How to Organize a Group Hike?

The group Hiking Buddies Munich owes its success mainly to those who organise hikes. Even if this looks tough for someone who has never done it, a good preparation makes it very smooth. Here are the way I have been doing it, and some suggestions.

1 - Choose a date and a location

The weather is one of the main criteria. I have been using the app WeatherPro for years, the forecasts are pretty accurate. There are many hikeable places in Bavaria, you might always be able to find a spot where it's not raining.

Assuming you won't use a car, you have to find a place reachable by train and / or bus (see the post "How to become a train ticket master?" to know about the different possibilities).

As for the time, just have in mind that you can't use a group ticket during weekdays before 9 am, except for the Werdenfels Ticket. On Saturdays and Sundays, there is no such limit - you can use a group ticket before 9 am.

2 - Create the route

For that part, see the detailed post "How to create a route?".

You can also pick one of the suggestions on this page.

3 - Set up the event on the group

Creating a Facebook event is important to keep the group well organized, and to write a clear description of the hike. To create an event for the group, you have to click on the tab "Events" on the group page, and then "Create an event".

The description is very crucial, especially if your hike has difficult parts. Here is what you should mention:

• Requirements (even if that sounds obvious): food, water, fitness level, hiking shoes, gear.

• Set a limit number of participants (30 for easy hikes, 15 for harders ones)

• Short description of the route: steep or scrambling parts, caves, lakes, ...

• The Outdooractive (for example) link for the map / route

• Practical information: meeting point, time, price, expected time back to Munich. Have a look on the Deutsche Bahn website to know which train you want to take, and buy your group tickets the day of the hike in the train station.

You can find here the template I use. Feel free to copy / paste on your own event.

4 - Remain available online until the D-Day

For several reasons:

• The weather might change, in which case you may want to go to a sunnier location.

• People will always ask questions

• To make sure the number of participants is always under the limit you set.

5 - A few tips

Before the D-Day:

• Choose a meeting time at least 25 minutes before the train leaves

• If you use a GPS on your phone, make sure to download the map to have a offline access

• Import the GPX track into your GPS (the *.GPX file can be downloaded on Outdooractive after saving the route)

On the D-Day:

• If the hike is not easy, don't let anyone with sneakers join you

• Always stay together

• Ideally, give your phone number to the group

After the D-Day:

• Create an album on the Hiking Buddies Munich group and post your photos ;-)