Hi there! We’re happy that you found us and are interested in WumS (short for ,Wandern um Stuttgart‘). Here’s the most important information about our hiking club in English. As we try to keep it short and simple here, just ask us via mail if you have any questions 🙂
What is ,Wandern um Stuttgart‘ / ,WumS‘?
,Wandern um Stuttgart‘ (translated ,Hiking around Stuttgart‘) is a registered hiking club for young people in the area of Stuttgart. The members of the club organize hiking trips every sunday in the surrounding mountain ranges (e.g. Schwäbische Alb, Schwarzwald). The main aim of the club is to make it easy for young people to take a break from their urban lives, to revive in the soothing nature, to exercise and to meet new people along the way. Therefore anyone in our age range (18-40) is welcome to join our hikes. While we really enjoy the beautiful landscapes of southern Germany we also view hiking as a sport. Thus our trips last the whole day and the pace is ambitious. If that sounds good for you, sign up for the next hike.
How does hiking with ,WumS‘ work?
First of all you have to know that everything is self-organized by volunteers and the WumS is not a tourism company which makes money. So if something is a little different than stated here please don’t be mad. Everyone who plans or acts for the club does it in their free time.
Every week we present our upcoming events in our newsletter. It usually gets send out to our subscribers on mondays or tuesdays. It includes all the information about the hike the following weekend, provides the link to the form you need to fill out to sign up for the hike (see below) and informs about other activities of the club in the near future. You can sign up for the newsletter on the subpage ,newsletter‘. For now, the newsletter-text is in German. You will probably understand most of it by using Google Translate, but please don´t hesitate to write us an e-mail, if there are any questions.
To take part in a WumS hike you have to sign up for the hike. You can find the form to do so, here, or you can follow the link in our newsletter. You will have to give some contact information. Also, you have to decide which tour you want to go on – we usually have at least two different tours: one, which is pretty ambitious and one that is a bit more relaxed. In the course of the week you will receive an e-mail which tells you if you have booked a spot on the tour you chose. It also reminds you of the meeting point and time as well as the costs.
On Sunday you only have to show up at the designated time and meeting point and – voilà – you´re on a WumS hike. Usually we meet at Stuttgart central station and travel to our hiking location together. On every tour there is a ,Wanderleiter‘. That’s the person who planned the hike and is responsible for finding the right paths and leading the group. He/she/they also carrie(s) a emergency kit. So if you feel unwell or have any problem, that`s the person to turn to for help.
What do I need to bring to the hike?
There is a list of the equipment you are required to bring on the hike in every newsletter. Generally speaking it is important to us, that you bring suitable clothes, hiking boots, a backpack and an amount of food and water that will keep you satisfied during the whole day. Also you will need to bring some money as we collect our fees (see below) during the hike.
What do I have to pay – and why?
Although every one who organizes anything for the WumS does that voluntarily, we collect money from everyone who joins a hike. That money is used for the benefit of the club. To organize our hikes, we have to buy maps, emergency kits, compasses etc. We have to pay for our server space and need to rent public rooms for the training of our ,Wanderleiter‘ or our member-meetings. We disclose our finances on every member-meeting.
As we just want to cover our expenses, a hike costs nothing for members and 3 € for non-members. The membership costs 12€ per year, so if you plan on coming on many hikes (or if you just want to support our club), just ask your ,Wanderleiter‘ during the hike how you can apply for a membership, if you’re between 18 and 40 years old. Additionally there might be costs for the train that takes us from Stuttgart to the location of the hike. We always aim to go with the most low priced ticket option which usually are group tickets. If you already have a ticket or if you are coming individually to the starting point we ask you to tell us in the process of signing up. In that case you of course don´t have to pay the additional amount.