I have PASSED my Mountain Leader Assessment !!

24-26.5.14
Walking with; Ed (assessor) and Ads (other candidate)

  I'VE DONE IT !! Eighteen months ago I undertook my Mountain Leader training and realised that I had a lot to learn to take me from being a competent, experienced walker to a true Mountain Leader . The last year and a half have been a real journey in terms of personal and professional development, the refinement of old skills and the learning of new ones and there were times when the attainment of the qualification seemed a long way away. However, over the two May bank holidays I have taken my assessment with Thornbridge Outdoors, and having spent an incredibly sunny three days in the Dark Peak and an incredibly soggy three days in Snowdonia I am now incredibly proud to say I am a BMC accredited Mountain Leader!
   The three days in the Peaks saw us undertake micro-navigation on Bleaklow, saw one of our group drop out after day one, saw us undertake a navigation and leadership day on the Snake Pass side of Kinder and a rope work and navigation day above Grindsbrook Clough. The Snowdonian part of the assessment was a 2 night expedition leg which saw us micro navigate by day and night the areas around Cnicht, Llyn Yr Adar and Llyn Edno. We shared legs, navigated on different scaled maps and described the flora and fauna around us. We were given different scenarios to deal with and presented with different situations that we might face in the mountains whilst leading a group.....and, at the end of it all, the wet tent and soaked kit were forgotten when I heard the magic words "You've passed......". So now, onwards and upwards and hopefully this will be a genuinely life changing moment! There are almost no photos as I was far too busy concentrating on where I was, what I was looking at and where I was going!

A snowy Snowdonia walk

27.1.14
Walking with; Alex

My last day out in Snowdonia had come to a relatively swift end when my route along the Foel Gron ridge was interrupted by a lightning flash that seemed to be right on top of me. The weather for this walk in the shadows of the Carneddau was equally unforgiving, if a little less terrifying.
I had arranged to meet Alex via a Facebook forum for ML trainees and as I drove down increasingly narrow gated lanes to our meeting point I had to admit he'd picked a cracking spot for an afternoon of exploring and a night nav session. We set off on the path towards Cerrig Cochion before swinging West and following the Clogwyn Maldy track which eventually led us to the steep ramp between the twin reservoirs of Dulyn and Melynllyn. As the rain turned to sleet we stopped here to admire the views back down the valley, noting the well positioned bothy ( a possibility for the future) and spying a few decent looking camping spots. We located a decent crag or two and spent 40 minutes or so practicing rope work techniques and  forlornly hoping for a break in the weather!
We followed the ramp up onto the lower slopes of Foel Grach where the wind really hitting us whipping the wet snow across the plateau and it was with some relief that we located Ffynnon Llyfant, the highest lake in Wales sitting at an altitude of 815 metres. On the shores of the lake and scattered around the valley are the remains of an RAF aircraft that crashed in 1957 killing both crew members (see link for further information) http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/wales/waleswk129.htm. It makes for a slightly eerie feel particularly with darkness falling and the snow creating a monochrome landscape. We left the lake as darkness fell and night navved a succession of legs broadly following the line of Afon Eigiau before we reached the remains of the old quarry buildings. From there it was a route march back along the valley floor on the track leading past the Llyn Eigiau reservoir until we reached our lonely cars thoroughly sodden but well satisfied with a testing afternoon on the hills.

To view the full album please click on the link below;
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Hill Skills On Kinder

22.8.13
Walking with; Nobody

Another chance to get out onto the Peak District's finest hill to work on my rope and navigation skills. Kinder is undoubtedly my favourite hill in the area, dramatic, historic and accessible and I decided to access it on this occasion from the lay by at the foot of Chapel Gate. This particular track has been the scene of much controversy over the past 18 months with banning orders for trail bikes and 4x4 and then orders being rescinded. However, early on a Thursday morning it was pretty tranquil and as I struck off towards Brown Knoll, with only a couple of other walkers in sight! The walk to Brown Knoll afforded great views to the Edale valley and the Great Ridge and in the distance were the various rock formations running along the flank of Kinder, Noe's Stool, Pym's Chair and the Crowden Towers.
On reaching the Swine's Back I found a few likely looking crags and spent a productive hour abseiling myself and lowering and retrieving my rucksack up and down the slope, rope work has definitely improved over the last couple of months. Nathan and Manchester Climbing Centre have undoubtedly aided in this, but my poor long suffering wife, Ruthy, has been a willing volunteer to be belayed up and down the stairs in our flat! After a bite of lunch I left Swine's Back and navigated my way through the groughs and peat hags towards the actual peak of Kinder Scout, marked on the map at 636m and a fair distance away from the trig point on Kinder Low. I came up slightly to one side but decided that the cairn to my left was likely to be the spot. Resting at the cairn I watched a couple of Curlew and then, even better, a Golden Plover. I picked my way back to Pym's Chair pausing to eat a couple of bilberries before heading back to Edale Rocks and from there following the path that led me to South Head.
South Head looked tempting, the short, very steep haul up to the summit was an option, but I was in a rush at this stage, needing to pick Ruthy up from Stockport station and time had ticked on. I followed the Bridleway back to my car, being passed only by one mountain biker and finishing in the sunshine feeling pleased to have had a great day further refining my skills! It's a slow process, but my accuracy and ability are definitely improving and my confidence is following with it!

Skills in the sunshine above Elterwater

27.6.13
Walking with; Nathan

Ever since I completed my initial Mountain Leader training I have been living in fear! It is one of the most ambitious and intimidating things I have undertaken in my adult life and involved a number of aspects that would lift me well clear of my hill walking comfort zone. However, my jaw is set and my mind is made up and I am determined that this is something I want to do, with that in mind, a few weeks ago I put a post on a walking forum to find people in the same situation as me with whom I might be able to practice a wider range of skills than the standard day on the hill stuff.
So it was that I found myself waiting in the free carpark just outside Elterwater for Nathan, a fellow ML trainee employed for the Summer season at Whinlatter Go Ape, and with a good working knowledge of the knobbly bits of the Lakeland that might prove ideal for some ropework and micro-navigation. We climbed out of the valley bashing our way through the bracken and exchanging tips on the local flora or fauna before finding a suitable crag to practice some rope work. In spite of my recent Indoor climbing course this was the first time since my training I'd used a rope "in situ" as it were and it took a bit of getting used to! An hour or so later and I was feeling much more confident and we coiled the rope away and, enjoying the magnificent views down to Baysbrown campsite and the Langdales continued on our way upwards. After a bit of lunch by a small, cotton grass covered tarn we moved onto some micro-navigation on the numerous lumps and bumps of Silver Howe. It was the kind of terrain and practice that's hard to replicate during a normal hill day and really useful for all that, it gave me some helpful pointers for areas that I still need to work on! We were also treated to some spectacular views out over Grasmere, Rydal Water and Loughrigg, made a welcome change after a couple of hours of nose to compass and nose to map!
We finished with another batch of rope work, hopefully ingraining some of the skills we'd been working on earlier, before descending down through yet more bracken to Elterwater. It was a very different kind of day, but immensely useful and I shall definitely be incorporating plenty more of these into the mix before I take the final, dreaded exam!

To view the full album please click on the link below;
 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.404518436333734&type=1