Scottish hillwalkers told not to call women hikers ‘sweetheart’ or ‘darling’

Do not call women hillwalkers “darling” or “sweetheart” or lecture them how to read a map, new guidance for mountaineers in Scotland has advised

Dr Richard Tiplady said “the dominance of white middle-aged men like me in Scotland’s hills is obvious and it is unacceptable” and outlined action points to make women feel more comfortable.

Writing in the new edition of Scottish Mountaineer magazine, he said he had met solo female walkers and questioned how he should behave in a “non-weird way” that makes “the mountains as a safe and inclusive place for them to be in.”

He said the list of guidelines was based on “horror stories” provided by women about “the ways that they had been treated by men on the hills.” He noted that often during the encounters they are “the only two people for miles around.”

Dr Tiplady, who has climbed nearly 200 munros in Scotland, that it was “not the 1970s” and not to greet them with “Hello, darling!” or “Hello, sweetheart!”.

He told the magazine’s readers, the 16,000 members of Mountaineering Scotland, to “take the hint” if a lone woman tells them they want to stop for a break and “you carry on”.

“Don’t hang around in the car park while a woman is kitting up and then assume that you can accompany them,” the trainee mountain leader said.

Advising male hillwalkers not to talk down to their female counterparts, he said: “Yes, they probably can read a map, thanks.

“If they ask for advice about kit or their route, be polite without being condescending. But don’t offer advice if you’re not asked for it,” he added.

Dr Tiplady said that a “brief chat” about the hills, the weather and the man’s intended route is fine but “don’t ask what route they are taking.”

If a male mountaineer is walking fast and catches up with a sole female walker, he said they should say a “brief hello” and keep going and should not “slow down to walk with them”.

And Dr Tiplady said that they should “never ever” offer to walk with a lone woman “to keep you safe” as this “rings major alarm bells”.

Similarly, he said men should never camp near a solo female hillwalker, even if they are in the best location.

Dr Tiplady, who has a doctorate in leadership development from Glasgow Caledonian University, said he devised the guidelines after a chance meeting with a female hillwalker he knew in Glen Shiel in the Highlands.

Renate Powell, the wife of Damon Powell, the former chair of Scottish Mountain Rescue, asked him to walk the route with her.

But she may have been “uncomfortable” if he had approached her and made the same suggestion. Mrs Powell then posted an account of their conversation on the Facebook page of the Scottish Women’s Walking Group.

She asked women to “recount their horror stories” about the ways in which they had been treated and sent Dr Tiplady a “flavour of some of the discussion”, which he said had made “sobering reading”.

Dr Tiplay said: “On those occasions when I have met a solo female walker, either on the route or at the summit cairn, I have often been conscious of how my behaviour might help her to feel safe (or not), as potentially the only two people for miles around.

“How should I behave in a non-weird way, so that (as a representative of the dominant majority on the Scottish hills – a white, middle-aged, middle-class male) I do what I can to ensure that women experience the mountains as a safe and inclusive place for them to be in?”

He added: “The dominance of white middle-aged men like me in Scotland’s hills is obvious and it is unacceptable. We are used to having power, so let’s use it for the benefit of others, and maybe even give it away.”