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Support to succeed

Are you interested in keeping your skills fresh and up to date? Do you want to meet and network with thousands of like-minded outdoor trainees and leaders? Did you do a training course years ago and want to get back into the outdoors? Do you need some extra training before you go for your assessment? Not sure how to use your qualifications now that you have them? If you answered yes to any of...

30/09/2016 16:25

Its never too early

This is a great weekend, packed full of winter based CPD workshops for members of the Mountain Training Association; an ideal opportunity to develop, refresh and learn new skills, find out about working as a Winter Mountain Leader and meet like-minded members. There are a range of workshops including an introduction to winter skills for those who are venturing out in winter for the first time,...

09/08/2018 14:44

Renewing MTA via BMC

To improve the efficiency of the payment process and ensure that you get instant access to your membership benefits after joining MTA, we are encouraging members to renew their MTA membership directly through MTA. If your membership is due for renewal from 1st September 2018 onwards , when you renew your MTA membership you need to do it through your online Mountain Training account, instead of...

12/07/2018 10:13

1:50 maps and beyond

We all navigate confidently (usually!) at 1:25k. But as you know, the Mountain Leader syllabus requires candidates and award holders to be just as efficient at other scales. Typically this will be 1:50k, but there are other scales; Harvey at 1:40 with those tricky 15m contours; 1:10k, which you have to order; and so on. Ever tried navigating your way around Kinder Scout using a 19th century map?...

09/07/2018 10:49

Reliving the Mass Trespass

In glorious clear weather, sunshine relieved by a cool breeze, nine MTA members walked in the footsteps of the heroic working class lads and lasses, who in 1932 defied the hired bullies of the grouse-shooting toffs, and dared to set foot on the forbidden slopes of Kinder Scout, demanding the right of access to our wild places. Stephen Jones, MTA regional coordinator for the Peak District lead the...

27/06/2018 13:13

Become a GPS guru

Everyone who ventures outdoors knows how important it is to be a competent navigator in the terrain that you are in – be it countryside, moorland or mountain. This is even more vital when leading groups; your navigation should be so slick that it doesn’t impinge on your responsibility for the group’s well-being and enjoyment. GPS technology, while never being a substitute for...

18/04/2018 14:47

ML Refreshers in the Peaks

Chris Harling has been running some brilliant Mountain Leader refresher weekends this spring and summer in the Peak District and we're looking forward to him hosting more for members in the coming months. Here's a little review of the sessions so far: Until I had been asked to run a Mountain Leader refresher workshop in The Peak District, I had not really looked at the possibilities for coaching...

05/04/2018 12:05

Lake District Leaders Landscape Training

Friends of the Lake District are running a variety of landscape training sessions throughout spring and summer this year, specifically designed for outdoor leaders. Gain a deeper understand of Cumbria's upland ecology and understand some of the issues and pressures of outdoor users on the landscape, wildlife and habitats. Looking at your ‘office space’ with a heightened awareness and...

28/03/2018 12:41

MTA Mentoring Programme

Interested in being mentored or becoming a mentor? If you are a qualification holder and MTA member who would like to increase your skill set by volunteering as a mentor, or you are a member who would like support to progress through your chosen qualification as a mentee, read on... Announcing the new Mentor Programme for MTA members! To reduce drop out between registration and training To...

22/02/2018 14:21

Volunteer for MTA

Our membership is growing annually and the spread of members across the UK is ever changing. As a result, we're looking to create more local communities of support within the wider MTA community and we have a number of brand new regional volunteer posts available, as well as a replacement post for Sue Manns our West Midlands Coordinator who is stepping down in order to take up another volunteer...

18/01/2018 16:11

Winter weekend

The MTA winter weekend held at Glenmore Lodge is back by popular demand and this year the focus is Getting into Winter . This is a great weekend of winter based CPD workshops for members of the Mountain Training Association; an ideal opportunity to develop, refresh and learn new skills and meet like-minded members. All workshops are staffed by instructors who work at the National Centre or are...

12/01/2018 09:26

Educare for Sport®

The MTA is committed to fostering progression and encouraging good practice. MTA has teamed up with EduCare, experts in safeguarding and duty of care, to offer MTA members access to the EduCare for Sport® package of safeguarding training courses at the exclusive discounted rate of £25 (normal price £75) plus VAT . EduCare is an established provider of essential Duty of Care and...

