Triathlon and adventure racing

Several triathlon clubs have stayed with us, taking advantage of direct access to the lake, secure bike storage, healthy home-made meals, a great choice of cycling routes, and a large drying room. Taking care not to get in the way of cars or guests, you can also practice transitions in our grounds.

The town of Keswick (4km from the hostel) has two bike shops and a young but enthusiastic Triathlon Club.

Derwent Water is a fantastic lake for open-water swimming - you can simply walk out of the hostel in your wetsuit (or non-wetsuit attire for the hardy!) and swim from the bay at the bottom of our driveway. Just be wary of the Keswick Launch, which crosses the bay to Ashness Jetty. Click here for more information about local open water swimming.

The nearest open-water alternatives are Buttermere and Bassenthwaite Lake. With its easily accessible lake-shore path, Buttermere has plenty of good entry points. In contrast, Bassenthwaite is more tricky. For Bassenthwaite, we recommend taking the footpath down the side of Mirehouse, to Church Bay or Scarness Point. 

Keswick Mountain Festival, Keswick Triathlon, the Lakesman Full Distance Triathlon, Buttermere Triathlon, and Bassenthwaite Triathlon provide the opportunity to race in all three of our local lakes!

High Terrain Events organise several multi-sport events in the area.

Orienteering is very popular in Cumbria. We have a small orienteering course in the hostel grounds (suitable for children), but you can find lots more orienteering opportunities on the Lakeland Orienteering Club website.

Derwentwater Independent Hostel is the perfect location for adventure race training: you can launch kayaks at the bottom of our driveway, cycle on and off road, find lots of mud on the Ashness Fells, do good linear routes into other valleys and get the bus back, wash everything down with our outside tap and washing machine, and take part in numerous challenging local events.