Month: May 2019

Technical Advice

As seems to be the trend, the weather this Spring has treated us well, enabling lots of fun work and personal adventures to be had! I was in at TYF training their RCI qualified staff in the skills needed to safely work at simple top access sea cliffs such as Porth Clais. This is a venue they use a lot but it’s outside the remit of their award. Showing them some new skills and then getting them to go away and practice them, followed by an assessment of their skills, is a way of signing off their technical competencies so they may work on these specific crags. A site specific sign off needs to be re-done every year, so we had some familiar faces, but lots of new ones too which is ace! We also took the less experienced staff and trained them up to be assists on sessions, able to kit the group up and run some fun warm up sessions. A great day of training in my role as Technical Advisor for TYF.

RCDI Provider Induction

I was then up in North Wales for the day, to attend the induction of the providers of the new Rock Climbing Development Instructor award. I was selected to be one of 4 providers for this in Wales – exciting times ahead! We were hosted by the Beacon Climbing Wall, and the team at Mountain Training took us through aspects of the syllabus and how we might run courses. Lots of ideas shared – cant wait to deliver one of these exciting new courses! Check out our RCDI page for more info! Rock Climbing Development Instructor…

New routes in North Pembs

Some personal climbing followed that, in GLORIOUS weather! A bit of South Pembs action on some classics, but then I went out to the rarely visited (shh don’t tell too many people about it!) St Davids Head with Ben and Rach. We popped to a crag with no routes on and each added a new line. Sun, perfect rock, Porpoises and other cool wildlife – it really is a gem out there! With the new-ish Climbers Club guidebooks you’re starting to see some more climbers out there, but a fraction of the number of elsewhere. It truly is a magical place.

Site Specific sign-offs for RCI’s

Back in at TYF then for the Coastal sign off assessments. A nice sunny eve was had and the team did well. I was in to inspect their PPE as well, a lot of companies don’t realise their obligation by law to have a competent person inspect their kit. That’s them all set up for the season now, so enjoy working on the coast team!

A couple of great visits personal climbing at Barcud followed – an ace spot to pop to for a quick hit of training, that always leaves the fingers and toes feeling pretty worked!

Rock Climbing Instructor assessment

Our latest RCI assessment had 4 good candidates on, who had all worked hard to prepare for it. Some really great indoor warm ups and games that I’ll definitely be stealing! Then a nice sunny couple of days on the crags at Wolfs Rocks and Newton Head. Solid performances and 4 passes – top effort from all!

Despite being a super busy period, I managed to fit Sasha in for a climb who got in touch with me at the last minute – always worth a try! We climbed all the classics at Porth Clais, not bad for her first time outdoors climbing!

BMC Climbing Festival & Mountain Training course

I had the pleasure of taking the youngsters from the Haverfordwest climbing team out for the day as part of the BMC Pembrokeshire Climbing Festival. I coach these guys and girls quite a bit indoors so it was ace to see them on real rock! For some of them it was their first time climbing outside, but as they’re all strong we headed to Barcud. A few of them are keen to progress in the future to coaching or instructing, so I was able to run it as a Mountain Training Rock Skills award. This gets them involved with MT and on the pathway towards other things for when they are older. It was so inspiring to watch them get on routes up to e5, and really working together to look after each other. Definitely some climbing stars of the future in the team there if they carry on as they are!

Almost into June now, that must mean its summer right?! A really busy time ahead and not long till my first exped of the year to Nepal – it’s going to fly by!

Heading towards you ML assessment and needing some top tips?

I work on a lot of ML training and assessment courses for a range of different providers, and the same things are highlighted on every assessment as to weaker areas of the syllabus with many candidates. The role of the Mountain Leader is obvious, but so varied even within this, and the ML assessment syllabus is pretty vast to reflect it! The ML training courses cannot possibly cover every aspect of the syllabus, and this is always stated during the course and guidance given as to where to look for it (the candidate handbook) and the excellent skills checklist. All available on the MT website here!

Here’s a quick run down of some of the key areas to think about when it comes to your ML assessment!

Mountain Leader log book

Before the assessment even starts the log book needs to be sufficient. When a candidate comes in with the minimum amount, or some dubious days – it is always evident in their performance! Get the proper amount of QMD’s.. People often ask what a QMD is, it’s baffling that people don’t look at the hand book where it is clearly stated…

• Don’t use many repeat days as they wont count – we want to see variety, not the North Ridge of Tryfan 5 times.
• Is a quick trip up Pen Y Fan really the same as the Snowdon Horseshoe? Clearly not!
• Get lots of scrambling experience in – the security on steep ground days on assessment will be a struggle if you don’t!
• We want to see areas like Snowdonia, the Lakes and Scotland – less so the Brecon Beacons, the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales!
• Go wild camping lots!