09/01/2018 14:41

Learn to lead

Transformational leadership; inspire, enable and develop others. Following the huge success of last autumn's series of leadership workshops, Mountain Training will be running a second set around England and Wales this spring. Leadership is central to all the qualifications that Mountain Training administers and this is a great opportunity to focus on what good leadership really is. The...

12/12/2017 11:56

What a weekend

Expert instructors, super keen members, kind weather and amazing Plas y Brenin food and accommodation proved to be the perfect recipe for a very successful MTA CPD autumn conference last weekend. We had a fantastic range of full day workshops run by experts in their fields, all designed to support members through their training, consolidation, get them ready for assessment and/or refresh their...

23/11/2017 14:20

MTUK Adventuremark Accreditation

Adventuremark is a non-statutory safety scheme devised by the Adventure Activity Industry Advisory Committee (AAIAC) for providers of adventurous activities that are outside the scope of the Adventure Activity Licensing regulations. Adventuremark allows providers to demonstrate to their customers or users that the provider's safety management and related delivery systems have been inspected and...

15/11/2017 11:19

Training with the West Mercia SAR team

On a sunny Sunday morning (15th October) 10 MTA members joined the West Mercia Search and Rescue team on a training session in the Wyre Forest. Having learned about different search techniques and the way in which humans record visual events, we headed off on an initial route and path search to find a missing 28 year old, white male (rather a broad description, but very typical). Reports of a...

20/10/2017 14:15

3 is the magic number

As part of the excellent CPD workshop programme organised by the MTA Peak District regional group coordinator Stephen Jones, it has been my pleasure to provide a series of workshop days this year focusing on the Access and Environment components of the various Mountain Training award schemes. Following an initial discussion with Stephen, Belinda and Jo over coffee and cakes in the Outside...

11/10/2017 14:24

The 2017 Real3Peaks Challenge

This year's date for the Real3Peaks Challenge is Saturday 7th October The Real3Peaks (R3P) is now 5 years old and this year, not only are we cleaning up the Big 3: Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, but also Lochnagar, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui,Ben Lomond, Goat Fell and two areas of The Peak District! The aim of the Real3Peaks Challenge is to increase awareness of the ‘Leave no...

02/10/2017 11:02

CPD, cake & climbing

CPD, cake and climbing . . . what more could you want from a September weekend in the Peak district? How about chilli and chips and a rave at the rectory?! Excellent! The Peaks MTA crew welcomed us North Walians with open arms and hosted a weekend to remember; the return visit after an enjoyable day of climbing in sunny Snowdonia back in May.Bright and early on Saturday we had a delicious...

27/09/2017 10:24

What are our members up to

On 17th July, MTA member, Graham Little and the rest of the team from Outdoor Education NW (an AALA licensed provider), joined forces with West View climbing centre to host their very first free climbing festival for local schools along the Fylde coast. The aim of the event was to create an opportunity for a high volume of young people to have their first taste of climbing in a relaxed, fun...

22/08/2017 15:55

Climbing with confidence

Back by popular demand, Samantha Leary of Sam Leary Mountaineering has been running a series of very popular MTA workshop for members in/near North Wales; Boosting your climbing confidence . Here's a little review of some of the sessions so far: The movement session right at the start was a highlight for some and this was taken to the ropes in the afternoon. Movement, technique, tactical...

31/07/2017 15:16

Ropework refresher

Steve Pease of Vertical Relief ran an excellent Mountain Leader ropework refresher workshop yesterday evening for MTA members in the South East. Here's a little bit of feedback from some of the attendees: Having done my Mountain Leader assessment nearly seven years ago, but not practised the techniques taught on the Mountain Leader courses much since then, the workshop was very useful not only...

19/07/2017 12:52

A lesson in Access & Conservation

In June and July, MTA members local to the Peak District were treated to a two-day CPD workshop series by David Broom (expert ecologist and Mountain Leader course staff), designed to help Lowland, Hill and Mountain Leaders expand their environmental knowledge and consolidate their environmental interpretation skills. Walking and mountain leaders enjoy opportunities to lead groups within outdoor...

