Mountain Leader Assessment

Hi there! it has been quite a while since I last posted as I've been busy getting ready to take my ML (summer) assessment. I took it last week at Blue Peris Mountain Centre in Deiniolen, Snowdonia and passed!!

To tell you the truth, it wasn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It was obviously difficult, but if you have prepared, you will find it easier. It's a 5 day assessment with tests you on your navigation skills, rope work and group work skills. Me and my mates spent the last few months going out most weekends  practicing all of this. The logbook as well is important, you need to ensure you have more than 40 quality days logged or else you will defer.

There is a 3 day expedition, so if you are still using old kit from your D of E years ago, you may struggle. I'm not saying "go out and buy the best kit", but it does help if you do have a decent rucksack, waterproof and sleeping bag. The main emphasis has to be on being comfortable so you can concentrate on navigation and your admin so that you reflect your skills well. If you are flapping about being wet and carrying a heavy bag/not getting any sleep you may find it harder to keep up your concentration. 

Throughout the week you need to remain switched on and concentrated on the task. Always keep an eye on your map and the bearing you're on, as the assessor will randomly ask for your position. This is the same for the night nav, just much harder as it is night time. Which brings me onto the next point, a good head torch. If you just use the one you got free with a tank of diesel from the petrol station, you won't find it as easy as if you had a better one. I used a Petzl Myo RXP, which has a fantastic search beam which comes in handy for finding those cheeky contour features. However, last week the weather was pretty foul and we had a misty night, so the beam just bounced off the mist and we could only see when the wind made a gap. It is for this reason that a good compass (Silva expedition 4) comes in handy for accurate bearings and a definite pacing for 100m allows you to measure distance travelled accurately.

A decent but light tent allows for a comfy night. Me and a friend shared a Vaude Taurus Ultralight and it was really good. Waterproof and sturdy in the wind, which allowed us to get the sleep we needed (during the gaps in snoring). Sharing it out let us keep our packs lighter. 

I carried everything in an Osprey Kestrel 68, including my personal kit and group kit. The equipment you have is pretty comprehensive, but if you have prepared right leading up to the assessment everything has its place and nothing unnecessary is carried. 

This is what I carried:

• Inflatable sleeping matt (Mountain Equipment Helium 3.8)
• Inflatable pillow (poundland's own)
• Sleeping Bag (Marmot Atom)
• Bivvy Bag (Alpkit hunka)
• Group first aid kit
• Group shelter (Terra Nova)
• Poles and pegs from tent
• Spare personal clothing (Ron Hill leggings, Smartwool socks)
• Gloves (Mountain Equipment Guide, Randonee and Touch)
• Hat (hand knitted)
• Spare group clothing (Rab Generator, gloves and hat)
• Food and spare sweets (see earlier post on use of smash)
• Stove and gas (Jetboil PCS)
• Waterproof salopettes (Paramo Aspira)
• Waterproof Jacket (Mountain Equipment Kongur MRT)
• Sweets and energy gels (Go Gel)
• Head Torch (Myo RXP)
• Compass (Silva Exped 4)
• Poles (Black Diamond Contour Eliptic Shock)
• Bottles (Sigg and Nalgene)
• Knife (Edelrid sawtooth - for cutting up food and general camp stuff)
• Water treatment (Iodine tincture and Neutraliser powder) 
• Rope (30m Beal climbing rope)

All of my kit has been tried and tested since ML training a couple of years ago, I have replaced some things for the kit above, like a sleeping bag (see earlier posts). The clothes I wore were softshell trousers and Paramo Velez Adventure light as it is what works for me. The list above is not meant to say what you SHOULD have, it is just how I do things, you should make up your own minds.

My best advice is to concentrate and be confident with your bearings and pacing. Also, brush up on your geology, nature, weather and history knowledge to chat whilst you're on the move - however, don't get caught up talking when you should be pacing, you may lose your distance measurement. 

Good luck to those taking their assessment in the future, and HAVE FUN!

Kit for my weekends away....

As i'm in the lead up to doing my Mountain Leader Assessment at Easter, I'm frantically getting into the hills to practice. These weekends away are brilliant for navigation, ropework and group skills; but they are great for fine tuning the kit you take. Over the past few years my hillwalking kit hasnt changed a whole lot, just different rucksacks and bits and bobs. 

Sleeping Bag

I used to use a Snugpak Chrysalis Autumn as my sleeping bag, it was great and kept me warm even when it was wet and is great to snuggle down in on a crappy night out on the Glyders. But it is massive!!! So a couple of months ago i was in Go Outdoors and saw a Marmot Atom for £69.99......its a £300 down sleeping bag!! (Although it is a summer bag and only goes to around 6celsius) So i bought it, because i had read some reviews earlier that week saying how great it is in Alpine climbing for use as a bivvy bag for nights out because its light but still warm. I knew I wouldnt be using it for winter days, but for summer 

ML, where I would like to keep weight and pack size to a minimum - a sleeping bag that packs super small (in a Podsac Spider) and weighs less than a can of coke.

After using it a couple of times; once for a wild camp and once for a bothy, I can safely say that I love this bag. I always carry a Down or Primaloft Jacket in the colder months anyway, so i just wore that to sleep in as well as my clothes.....which i usually sleep in anyway.....and i wasnt cold at all. Combined with my Mountain Equipment sleeping matt, i didnt wake up all night! Unlike my friends, who's matts deflated overnight and couldnt sleep. Then come morning all I had to do was compress it back down and stick it in my Podsac Alpine 50.

