Columbia launches The Hike Society with the inaugural Annual General Hike

Columbia has unveiled The Hike Society – a new outdoor community and movement created “to unite the next generation of hikers and outdoorspeople”.

The outdoors has experienced a cultural revolution in recent years, with style and escapism converging to create a modern interpretation of the outdoors. This ascent has been accelerated by the pandemic as a younger audience developed an affinity for the outdoors.

The Hike Society aims to capture this youthful cohort of adventurers by using its platform to provide free community hikes, tips and guides to facilitate more time spent outside.

To mark the launch, The Hike Society has revealed the inaugural Annual General Hike, a mass participation hiking event that mobiles influential outdoor communities across the UK over the weekend of 15-16 October.

The Annual General Hike is a celebration of the best of the British outdoors and changing face of the industry – unifying hiking collectives and connecting like-minded people with a passion for all things adventure.

There are 20 hiking communities expected to take to the hills, fells, and coastlines with over 400 hikers predicted to be in attendance. The event is free participation and tickets are available through The Hike Society hub.

As part of the campaign, The Hike Society is working with the Ramblers, Great Britain’s walking charity, to survey participants to better understand the motivations, causes and passions of this emerging audience.

Its findings will inform the use of a Columbia donation to the Ramblers – investing in the charity’s campaign and advocacy work on shared areas of interest including inclusivity and access.

Eoin Treacy, marketing manager at Columbia said: “The Hike Society provides Columbia with a platform to unlock the outdoors for the next generation of hiker. Through this movement, we will partner with the trailblazers who are shaping outdoor culture through creativity and community by creating content and resources that inspire others to get outside.”

“The Annual General Hike will announce the arrival of The Hike Society and is set to be a festival of hiking that reaches every corner of the UK.”

Carmen Spiers, Corporate Partnerships Manager at the Ramblers said “We’re delighted to be working with Columbia to open the way for even more people to enjoy the simple pleasures of walking. Columbia’s support will help our fight to protect the places we love to wander.”

For more information on The Hike Society and Annual General Hike, visit the Columbia website.