I’ve just spent the weekend in the Peak District for the first weekend (of three) on the Mountain Leader (ML) training course. This qualification is the UK’s main mountaineering course for those wishing to lead groups of any type over mountainous terrain. I have spent the last few years logging the necessary experience, at least 20 days in mountainous areas. Although living further away from the mountains has slowed down this progress.
The essence of the course is to confidently and safely take groups around mountains. The core areas are navigation, group management, climate considerations, first aid and emergency measures, and campsite organization. The navigation aspect is one of the most difficult to learn, but being able to get around the mountains (or off in an emergency) is probably the most important element of mountaineering.
The first day looked at the basics of navigation. Firstly what it is, then pacing and also how navigation can take in a range of techniques. Pacing is one of the most important parts of navigation. Maps are divided into 1 kilometre squares, then using a compass rules, you can measure 100 metres. Before leaving on a walk, you should pace and time yourself over 100 metres. These numbers will help you calculate how long it will take to walk over 100, 200, 300, etc metres. My pacing for 100 metres on the flat was 58 paces, in about 1 minute 5 seconds. We also paced ourselves walking uphill and downhill: 100 metres uphill took 78 paces and 1 minute 40 seconds. When pacing during a walk, a range of factors can affect the timing and pacing. These might include uneven terrain, wind, obstacles, size of backpack, energy levels.
The second day was firstly a discussion on how to deal with different groups, whether young people or adults, but also difficult party members. This led to a discussion on the legal side of the qualification. How to ensure you were covered if something went wrong. The main point of preparation is to cover all aspects of a trip and to complete a risk assessment. The factors to consider would be ensuring each group member had the right kit and clothing, especially footwear. Also important is being aware of weather conditions, managing expectations, first aid and emergency options, and setting the timings for completing the journey.
The weather was quite bad up on the Peak, so this provided a tougher training environment. We navigated from spot to spot, whilst crossing quite difficult terrain of fast flowing rivers, bracken and steep hills. How to plot your route around tricky terrain is a quite important part of the ML. As the weather got worse, we discussed how to deal with group management in bad conditions.