12/07/2017 09:35

An MTA member in need

I have been involved in mentoring several aspirant CWA holders in schools I have been working with. This has been through lead climbing training, coaching, and supporting them getting experience with novice groups. One of the school staff, MTA member Karen Martin, successfully passed her CWA/CWAA a few years ago and quite quickly gained work within outdoor education. Sadly Karen was recently...

03/07/2017 09:27

Tools for teaching nav

Friday 12th of May at The Black Mountain Lodge, Glasbury, South Wales with South Wales MTA regional coordinator, Will Kilner. I knew the second Will arrived it was him. His “Adventures with Will” T-shirt said so! Even though it was early, he had a lot of energy and greeted those of us who had arrived with the news that coffee and tea was available. This was eventually much...

25/05/2017 09:52

2017 Conference

Don't miss your opportunity to attend MTA's 2017 autumn conference at Plas y Brenin National Mountain Centre on Saturday 18th - Sunday 19th November 2017 . We have a fantastic range of full day workshops run by experts in their fields, all designed to support you through your training, consolidation, get you ready for your assessment and/or refresh your skills when you're out and about using...

22/05/2017 10:48

North Wales- Peak Exchange

A recent MTA event held over the weekend of the 13th and 14th of May saw the North Wales and Peak Regions of the MTA come together in a social gathering . The event was jointly organised by the North Wales and Peak Regional Coordinators, Paul Poole and Stephen Jones respectively. The reason for this event was to bring members from each region together for a fun filled weekend of activities which...

22/05/2017 10:09

New member benefit

We are excited to announce that our members will now receive tahdah premium features for free as part of their MTA membership. We know that a lot of our members have been using these features already so for them this is a great annual saving of up to £20. We think the premium features have a lot to offer which is why we wanted to share them with all of our members. Here are just a few of...

17/05/2017 14:23

A layer cake of history

Saturday the 6th of May saw 8 people gather in Gradbach, in the Peak District, to join Austin Knott in visiting a number of Peak District aircraft wreck sites, scattered amongst the surrounding hills, in this attractive corner of the White Peak. Austin took participants to a number of sites where aircraft had been shot down or crashed, both during and shortly after WWII. Austin, who had clearly...

10/05/2017 14:24

Leaders Landscape Training 2017

Friends of the Lake District are running a variety of landscape training sessions throughout spring and summer this year, specifically designed for outdoor leaders. Gain a deeper understand of Cumbria's upland ecology and understand some of the issues and pressures of outdoor users on the landscape, wildlife and habitats. Looking at your ‘office space’ with a heightened awareness and...

04/05/2017 09:53

A members story

Cath Sinclair has been an MTA member for the past 3 years and holds the Mountain Leader award. Read more about her story: Brought up in a walking and nature loving family, I walked up Snowdon aged 5 and never looked back!The inspiration to do mountain training came from wanting to increase my skills as I was already leading walks and my friends encouraged me to follow my dream. I have just...

12/04/2017 09:23

A Winter Mountain Leader at age 22

Alex has been an MTA member for almost 4 years and became a Winter Mountain Leader at the age of 22. Read more about his journey... I've always been interested in the outdoors, since I was a child. , I think growing up watching the National Geographic and Discovery Channels on TV shaped my dream of being an adventurer for a job, but school and college sort of put you into the mind-set that it...

05/04/2017 14:39

Read about Ali

Ali Evans joined MTA 2 years ago. She was already a Hill & Moorland Leader award holder and is now currently working towards her Mountain leader and Climbing Wall Award qualifications. Read more about her journey ... My real passion didn’t come until my late twenties. In fact, I hadn’t climbed Penyfan until my 29th birthday – embarrassing as it’s on my doorstep!!...

30/03/2017 11:02

Leave No Trace

On a very sunny March weekend in North Wales, MTA members were out in force making the most of the first MTA Leave No Trace Trainer workshop, hosted byLife Trek Adventures, a Snowdonia based company run by Sebastien Shingler and Heidi Schwenk. Seb and Heidi are experienced Leave No Trace Master Educators dedicated to delivering Leave No Trace ethics in the form of Trainer Courses and Awareness...

