Walking technique - perhaps a silly question!

[AndyATSmith]

Thanks all for the advice! Lots of handy tips that I'll need to try and put into practice.

[Caberfeidh]

Thanks all for the advice! Lots of handy tips that I'll need to try and put into practice.

Any suggestion of a pogo stick or helium ballons attached to your hat is just silly. If anyone suggests that, just ignore them. If it's me it's because I'm drunk...

[Tinto63]

Not a silly question at all. I tend not to slip very much, maybe once a year, and I'm usually averaging about 40 walks a year. On the other hand I am 70+ and am slow and probably over cautious going down hill. Stiff and sometimes painful knees don't help.
I find it helps if you have fairly stiff boots with a good square heel, rather than the chamfered heel you see on some boots. Also, and I'm not trying to be clever or facetious saying this, it does help to look where you are going and try to plan 3 or 4 steps ahead and if possible avoid the bits that you know will be slippery.

I have used Pacer Poles for 8 or 9 years and find them very useful / essential. If you look at their website, they give quite a lot of information about the basics of walking and the technique for using poles uphill and downhill, you may find this helpful.

[Sack the Juggler]

whilst I haven't fallen for a while, I do slip and slide when heading downhill, espeically in the wet, but I usually manage to recover. I think that this is because I try to remain balanced over my feet (rather than leaning back away from the downslope), and like others, I take it slow, zig zag (or sometimes zag zig depending on the direction I'm travelling), and try to place my whole foot down to get maximum tread on the rock / grass / mud / indeterminate underfoot substance.

I've found that poles also help me on particularly wet, deep, muddy, or other perilous surfaces, and I use them to allow me to balance more easily when crossing streams etc.

Feeling planted across the whole foot, not just toes or heels, helps... especially when I start sliding, as it allows me to glissade out of the slide. Its a bit like skiing, except without the skis... or the grace... or the talent.... and occasionally without the snow.