Want a better way to track your mountain-climbing progress? GuideUs are a big help

Absolute Escapes recommends the maps and ticklists produced by GuideUs

At Absolute Escapes we want to give you a total Lake District experience. As you already know, we find the best self catering holiday cottages for you to stay in. But we also want to make sure you’ve got more than just a nice place to sleep. That’s why we want to help you make your time in the Lakes the best it can be.

Recently, we’ve covered guidebooks, so you know where you’re going when you get here. After all, we don’t want getting lost spoiling a perfectly good holiday. In previous posts we recommended the guidebooks of Mark Richards and Vivienne Crow. With their help, you should be able to make the most of many walks the Lake District has to offer.

The Lakes is a region famous for its mountains and hills. Many of these were documented by Alfred Wainwright in his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells series and are referred to as ‘Wainwrights’ to this day. Many take it upon themselves to try and conquer all 214 Wainwrights.

This is where our next recommendation comes in.

GuideUs is a small family publisher from Cumbria. In 2008 a member of the GuideUs team was in the middle of ticking off the Wainwrights. They found themselves longing for an easy and fun way to keep track of the fells they’d overcome.

You could write them down in a notebook, but where’s the fun in that?

After many hours of research and planning, aided by a background in graphic design, they emerged with something special. This was the Wainwright Fells Map & Tick List. It was designed to be functional, informative and attractive.

GuideUs took out everything that wasn’t needed in the map. This results in an elegantly minimalistic map, where the focus is squarely on its subject: the Wainwrights. It comes with a tick list so you can easily record the fells you’ve mastered, and the date you mastered them.

Featured in Lake District pubs, you may have seen the distinctive map before. As well as being a useful way of tracking progress, it doubles as an attractive piece for the home. One that you can use to boast to friends about your mountain-climbing prowess.

Since 2008, GuideUs has produced maps for other areas. These include their Munro Map, Snowdonia Map and a foldable version of their Wainwrights to take out with you.

Think you’d like a Wainwright Fells Map & Tick List to adorn your wall? You’re in luck. We’re giving one away, as well as books by Mark Richards and Vivienne Crow. Simply enter your name and email address here for the chance to win.

If you’d like to see what else GuideUs has to offer, visit their site.

Want to find out more about the other prizes Absolute Escapes is offering?

Find out about Viviene Crow's walking guides

Find out more on Mark Richards's guide books

About the author

Shirley Thomson is the owner and director of Absolute Escapes Lettings and has been for over ten years. Her passion is for the Lake District, so she established Absolute Escapes to offer a personal service to those wanting to stay in the Lakes. She deals with every part of the business herself from finding cottages and managing bookings. If you’re looking for a Lake District cottage or an Eden Valley cottage, Shirley’s the woman for you.