Mountain Leader qualified!

Last week was spent in the very wet hills and mountains of Snowdonia on a five (5) day assessment for the next level of my Mountain Leadership qualifications. I am delighted to report that I passed and am now, in addition to my Walking Group leader qualification, a fully qualified Mountain leader! 

Plas Y Brenin is the National Mountain centre and they conduct the assessment under pretty rigorous conditions on a gruelling, almost 24 hour, basis. To cap the pressure of being watched and examined all the time we had torrential rain and almost nil visibility on the night navigation exercise! 

With 6 candidates, all of a high standard, split into two teams of 3, it was very unusual for the assessment at Plas Y Brenin, but we all passed! 

I am now looking forward to running an three day OutPerform event for a UK sports retailer next month for 16 of their managers. I only hope the weather improves!

Bad weather in Snowdonia claims another life

Just to show that the mountains in the UK can be very dangerous places for the poorly equipped and ill trained we received bad news this morning of another body being found on Snowdon last night. Following a climbing accident which resulted in a bad injury the montain rescue were scrambled from Snowdonia and in attending the climber (who was air lifted to hospital) the team discovered the body of a climber which seems to have been there for at least a day.

On training in the Mountain centre at Plas Y Brenin I have been out in the thick of the weather for the last three days and although well equipped and with international mountain instructors event we were not venturing on to the high tops!

So many people leave home with the expectation of a great day out which can end in tragedy. The centre at Plas Y Brenin provides fantastic training facilities and great trainers. My refresher courses over this weekend have brought me into close copntact with the winter conditions of Snowdonia and they need to be very much respected!

Plas Y Brenin training

I am currently finalising my kit in preparation for five days of training at the wonderful Plas Y Brenin outdoor centre in Snowdonia. I will be refreshing my skills around rope work as well as general mountain craft and some (hopefully) snow and ice work. The last two days will be spent on a Rescue and Emergency Care first aid course to keep me up to date on developments in outdoor and mountain rescue medical care.

It is essential to keep up your skills both as a leader outdoors and as a regular hill and mountain walker. With the snow as it has been and the recent spate of deaths and injury on the hills and mountains of the UK it is very important to refresh skills regularly. You may (hopefully) never need many of them but if you don't keep up the practice in the meantime you can guarantee that when you come to have to use them for real they can be worryingly rusty!

Ice warrior training - early bath!

Unfortunately I have had to leave the training early to solve a problem back at work!

Very disappointed to have to leave course director Howard Jeffs and trainer Emma but needs must. It was good to get three days with the team and I wish them well in completing the course in their preparation for the expedition next year.

I managed to get in a full day on Moel Siabod on Sunday and climbed it twice in the day! First time was the 'tourist' route from Plas y Brenin but then I tool the NE ridge down to the old mine workings before cutting across the back of the corrie and straight up the corrie wall on some very interesting and challenging scree to the top again. A full 7hrs on the hill with 12.5 miles and 1200 m of ascent. A good day!

Worked with the team on rope skills and navigation training for the rest of the weekend.

Now planning a course in December for a business group.....

I really should do more of this!

More leading in the hills

It looks like a busy schedule at work is going to me supplemented by a busy one in the hills over the next two months.

Following a 'relaxing' week on a narrow boat on the Oxfordshire canal last week which was down in the diary as 'holiday with family', I will now be taking two people out in the Central Welsh hills on August Bank Holiday weekend. Based at the Ty Cornell bunkhouse (in the Southern section of the Cambrian Mountains) we will be spending two days working on navigation and gps skills over the steep sided and river cut moorlands of this lovely part of Wales which seems to get hardly any visitors. Well worth a visit if you are looking for remote mountain biking and walking.

September includes acting as one of the leaders on tis year's Ice Warrior expeditions summer camp craft course in Snowdonia. The week long course is based around the Plas y Brenin mountain centre and will take in most of the hills and mountains of Snowdonia - including some of the little known parts of the range to trial night navigation and remote camping.

More on this in due course!