Becoming a Walking Group / Mountain Leader

Roadmap

• Skill up navigation (NNAS Silver Award: done, Gold training: Oct 10/11)
• Get outdoor first aid certificate (Apr 19)
• Obtain D1 license
• Do 20+ Quality Mountain Days
• Book Mountain Leader Training (prerequisite: 20+ QMDs)

Step 1 of errrr... many

I think I'm a person who is very comited and focused once I've set a new goal for myself. Learning an instrument, moving to the UK or climbing Kilimanjaro. Somehow there was never a doubt I wouldn't achieve any of those goals.

I've always secretly wished I would one day lead groups through hills, moors and mountains, but never really pursued the idea. One of the many "I wish I'd be doing this some day."-dreams all of us have. With the outdoor industry still on the rise and the possibility to even study outdoors at university these days I still figured, I wouldn't really stand a chance of actually becoming a leader. Risking my well paid job to vanish for a couple of weeks for an un- or badly paid trainee leader position somewhere... well, if I'd be 20 I would jump at that. Not so now.

With that wish in my mind and the frustration of knowing that the cost of going along that path would be too high, all I really needed was a spark to ignite my ambition, to push me over the edge into a full commitment. That spark hit me late last year when I was asked by a friend who's running week-long walking holidays if I could imagine being a guide for those groups some day. I was rubbing my eyes, read that email a couple of times, just to be sure it wasn't a dream and I didn't misunderstand it.

After an enthusiastic happy-dance and a few bounces around my room, I sat down to catch my breath and type my answer along the lines of "Dunno, yeah... maybe. Sounds cool. What's going to be expected of me?" Inside I was still rejoicing, laughing happily, thinking "Hell yeah!!!!"

So I agreed to stay in touch, get some navigation skills under my belt, a first aid course and the D1 license. On top of that I would now really pursue the Mountain Leader Scheme and get at least to the stage where I can do the training course. Then do a trial week and see how I feel on the other side of the screen, haha. So far I've been a regular customer, not the guide. So here's my plan:

Skill up Navigation

I decided to follow the National Navigation Award Scheme up to the highest level and have recently completed the Silver which was great fun and I am now able to take a bearing (and back bearing), know how to figure out grid references and how to pace. So far I've used map and compass more to align features on the map to features around me. Now I have a few more cards up my sleeve and will certainly practice them before I do the Gold course in October.

This one will be the masterclass of navigation with relocation, night navigation and navigating around bigger obstacles with emphasis on being absolutely precise in everything I do. Will go to South Snowdonia near Dolgellau for the course and already looking forward to it.

Outdoor First Aid

I'll attend a 16 hour course in the Peak District mid April and I already have a lot of questions and potential situations in my mind where I'd be unsure what would be the best way to go forward. Someone breaks a leg in the middle of nowhere in bad weather... there's more than a broken leg that a guide needs to think of. There're a dozen wet and freezing people that can't be standing around for hours. Learning about what can and has to be done is not only valuable knowledge for leaders but also for me as a walker who goes out with friends.

D1 License

Literally down to time and money. I LOVE driving and will greatly enjoy this, but I need to save up around £800 to see this through. Hopefully will manage at some point later this year.

The Mountain Leader Scheme

This is more a by-product of my efforts to get the necessary skills for leading groups for my friend. In order to be allowed to the training course I need 20 Quality Mountain Days (QMDs) which means any day I spend at least 5 hours outdoors, learning something new, practising skills or being exposed to difficult conditions. Getting access to the assessment and hopefully Mountain Leader Award will need another 40 QMDs. But I'm not even thinking about that yet, haha.

So a lot to do over the next few years. I'll do it bit by bit, concentrating on the next step ahead. Just like climbing a mountain. Speaking of... there are a few mountaineering adventures coming up next year as well, so I'll be hard pressed to fit all this into my diary.

More Bearings, More Pacing

I hadn't slept well in my fancy hotel room. The bed was way too soft. I even considered sleeping on the floor. Really. A mattress twice as thick as a normal one. Strapped on top some kind of duvet, then a cushioned blanket... ahhhhh! The cushion was too thick, so I just took my fleece shirt to place my head on. At least that was easy to sort. I stripped off that duvet thing and hoped my back wouldn't be too sore in the morning.
In the middle of the night the heating started making funny noises. Very LOUD funny noises. I turned it off, which stopped the disturbance... for about an hour. Arg. Plus: Even turned off it felt as if on full blast. So I was sweating on a too soft bed with a loud heating. I had a fantastic night.

Breakfast options were the usual, at least they had gluten-free sausages. They still tasted like there was some kind of grain in them, but I'm being picky here. I was just knackered craving for a cappuccino when there was only normal coffee. Blergh.

Headed back from Hathersage to Foolow for my day two on the Navigation Award Course. New people on it. A walking group from Sheffield and guess what... two Germans among them. Ha!
Spent about 5 hours outside walking up a hill and then over another moor practising more pacing and taking a bearing.

