Walking Club Types

This article was originally published in “Rucksack Ramblings” – the official organ of the Rucksack Club, Sydney  (volume 1 No 6) – published around 1952. I think it is as applicable now as it was then. Which type of walker are you? The author was Rupert Prellor. It has been re-published here without permission.

Walking Club Types

The newcomer to the club is often at a loss to gain the upper hand in conversation with other members because he has not had several years in which to make an impressive list of mountain ascents. He has not yet had the experience in the skilful embellishment of the truth that so distinguishes the conversation of the better known members of the Club. If he can recognise the many diverse and interesting types of people that make up the Club, then he can discern the opponent’s weakness and lead the conversation gradually into the path that he himself thinks it ought to go.

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First of all he must recognise another newcomer to the Club. That should be easy, since the newcomer is more neatly attired than the more practical older members. The new and shiny boots are easily recognised, as is the halting and limping step of the feet inside the boots. If wearing a pack, the newcomer is noticed still more easily, since his pack will have an apparent capacity of three or four cubic yards, and the weight of not less than one cwt. Tinned foods in huge quantity, air pillows, etc., are all good “clues” by which to recognise him.

The “old hand” is characterised by the tattered remnants of clothes that cling to his muscular form; his pack is patched and held together with string and wire, and his billy has seen no less than twenty summers. His untiring and sometimes unfeeling pace is very deceptive, for no matter how fast you go, he is always in front of you with no apparent increase or decrease of pace, whether uphill or down.

“Pacemaker Pete” is the most dangerous type in the Club. The unsuspecting newcomer who joins up with “Pete” does well to have signed his will beforehand. Identify him by his streamlined pack to cut wind resistance, and the half inches cut off the straps in an effort to save weight. “Pete” can always quote figures for times taken for trips, but when planning your trip, it is advisable to multiply all times by four.

“Ologists” are a queer group of people who study things such as botany, geology etc. The lengths to which they will go in order to peer into the private life of some harmless, ordinary bird is absolutely unbelievable. The language they speak is unintelligible, and they insist on using it even if it means giving a common flower a name two or three feet long and quite unpronounceable.

Geologists are genuinely disappointed if they cannot discover a rock older then thirty million years, and they speak loftily of uplifts, dips, strikes etc. If you go on a trip with these people then do not be surprised if you end up with a pack containing several tons of rocks, stones and boulders. Never open a pack without taking adequate precaution, because an inventory of a pack carried by a member lately, disclosed three copper head snakes, a small death adder and a “tiger” together with a dozen unidentified wogs in addition to thirty four differs types of foliage.

Amateur photographers are a dreadful nuisance on a trip, but at least they can often gain you a much needed rest on a hill by taking time off to get some photographs. On extended tours they’re definitely sadistic in recording your most unlovely postures for posterity. When you are dangling from an overhang and the rope is parting strand by strand, they leer in your face and say “Just hold that pose, it won’t be long now. What’s the exposure somebody?” They are readily recognisable by the number of gadgets, boxes etc, strung all over them. Usually it pays dividends to keep more than a mile from them, since telephotos have an uncanny habit of getting “candid” shots that are worth their weight in gold for – ah! yes blackmail.

From this summary of walking “types” it is anticipated that newcomers will gain sufficient information to stay alive long enough to enjoy walking. Even if the newcomer does not enjoy walking, the training in psychology should be valuable in everyday life. The more walking club types you meet the more you wonder that civilisation is possible.

Rupert Prellor

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2 Responses to Walking Club Types

  1. James Creer says:

    I agree, still very relevant today!
    Thanks for posting the article up.

  2. Ken says:

    A newer addition is the “Early retiree” who now spends most of their time walking and can be very deceptively fit.

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