27/03/2017 14:25

Throwing some light on night nav

22nd March 2017 - hosted by Steve Pease of Vertical Relief. After a busy day at work, jumping in the car to go and spend an evening strolling through the darkness sounded a bit odd to my (non-outdoorsy) girlfriend, but under the banner of CPD a glimmer of understanding was seen and so the night navigation course was booked. I met Steve our mentor for the evening in fading light at a carpark near...

27/03/2017 09:22

An MTA members story

Alex Kendall has been an MTA member for 6 years and is a qualified Winter Mountain Leader working in the outdoors. Read more about his outdoor journey here... I've always enjoyed being in the outdoors, from holidays to Wales and Devon when I was small, to walking weeks in Austria and Switzerland when I was a bit bigger. It was during my degree that I really got into mountain walking in the UK,...

24/03/2017 09:52

2017 Leadership workshops

Transformational leadership; inspire, enable and develop others. Following the huge success of last autumn's series of leadership workshops, Mountain Training will be running a second set around England and Wales this spring. Leadership is central to all the qualifications that Mountain Training administers and this is a great opportunity to focus on what good leadership really is. The...

24/03/2017 09:46

New Insurance Deal

We are pleased to announce a brand new insurance scheme for members of the Mountain Training Association offered through Lockton ; our newly appointed insurance Broker, the world’s largest privately owned Insurance Broker. This specially negotiated scheme, Ascend Insurance offers full members of the association a bespoke policy to provide different levels of cover based on their Mountain...

17/03/2017 09:29

Once upon a time

The mountains are different things to different people; they are a place for adventure, a place for solitude, for friendship or for learning. Many of these perspectives are relatively recent phenomenon, but the elemental nature of the mountain environment has gone hand in hand with the telling of stories for centuries . It was this perspective that brought 10 curious individuals together at Craig...

20/02/2017 10:28

A winters tale

This was not something I'd ever thought I'd be attempting while hurtling down a snow slope, head first on my back. Life is full of challenges and the 'tummy crunch' would enable me to stab the slope with the most lethal weapon I've ever handled. Flip over to my stomach in one smooth movement. Gravity would do the rest - so theory has it. I now know how to do an ice axe arrest - all I have to do...

08/02/2017 15:37

Night nav in the lowlands

You live 160 miles from the nearest decent fell walking countryside; you crave some night nav practice; you get to hear about the South East Night Navigation in Lowland Terrain workshop from the MTA taking place on 1st February… Bliss! Not knowing quite what to expect, I was heartened, upon arriving at the National Trust Car Park near Ivinghoe Beacon after dark, to see a cluster of seven...

03/02/2017 12:47

A day out with SSART

Saturday 3rd Dec 2016 MTA members were welcomed at the Staffordshire Search and Rescue Team base by Rob Messenger , search dog Penny and his SSART colleagues. Rob led a lively, informative and very amusing presentation on the work of the team. SSART is run by volunteers, funded by donation. They give up an enormous amount of time and do not benefit from the ‘kit deals’ that MRT...

08/12/2016 11:50

Night navigation is back

The clocks go back and suddenly thoughts turn to the much maligned night nav..... The last Sunday of October saw 8 MTA members meeting in Great Langdale as the Lakes area ran the first of a series of progressive night navigation workshops . The mix of members attending was great – we had trainees, people who qualified 20 years ago, IML's and members just wanting to meet up with other like...

03/11/2016 16:14

Taking your climbing to the next level

Last weekend Samantha Leary of Sam Leary Mountaineering ran two brand new single day workshops for MTA; Ropes and Rock on Saturday was followed by Single to Multipitch on Sunday. Here's a little update on the weekend: The weather was kind to us and we had a great couple of days in the mountains of North Wales on dry rock. Saturday was all about staying safe on a single pitch crag. We spent most...

26/10/2016 09:35

Leading the way in the lowlands

We're bringing CPD opportunities to the South East and we've kick started the autumn with a fantastic lowland navigation refresher and many more workshops in pipeline. Hosted by Steven Pease of Vertical Relief - an experienced provider of both the Lowland Leader award and the Climbing Wall Leading award courses, this workshop was a great navigation refresher for Lowland Leader award holders and...

25/10/2016 14:35

Environment CPD

Are you working towards a walking leadership qualification? Do you want to know more about key environmental issues? Do you want to explore and learn more about your local area? Qualified ecologist David Broom has the perfect CPD workshop for you! In early October David hosted a one day Environment, Access & Conservation workshop based on the Stiperstones Ridge in Shropshire. Members were...

