Mountain Training Association News

Mentoring programme 2024

We are offering another opportunity for our members to have mentoring support from a volunteer Mentor! Mountain Training Association's Mentoring programme is designed to offer members additional one to one support after attending a training course, to help with their journey to assessment. It is available to you if you have Completed training for one of Mountain Training's qualifications Feel...

15/02/2024 13:29

Mountain Training Association Volunteer Awards 2023 Winners

Our Volunteer Awards celebrate members' achievements, those who have gone above and beyond, shown initiative and dedication, and made a difference in what they do. Each year we select winners from the nominations we receive and the notification of excellent initiatives, projects, activities and/or campaigns that volunteers have led or been involved in. We shortlist the nominations and then a...

30/01/2024 11:43

Met Office weather workshop Programme 2024

We are delighted to announce our 2024 programme of Weather workhsops as we enter our sixth year of collaboration with the Met Office We are currently in the process of securing the venues workshops and the programme will be updated in due course - save your date! . Our two online workshop dates will also be announced shortly Thursday 7th March - Glenmore Lodge, East Highlands, Scotland ...

19/12/2023 09:36

MTA Volunteer Awards 2023

Our volunteer awards are part of our ongoing appreciation for all that volunteers do for Mountain Training's Association and in the wider world. These awards highlight the incredible work that volunteers do and profile the positive impact they make on society and the world around them. Categories and criteria are all listed below and cover areas such as the environment, access, youth engagement,...

24/08/2023 12:11

New compostable membership card

Members expressed the wish for the Mountain Training Association to become more sustainable, so one of the actions we have undertaken is that we have sourced a new membership card that is completely compostable. Although this may not seem like a large change, with nearly 9000 members, that would mean that we would have had 9000 membership cards going to landfill annually. We looked into...

16/05/2023 13:36

Full Member changed to Qualified Member

We made this change to make it easier to understand the difference between the two membership categories Trainee Member and Qualified (formerly Full) Member. The difference, as you can hopefully guess, is that Trainee members are those who have registered for a Mountain Training qualification and have not yet passed the assessment for any qualification, and Qualified members are those who have...

16/05/2023 12:19

Positive Steps Outdoors

A new social enterprise (profit with a social purpose), we connect people to majestic upland, moorland and forested environments, and each other, helping communities and individuals manage life’s pressures, build sustainable networks, strengthen future resilience and deepen their affinity with the environment. Our ‘green therapy’ service comprises tailored hikes in iconic...

24/03/2023 12:30

Mountain Training Association strategy 2023-2028

The initial concept for a members’ association for Mountain Training candidates was put forward in 2001 by John Cousins (Chief Executive Officer for Mountain Training United Kingdom and Ireland) with a proposed remit to: Keep candidates informed about Mountain Training developments Create a forum for candidates to share ideas Enable candidates to access and create further training The...

02/03/2023 11:52

Mentoring programme 2023

We are delighted to be offering another opportunity for our members to have mentoring support from a volunteer MTA Mentor! MTA's Mentoring programme is designed to offer members additional one to one support after attending a training course, to help with the journey to assessment. It is available to you if you have Completed a training course for one of Mountain Training's qualifications...

23/02/2023 13:04

Contribute to The Professional Mountaineer magazine

The Professional Mountaineer is the magazine written by members of the UK and Ireland for members and proudly produced by the four associations: British Association of Mountain Guides, British Association of International Mountain Leaders, Association of Mountaineering Instructors and Mountain Training Association. The aim of the magazine is to provide a useful resource for members with...

10/02/2023 10:31

Upcoming Met Office Weather Workshops

As we are entering our fifth year of collaboration work with the Met Office delivering specialist weather workshops to members around the UK, it's time for an update. These sessions have been carefully designed to support the syllabi of Mountain Training's qualifications as well as to enhance the knowledge of qualified leaders and instructors. They are all about the practical application of...

