Useful Information
Club nights
We meet on the second Tuesday of each month from 7:00pm at the Kings Head, 13 Westmoreland St, London, W1G 8PJ. This is a great chance to come along and meet us and and find out if the club is for you.
Summit of Sgurr Breac (David Watts)
Next club night: Tue, 14th Feb 2012
Weekends away
Anyone interested in joining Ibex can come on a weekend trip without first paying for membership. The full programme of weekends away is available online.
Usually there are about 15-20 people on a weekend trip and we travel up using a mixture of car shares and public transport. Club members share cooking duties and for the walks, we usually split into 2 or 3 groups depending on interest and experience.
Some members like long hikes in lowland areas, whereas others are interested in more challenging terrain/scrambling. Just join up with the group that you are most interested in going with. You can see the types of walks we do on the gallery.
Sample of the weekends from 2011
On Cat Bells (David Watts)
- April - 4 weekends - Mid-Wales, Snowdonia, Northumberland and North Yorkshire
- May - 4 weeks in Scotland - plus Bank Holiday weekend in the Lake District
- June - 2 weekends - one in Snowdonia and one in Dorset
- July - 2 weekends - one in Dartmoor and one in Snowdonia
- August - 2 weekends - one in Snowdonia and one in Cornwall
- September - week in Scotland, weekends in the Lake District and Derbyshire
- October - week in Scotland, weekend in Dartmoor
A typical weekend
Although each weekend varies depending on location and number of walkers, the common theme for most weekends is:
We head off on a Friday evening sharing cars or arranging a pick up at a station for those using public transport. Petrol costs are shared between driver and passengers.
- We generally cook and eat as a group with everyone helping with the meal preparation. If there are no catering facilities then we generally eat at a local pub.
- There are a selection of walks organised which anyone is welcome to join.
- A wide variety of inexpensive accommodation is used - bunkhouses, mountaineering huts, hostels, camping barns and campsites. There is usually a link off to the accommodation next in the weekend description.
- The cost of accommodation is usually around £10 to £15 per person per night plus travel costs.
- The cost of food is often around £5 per person per night. Bring your own alcoholic drinks with you.
Events Calendar
See all of our events in a handy calendar format.
Transport
I don't have a car
Not having a car isn't a problem. When you sign up for a weekend, you tell the organiser whether you have a car and what time you want to leave London (and where from). The organiser then coordinates the non-drivers/non-car owners with the people who are driving up. Alternatively members find many of our weekends can be reached via train, and often share a taxi or organise a lift to the accommodation from the station.
I do have a car
Extra car drivers are more than welcome on club weekends. If you can drive, please inform the weekend organiser when booking.
There are various costs involved in taking your car on Ibex weekends - fuel, wear and tear, depreciation, extra insurance premiums to cover co-drivers etc. - and all car owners have their own preferences as regards charging their passengers. As a general rule, Ibex recommends something around 20p per mile, divided between the people in the car, as being a reasonable and straightforward method of dividing up the costs.
View from lower slopes of Vivod Mountain (David Watts)
Climbing at The Castle
A number of Ibex members climb regularly at the Castle in Stoke Newington (nearest tube: Manor House). Use the contact us page for more information or, even better, come along to a club night and have a chat with us then.
A brief history of Ibex
A long time ago in the land of far away... actually in London in October 1984 a small group of friends who had met at one of London’s multi-activity clubs decided to form their own mountaineering club. Their ambitions were modest in that they anticipated an eventual membership of around 80 to 100 people with the main remit being to maintain the friendly and hospitable atmosphere of their previous club. The aim was for the club to comprise of competent walkers, mountaineers and climbers who would welcome newcomers both on the mountain and in the social and culinary aspects in the evenings in a variety of huts and locations.
By the end of the first year the Ibex Mountaineering Club (the original name) had blossomed beyond expectations with membership eventually rising to over 200. New ambitions developed from this and extended to guided trips to the Alps, week holidays in Scotland as well as continuing with the staple fare of weekends away, monthly pub meets and presentations/slide shows.
In recent years members' main interests have been focused on mountain and hill walking, hence the current name of the club. Today the club continues to organise regular events and still provides a warm welcome to newcomers interested in roaming hills and mountains.
Club Constitution
More information
If you have any other questions please contact us. We hope to see you at an event in the future.