13/10/2016 11:48

Reading the View

The Milestone Buttress, low down on the West face of Tryfan above Llyn Ogwen is a place where many instructors will spend a little time looking at the view. On ascents and descents of Tryfan by the North Ridge or the west face this is a good chunk of your view. In this view there are features left being by glacial erosion, ridges of different rock types, fluvial features of erosion and there is...

30/08/2016 09:42

Scrambling skills in Scotland

Following the success of some North Wales and Lakes personal scrambling skills days, Alan Halewood got to work and organised similar for members in Scotland. So on Saturday the 23rd of July Jim Sutherland nineonesix-guiding provided the first of what we hope will be more, Mountain Training Association Continued Personal Development days based in the North West Highlands of Scotland. The purpose...

04/08/2016 16:04

Mountain Rescue weekend

Don't miss out on this exciting and very rare opportunity to spend a whole weekend with Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue from Friday evening the 16th until Sunday 18th September. This will be a superb opportunity to practise Mountain Leader skills alongside qualified Mountain Rescue team members, learn about their procedures, review your First Aid from the point of view of the rescue team and...

26/07/2016 09:56

Upskilling in the Lakes

Chris Ensoll is a British Mountain Guide and has been a provider of Mountain Leader and Single Pitch Award training and assessment courses for many years. He runs a variety of popular walking and climbing CPD workshops for the Mountain Training Association throughout the year, sharing his wealth of outdoor knowledge with MTA members and taking skills to the next level. The feedback from members...

12/07/2016 16:26

A CPD weekend in the Peak with Paul Poole

Paul Poole (of Paul Poole Mountaineering) was over in the Peak District last weekend (9th-10th July) delivering two great days of walking and climbing refresher workshops for anyone wanting to hone their skills in the areas of HML, ML and SPA. Paul is a MIA and course provider from Snowdonia with a wealth of up-to-date knowledge and advice on the awards and skills as both trainer and assessor....

12/07/2016 10:13

Become an OK Champion and help blow the whistle on sunburn

The Mountain Training Association is proud to support The Outdoor Kids Sun Safety Code (OKSSC), the UK’s only free sun protection resource bank and accreditation scheme, specifically designed for all those who work outdoors with kids. This summer the focus is on taking action; because as we all know, despite good intentions, sun protection doesn’t work in a kit bag! The Myfanwy...

28/06/2016 09:53

Sunshine and skills in Scotland

There's nothing more satisfying about my job than getting out of the office and meeting members at events and workshops, getting out in the mountains myself, getting to know new people, finding out what members do with their awards and what aspects of the membership is important to them. These are also great opportunities for me as a Mountain Leader to join in and brush up on my own skills whilst...

15/06/2016 13:37

A day out with Mountain Rescue

Maybe you haven't visited the Kinder Mountain Rescue Base. Well, a select party of nine Mountain Training Association members did just that on Saturday, 4 June. The first thing you notice is that it is conveniently situated in the yard of the George Inn! Just the thing for thirsty team members after a summer's day sweating away on the hill ... The Kinder Mountain Rescue Team generously hosted us...

14/06/2016 14:17

Rewilding in Ennerdale

- 10th May 2016- The biodiversity of the hills is, in most places, unfortunately impoverished. The 2013 'State of Nature' report found that 65% of upland species have declined over the last 40 years , and many of these have 'declined strongly'. Any effort to turn around this trajectory should be welcomed, and it was with interest at seeing one of the most famous examples that I signed up to the...

24/05/2016 09:16

Upper Dove from above

Spring's Professional Mountaineer magazine arrived and I was highly delighted when I got to page 28 to see an article by Paul Gannon on superimposed drainage in the Peak District. Why delighted? As a volunteer leader for Staffordshire Moorlands District Council some 8 months ago I'd arranged a walk from the County's highest village, Flash, through the landscape that Paul was describing in his...

18/04/2016 16:47

Glaciation of North Wales

On Sunday I spent a day with Jim Langley of Nature’s Work in Snowdonia. I hold a strong passion for the outdoors as i have spent many years guiding walks, fell running and teaching the Duke of Edinburgh scheme throughout the UK. My outdoor year is in some ways dictated by the weather. My clients make plans throughout Winter and Spring for my busier periods later in the year. This allows me...

