City Mountaineering Reviews 86

Very well organised Welsh 3000s Challenge long week-end, from Thursday evening train from London, camping set up, hikes with Katie and Gareth -very knowledgeable guides- meals and amazing time with landscapes I would have never seen on my own! Loved it. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to be anything new, surprising or even really challenging but it ticked all the boxes and all in such a great atmosphere with the group (we all had a fairly good level of fitness which made it much more interesting) and the awesome guides.
I didn't know City Mountaineering and thought I would give it a try. The fact that all the logistic is handled for you is a massive plus. Very professional while keeping a relaxed atmosphere and really nice organisers. Will definitely be back!

The Cape Wrath trail (or the middle section to be precise) was a delight. You pack your rucksack with camping gear and kit and off you go into the wild. Rarely seeing other people even during the Easter Bank holiday. It is truly remote. Food was replenished every few days and we did have a bunk house mid way through with a drying room where we could feel suitable spoilt. I say bunk house, but it was more like a holiday cottage, a real treat. But, it is the wild camping which really stands out. Falling asleep in the silence of nature, stars in abundance, hot breakfast and dinner and delicious lunches. The days can be long but they are never hurried. Everyone in the group was lovely and we had Beinn the sprinter spaniel for company who put us to shame by running 3 miles for every one we walked. We had all the seasons in just one week, even a flurry of snow at one point. It’s tough enough to make you feel proud and very beautiful on the eyes, plus we saw new born lambs, deer, cattle and lots of birds. Stuart never put a foot wrong, he guided us through terrain I would have constantly got lost in and selected beautiful camping spots. A terrific week, why did it have to end?

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks was my second trip with City Mountaineering, the first one being Ben Nevis. The trip was superbly organised, with timely information and all aspects of the trip covered.
Stuart, in addition to being expert mountaineer and providing great leadership is very knowledgeable about the areas where he hikes. This all made the trip very interesting, enjoyable, stress free, and a real joy to be a part of it.
Stuart, Katie and Gareth were all extremely friendly and adept at motivating and encouraging all members of the team. I am certainly looking forward to doing other trips with City Mountaineering very soon.

I had a fantastic week in Scotland with City Mountaineering. Stu was an excellent guide whose knowledge of the mountains is beyond impressive, and whose calm, patient approach really helped put me at ease. Best of all, it’s thanks to him I tackled a climb I would never have thought I could. Can’t recommend enough. Plus, Beinn the dog is very cute!

We spent four brilliant days hiking in the Cairngorms with City Mountaineering. Stu’s guiding was exceptional and we felt in a very safe pair of hands. Having arrived with very little experience, Stu built our confidence and skills in hiking in winter conditions, which meant we successfully climbed to the top
of Ben McDui on our second day. Thank you again for a great trip and look forward to returning!

With no trekking background, I and my friend embarked on this journey with Stuart and his team (Katie & Gareth) ... Considering our speed and no previous experience, Gareth tagged along with us throughout the hike – so that we wouldn’t feel left out while the rest of the group were way ahead of us … he boosted us throughout the way, waited while we caught our breath, clicked some gr8 pictures of us & kept giving instructions/advices to complete the hike.
It will be always my best adventure! From the most supported group (even though they had to wait for us to complete our hike) to the accommodations and the arrangements – everything was taken care of.
Something which seemed impossible was only possible because of Gareth & Stuart !

Amazing trip with City Mountaineering! Would recommend to anyone looking for a safe, guided experience in the mountains!

Beautifully organised trip with City Mountaineering taking care of all the logistics. This by itself made for a stress-free experience. Despite the varying abilities of the group, Stuart, Katie, and Gareth made sure that everyone felt supported. Special thanks to Stuart for spurring me on when I was getting ready to give up on the 3'rd peak. Unforgettable experience of rushing down that peak and speed walking through the town to the finish line with only minutes to spare. I found the second day equally rewarding with some beautiful sights to enjoy at a more relaxed pace. Thank you!

Fantastic experience last weekend doing the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge. Managed to complete all three peaks in just short of 12 hours. Big thanks to Stuart for all the motivation on the 3rd peak when I thought I couldn’t go on any longer, I wouldn’t have been able to finish the challenge without you!! All logistics were very well managed and the second day relaxed walk around Malham was absolutely stunning. Thanks a ton for a brilliant weekend!

Fabulous weekend away doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge with City Mountaineering. All arrangements and details organised to a T and communicated promptly and clearly. Excellent hike leaders who provided the right encouragement and support according to each participant's experience and needs. All delivered with good cheer, enthusiasm, friendliness and chat. Had such fun on this trip (my third) and am already looking to see what I can book next with them.

To echo what many have said..

Fantastic experience, very well organised to give you the best experience come rain or sun. I’m so grateful for our guide Katie, and the group i was with, for helping me push my limits. Invaluable skills, knowledge and memories were created.

Katie gave us the optimum experience on and off mountain, so high praises all around for City Mountaneering Stuart and his team.

Looking forward to doing another trip with these guys in the near future.