Navigation

Its staggering how many people turn up for assessment having only ever done certain skills on their training, or practiced a little in the week before assessment – we WILL spot this! The key to a solid performance is to get out in different areas in all sorts of weather and practice all the skills you might ever use. Using them in anger and context will mean you start to truly understand what you’re doing. The same goes for night nav! Hopefully it’s obvious that if you turn up on a whim you might not do so well, whereas if you’ve gone and put the time in, it will show and we’ll be impressed!

• Practice with a range of different maps! Its amazing how often people say they just don’t use 1:50 for instance – you WILL be using different ones on assessment!
• Get accurate with everything! Measure in millimeters not with the Romer, double check your bearings, work out solid plans each time, be careful to time legs – and pay attention to what’s happening with the land around you!
• Use the skills that the terrain/weather/visibility dictate. We’ll get a little worried if you’re using bearings on a clear day when we can all see the feature you’re aiming for!
• Don’t forget skills like aspect of slope, land to map bearings on features, aiming off and doglegs etc..
• Get solid with your pacing and timing – maybe use a navigation app when you’re training to check yourself.
• Use your navigation equipment loads before assessment and get solid with how it all works and where it goes etc! Map, compass, watch, pacing beads etc..
• Take spares with you – I’ve seen a staggering amount of compasses and head torches fail on assessment! Not what you want!

Security on Steep Ground

This one should be relatively simple if you go out and practice. You can do set piece practice with the rope to get the systems dialed, but it’s so important to use it in context. We’re looking at your judgment and decision making, so if you get a chance to take novices (mates are fine!) out on rockier scrambly walks you’ll learn a lot!

• don’t get the rope out if its overkill – if you can safely spot it or justify its appropriate (and we agree!) for the group without then awesome!
• give clear, concise and understood instructions.
• before getting the rope out – STOP. Overview the setting. Where do you want your group at the start and end? Can you see them at all times? Where is the line you want them to ascend/descend? Now think what anchor is most suitable for the given situation and how you are going to use it. Can I keep them safe the whole time?
• select bomber anchors, ideally back from the edge, but you’ve gotta work with what you’ve got.
• use a robust rope system and justify everything you do.
• make sure you can see the client on the rope at all times.
• AGAIN – give clear, concise and understood instructions. Check for clarity.
• practice your abseils.
• go and confidence rope on a variety of terrains, up, down and sideways.
• get really slick at all of the above!

Fauna & Flora, Access and Conservation etc

Many people will go and take the time to develop the skills outlined above, but neglect the areas of the syllabus that really enhance your ability as a leader. Amazing you can nav and look after a group when things go wrong – but are they actually going to have a nice day in the hills with you and learn some cool stuff?! With a plethora of great (simple!) books there really is no excuse these days at enhancing your personal knowledge. “Nature in Snowdonia” by Mike Raine is the obvious choice, “Hostile Habitats” is amazing and a little more detailed, “Rock Trails” by Paul Gannon is great too. These days there are loads of apps for your phones as well! I’d well recommend some of the workshops put on by the Mountain Training Association..

Learn some stuff, it doesn’t need to be loads, but make it interesting and relevant. Think folk tales and interesting animals, useful plants and cool geology.. There may be a home paper in your assessment, possibly a subject to talk about on the hill, and we’ll definitely ask questions as we go along – I want to learn stuff from you too!

Campcraft etc

We want to see you can thrive in the environment, that you belong there and can cope with the weather, the tiredness, the lack of facilities and be self sufficient. We want to see you can make good decisions and still navigate at the end of the week too! Whatever tent/stove/sleeping systems you use it needs to work, try and keep your bag light/small (50l or less). I want you to know enough about it that you can advise groups of novices on the kit. How do you go to the toilet outside in an environmentally friendly way and how to make water safe to drink etc – stuff that we may take for granted but groups will have never had to think about!

Join the MTA

The Mountain Training Association is an organization that supports and develops trainee and qualified leaders alike. They offer events and CPD opportunities that will go through many of the stuff detailed above and much more. Being a member allows you to log all this development and shows your professional commitment post assessment. Join them! Oh and great discount deals with some retailers and manufacturers…

Mountain Leader refresher course

Pre ML assessment a refresher course may well be worth doing. It will fine tune your skills, iron out any errors and give you guidance as to the next steps, how ready you are for assessment or an action plan to move forward with. The only thing I would say, is make sure you do a refresher course with someone that actually works on Mountain Leader Training and Assessments! You see some people offering ML refreshers with little experience of delivering training and assessing in anything, and no knowledge of the ML process other than their own training and assessment. That being said, going out with mates and other trainees or people that are currently MLs may be beneficial and you’ll learn lots I’m sure!

The ML award is a brilliant qualification to get, and you’ll have worked hard to pass – it’s well regarded in the industry and the skills are transferrable to many other sports. Enjoy the process! If you’ve got any questions or would like to enquire about a refresher course get in touch!