15/04/2016 14:23

Leaders Landscape Training

Friends of the Lake District are running a variety of landscape training sessions throughout spring and summer, specifically designed for outdoor leaders. Gain a deeper understand of Cumbria's upland ecology and understand some of the issues and pressures of outdoor users on the landscape, wildlife and habitats. Looking at your ‘office space’ with a heightened awareness and...

15/04/2016 09:59

Regional Night Navigation

Night navigation is proving popular in the regions. These evenings provide a great opportunity to practise navigation strategies and techniques for both night and poor visibility conditions. It's also an opportunity to act as a mentor for other members, refresh your own skills and network with other members. Winter brings opportunities as well as challenges, and the dark evenings are great for...

23/02/2016 10:32

The Telegraph Outdoor Show 2016

It all started with a casual look on Facebook, as you do, and I saw a post from JP Edgington from www.the-outeredge.co.uk on the Mountain Training Association (MTA) Facebook group asking for willing volunteers to help out at the above event. “Great” I thought, “what could be so bad, it’s probably full anyway!” However, quite surprisingly, I received an email the next...

17/02/2016 12:36

Mountaineering and Ecology

In the West, most of us live indoor lives, insulated from the elemental realities of sun, moon, stars, wind, frost and rain. Going to the mountains is a reminder that we are still a part of the natural world. Yet even mountaineers can be woefully ignorant about the mountains they climb and they are the poorer for it. The nature and origins of the rocks we climb, the forces that have shaped those...

22/12/2015 12:12

Peak region vs technology

The day dawned cool and misty, and hopes were high for a day of poor visibility, as a dozen enquiring minds (and a dog) gathered at YHA Edale to fathom the mysteries of GPS navigation. The day was put on by Steven Hayes and Jim Bob Derry from Cotswold Royal Oak in Betws y Coed who sponsored the event. Thanks too to Garmin, who lent a selection of GPS devices for the day. In the classroom we...

23/10/2015 13:06

Real3Peaks Challenge

Saturday's results... Ben Nevis 13 Volunteers, 153kg Scafell Pike39 Volunteers, 155.5kg Snowdon36 Volunteers, 205kg What an astounding day, organised by three members of the Mountian Training Association and joined by 88 people who came out on Saturday 10th October to support the Real3Peaks Challenge on the UK’s highest peaks - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & Snowdon, collecting litter...

20/10/2015 11:57

Identifying Trees

On Friday 7 August 2015, the Friends of the Lake District and the Mountain Training Association organised a Tree Identification Workshop led by Pete Leeson, Woodland Creation Adviser for The Woodland Trust. This interesting and informative day took place at ‘The Helm’ woods, near Kendal, Cumbria. The Helm is partly owned and managed by the Friends of the Lake District who have planted...

22/09/2015 12:29

A geological and geomorphological tour

No Vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end. A geological and geomorphological tour of Holyrood Park, Edinburgh On Wednesday 26th August 2015 ten members (and one dog) went on a Geological and Geomorphological tour of Holyrood Park led by member Alistair McGowan, Hills of Hame We began by looking at some of the sedimentary rocks, which form the bedrock before the volcanic eruptions that...

21/09/2015 12:23

Avalanche Hazards in Scotland

This event is taking place at EICA RATHO in Edinburgh on the weekend of the 24th and 25th October and is a great opportunity to address the challenges that avalanche hazard in Scotland presents. What snow conditions are we faced with? How can we manage ourselves in mountain terrain? How can we best understand the messages and information about avalanche hazard that we present or receive? What...

11/09/2015 10:17

Climbing goes social

Wales started it, the Peak cottoned on and now the Lakes and South Wales want a slice! It sounds like a beer and BBQ event, which isn’t too far from the truth, just good tea, cakes, fabulous climbing, great locations with some super enthusiastic people! We started the summer socials last year and this year has seen a steady number of people turn up each time. The aim is really simple, just...

17/07/2015 11:53

Exploring the geology in the Peak

The lovely late-spring / early-summer evening of Tuesday 16th June saw 13 people gather in the Peak District village of Castleton for a Peak Regional Mountain Training Association organised walk exploring the Limestone and Sandstone geology of the area. Peter Judd and Cath Lee jointly led fellow members through Cave Dale, up past Treak Cliff Cavern and round to the mighty Mam Tor landslip to look...

