SAFETY & TRAINING NEWS
Mountaineering Instructors
part 1 - An Introduction to the Schemes
By George McEwan
(Course Director, Glenmore Lodge)
The Mountaineering Instructor (MI) Scheme has been in existence in one form or other since the late 60s. Since 1994 it has been administered by Mountain Leader Training UK (MLTUK) and provides comprehensive training for climbers working as instructors in mountaineering and multi-pitch climbing in the UK and Northern Ireland. The scheme is made up of two qualifications:
MOUNTAINEERING INSTRUCTOR AWARD (MIA)
This award is for instructors working in UK summer conditions and covers multi-pitch rock climbing, teaching rock climbing, scrambling and other mountaineering skills.
MOUNTAINEERING INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATE (MIC)
In addition to the remit of the MIA, this award is for instructors working in UK winter conditions and covers all aspects of winter climbing and mountaineering.
The MLTUK produces a Mountaineering Instructors Scheme booklet which contains all the information needed to progress through the MI scheme. This booklet is available for purchase from the MLTUK, or is sent to candidates who register on the scheme.
Role of an Instructor
The work of a Mountaineering Instructor can be amazingly diverse, and not just from the perspective of climbing and mountaineering in a variety of mountain areas within the UK. Its main attraction is working 'on the hill' with people from a variety of backgrounds, abilities and experience. It is this working with people that provides the real challenge in what we do as Instructors. Such work with individuals developing their existing skills in such an environment creates a dilemma for the Instructor coaching them. If we totally remove the risk factor we inherently change the nature of the activity. Making judgements about such situations is an intrinsic and ongoing part of the practical role of an Instructor, and is one of the areas that climbers used to climbing with their mates (who make their own decisions about what level of risk they accept) find the most challenging to get their heads around.
Another key role of an Instructor is teaching people at a variety of levels the varied skills of mountaineering – from leading climbs, teaching mountain navigation, through to coaching climbers to improve their personal performance. Within this framework we can be dealing with all sorts of abilities and backgrounds thus the Instructor has to be flexible and adaptable in his/her teaching/coaching style.
So how do we go about training and assessing mountaineers to perform that role?
Training and Assessment Course
Glenmore Lodge, the Scottish National Outdoor Training Centre situated in the Cairngorm National Park provides training and assessment courses for both the MIA and MIC awards on behalf of the MLTUK in Scotland. Other providers of such courses in the UK include Plas Y Brenin (based in Wales) and Tollymore (based in Northern Ireland). Currently Glenmore Lodge and Plas Y Brenin provide both MIA and MIC courses, whilst Tollymore only provide the MIA.
In the next issue of Scottish Mountaineer, Shaun Roberts gives a personal view of how the summer award is undertaken at Glenmore Lodge and I shall give my personal experiences of the Winter Award.