I had a terrible experience with City mountaineering from failing to summit to being verbally harassed by Stuart. I tried to reconnect with them after the trip for a refund but after all failed attempts, I thought I should just let other people know how unprofessional and low quality this agency is. My email extract is posted here and that will be more than sufficient to summarise my experience--

"Hi Stuart,

First, thank you for the great trip and also the wonderful job you are doing especially for people like me who can’t handle multiple logistics well. Unfortunately, the snowdon climb this weekend did not turn out well for me and it took me sometime to write to you because I wanted to give it a second thought if the money spend on this trip was worth it.

I do believe the cost of the entire trip maybe reasonable, however, given my personal requirements, the discount offered to me was not enough. I have sufficient reasons to believe so and I’m open to a conversation if you feel otherwise:

1) My arrival day was Saturday, so technically, I was eligible for breakfast, lunch and accommodation on Saturday. Unfortunately, I could not avail any meals as the team had left for a trek before I arrived at 12:55pm.

2) I was entitled to an accommodation on Saturday entire day too. However, post my arrival at 12:55, you informed me that I could only get the keys at 3pm after you guy’s return from the trek. It was a long journey for me and I was waiting in the lounge with no heating around. You later informed me that you’d only arrive by 5pm. It was only at 4:30 that the owner of the hostel helped me get access to the room.

3)Come day of the snowdon climb , the weather had been terribly windy and rainy since the past night. In that case, opting to take a comparatively tougher route (south ridge, ranked as 2nd toughest) was ideally not a good decision. The reason I opted for this trip was because the description of trip stated it’s ideal for beginners too. Before we began our ascent, you also recommended that I should get away with one layer of my thermals and I did it, trusting you as definitely a better judge of the situation

4) of course with lesser layers, incessant rain and as I dropped my gloves, I was freezing and that impacted my mobility and made it difficult for me to catch up with all the others at quite a few times.
It was that cold and lesser layers that caused me to get into hyperventilating mode and all I wanted was to take 5/7 minutes of rest to recover before beginning my ascent again. However, you decided that I should not. You were definitely kind enough to offer me additional layers at that point of time, and I was struggling to wear that as swiftly as you wanted me to because I was freezing cold and my hands were numb. To which you shouted at me, thrice “for F**** sake” hurry up. That I believe was extremely embarrassing for me especially when that was done in front of a big group of people. I believe I’m a mature woman who’s professionally doing very well in her life and I do not deserve to be abused especially in a situation I was in

5) You screaming at me definitely intimidated me and I could not object to your decision of me not continuing the trek. Although In exactly 5 minutes of me resting, I was all ok and recovered and being 15 mins away from the peak was something that could have been accomplished, have you been a bit patience

As much as I was looking forward to this trip, my expectations were not met, neither in terms of the logistics that I was expecting based on the price I paid, nor in terms of you as a patient, understanding mountain guide.
In totality, paying £220 Only to get to sleep in the hostel for one night and not even finishing my climb was totally unjustified.
I would therefore like to claim a refund for a trip that didn’t just cause me a lot of inconvenience from getting my accommodation on time, to the food I was entitled to and to an abusive attitude I had to face and eventually failure of completing the climb to summit

Do let me know how you would want to proceed with this. "

We have just spent 3 brilliant days hiking in Scotland inc Ben Macdui and cannot recommend Stu/City Mountaineering highly enough. If you are hiking in the UK do not go with anyone else. If you are interested in international trips we also did Kilimanjaro with Stu last September and it was right up there as one of the experiences of a lifetime. In summary Stu is a great leader, is extremely knowledgeable, encourages you to believe you can achieve what you set out to do and offers an experience off the beaten track. You feel very well looked at all times and Stu’s enthusiasm for what he does is so contagious making the experience so enjoyable. We have done 2 trips now both of which lived up to expectations and more - we will definitely be using City Mountaineering again for any hiking trips we do.

My 4th winter mountaneering trip with Stuart climbing Scafell pike. Another excellent organised trip off the beaten track. Fantastic routes, knowledge sharing and FUN in the mountains. If you are looking for a winter mountain experience, you are in very safe competent hands with Citi Mountaneering.

Had a great wintery weekend in the Snowdonia mountains with City Mountaineering! It was the right amount of challenging and I had a great time hiking the peaks despite the weather. Stuart was an excellent guide and trip leader and I'll definitely be coming back for more City Mountaineering adventures.

I’ve now been on two trips with City Mountaineering to Snowdonia and the Lake District and both have been incredible! A great balance between adventure and feeling well looked after. Already planning my next trip up Ben Nevis with them!

Can't rave enought about Citymountaneering trips! I've been with them in the Lake District, Wales and Scotland. Always well organised and with great itineraries off the beaten track. I also really like how Stuart always considers the impact on the environment and builds the trips with the minimum impact. Can't wait for the next adventure!

Great, well organised trip with lovely accommodation. Thank you Stuart for a great weekend. Really appreciated the off-the-beaten-track routes.

What an amazing experience climbing Kilimanjaro is city mountaineering. Stu was welcoming, knowledgeable and supportive from the start of the trip. The team on the ground were amazing and everything about this trip was perfect! City mountaineering are the people to go with if you’re thinking about climbing to the roof of Africa!

Just back from climbing Kilimanjaro with Stu at City Mountaneering- can't recommend this enough- amazing experience and would not have had the confidence to get to the top without the support from Stu and the team. 5 stars!!!