September 2, 2024, 3:59 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
Whether during the day or at night, with the latest equipment or traditional gear, barefoot or completely naked, hiking is popular – and attracts very different types. We present 14 types of hikers – from extreme to retro. Do you recognize yourself?
Hikes are often still unpopular with schoolchildren, but for many adults, hiking is a hobby. The hour-long marches through forests and fields, over low mountain ranges and alpine meadows, have very different fans—a typology without any claim to completeness.
Extreme hiker
Ex-musician and extreme sportsman Joey Kelly could be a role model for this type. He crossed Germany in just under 18 days – on foot. Another example of the extreme hiker is “Brocken-Benno,” as 82-year-old Benno Schmidt from Wernigerode calls himself. He has climbed the Brocken, northern Germany’s highest mountain, 7390 times so far (as of August 6).
Naturalist hiker
Often led by a forester, mushroom expert, or ornithologist, this hiker is mainly seen at the weekend. Closely grouped around the group leader, the hardcore outdo each other with their detailed knowledge. The one who first spots a slow worm or a rare orchid takes the lead.
Naked hikers
They claim to be natural and don’t want to be photographed. Despite annoying mosquitoes, scratchy branches, and astonished onlookers, they go along their way undeterred as long as the authorities and temperatures allow. Unlike barefoot hikers, nude hikers do not do without footwear.
Night hikers
The night hikers wear all the more clothes. The fans of hiking in the dark can be found stalking bats in the Harz Mountains or on the Heidschnucken Trail under a full moon (see also: naturalist hiker).
Cultural hiker
This type of hiker also combines learning and nature, for example, on the trail of romantic monastery ruins.
Health hikers
Certified health hiking guides lead you through meadows and forests while herbal experts explain what is edible. Health is also a priority for fasting hikers.
Hikers with animals
Animal trekking is offered nationwide as a leisure activity. Hiking with a pony, dog, donkey, or llama is intended to provide balance and calm children down.
Group hikers
Usually not performance-oriented. Singing and chatting, this hiker passes the time in a group – and often all the animals in the area, too. The destination is a table reserved long in advance in a forest tavern not far from the parking lot.
Webwalker
As a tech-savvy individualist, this hiker uses all the possibilities of the Internet to prepare his tours and calculate routes including altitude profiles. Similar to the geocachers.
Geocachers
With their eyes firmly fixed on their GPS device for satellite navigation, they break through the thicket and stumble over many a tree root.
Retro hikers
Older and predominantly male. This hiker hurries briskly through the forest in leather knickerbockers and a checked shirt and climbs every height. He follows silently from behind, only occasionally betrayed by the clacking of an old walking stick with a neatly nailed tin sign.
Trekking and hiking
These terms for days of hiking off the beaten track – for example, in Nepal or the eastern USA – are also used successfully in the marketing of equipment suppliers. Outdoor clothing, GPS devices, poles, rucksacks, and special footwear generate huge sums of money. The buyer could be, for example, an environmentally conscious student in early retirement with a dream destination of Gomera.
Pilgrim hiker
The pilgrim hiker prefers to hike along the Way of St. James to the north-western Spanish pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela, usually only part of the way. For some, their role model is the TV entertainer Hape Kerkeling, who has written a book about his experiences that is currently being made into a movie (“Ich bin dann mal weg”). Along Buddhist centers in Europe, there is the 6,000-kilometer-long Jizo Way.
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The average hiker
According to the study “The German Hiking Market 2014,” hikers are on average 52 years old. They want to experience nature and actively do something for their health. Right behind this, the average hiker mentions inward-looking motives such as stress relief and self-reflection. Preferred destinations are Bavaria and the Black Forest.