Here:
https://gov.wales/leaving-home-exercise-guidanceLooks pretty comprehensive compared to the English regs. Looks like it makes climbing extremely difficult to justify as reasonable - see comment on risky swimming in rivers etc.
…..
4. The basic legal requirement, found in paragraph (1), is that you should not leave home (the place where you live) without a “reasonable excuse” for doing so. Paragraph (2) then goes on to provide a list of examples of the kinds of things that would be a reasonable excuse. It is important to understand how this requirement works.
5. The starting point is that you must stay at home and you need an excuse to leave home – and that excuse must be a reasonable one. The need for the excuse to be “reasonable” sets an objective standard to test whether you should leave home. It represents the difference between a subjective test, which is based solely on what any one particular person thinks, and an objective test, which is based on what other ordinary people in a similar positon to that person would think.
6. It is important to understand also that the list in paragraph (2) provides only examples of what may be a reasonable excuse. This list is not intended, therefore, to include all possible reasonable excuses for leaving home. In addition there may be occasions where, in light of how it is done, an activity that is listed as an example of a reasonable excuse to leave home may not be. So if somebody went out to exercise once in a day but spent 4 or 5 hours doing so, this is unlikely to be reasonable.
7. Determining what is a reasonable excuse to leave home is intended to be something that is interpreted strictly. There are two reasons for this, the first is the gravity of the public health emergency that led to the restriction being imposed, and secondly, because it should be clear from the examples provided of reasonable excuses that they are confined to basic essentials. If in doubt, therefore, you should stay at home.
What exercise is “reasonable”?
8. The reasonable excuses for leaving the home do include (at sub-paragraph (b)) the need to exercise. Exercise outside the home is allowed only once a day, though this is subject to limited exceptions (as to which see below).
9. Unlike the case in some other countries that have imposed similar “lockdown” restrictions, the Welsh Government is of the view that exercising outside should be allowed for health and wellbeing reasons. However this is a limited exception and the hope is that people will understand they are expected to change their normal behaviours accordingly. The exception that allows people to go out to exercise is subject to the need not to congregate in public places and advice to practice social distancing (maintaining a distance of at least 2 metres from other persons). Exercise should be done alone or with other members of the household (or with carers as appropriate – see below). It is not intended to be a social activity during the emergency period nor should it be an excuse for leaving the home for other purposes. Similarly people should seek to avoid exercising on paths or in parks or other places they are aware can be busy.
10. The form of exercise is not specified in the regulations, but in practice this is constrained by other restrictions that have been imposed. The relevant restrictions are the closure of indoor leisure facilities such as swimming pools, closure of certain footpaths and land in the countryside and the overarching prohibition (which derives from regulation 8 ) on unnecessary travel. As one of the purposes of the restrictions is to reduce pressure on the Welsh NHS, there is an expectation also that the reasonable excuse to exercise does not include activities that involve a significant degree of risk (for example swimming or other exercise at sea, or in lakes, rivers or other waterways). Exercise, therefore, should be done locally and generally be limited to walking, running and cycling.
“No more than once a day”
11. In light of the overarching message that we should all stay at home, and in order to emphasise that exercising should only be a limited exception, regulation 8 provides that it is only reasonable to leave home to exercise once a day. This is also intended to signal that exercising outside is not something that should be done for a significant amount of time.
12. The regulation also acknowledges, however, that staying indoors for extended periods of time without relief may exacerbate certain mental or physical conditions. Examples of specific health conditions or disabilities include learning disabilities, autism, dementia or other mental health conditions which can be alleviated by an established routine or by exercise outdoors. Where people with particular conditions would (accompanied as necessary by their carers) benefit from outdoor exercise more frequently than once a day, this would be a reasonable excuse to leave home.
Travelling by vehicle before exercising
13. The intention is that exercise should be undertaken locally – as close as possible to the home. In general this should not involve people driving to a location away from home for this purpose. No journeys of any significant distance should be taken, for example, just in order to exercise in the countryside or at beauty spots (many of which are closed in any event to prevent this).
14. People with specific health or mobility issues may, however, need to travel from their home in order to be able to exercise. For example, some wheelchair users may not be able to start to exercise immediately outside their homes for practical access reasons, and may need to drive to a suitable flat location, such as a park, for this purpose. In these circumstances the journey should be to the nearest convenient accessible location and no long journeys should be undertaken unless absolutely necessary.
Doing other things while exercising
15. As already mentioned, leaving your home to exercise should not be used as an excuse to undertake other activity. The purpose of leaving home is to exercise. Going for a walk and then having a picnic or spending a prolonged period on a park bench, for example, is not considered to be exercise and is not intended to be a reasonable excuse.
16. This is not intended, however, to prohibit combining more than one outdoor activity that is reasonable, especially if this reduces the time spent away from home. Combining exercise with walking a dog or going to a shop to buy food, for example, is considered to be reasonable.
Cycling
17. Cycling is a valid form of exercise and is also a suitable way of going to work. Cycling is generally a low-risk activity but with emergency services under pressure, it is important to take steps to manage risk wherever possible. An accident or a breakdown far from home would place additional strain on health services or require a further journey to be made by someone else to provide assistance.
18. People are expected to only cycle alone or with members of their household, on routes they know well, and that are well within their ability level. Cyclists on shared paths should be considerate of walkers, runners and other people cycling: they should stay two metres from others, slow their pace and stop to let people pass as appropriate.
19. Cycling should be local, as a rule of thumb limited to travelling no further than a reasonable walking distance from home. Exercising by cycling significant distances from home is not considered to be a reasonable excuse for leaving home.
20. Cycling to work, or for work, is a reasonable excuse to be outside (so long as going to work, or doing the work, is itself justifiable).
Summary
21. The summary of the position is as follows:
everybody should stay at home as much as possible
going out to exercise is, however, a valid reason to leave home
exercise should be local and generally be limited to walking, running and cycling, and travelling by vehicle to exercise should be avoided unless there is a good reason for doing so
exercise should be limited to a reasonable period only once a day (unless there is a particular medical reason to exercise more frequently)
