'Maps and Coffee' morning 6th Feb 2020, Hightown Community Cafe, Hightown, Liverpool.

On Thursday 6th February We will be holding a morning of looking at the basic fundamentals of map reading at Hightown Community Cafe, Hightown Liverpool.  Starts at 10am should last about 1hr 30mins, grab a coffee, pull up a chair and we'll cover the basics to help you for when you're out and about in the outdoors.  We are taking bookings and currently have a few spaces available.  £5 payable on the day.

Walking Leader Familiarisation Day. Two available dates 13th Feb or 16th Feb 2020.

This is a familiarisation day aimed at those entering into any of the Walking Leader schemes prior to attending training.  It will be a structured day focussed on personal competencies such as navigation, and will also covering other topics within the schemes.  This day does NOT excempt from any of the training courses associated with the relevant syllabus but may aid your log book experience and preparation.  If you have attended training you are more than welcome to attend.  We will work on a 1:6 ration so to work as small teams to help people get what they want from the day.  There are two dates so to give people flexibility.

Navigation Training

Spent a very pleasant Saturday working with a group of students on Navigation techniques.  We covered various topics including walking on a bearing, identifying features on the ground and other associated map skills.

Sunday was spent with a group of teachers who were being assessed for their Lowland Leader award.  They showed the correct understanding of the award and demonstrated the requisite skills.  And it was Sunny!

Snowshoeing Seefeld

Another popular winter activity Snowshoeing.  Resorts are doing more now to make use of their area and the varied activities people can participate in to create a thrilling adventure to their holiday.  Snowshoeing is one of those activities, get off the beaten track, see some nature and play in the powder snow.
Today I took in a route over the Brunschkopf which runs from the Wildmoos hut.  Great snow and great views.
If you're booking a guide for snowshoeing it may seem a cost but an International Mountain Leader is trained and assessed to work in winter conditions, part of the assessment process is also an understanding of flora and fauna so you'll definitely get a safe, enjoyable and informative day out.
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Cross Country Skiing Seefeld, Austria

The snow has arrived again here in Seefeld.  Earlier in the week there was quite a mild spell but today there has been a good dumping of snow and hopefully all the looped will be up and nicely groomed in the morning.

The Nordic Combined World Cup took place over the last weekend with some great ski jump in and 3 individual Nordic Skiing distance races 5,10 and 15kms. Some spectical to see how the pros do it.

North West Region MTA workshop 31st May 2015

8 members gathered on a wet and blustery Sunday (31st May) at Binn Green car park, Greenfield to attend the North West MTA 'management on steep ground' workshop.  Everyone was keen to refresh and revise skills of the ML syllabus.  Stuart Igoe (ML provider), James Mealing and Dave Robinson had recently attended a MT provider workshop hosted at PYB so were available to provide the latest updates and practises.  After a briefing on the updates followed by a revision of the various ropes available on the market the group then moved onto an area of steep ground around Alderman's Rocks.  The group moved through the topics of anchor selection, direct belays, indirect belays, South African abseil and confidence roping, with everyone inputting their thoughts and experiences.  Whilst having a soggy sandwich and flask of Tea the group discussed group management and 'spotting' along with how younger groups are management on 'rocky rambles'.  To end the afternoon the sun even came out.  Great day, thanks to those attending and your input.  Future workshops, for the North West region, such as GPS, geology, intro to the IML scheme are being planned and hopefully a climbing/Mtn biking social around the start of September.

 

North West MTA workshop 31st May 2015

Next weekend on the 31st May I'm running a Mountain Training Association workshop on 'Security on Steep ground for ML's'.  Location is Aldermans Rocks, Greenfields and cost is £10.  Please follow the link for booking details. https://goo.gl/07DwV6