Arriving in at Geneva
airport I met up with fellow mountain lovers and we made our way together to
the Auberge Nordique in Le Grand Bornand.
We were looking forward to a week of snow shoeing and avalanche training
as part of our Winter International Mountain Leader Training.
‘The Union of
International Mountain Leader Associations (UIMLA) was created to encourage the development of common standards for professional mountain leaders throughout Europe and worldwide. It was drawn up in recognition of the growing requirement for tour guides to work in areas where the full alpine climbing and teaching skills of a Mountain Guide are not needed but where skilled mountain leadership is necessary for clients to enjoy journeys through remote mountain areas in safety and confidence.' (www.baiml.org/)
The snow was
deep and soft making trail breaking hard work, but the excitement of wandering
around the rolling Nordic terrain for a week meant that none of that mattered.
We learnt to use avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels proficiently,
dug snow pits to study the layers of snow, made a shovel up, practiced
emergency rope work, talked about the environment and enjoyed the pleasure of
being in the mountains.
What a fantastic
week!
Course run by
Plas y Brenin
