Winter Mountain Leader Training - Scotland

As the temperatures began to rise and the snow began to melt, I was busy packing my bags and heading north to the Cairngorms for my Winter Mountain Leader Training course.  Six days of snow packed fun with lots of learning, time in the hills and meeting new people. So much to look forward.

Staying at Ardenberg bunkhouse I quickly realised that I would be the only female in the group of 7 participants.  Luckily Lou was helping Pete out as the second instructor so I had some support!  The group was fantastic fun and soon the banter was flying around.

Despite the lack of snow, Pete always knew where to take us to find enough to learn and practice the skills required for the course.  Day 1 we spend a lot of time cutting snow steps and flying down steep slopes practicing self arrest.  (There is a great video of Matt The most important element of the course is gaining the skills to make a group safe in the hills and therefore being able to teach the basic skills in the mountains is essential.

The evening sessions, run by either Lou or Pete were all about top tips from the days - and there were plenty of them.  We also had lectures on a variety of topics.

Photo taken by Matt LeVoi @  http://www.lakelandmountainguides.co.uk/ 

Day 2 we found another patch of snow to work on crampon skills and made a wide variety of snow belays for emergency rope work.  The WML is only qualified to deploy the rope in emergency situations and we learnt a range of techniques for our tool boxes.  Testing the strength of the belays is an important element of the process and having created a reinforced buried axe belay, all seven of us put our weight on the rope.  The belay held firm clearly showing its strength.

Photo taken by Matt LeVoi @  http://www.lakelandmountainguides.co.uk/

Unfortunately my hands did not hold up to the test in such a spectacular way and with my thumb entangled in the rope I felt a sharp pain.  However, not one to give into pain I carried on with the rest of a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Day 3 we spent time talking about avalanche danger and then built an emergency snow shelter each.  Everyone's was slightly different but the variety, size and efficiency was a great discussion point. By early afternoon my right hand had swollen to twice the size and I supervised while the boys dug Reusch block tests.  Back in the car park Pete finally persuaded me to get my hand check out at the clinic in Aviemore.

Photo taken by Matt LeVoi @  http://www.lakelandmountainguides.co.uk/

And that was the end of my course.  With a complete rupture of the ulnar collateral my thumb now has the ability to bend right the way back - something I'm sure it is not supposed to do.  So a long drive back to Manchester, with a slight delay as I broke down outside Glasgow, and straight to the local A&E to get properly checked out.

I was so looking forward to building a snow shelter and sleeping in it, doing some night navigation, more avalanche work and generally spending more days in the winter hills with a fantastic group of people - but thank goodness for the NHS (despite their delays).  

I finally had surgery 10 days after the accident and am now on the mend.  Unfortunately the 12 week recommended recovery period means that I won’t be out much this winter - even more reason to look forward to Nepal in the spring.

WML training with http://www.petehillmic.com/

Thanks to Matt Le Voi at 

http://www.lakelandmountainguides.co.uk/ for use of the photos. 

Summer IML Assessment, Switzerland

Aiglon College, Villars-sur-Ollon one of the most expensive boarding schools in Switzerland, educating students from all over the world. This was to be our base for the International Mountain Leader Summer Assessment.  












On the first  morning, meeting the other 10 candidates we were told which area we would be assessed in, sent out to buy maps and make sure our 'mini team' was prepaid with all emergency kit – groups shelter, rope, sling, karabiners, first aid kit, ice axe.


I was lucky enough to be put into an assessment team with Hannah and Sam.  We worked well together, complementing each other with our differing knowledge and experience base.  With each of us taking a different leg of the trip, being leader for that period, we were to navigate, enthuse, interest and entertain our team with our local and general knowledge.

Other tasks involved mini presentations, knowledge of emergency procedures, rope work, language skills, hut etiquette, altitude and general knowledge of leading trip throughout the world.

The three day trip took us through the mountains and over the magnificent Col des Chamois with its steep descent and great exposure.  The Cabane de Plan Névé was very welcoming and the display on the Swiss horn made it an unforgettable experience.  Our thoughts were with the warden who was retiring after spending his entire life running the hut.

The lead assessor, Simon made us feel relaxed and we even enjoyed some of the assessment.  With such a good team, it was unsurprising but a great relief that all three of us everyone passed with flying colours.  We are all looking forward to completing the final part of our IML qualification – the Winter Assessment – as soon as the snow comes.

Congratulations to everyone who passed their Summer IML.

Bring on the winter!

http://www.baiml.org/

IML WInter Training, France

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

http://www.pyb.co.uk/