MIA Assessment at PYB. A candidate’s view of how the week runs.

As it is now "Assessment season" I thought I'd drag out a few articles I wrote about what to expect on Assessment. I did mine a couple years ago but fell at the fence and got a deferral. I’ve now passed so thought I’d pass on a how the days ran for me and what to expect. It became apparent that a few people I had spoken to over the next couple of years really didn't know what to expect on Assessment week. This is mainly due to the fact that quite a few people work in isolation as they are not 'in the industry' and don't get the chance to speak to Actual MIA's that much. Below is MY take on what to expect. It is not a 'do this and you'll pass' guide - I'm afraid there are no easy ways to an MIA. It's more of a 'this is a logistical view on the five days'.

Day 1 Personal Climbing Day Thought by many to be the easy day; just go out and climb a VS 4c and go home for tea and cake. It's not like that at all. I think the best way to describe the day is a guiding day with 2 competent clients - you're the guide (note the small 'g'). If the weather's bad then you'll probably be at Tremadog but you could realistically be anywhere in North Wales.. This is not the time to be flicking... 13/12/2015 21:07

Day 2 Problem Solving Location wise, I was at Tremadog but you could be in the Pass. I personally don’t know of anyone who didn’t end up at Tremadog. They try to do it all on VS terrain. It will be you, another candidate and a different assessor than from day 1.Today's the day when you want every spare screwgate you can lay your hands on. I think I had about 15 in total (5 on slings, 2 on prussic and 8... 13/12/2015 21:13

Day 3 Teaching Climbing Day So we've had two technical days, now it's time for the mental challenge of Day 3; Teaching Day or Client Day. This seems to be the day that everyone fears, I certainly did. As I deferred this day, I'm in no position to pass on information about how to get through this day. I'll set out a brief detail of how the day runs from my experience, a brief explanation of how it actually ran for me and... 13/12/2015 21:15

Day 4 Mountain Day If Day 2 was a technically tiring day, Day 3 was a mentally tiring day then Day 4 is the physically tiring day. For this day it's you, a fellow candidate and 1 assessor. From people I've spoken to you do tend to be in Ogwen. We were on Tryfan, but you could easily be on Glyder Fach or Idwal. You get told in the car park which route they want you to get them to and then the assessor will expect... 13/12/2015 21:19

Day 5 Navigation Day This is the day where you have to swap the previous 4 days of living in the vertical for a day in the horizontal. To aid this switch over, on my assessment 5 out of the 6 of us got up at 05:00 and went and did two hours of morning navigation. This was really good as it just helped get the mind free of ropes and back into maps and contours. Our day was logistically quite simple; 1 assessor and 3... 13/12/2015 21:21

MIA Assessment at PYB As it is now Assessment season I thought I'd drag out a few articles I wrote about what to expect on Assessment. I did mine a couple years ago but fell at the fence and got a deferral. I’ve now passed so thought I’d pass on a how the days ran for me and what to expect.It became apparent that a few people I had spoken to over the next couple of years really didn't know what to expect... 13/12/2015 20:55