Mountain Leader Award – check

ML finally in the bag

I’ve been a bit busy of late, but the sticker for my ML logbook finally came through a few weeks ago – basically means I have completed the award – so this is really a footnote in the whole process.

Bit of an anticlimax and all, but I’m just relieved to have got to the end of the process. Obviously, there is continuing development and refreshing of the skills, but the assessment stage is over.

It’s good to be able to concentrate on other things now, and I have work lined up for Morocco and Scotland in January and February 2012, which will help me work towards the Winter ML award.

Climbing is still very much an objective too, and I’m planning to visit St. Montan tomorrow for my first outdoor sport climbing session in France. Although summer has now broken and the Mistral is bringing in much cooler air, it’s pleasant out in the sun, so it should be  good introduction.

More to follow, hopefully.

Quality Mountain Days Revisited

My post last year on QMDs has attracted the highest number of hits on this site other than the home page.

It’s understandable given the relatively large numbers of people now undertaking the ML award. This perhaps reflects  a number of factors: increasing appeal of outward bound type activities; more education centres offering hillwalking; downturn in the economy leading to UK based holidays etc.

However, I was reminded again recently of the perennial QMD question by a thread on UKHillwalking.com (sister side to UKClimbing.com). The question for the ML candidate, of course, is ‘what is a QMD and how do I get one?’ The debate on UKH surrounded whether days in the Peak District, Dartmoor or other more low-lying areas qualify as QMDs compared with the Highlands, North Wales or the Lake District.

My reflections on the discussion are that unfortunately a lot of the emphasis was on navigation alone, rather than a consideration of all the factors that contribute towards a QMD. Having spent some time on Dartmoor, I wholeheartedly agree that the lower hills do stretch the navigator more with their subtle, rolling features, which in low cloud or bad conditions, are all but obliterated, making orientation that much more difficult.

However, the criteria for QMDs include much more than navigation and map reading, which is precisely why a logbook should contain significantly more days in Scotland and the other ‘proper’ mountain areas. Here one finds steep, rocky ridges, sheerer drops and plenty of exposure. When the leader is required to take into consideration safety on steep ground with its exposure, as well as navigation of a party, the weight of responsibility and challenge increases considerably. In an emergency it is suddenly not so simple to walk on a bearing to the nearest road, to generalise slightly.

I sympathise with candidates who live in the South of the UK, from where travel to Scotland is that much more time-consuming and costly. However, any time in Scotland or ‘the North’ is well spent both as an investment in the awards and for the pure enjoyment of being in great, open mountain areas.

Walking and Scrambling in North Wales

I recently spent five days in Snowdonia, based out of the Ogwen Valley. This was mainly a bid to accumulate the last few required Quality Mountain Days for my ML logbook after being deferred last year. This process has frustratingly taken longer than I hoped, but the added experience has been invaluable.

The Martian landscape from the summit of Glyder Fawr

As part of the trip, I incorporated an outdoor bivvy on the first night, which was partly inspired by Alastair Humphreys’ 24 hour Bivvy Challenge. I wanted to complete three big, long, high-level days, so set off from Gwern Gof Uchaf campsite below Tryfan. My route was basically a high level traverse of the Glyders, saving the fun parts, such as Tryfan and Bristly Ridge, for better conditions. The weather deteriorated throughout the day, so I was keen not to hang around. Glyder Fawr (999m) was the high point and then I followed the ridge northwards to Carnedd y Filiast (821m) before descending to the Nant Ffrancon valley to bivvy out.

Threading through the pinnacles on Bristly Ridge, Glyder Fach (994m)

The bivvy was fairly uneventful apart from being uncomfortable and letting in rain through the zip opening – fairly standard for a bivvy, but I’m glad I didn’t get a full-on soaking, as you often hear of.

The next day was an early start in order to cover more ground. This would be a fairly long traverse of the Carneddau from Bethesda, via the West spur of Carnedd Uchaf to end up back where I started on the Ogwen side. The weather was consistently wet and cloudy all day, and up on the plateau bitingly cold. I was very glad to take my lunch in the emergency shelter on Foel Grach, and was not surprised to learn later that snow had fallen on the Cairngorm plateau given how cold the air stream was. I opted to navigate from obvious cairns and tops, rather than following the paths necessarily, to avoid getting disorientated in the bad weather.

Attempting to topple the Cantilever

The rest of the walk was uneventful apart from a little care needed to descend the bad step on Bwlch Eryl Farchog. This would be an obvious place for a rope if out with a nervous or inexperienced party of hillwalkers. It was then a long trudge down the ridge and back to camp to warm up and get out of the weather.

James, deep in concentration, explaining a navigation technique

Unfortunately, the bad weather continued into the week, so now joined by friends, we opted to use the shelter on the East side of Tryfan to look at navigation, ropework and scrambling. The Heather Terrace again proved to be a useful approach to the Glyders, enabling us to tackle Bristly Ridge, which I led directly over the most interesting buttresses and pinnacles. I also finally managed to summit Tryfan, which had eluded me for years. My previous attempt was on a family holiday when my parents were reduced to their knees on the scrambling sections and we almost became cragfast after attempting to descend an unknown gully on the West face as a short cut to the car. This time I jumped from Adam to Eve to signify the achievement, although difficult to get a self portrait at the same time!

A self portrait perched on Adam & Eve, Tryfan

One of the highlights of the week was an introduction to scrambling ropework from my friend who is attempting his Mountain Instructor Award assessment in September. I then had the great opportunity to led a friend up Nor’ Nor’ Groove on the East face of Tryfan, putting into practice the skills I had just learned. It was wet, slimey and muddy, but an extremely rewarding way to move up the mountain environment, balancing speed and safety. Hunting for anchors, setting up the belay system and route-planning all added to the experience, which was thoroughly absorbing.

Elidir Fawr & Marchlyn Mawr Reservoir

The weather cleared for my finale of the week, a big day out. I aimed to walk from the Ogwen Valley over to Elidir Fawr, then back over Y Garn and Glyder Fawr, with some added spice at the end, descending Y Gribin and the False Gribin. As the day progressed, so the weather improved, and I reclined in the summit shelter of Elidir Fawr (924m) to eat my lunch, and then gradually peeled away layers returning East. It was exhilarating to take the direct line down Y Gribin, the wind whipping from one side and the sobering exposure dropping away on the other.

Perched high on Y Gribin

As you may have noticed, I haven’t reported on my SPA Training, as it was cancelled, but happily has been rescheduled for the beginning of June, so more to come then.

Heroic mountaineer pose