Recently, former College pupil, Mary completed a 6-day Summer Mountain Leader Training Course at Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands.
Prior to acceptance on the course, Mary had to provide details of her UK mountain experience thus far. This being considered an essential pre-requisite in order for her to qualify for entry onto the course and for her to gain the maximum benefit from the detailed training it provides.
The course programme combined classroom and outdoor lessons and ended in a 2-day expedition. Topics covered included navigation, leadership, evacuation techniques, interpreting weather forecasts, moving on steep ground, rope work and wild camping skills.
Mary, having taken part as a pupil in The Mount School Borealis Expedition to Iceland in 2022 was invited, by the Principal, to join the Mount School Trainee Leader programme that he had recently jointly set up with Nigel Bidgood, The Head of The Borealis Society. Indeed, Mary is the first former pupil to be offered the chance to join this programme and the initial target is for her to graduate into being an Assistant Leader on the second Borealis Society Expedition to East Greenland in 2024.
Mary commented.
“It was an intense week and incredibly rewarding to know I was learning key skills that I would use initially in East Greenland next year and then, more long term, in future mountaineering adventures. These educational experiences really made me look forward to next year’s Greenland Expedition even more and gave me a real renewed impetus as I now continue with my training and preparations.”