18/06/2015 11:37

Mountain and moorland birds

When I did my Walking Group Leader award a few years ago my assessor presumably wasn’t a keen ornithologist because, as I recall, we spent a great deal of time talking about plant life. My knowledge of birds like plant life is limited and now that I’m going for my Mountain Leader award, I thought I’d better remedy that lack of knowledge. So, making the most of one of the...

17/06/2015 11:06

Bird recording in the uplands

I am always impressed with how many Continued Personal Development opportunities there are on offer via find a workshop and it’s usually just a question of finding a date that fits in with work schedules and will be appropriate for my own level of experience and aspirations. It would be great to be able to schedule in at least 1 x MTA approved CPD workshop each month, as well as the CPD...

22/05/2015 11:13

A day getting to know upland plants

‘Getting to know your Upland Plants’ with Arthur Jones of Trossachs Treks was a really excellent workshop. It took place in the Mentieth Hills, north of Glasgow in a mixture of woodland and moorland terrain. The small group was evenly split between prospective MLs, looking to increase their environmental awareness for assessment, and practicing MLs supplementing their knowledge for...

19/05/2015 11:55

Joint South West CPD event

The Association's regional co-ordinators in the South West have got together and organised a great weekend of CPD, so whether you are local or fancy a trip to the Sunny South West this is a great opportunity for members. The weekends events will take place at The Bedford Hotel, Tavistock on 20th and 21st June 2015 and will provide a number of workshops for MTA, AMI and BAIML members. The weekend...

11/05/2015 17:39

Climbing for all

On 18 April Graham Hill (GB Paraclimbing Team Manager) delivered a very well received Climbing For All workshop at Redpoint Birmingham. The day started with a discussion on appropriate and inappropriate references and definitions and how easy it is to fall into the associated traps – the take away is use positive language and don’t be shy about discussing the person’s needs and...

21/04/2015 10:31

Leadership for special educational needs

I've worked for several years in a variety of special and mainstream school and outdoor centress and am passionate about the differences you can make to peoples lives by having some knowledge and understanding of their challenges. I started my career as a teaching assistant, before becoming a behaviour specialist and finally completing teacher training in outdoor education at Bangor university, I...

20/04/2015 16:04

Members get to know their GPS

It’s a small and generally misunderstood creature, bright yellow in colour and usually found lurking in the bottom of my rucksack . . . or hiding in a Random Dry-Bag of Stuff as it was last weekend which meant I was last to arrive for the start of the workshop on Saturday, oops! It is of course my trusty GPS receiver; the etrex 10 to be precise. It’s a basic model, but on those...

07/04/2015 15:12

Climbing and Psychology

Alan Halewood was one of 4 people who attended a CPD workshop at TCA Glasgow recently. As an established climbing coach here's his comments: The workshop was based around Coaching Mental Skills for Climbing and was run by Sport Psychologist Jessica Tang of Sportpsych Solutions. Jessica is working professionally with a number of climbers including TCA Glasgow's Youth Squad. Jessica gave us 2...

30/03/2015 15:46

Getting together with Mountain Rescue

Joint Associations' Furness and Duddon Mountain Rescue Team Workshop – 5th March 2015 The aim of the workshop was to learn more about the role of the Team, the type of call outs they attend and how we can best assist them as professional mountaineers. There were 3 sessions: The control room and ‘behind the scenes’ management of a call out. The theory of cliff rescue, searches...

11/03/2015 12:57

An Evening in the Peaks

Wednesday 4th March saw the first formal event held for the members of the newly-formed Mountain Training Association Peak District group – an evening of night navigation practice based on Houndkirk Moor overlooking Sheffield, hosted by Olly Toogood and Tony Hall, with very able support from Regional Co-ordinator Stephen Jones. A group of twelve keen navigators met in the car park at The...

06/03/2015 11:58

Avalanche Awareness - Getting Updated

Last month I attended the Mountain Training Association (MTA) CPD day hosted by Andy Townsend IFMGA Guide based in the Northen Cairngorms and a Director of Infinity Mountain Guides. The day was a mix of practical and static sessions looking at Avalanche awareness, route planning and decision making in the mountains under winter conditions. The course was aimed at Summer Mountain Leaders who are...

