunter smartphone app. Competitors are also required to officially confirm their participation in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships by submitting a single one-off Championships Entry Form at the end of the season.
The Sport Hillwalking season starts on 1st March and finishes eight months later on 31st October.
The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships also gives third-party organisations a unique opportunity to host and manage their own community-based hillwalking competitions. We have coordinated with Peakhunter to put all the tricky technical stuff in place to make this community initiative possible.
Take part
To compete in any of the four All-Ireland Hillwalking Championship categories (i.e. individual, clubs, counties, provinces), each participating hillwalker is required to:
From 2022, the Sport Hillwalking season starts on 1st March and finishes eight months later on 31st October. The season is split equally into four 2-month-long rounds of competition.
A participant can earn points for each Irish mountain summit and High Point once per round. Revisits within the same round will not count. This means each location can be counted up to four times within a full Sport Hillwalking season.
Instructions
Claiming bonus points
If you are competing in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships you can claim bonus points for completing any one of the following nine All-Ireland hillwalking challenges in its entirety within the Sport Hillwalking season. If you complete more than one of these challenges in the same season, you should claim bonus points for the one with the higher point-score value.
To compete in any of the four All-Ireland Hillwalking Championship categories (i.e. individual, clubs, counties, provinces), each participating hillwalker is required to:
- Have an account on the Peakhunter platform (this is free to set up).
- Register for at least one of the four rounds of competition on Peakhunter (again, this is free).
- Log visits to Irish mountain summits and High Points while on location using the Peakhunter smartphone app.
- Score at least 1 point in one of the four rounds of competition.
- Submit a one-off Championships Entry Form at the end of the Sport Hillwalking season to confirm that they are competing, to identify up to three teams they are representing (1 club, 1 county, 1 province), to claim bonus points for a single-season High Point Challenge / All-Ireland Mountain Challenge completion, and to claim bonus points for single-day range-specific Mountain Challenge completions.
From 2022, the Sport Hillwalking season starts on 1st March and finishes eight months later on 31st October. The season is split equally into four 2-month-long rounds of competition.
- Round 1: 1st March - 30th April
- Round 2: 1st May - 30th June
- Round 3: 1st July - 31st August
- Round 4: 1st September - 31st October
A participant can earn points for each Irish mountain summit and High Point once per round. Revisits within the same round will not count. This means each location can be counted up to four times within a full Sport Hillwalking season.
Instructions
- Install the Peakhunter app on your smartphone and create a profile (you only need to do this once).
- Sign into your Peakhunter account on the smartphone app (if not already signed in).
- In the app's settings, download all the Ireland and United Kingdom locations. We recommend that you do this every few months to ensure that you have the most up-to-date set of locations.
- Register for at least one of the four rounds of competition on Peakhunter. You need to do this to earn Championship points. We recommend that you register for all four rounds.
- Log visits to Irish mountain summits and High Points while on location using the Peakhunter smartphone app.
- Each mountain summit and High Point in Ireland has been assigned a point-score value based on its elevation and High Point status. When you score your first point in a round, a temporary badge for that round will appear in your Peakhunter profile for the remainder of the Sport Hillwalking season. Your score will also appear in the respective round's real-time leader board.
- If you complete a High Point Challenge / All-Ireland Mountain Challenge in its entirety within a single Sport Hillwalking season, you can claim bonus points equal to the total point-score values of all that challenge's listed locations. For example, a full round of logged County High Point visits during a single season is worth an additional 306 bonus points. Find out more about claiming bonus points below.
- If you complete a range-specific Mountain Challenge in its entirety in 24 hours or less during the Sport Hillwalking season, you can claim bonus points equal to the total point-score values of all that challenge's listed locations. For example, logged visits to all 14 mountain summits in the Mourne Mountains range during a single 24-hour period is worth an additional 120 bonus points. Please note that our range-specific mountain challenges should only be attempted by experienced hillwalkers who can navigate using a traditional magnetic compass and hardcopy map. For this reason, bonus points can only be claimed for single-day mountain challenge completions if one of your Peakhunter log entries on the day contains a photograph of your hand holding a traditional magnetic compass and a relevant local hardcopy medium-scale map (i.e. 1:20,000 to 1:50,000). This image is the minimum evidence of hillwalking competence we require, and bonus points will not be issued without it. Relevant maps are listed on the mountain challenge pages on The Ireland Walking Guide website. Find out more about claiming bonus points below.
- At the end of the Sport Hillwalking season, confirm your participation in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships by submitting a single one-off Championships Entry Form. This allows you to identify up to three teams you are representing (1 club, 1 county, 1 province). It also gives you an opportunity to claim bonus points for one single-season High Point Challenge / All-Ireland Mountain Challenge completion and any single-day Mountain Challenge completions. The form will be available at the end of each Sport Hillwalking season for 2 weeks only (25th October - 7th November).
