Open Gates Outdoors works with our individual partners in the outdoors to;
provide mountain guiding in the Peak District and beyond,
provide outdoor life coaching,
improve your physical wellbeing and fitness,
improve your sense of belonging by giving you a greater sense of place, and
help you build your confidence as an independent walker so you can enjoy your own adventures.
Mountain guiding in the Peak District and beyond
Open Gates Outdoors is qualified and insured to provide mountain guiding to individuals and small groups in the Peak District and any other mountainous area in the UK. Sheffield is the only City in the UK to incorporate part of a National Park and this provides a unique resource. Walks can be in the remote and rugged Dark Peak areas of the Peak District or in the relatively gentle White Peak areas.
Open Gates Outdoors’ qualified mountain guides can lead you round established challenging routes in the Peak District such as the Edale Skyline or the Derwent Watershed (see further options below), in Eyri (formerly Snowdonia) such as the Welsh 3000's, or in the Lake District such as George Fisher Tea Round.
Alternatively we can guide you round a route that you have devised or help you to create a route that is specific to you. Walks will be of a length and terrain best suited to you and we will work with you from the outset to devise a walk or series of walks that are at the level of challenge approriate for you.
We can also lead night walks. Our qualified guides can help you to experience safely how sound, texture and smell all become more extreme at night. Bring a torch!
Why not camp out? We can support you in experience the liberation of spending a night under canvass in the wild while observing the laws and customs that apply to this amazing experience.
Examples of mountain guiding services Open Gates Outdoors could provide in the Peak District for you or your group
Scrambling
Scrambling at Alport Towers, Crook Hills or Kinder Scout. Feel the thrill of needing to use three points of contact to elevate yourself up a steep climb.
Carvings caves and ruins
Guided tour of stone carvings caves and ruins on Stanage, Burbage or Derwent Edges. Each walk can be tailored to be from 5 to 10 miles in length.
Gritstone Tors tours!
Tour of “Dark Peak Stones”. Link the dramatic stones of Grinah, Barrow, Shepherds Meeting, Hoar, Horse and Crow. Can include the source of the Derwent. Between 6 and 20 miles depending on number of Stones. Start and finish at Fairholmes Visitors Centre.
Ethels bagging
Tick off the 95 peaks over 400metres high in the Peak District dedicated to Ethel Hawthornthwaite whose campaigning led to establishment of the Peak District National Park in 1951.
What our partners say...
"Fantastic outing. Challenging but not too much. Fulfilling, mindful and cathartic. George’s passion for what he does combined with his fantastic local knowledge made the activity interesting and interactive. Archer Project’s beneficiaries seemed to love the walk and thrive on the challenge”
Chris, Learning Mentor, Archer Project
Life coaching
It is established that life coaching is an effective intervention to support people to make change in their lives and to support them to identify and achieve actions to bring about this change.
The outdoors is a powerful environment in which to participate in life coaching. It is relaxing, provides distance from every day life, is discrete and provides opportunities for metaphor that clarify goals and actions.
Open Gates Outdoors life coaches have completed a Level 5 certificate in Effective Coaching and Mentoring accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and have also completed training in Health Coaching accredited by the Personalised Care Institute (PCI).
All coaches acting on behalf of Open Gates Outdoors hold a clear Enhanced DBS certificate.
Physical fitness and wellbeing
Open Gates Outdoors can support you in improving your fitness and wellbeing.
We can support you in you active aging. Whether you are recently retired and are looking for ways to stay active and constructively use your new found time or are looking for a form of gentle exercise to keep fit and well, we will use our mountain guiding experience to work with you to find a bespoke programme that will maximise your wellbeing.
Open Gates Outdoors can also lead family walks that incorporate alternative locations to the much visited places in the Peak District such as Longshaw Estate or Chatsworth. Why not visit the cave that the legendary Victorian cat burglar and murderer Charlie Peace is reputed to have hidden in before escaping to London or the so called "rock canon" into which grindstone quarry workers would insert dynamite to play a tune to celebrate a special occasion.
We can help you get the most out of a family holiday in the Peak District by guiding you on a walk that contains interest and challenge for all.
Open Gates Outdoors can also help you to celebrate a special occasion whether it be a birthday, retirement or anniversary.
Improve your sense of belonging by giving you a greater sense of place
Sheffield and its edgelands have a rich social cultural and industrial history. It is well established that a strong sense of place improves mental wellbeing.
Open Gates Outdoors has the skills interests and experience to lead walks in urban or edgeland areas of Sheffield. We can help you explore areas such as Wincobank Hill (the site of a crucial iron age and roman fort located on the nationally significant "roman ridge") or Meersbrook and Gleadless woods (the site of the critical ancient boundaries of Mercia and Northumbria then later Yorkshire and Derbyshire and which also form part of the boundary of Hallamshire).
We can help you explore the industrial and social heritage of Rivelin Valley, part of the historic Hallam Chase, or the Porter or Loxley vallies.
Build your confidence as an independent walker
Will you be safe if your GPS devise fails or there is no mobile signal? Will you be able to compete in an event that does not permit use of GPS? Whether it be to prepare for a specific event or simply to become a more independent and confident walker, let Open Gates Outdoors help you to improve your ability to navigate using a map and compass.
We can also guide you and give you the skills to equip yourself to be more self sufficient in the outdoors whether it be equipment, food or basic first aid.