Hill & Mountain Skills - Mountain Training

OVERVIEW
A Mountain Skills course will start with an opportunity to meet the other people on the course and take part in a short planning session with the course tutor. After that you will be out in the mountains, moving away from marked paths and into steeper, rockier terrain in order to learn about the differences in weather, navigation and managing risk in the mountain environment.

COURSE OUTLINE
The physical effort required on these days will be more demanding than the Hill Skills course and you can expect to be out in the mountains for between 5-6 hours. Day 1 will be an extended day so that we can either walk into darkness or have an additional teaching session on other elements of the course syllabus.

On day 1, we will meet Honister Slate Mine and use the cafe for meetings, briefings and course background before we head out onto the hill to cover the navigation elements of the syllabus around the Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike area.

Day 2 will meet in Seathwaite, ready for an adventure day towards the mountains of Great End and Great Gable, looking at moving onto some steeper and rockier terrain as we ascend towards a mountain summit high above Borrowdale.

SKILLS COVERED:
Planning
How to successfully plan a walk in the mountains in the UK or Ireland.
Walking skills
What things should you consider while out walking and what can make life easier (pace, nutrition, movement skills, steep ground etc.).
Clothing and equipment
Being suitably dressed and equipped can make the difference between a great day out and a complete disaster.
Weather
How it affects the mountains and your day out.
Navigation in the mountains
Everything from selecting a compass and using a map to navigation in poor visibility and an intro to GPS.
Environmental knowledge
How to minimise your impact on the hill, information on good practice and useful organisations.
Hazards and emergency procedures in the mountains
How to respond to any hazards you encounter and what to do in an emergency.