Upskilling in the Lakes
Chris Ensoll is a British Mountain Guide and has been a provider of Mountain Leader and Single Pitch Award training and assessment courses for many years. He runs a variety of popular walking and climbing CPD workshops for the
Mountain Training Association throughout the year, sharing his wealth of outdoor knowledge with MTA members and taking skills to the next level.
The feedback from members speaks for itself...
Personal Scrambling Skills workshop, 24th June 2016All enquiry emails were replied to promptly and with all the information required. The booking procedure was very simple and easy to use, with an extra date added in order to facilitate me doing the course which was very much appreciated. The day was very well structured, Chris had a very good plan and was gave a lot of very good instruction from the moment we started walking right until the end of the day. Chris was excellent, he really made me think about my movement when walking as well as when climbing. Every bit of information was pitched at the right time, making me think about the best way of operating when scrambling and why. I would now definitely use you for other courses in the future.-
Richard WarleyPersonal Scrambling Skills workshop, 19th September 2015I very much want to thank Chris for an excellent workshop. Certainly the weather gave us a splendid day. However, it was Chris's excellent guidance, clarity of delivery and fresh ideas that really made the day. The ideas on gauging the ability of an individual early on in a venture is obvious, but the methods Chris offered were useful, applicable and realistic. I was also very impressed by Chris's questioning attitude. Effectively evaluating what we do in leading in the mountains is essential if we are to ensure that clients are challenged and enjoy themselves. The manner in which I look at walking and the process of doing it will never be the same again and I hope to be able to spend more time in Chris's company in the future as I know I will learn a huge amount. Many thanks and very best wishes.-
Paul Davies
SPA Refresher workshop, 22nd June 2016I’m a fairly active MIC, what could I learn from a course labelled in this way? Was ‘SPA Refresher’ too humble a title? If so what heading might best capture the fresh, pragmatic and cutting edge nature of this session?… perhaps it needed to be renamed, 'Single Pitch Masterclass'. Chris delivered a great session that was packed with thought-provoking ideas and delivered in a dynamic style. Good enough to be a masterclass.-
Richard Ensoll
Navigation to the Next Level workshop, 18th June 2016Chris is extremely knowledgeable and experienced. He has a great way about him and got his points across clearly. I would strongly recommend Chris for any mountain activity especially his knowledge and ability to share skills-
John Bradshaw
Rope Tricks & Rescues for SPA & Beyond workshop, 16th April 2016Fantastic content, Chris asked at the start of the day what everyone would like to get out of the course, then delivered that content plus a lot more which was great, so far the best use of £50 to date! Just wow, Chris's wealth of experience is incredible and very inspiring to someone just starting out in the world of the outdoors. His teaching methods suited me very well. I had been recommended by my manager at work who is friends with Chris, I had heard he is the best in the Lakes!-
Alex Caulfield
Coaching Movement in the Mountains workshop, 23rd October 2015From the title “Coaching Movement in the Mountains” I did not know what to expect from this CPD event and it began a little strangely when Chris asked us to analyse how we walk normally (i.e. on the flat). However, things soon started to make sense as we got onto steeper ground, and then onto boulder hopping and scrambling. It became clear that when the ground got steeper or more difficult or where the consequences of falling were more serious, I unconsciously changed my stance, posture and technique for the worse and unwittingly made life much more difficult for myself. Chris introduced various concepts such as dynamic balance which made it much easier to travel over steeper ground more quickly, using less energy and with a lower likelihood of slipping. For the descent, most importantly for me, we looked at how to reduce stress on the knees. I have been a DofE Leader for nearly 10 years and I think this CPD day was very useful not only for me as an individual but for anyone who wants to pass on a love of walking and scrambling in the hills to others. I now have a lot to work on and I only wish the course had been longer than just one day.-
Nigel Sharma
Chris will be running similar workshops for MTA members over the next few months. Check the
workshop programme here.