October 18th to 22nd at Dol Peris with Helen Menhinick of Menhinick Outdoors Limited and seven participants who were a pleasure to work with. A Mountain Skills course is a great way to learn the essential skills, or to refresh current skills,  needed to enjoy the mountains in the UK safely. 
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The Mountain Skills course is just one of the courses offered by Mountain Training UK with the following course content:

• Planning – how to successfully plan a walk in the mountains in the UK or Ireland.
• Walking skills – what things should you consider while out walking and what can make life easier (pace, nutrition, movement skills, steep ground etc.).
• Clothing and equipment – being suitably dressed and equipped can make the difference between a great day out and a complete disaster.
• Weather – how it affects the mountains and your day out.
• Navigation in the mountains – everything from selecting a compass and using a map to navigation in poor visibility and an intro to GPS.
• Environmental knowledge – how to minimise your impact on the hill, information on good practice and useful organisations.
• Hazards and emergency procedures in the mountains – how to respond to any hazards you encounter and what to do in an emergency.​​

Day 1: The course started mid-afternoon with an illustrated lecture by Chris Lloyd of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Association. Following on from that, the theory of Mountain Skills was then discussed using an illustrated presentation and the course outline discussed. The venue was the excellent Dol Peris Guesthouse which is effectively a self-catering hotel and one I've frequently used whilst in Snowdonia - I can highly recommend Dol Peris and the hosts Lisa and Phill George (British Mountain Guide).

Day 2: With an adverse weather forecast current, it was necessary to review our training location for the day and Helen and I concluded that Cwm Idwal would be just right. Parking at Ogwen was not an issue as there weren't many groups out and those that braved the weather were mostly mountain training groups. The small visitor centre room was ideal for Helen to explain some of the core skills required for mountain navigation before setting out into the strong winds and heavy rain which would test us over the next four or so hours. Passing Tin Can Alley, I told the group that, I think, this was the infamous Khyber Pass in the "Carry on up the Khyber" film of 1968, according to local legend.
The next four hours or so were spent practicing navigation skills around Llyn Idwal and the Cwm Idwal National Nature Reserve. Returning to Dol Peris, further time was spent on the course core syllabus elements.

Day3: This would be a full quality mountain day to one of my favourite mountains in the Snowdonia National Park - Cnicht (689m) which is part of the Moelwynion mountain range and known as the Welsh Matterhorn owing to its pointy shape when viewed from the west.
Our route started at Gelli-Lago and climbed up to Bwlch y Battel before a steep zig zag path took us up to a small plateau at 600m for the final simple scramble up to the summit. The circuit continued on to Llyn yr Adar before descending past Llyn Llagi, Carnedd Melyn. Llwynyrhwch and back to the cars. A long but rewarding day.......

Day 4: Crossing the Moel Eilio (726m) ridge had been scheduled for Day 2 but with favourable weather for the day it was our preferred choice. Cars were parked at Bwlch-y-groes and we worked our way southeastwards over Moel Eilio (726m) Foel Gron (593m) and Foel Goch (605m) to join the public bridleway at Bwlch Maesgwm to descend northwards back to Dol Peris. This was a day useful for practicing many of the important navigation skills required for safe mountain navigation in areas such as this.
​That evening there was a BBQ where I cooked any items of food the participants might have brought. Thus the course ended and the following morning, everyone left for home.

Thanks to the "Magnificent Seven" participants and to Helen Menhinick for the invaluable support with making this course so enjoyable.

Congratulations to Allan Hunn and Helen Menhinick, two Mountain Leaders who completed this 15 hour course yesterday. They both delivered high quality presentations during the course and completed the final assessment paper to a high standard.

The OSSM course is appropriate for those working in a range of different situations where they are responsible for taking children/young people/adults out of their everyday environments (e.g. on geography or environmental field trips, on guided walks, on organised activities). It aims to equip attendees with the ability to apply knowledge, understanding and problem solving skills ......

The course complied with the RGS syllabus and introduced Allan and Helen to three important British and International Standards to use in their planning, managing and reviewing of their outdoor activities:

• BS8848:2014 - BS 8848 is the British Standard for organising and managing visits, fieldwork, expeditions, and adventurous activities outside the UK.
• BS11200:2014 - BS 11200 is the British Standard for Crisis Management – Guidance and Good Practice.
• ISO17050:2004 - ISO 17050 is the International Standard which specifies general requirements for a supplier's declaration of conformity in cases where it is desirable, or necessary, that conformity of an object to the specified requirements be attested, irrespective of the sector involved so it can be used for internal auditing.

Additionally, use was made of the Adventure Activities Licencing Authority's Guidance and Self-assessment document.

I believe both Allan and Helen will be attending the RGS OSSM Trainer's course in London on November 25th so good luck to them both for this.

Introduction - High Peaks of Southern Snowdonia was a residential walking event by Bryn Walking, based in Barmouth with accommodation at Goronwy Cottage with sea views and plenty of comfortable accommodation. The event was planned and managed by Helen Menhinich and I acted as her assistant.

CDay 1 - The Afon Ysgethin Valley and Pont Scethin
North of Barmouth towards Harlech, the land rises steeply from the sea towards the Rhinog mountain range. The area is of historically of interest with Romano-British, Medieval and post-Medieval. Specific sites of interest on this 10km walk included Craig y Dinas iron age hill fort, the 12th century Pont Scethin across the Afon Ysgethin, which is on the old trading route linking Bont-ddu and Harlech.​

Day 2 - Rhinog Fach (712m)
From Maes-y-garnedd where a friendly farmer talked to us about local history we headed north easterly to the cairn at Bwlch Drws-Arduwy where we rested for our morning break. Then, turning southwards we climbed quite steeply to the 500m contour before the climb became easier to the summit cairn where we enjoyed lunch in good weather but sheltered from the wind by the old wall.
After lunch, the descent to Llyn Hywel required some care and we rested by the lake where I'd once camped before continuing on to Llyn Perfeddau. Continuing westwards through the old mining area and long abandoned buildings we reached the valley road at Cil-cychwyn. Helen very kindly jogged the 2km back to Maes-y-garnedd and returned to pick us up to drive back in to Barmouth.

Day 3 - Cader Idris (893m)
The plan had been to ascend the Foxes Path to the summit and descend the Pony Path but heavy and persistent rain put an end to this plan! Reaching Llyn Gafr for our morning break and being aware of very strong summit winds, Helen made the decision to abort the summit plan which I fully agreed with. After contouring westwards we reached the Pont Path and soon after stopped for lunch. After reaching the car park we stopped for an hour in Dolgellau before returning to Barmouth.

Final thoughts: an enjoyable few days for me so thanks to Helen for allowing me to assist. The five participants were a pleasure to work with and we enjoyed a final dinner together at a restaurant just north of Barmouth.
For anyone interested in joining a similar event, please contact Helen at Bryn Walking.

October 1st - another NNAS Tutor Award course with three candidates was enjoyable with positive feedback received.

October 4th to 8th - High peaks of southern Snowdonia, assisting Bryn Walking with this four night residential event based in Barmouth.

October 13th/14th - RGS certificated Off Site Safety Management course in Newtown, mid-Wales. This course will also be available on December 15th/16th in the Brecon Beacons, at Llangasty Village Hall.

October 18th to 22nd - Mountain Skills in Snowdonia based at Dol Peris in Llanberis, it's possible there might be one place available on this extended (3.5 days) Mountain Skills course. This course will also be available in the Brecon Beacons on March 1st to 4th.