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Anne Vowles - Chair
Anne took up climbing on the gritstone edges of Derbyshire as a teenager, following a school trip to White Hall Centre. Through helpful adults in volunteer roles, she discovered hill walking, winter mountaineering and Alpine mountaineering. This all led to a decision to follow an outdoor career after studying a science course at university.
Anne worked at outdoor education centres for three different education authorities before becoming Head of Centre at Kent Mountain Centre in Llanberis. Along the way she gained qualifications including the Mountaineering Instructor Certificate (now known as the Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor) and also became an enthusiast for sea kayaking. Sea kayak expeditions, together with climbing and mountaineering, remain activities close to Anne's heart.
Anne is a past Chair of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors. She lives in Snowdonia, has been learning Welsh and is married to a Welshman. These days, Anne works part time as a leader of walks and scrambles in the mountains of Snowdonia, and very much enjoys introducing newcomers to the pleasures of exploring the Welsh mountains.
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Allan Gibbs - Independent Director
Allan has been enthusiastically engaged with the mountains for 50 years. After a career as a head teacher for 20 years Allan left teaching and pursued a freelance outdoor instructor career for the next two decades.
Much of this was abroad in the Alps and Greater Ranges. That, together with nearly 20 years in Mountain Rescue and a much shorter stint as Deputy Head of an Outdoor Centre, filled the time in-between various expeditions. He is based on the Eastern edge of the Brecon Beacons.
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Dave Jones - Finance Director
Dave has over 35 years’ experience as a Management Accountant, mostly in the food (meat) industry. He was leader on several projects including computerisation of the product costing system and a computerised least cost formulation scheme. He later took responsibility for Total Resource Management (Logistics) within the company.
Dave acquired a taste for mountaineering at the age of fourteen on a school trip to the summit of Cadair Idris. He has experience of the Pyrenees, the Canadian and USA Rockies, Indian Himalaya, Austria and Swiss Alps, Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland.
In 1986 he was appointed Director of Mountain Training to Scouts Wales, (head of centre at Yr Hafod in the Ogwen valley) and Mountain Activities Adviser (Wales), to the Welsh Scout Council.
After retirement from his proper job in 2003, Dave worked as a freelance instructor, at Nantyr centre (Wrexham CBC) and Plas Madoc climbing wall, which he maintained and delivered numerous courses.
He also worked with a number of Private Schools on DofE expeditions. As well as five ten day treks across Scotland with young Scouts.
Dave holds the Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor Awards.
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Andy Bevan - Director
Andy is a Senior Counter Terrorism and Law Enforcement Consultant and former Detective Chief Superintendent with significant experience of senior leadership & command in the UK and abroad. Andy has also worked on either a voluntary or part time basis as an outdoor instructor since 1996; with experience of guiding, coaching and teaching adults and children in outdoor activities both in the UK and abroad.
He retired from public service in a senior role in Counter Terrorism Policing at New Scotland Yard, London after 33 years in both the Army and Police. He now uses his leadership skills to develop others in the outdoors.
Andy is a Summer & Winter Mountain Leader, Rock Climbing Instructor, Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Assessor and is an International Mountain Leader Aspirant. He is also the holder of the British Cycling Mountain Bike Leader and Ride Leader 1 & 2 qualifications.
As well as experience of walking, climbing and mountaineering in the UK, Alps, Pyrenees and Himalaya, Andy is a keen off piste skier and ski mountaineer with extensive experience of back country skiing in North America and Europe. He is also a keen mountain biker, road and track cyclist.
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Bryn Williams - Director
Growing up in the Snowdonia National Park I made good use of the surrounding hills and built up a wealth of experience as a hill walker and climber. As a teenager I made the decision to work towards being a mountaineering instructor and progressed through the Mountain Training qualification structure to eventually reach the top qualifications the Winter Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor and International Mountain Leader.
I have worked full time in the mountaineering sector both privately and freelance since 1998. During this time, I have worked for a huge number of organisations around the country including many Local Education Authority outdoor centres, private mountaineering companies and film & TV safety work.
For nearly 10 years I worked as the Executive Officer for Mountain Training where I was responsible for managing the national qualification system and quality assuring the network of course providers. Recently I have been appointed as a board member for Mountain Training Cymru as a non-executive director. For a number of years, I worked as an instructor for the National Mountain Centre, Plas Y Brenin in North Wales, delivering a range of mountaineering skills and qualification courses.
The main proportion of the work focusses towards leadership and instructional courses in hill walking, rock climbing and mountaineering. Additionally I work as a Technical Advisor for a number of organisations around the UK delivering advice on matters of safety, training and staff competency.
For the last 20 years I have been a volunteer member of the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, the busiest Mountain Rescue team in the UK which responds to over 200 rescues each year on Snowdon.
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