Rucksack

I had an Osprey Mutant 38 a couple of years ago, but i didnt like it because of the tiny fiddly buckles on it and I couldnt fit everythin I wanted in it properly. So I bought a Crux AK47, a fantastic bag (when fully packed). I had never had a bag with a fixed lid, so with smaller loads I thought it looked dead weird. I also found the shape of the straps caused chafing around my arm pits which after a couple of days of walking were agony. So I asked for a Podsac Alpine 50 after my friends gave it a glowing review. And i must say, they werent wrong. This is hands down the best rucksack I have ever owned. Its light, its basic, waterproof, easy to pack and the removable lid with roll top is fantastic. Its so comfy too, the foamy straps and back pannel are great for long days and the gear loops on the hip belt were great when i took it to Scotland. I can fit everything I need in this bag and still have room left. My hat goes off to Podsac.

Food

In the past when I did my Duke of Edinburgh, super noodles were the order of the day. They are light, tasty and filling. However, that was when pot washing wasnt an issue (being on a camp site and all) and nowadays, scraping caked on noodle flavouring off my Jetboil in the pouring rain in the mountains isnt very attractive. Tins of beans, curry, and soup really are a thing of the past; aside from the weight, the empty tins need to be removed! And i dont really want a bag of dirty tins in with my kit. 

It was a simple revalation by my lecturer that has kept everyone I know from my University Outdoor Degree happy in the hills. The "Pour & Store" food bag has been the staple of our adventures for the past 3 years and we never go away without them. Theyre re-usable and they allow you to make your own boil in the bag meals as they fit perfectly in a Jetboil. 

Its this stuff (right) that has been a new venture for me and I dont know why. My friend Tom suggested using Gravy granules and Smash in a bag as you'd only hvae to add boiling water and you've got a tasty filling meal. It really is fantastic, a bag of hot stodgy, gravy flouvoured heaven. And its super light so you dont have to worry about how much you take. 

The theme of powdered foods is the order of the day now. Instant Porridge for breakfast with added cinnamon or choc chips provides those added calories and energy for long days on the hill. The morning Coffee is paramount too, maybe spiked with a drop from my trusty hip flask.

My friend Arran also found one of those tins of treacle pudding that you steam. It contains around 900 calories and when combined with custard, gives you a fantastic winter warming pudding. You just need to empty the tin in a pour and stour and you're good. Its slightly heavier, but worth it. Its stuff like this that makes me love getting out and about; trying new ideas and playing around with food.

The shivering mountain - 1st route of the season

So I arrived back at home for Christmas break festooned with kit for rock and winter climbing with the hope of getting out. Having eagerly been watching Baggy's blog and other similar, I was disappointed with conditions; I had hoped they would be like last years. None the less, there is no use crying about it, you have to make the most of a bad situation....

So when I received a text from Matt on Friday, my spirits picked up - "there's snow in the peak district, let's do something". Having confirmed there was indeed snow, I excitedly gathered my kit and packed...We decided on Mam Tor Gully (below), much revered for its poor climbing, but as it was the only decent route in.....we gave it a bash.

The first thing I grabbed being my Crux AK47 rucksack; a fantastic pack, a little over priced for me, but having only paid a small amount 2nd hand, I'm chuffed about its performance. It's a Kevlar reinforced bag that is supremely waterproof in driving rain or snow and is spacious enough to hold a full winter pack including rope. However, when climbing with it, it is hard to look up! Not exactly a selling point. But, you can change this by removing the titanium frame from inside. Yes, this doesn't give you as much support, but I find it slightly more comfy and much easier to climb with.

Into the crux went my first aid kit, harness, slings, nuts, hexes, nalgene and all the other assorted items needed. But clothing wise, I had a decision; hardshell, softshell or paramo. Each has its own advantages. Hardshell is more waterproof than the others, but I overheat in it too quickly especially if the weather is wet but not too cold and the Gore-Tex reaches saturation point mighty quickly. So then you could choose softshell, not as waterproof, but if it's not going to rain and is just snow then it would be great, but we all know that the weather craps out on us when we don't want it to. So I opted for my new favourite - the paramo. It's warm, breathable, light, quick drying and fairly waterproof. I get a lot of stick from my mates about this, but if they could afford it, I'm sure they'd buy it...because it aint cheap. I've got the Velez Adventure Light Smock, and at around 180, it's the cheapest smock they do! Worth every penny. More on paramo to come.

Setting off from home at around 6am we were climbing by 7.30. The conditions were good, plenty of snow and just cold enough while we were climbing to keep everything together. The climbing was tricky...not technically but mentally. It's like something out of a nightmare, the whole mountain peeling off as you climb, each footstep sliding down a bit more. But with perseverance and brute strength we made it to the top at around 11am.

 

Major bonus points to my Rab Powerstretch balaclava, which kept my head and face warm all morning. My DMM Xeno axes which played their part well. But most of all, my Mountain Equipment DJ. My Lightline jacket is amazing, so comfy, cozy, cuddly, warm.....comfy (oh wait i said that). I use it just about every day now and it's awesome on the hill and off the hill. I stuck it on for the walk in then took it off to climb and put it on again at the summit and even the driving snow didnt wet this baby out. The Dri-Lite outer shunning of all the weather could throw, whilst keeping me toasty warm. Another fantastic day out on the hill with Matt, and I enjoyed 

wearing the amazing hat his girlfriend knitted for me (right).