- To represent a walking club in the Clubs Championship, it must be listed on The Ireland Walking Guide website. If your club is not currently listed, you should contact the relevant member of the club's committee to arrange its addition.
- We will apply bonus points to your score (if applicable) after we receive your completed Championships Entry Form. Bonus points can only be added after the Championship Entry Forms have all been processed. For this reason, bonus points will not be reflected in real-time leader boards during the season.
- We aim to announce the results in mid-November.
Claiming bonus points
If you are competing in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships you can claim bonus points for completing any one of the following nine All-Ireland hillwalking challenges in its entirety within the Sport Hillwalking season. If you complete more than one of these challenges in the same season, you should claim bonus points for the one with the higher point-score value.
If you complete any of the following 24 range-specific mountain challenges in 24 hours or less during the Sport Hillwalking season, you can claim bonus points once for each of those completed challenges. You can claim for all 24 challenges. Please note that if you claim bonus points for completing the All-Ireland Mountain Challenge, you cannot claim for any of the 24 range-specific mountain challenges.
To claim bonus points for completing a single-day mountain challenge, 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 summits which shows your own hand holding a traditional magnetic compass and a hardcopy of a local medium-scale map (i.e. 1:20,000 to 1:50,000) for the area. Relevant maps are listed on the mountain challenge pages 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 bonus points will not be issued without it.
You can only claim bonus points for one completion of each challenge during a single Sport Hillwalking season. Bonus points can only be claimed via the Championships Entry Form at the end of the season.
Winner selection
Click on the links below to find out how the four All-Ireland Hillwalking Champions are identified:
Disclaimer
The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships are intended only for experienced and well-equipped challenge hillwalkers, mountaineers and Highpointeers who are physically fit and can navigate themselves confidently through rugged and exposed terrain in any weather. If you are planning to compete, please be aware that hillwalking, mountaineering and Highpointeering are risk activities. High Point Ireland, The Ireland Walking Guide and Donard Media (the websites' publisher) accept no responsibility for any injury, loss or inconvenience sustained by anyone competing in the Championships. Personal safety is entirely the participant's own responsibility. We will not support any legal action taken against any third-party individual, group or organisation as a result of any injury, loss or inconvenience sustained by anyone competing in the Championships. We encourage each participant to have adequate insurance to cover any injury, loss or inconvenience that may result from their hillwalking, mountaineering and Highpointeering activities.
The inclusion of each mountain summit in the Irish Sport Hillwalking list is based entirely on it having been officially classified as a mountain. This classification is reserved exclusively for summits higher than 2,000 feet with a topographical prominence of at least 30m (see 'What is an Irish mountain?'). Summits which do not meet these two requirements do not qualify as mountains, even if the word 'mountain' appears in their names. The inclusion of each High Point in the Irish Sport Hillwalking list is based entirely on it having met the criteria for at least one of the eight primary High Point lists. It should not be assumed that access is permitted to any of the Irish Sport Hillwalking locations. High Point Ireland, The Ireland Walking Guide and Donard Media recommend that anyone planning to visit any of the mountain summits and High Points as part of their Championship efforts should check for potential access restrictions and to request permission from the relevant landowner(s) in advance.
Register
From 2022, the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships will consist of four separate 2-month-long rounds of competition. To take part, individual hillwalkers are encouraged to register for all four rounds on the Peakhunter platform as soon as possible. For each round, this is a simple 2-click process which takes only a few seconds - the 1st click will be a green button below and the 2nd click will be an orange "Participate" button on the Peakhunter website (you must be logged in on Peakhunter to complete the registration process). Once registered, participants' scores for each round will automatically update with each location logged on location. When a participant scores their first point in a round, a temporary badge will appear in their profile and their score will appear on the real-time leader board for that round - click here to access leader boards. Please note: to officially compete in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships, a participant must score at least 1 point in one of the four rounds (i.e. at least one of that year's four temporary badges must be displayed in their profile on 31st October and until all Championship Entry Forms have been processed).
Leader boards
Competitors who score a minimum of 1 point in a round of the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships will appear on that round's respective leader board. Please note that the scores displayed on these leader boards do not include bonus points earned through challenge completions (bonus points can only be applied at the end of the season after Championships Entry Forms have been processed). Competitors who appear on the leader boards will earn a temporary badge which will appear on their Peakhunter profiles for the remainder of the Sport Hillwalking season. Please note: to officially compete in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships, a participant must score at least 1 point in one of the four rounds (i.e. at least one of the they year's four temporary badges must be displayed in their profile on 31st October and until all Championship Entry Forms have been processed).
Entry form
Each competitor must officially confirm their participation in the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships by submitting a single one-off Championships Entry Form at the end of the season. This quick and easy online form allows individual participants to identify up to three teams they are representing (1 club, 1 county, 1 province). It also gives competitors an opportunity to claim bonus points for single-season High Point Challenge completions and single-day Mountain Challenge completions. The form will be available at the end of each Sport Hillwalking season for 2 weeks only (25th October - 7th November).
