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Mountain Skills Courses

Introduction

We offer a range of mountain skills courses in the Lake District, Eryri (Snowdonia) and Scotland. These cover everything from clothing and equipment, the weather, scrambling skills and navigation.

Dates

In general, we do not schedule these in advance, as we like to make each one bespoke. This is how we adapt them to cater for different levels of ability and experience. However, we do have a limited number of  ‘open’ courses which are available to book on. These are shown in our events calendar.

Purpose

You may be a total novice to the outdoors and don’t even know what you need to wear. Perhaps you have experience on some of the lower hill ranges in the UK, but want to venture into the higher mountains and are unsure if you are ready for it. You might even be an experienced mountain walker progressing through the Mountain Leader scheme and want a refresher or someone to test your skills.

Whatever your level of mountain walking experience, then one of our bespoke mountain skills courses could be just what you need.

Instructor:client ratio

The maximum ratio for these courses is 1:8, depending on the exact aim and activities.

Other courses:

If the mountain skills course doesn’t sound right for you, then have a look at some of the other courses and guiding that we offer:

…or see what our clients say about us.

Mountain skills courses in Snowdonia, the Lake District and Scotland

Course Details

Who is the course for?

Mountain skills courses are for anyone and everyone, from the complete novice to the aspiring Mountain Leader.

Where is it held?

We generally run mountain skills courses in the Lake District and Eryri (Snowdonia), but we also use areas of Scotland, for example Glencoe, Ben Nevis and the Cairngorms, by arrangement.

How long is the course?

Courses are a minimum of one day in duration, but are often booked as a two-day weekend. We can also run the course for longer periods, perhaps separated by a few days to give time for you to reflect and practice, or in one intensive burst, such as a 5-day week long course.

What does the course cover?

This course is completely bespoke. We will discuss your current experience and aspirations in some detail, and identify what would be the most useful skills to help you progress towards your personal goals. Together, we will then devise a plan to address those aspects.

However, we would expect to cover topics such as:

  • Planning a day’s route in the mountains
  • Accessing weather forecasts and understanding the effects of the weather
  • Clothing and equipment
  • Navigation
  • Movement on different terrain
  • Assessing risks and making decisions
  • Emergency procedures

What equipment is included?

You will need to provide: warm clothing including a waterproof jacket; walking boots; and a rucksack of about 30 litres.

We will:-

  • Provide any technical equipment, such as ropes, should they be required.
  • Discuss an appropriate kit list when you book.

What  does it cost?

“Open” courses are shown in the Calendar along with their prices which are usually around £60 per person.

“Private” bookings for one day start at £190 for one person; £210 for two people (i.e. £105 per person); £230 for three people (i.e. £77 per person); £250 for four people (i.e. £63 per person); etc. From the 4th day, a discounted rate will apply.

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