Me and Steve with whom I teamed up for an exercise found the stone circle we were supposed to find in the middle of a sea of heather after pacing 350m metres, taking a bearing from the map first. We were pretty much bang on right in the middle of the stone circle after 350m. Wow. And you could really only see it, when you were right inside it. No way you can find it any other way. Was good fun, although a bit nippy, but no rain or the promised snow shower.
I got my Silver certificate at the end and feel now a lot more confident using my map and compass to navigate to a certain point. Still, there's so much more I'd like to learn. Like adjusting my bearing when I have to circumvent obstacles or navigating in zero visibility. I have more options now for those situations, but still want to keep on learning, going for the Gold award later this year to make me a navigation pro!

Taking a Bearing and Counting Steps

I had slept reasonably well at the YH in Stratford being all alone in a room with three bunkbeds... until late when I got a fellow inhabitant who was coughing loudly halfway through the night. Arg.
I've seen quite a few of the YHA hostels now and have to admit, they've all been spotlessly clean with good facilities, very friendly staff and a bargain price. Many feature bars and restaurants and I'm akways happy to book with them. The only downside is that you don't know who's sharing a dorm with you. 99% of people I met where very nice and had some interesting stories to tell and you can always book a private room.

Set off at 7:30am and arrived almost exactly two hours later in Foolow, a tiny village near Eyam. Every single house built with limestone it reminded me a lot of those beautiful Cotswolds villages.
Met our instructor on the green in the centre and spent the next hour an a half in the small village hall learning about maps, scales, compasses and how to take a bearing with four other students. We then headed out over some fields, put our knowledge of how to take a bearing to good use and learned how to measure 100 metres by counting our steps and getting familiar with our own stride.
The promised rain didn't show up and after lunch br.eak at the class room we were out again further practicing our newly acquired skills on a walk over moorland.
I've used maps before but mainly to match features on it to my surroundings and I used a compass only to walk into a general direction. I know how long I take on a stretch of a 1:50k map, but now I'm able to do this much more efficient. I can uses features around me to more or less judge exactly where I am on a map and can navigate to certain places that are not yet visible over pathless ground.

Drove over to Hathersage, checked in at the Little John Hotel, which is all Robin Hood themed to occupy Maid Marian's Room, ha! People who are familiar with my former alter ego will understand why I was quite excited about this. The room is absolutely amazing and spacious. Watched the rugby as it was too busy downstairs in the pub and went there for food afterwards. Plates looked generally good. The steak I ordered was a disappointment though.  Dry and nearer to well done than to medium-rare a ordered. Boo. Still, nice place. Will retire now to my posh room and watch some telly, not giving in to the urge to play some pool at the table here, hehe. Such a good cloth they have on it.

Another Box Checked

Having been in my new job for only two weeks so far I enjoyed my first short Friday in ages! I had collected a few hours of overtime so that I could leave no later than 2pm headed north for my first of a few trips  to the Peak District. I had booked my weekend well in advance not knowing if I'd be still in my old job which would've made an early finish close to impossible. So I had only booked me a hotel for Sat night. Getting accomodation now on short notice for a reasonable price was looking for a needle in a haystack. I ended up choosing the YHA hostel in Stratford-upon-Avon for Fri night.  This way a very early start from Bristol on Sat changed to an early start from Stratford. Plus I could visit another place I've never been to before.

Arrived at the hostel which is situated in a massive white manor house at 4pm sharp, put a shirt on my bed to render it mine (couldn't find my towel) and walked half an hour into town in beautiful sunshine. They had given me a map at the hostel, but I only quickly glanced at it, then tucked it away and just walked around. I've seen far more British towns and cities than German ones but Stratford was still special in its high number of well preserved 16th century buildings.
I roamed the few streets that make up the centre as shops were closing, paid the Holy Trinity Church a visit as the sun was vanishing behing the rooftops. Past an authentic looking Chinese and saw some people sharing a hot pot inside. Ever since I saw one of those on a tv food program I wanted to have it. But so far no Chinese had the real one. Arg.
Went for a pint at The Old Thatch first and enjoyed a pint of Seafarers Ale, the first ale I liked enough to drink a whole pint. After telling my boyfriend - who is as keen on having  hot pot as me - about that Chinese, I went back there to get a menu leaflet. We decided to pay them a visit on our way from home the Peak District over Easter.
Walked back to the hostel in the dark. Was good to see another place, but unless you want to see Shakespeare's birthplace and his theatre and his daughter's house and his tomb, there's not much to see and do. Still good opportunity to tick Stratford off the list.

Tomorrow I'll head to Foolow near Hathersage for a two day navigation course. Will go home with the NNAS Silver Award as proof of my skills. I feel quite confident in using map and compass but am more than happy to fill some gaps and learn how to navigate in bad conditions when a map is of little use.
Looking at the weather forecast we may get lucky with heavy rain and moderate visibility at most on Sunday. Haha.