It’s been some twenty-or-so years since a few of my peers did their Mountain Leader (ML) training, and a couple of weeks ago I finally got around to scratching the itch myself. We did lots of learning in Cubs and Scouts, but the only semi-formal training I’ve ever had was with the university rambling society.

My expectation of ML was that it would be an opportunity to check quite rigorously that I hadn’t fallen into too many bad habits with my nav, not least because I mostly run around now instead of rambling (and there’s a tendency to be happy with ‘good enough’ nav rather than ‘spot on’ nav).

It didn’t turn out quite like that, but in a good way. Our group of six met up with instructor Paul in Capel, and proceeded to spend the day doing a bit of nav and a bit of other stuff around Bochlwyd and Idwal.

It quickly became clear that the syllabus now places a huge amount of emphasis on the more holistic aspects of leading a group through mountainous terrain. This includes a broad but not necessarily encyclopaedic knowledge of things you might come across or be asked about whilst in a leader role. Examples we were given include flora and fauna, geology, land use (and access), language and place names, industrial heritage, and myths and legends.

So I now have plenty of exciting things to read up on, and it’s definitely making me consider how much I know about the areas I’m going out in. The average consolidation period, from training to assessment, is apparently about three-and-a-half years, but hopefully with some application of effort I’ll be able to get through a bit more quickly. Not that there is a potential change of career or similar driving this – it’s purely a personal learning experience.

The second part of the split weekend was run by Emma, because one of the requirements is that it can’t all be delivered by one person, and included the overnight wild camp / ‘expedition’ (which seems like a big word for one night under canvas). We also had a wander up Heather Terrace, and did some very fun night nav on the expedition too.

All in all, a very interesting and fun couple of weekends. A big ‘thank you’ to Paul and Emma, and to my course-mates who helped ensure the whole thing was very chilled out and entertaining. Here’s to all of us becoming MLs soon!