02/03/2015 12:26

Launching the Peaks Regional Group

Nature had turned a simple moorland walk into something rather more challenging, following a heavy fall of snow. But some of the views were spectacular! Seventeen brave pioneers turned out for the day, and a couple more were able to join us for the meeting. I’d planned a few challenges along the way providing a little bit of insight into the local Bronze age settlements often used for...

06/02/2015 11:22

Winter weekend in Scotland

This year I attended my first Mountain Training Association (MTA) meet, the Winter Weekend hosted at the Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms. The weekend was designed to provide Mountain Training Association members with workshops and evening lectures to develop skills, technique and knowledge relating to the winter mountain environment. I was particularly interested joining the weekend to help...

03/02/2015 09:32

Night Navigation - A Perfect Regional Event

The West Midlands regional group organised a night navigation evening at Cannock Chase (a more challenging area to navigate that one might think!) followed by some festive cheer in a local pub which proved an extremely popular event. The evening had no shortage of participants and volunteers who together with Steve Wright's co-ordinating skills made it a successful event. Joby Maw Davis lead the...

22/12/2014 11:37

Through the Ages on Tal y Fan

Who would have thought there was so much Archaeological history on one mountain! The hills of Snowdonia have been inhabited for at least 6000 years and modern day hikers and mountaineers are walking in the footsteps of our ancestors but rarely notice their remains. Not this day though, thanks to Jane Kenney a Senior Archeologist from the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust who took us on a grand tour...

23/10/2014 17:27

What a load of rubbish

An astonishing 488kgs of rubbish was lifted from the 3 most popular mountains in the UK during this years Real3Peaks Clean and Conserve event which took place on Saturday 4th October. Coordinated and led by committed members of the Mountain Training Association, it was no suprise to see a host of volunteers (many of them freelance instructors) turning out despite a dreadful forecast. A modest...

22/10/2014 12:10

Single Pitch Bits and Bolts

Thanks to those who came along to Auchinstarry Quarry for a Scottish evening workshop for SPA Trainees/Award holders. We told rigging horror stories, discussed 'good' vs 'best' practise, solved Alistair's problem and I put him on the spot by making him explain the role of sacrificial protection in the corrosion of bolts. We were still stood talking in the car park well after dark! Alan Halewood...

30/09/2014 10:59

The Real3Peaks Challenge

This year's date for the ‘Real3Peaks Challenge: Cleanse & Conserve' is Saturday 4th October In 2013, Mountain Training Association member Rich Pyne was working on Ben Nevis and was shocked by the amounts of rubbish he found - posting about this on social media he soon heard back from other outdoor professionals - the UK's three highest peaks were becoming a dumping ground for near...

29/09/2014 15:33

The Start of things to come

MTA Midlands Region workshop - Weds 10th September 2014 – Redpoint Climbing Centre Seven Midlands based members met with Joby Davis the regional CPD coordinator and Mountain Training Coaching Scheme provider who introduced the group to the theme for the evening: And so a full evening of activity started with games to warm up, bouldering activities and then some developmental climbing...

26/09/2014 15:58

Getting to know your Upland Plants

This summer, association member Arthur Jones from Trossach Treks ran a series of workshops about upland plants. His aim was to support other members by enhancing their environmental knowledge and arming them with some great information which they could then share with their groups in the future. I thought it was excellent. I've never found wildflower ID using a book very successful - I'm never...

12/08/2014 10:17

North Wales Social Climbing Evenings

Who says its always wet in Wales, so far we have had four gloriously sunny social climbing evenings, one after our DMM factory tour in the slate quarries on some great sports routes, one at the Grochan in llanberis Pass where we just managed to pack up and run away before the midges got us and one totally midge free evening on a sunlit Bochclwyd crag. The heatwave extended to allow us a...

23/07/2014 14:02

South East Regional Event

Seven hardy souls braved the heat and humidity of the Chilterns for Sunday’s South East Region CPD event, “Running a Lowland Walk”. While nominally aimed at those working towards the new Lowland Leader award, the members present included ML, MIC and IML holders, everyone with a slightly different reason for attending from learning more about the user group for the award to...

22/07/2014 15:44

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