26/01/2023 10:01

Lessons for us from the recent stand up paddleboard tragedy

The accident : At about 09:00 on 30 October 2021, a group of nine stand up paddleboarders, two leaders and seven clients, on a commercial river tour from Haverfordwest to Burton Ferry, Wales, descended Haverfordwest Town Weir. Four of the group became trapped at the weir by the hydraulic towback and subsequently lost their lives. The investigators : We are fortunate in this case that a publicly...

03/01/2023 16:18

MTA Volunteer Awards 2022 Winners

At the 2022 Mountain Training Association (MTA) Autumn Conference at the Field Studies Council's Blencathra Centre the winners of the first ever volunteer awards were announced: celebrating members' achievements, those who have gone above and beyond, shown initiative and dedication, and made a difference in what they do. Nominations are open for next year's awards already, so if you know someone...

30/11/2022 16:46

Members Survey Results

WINNER of the Trailhead 65 Bronze Berghaus rucksack from the survey prize draw is John Lyster from Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Congratulations John! Mountain Training Association has recently conducted a survey of our members, with the survey open between the 23rd February and the 10th April, 2022. During which time we have received 784 responses, approximately 10% of the membership. The...

13/05/2022 15:50

Calling all MTA experts

Here at the Mountain Training Association (MTA) we are looking to use our social media platforms to profile the expertise and calibre of our members as part of a larger publicity campaign to raise the profile of Mountain Training’s association and its members to other organisations involved in walking, climbing and mountaineering as well as the public at large. To that end we are looking...

18/02/2022 13:52

Peak region roundup 2021

After a dubious start post lockdown, and practically no events being possible in the early part of the year, 2021 has turned out to be a bumper year! Cath Sinclair nobly filled the Peak void by organising a Zoom quiz early in March, great fun, and a chance to have facetime with old friends. But would we ever see a hill again? We are, however, nothing if not determined. With lots of help from our...

02/12/2021 15:02

Yorkshire region - Autumn Winter programme

The Yorkshire regional volunteers have been busy pulling together a programme of events for the Yorkshire Region from Peer-led Night Navigation Practice, to Social Climbs and sessions on Archaeology and Geology for over the next 6 months. Details of all of these are listed below, those where details are waiting to be confirmed (TBC) will be updated on the workshop pages as soon as possible and...

28/10/2021 10:50

North Wales region - Autumn Winter programme

North Wales regional volunteers have been busy putting together a regional programme for the winter months, which includes, the popular night nav evenings, Welsh language sessions and pizza eating! Peter Rutherford, the Access officer for Snowdonia National Park has kindly offered to give us an overview of access in the Park. This is going to be a great evening and particularly relevant at the...

28/10/2021 10:03

Long Mynd social

11th May 2021 A huge thanks to Paul An opportunity for a midweek hill social, and hill skills refresher on The Long Mynd for local members. Find out what some of our members thought about the day... The day started off with determining individual pace counts. An exercise that proved incredibly worthwhile as none were as previously known or determined, with one being 25% under. It was explained...

27/05/2021 10:27

2021 Leaders landscape training

Friends of the Lake District are running a variety of landscape training sessions throughout spring and summer and autumn this year, specifically designed for outdoor leaders. Gain a deeper understand of Cumbria's upland ecology and understand some of the issues and pressures of outdoor users on the landscape, wildlife and habitats. Looking at your ‘office space’ with a heightened...

20/04/2021 15:10

2021 New Year Lockdown Webinars

We would like to wish all our members a Happy New Year! As we start the year in another national lockdown, we understand this is a difficult time for all and therefore we are busy putting together a programme of online webinars to help enable you to continue learning and engaging with the MTA community during these challenging times. Here's a few to get you started...... We are very sorry to...

08/01/2021 10:27

National Plant Monitoring Scheme - supported by Plantlife

Published: 23rd September 2020 Last updated: 19th March 2021 The MTA webinars covering aspects of the upland environment and upland vegetation that took place during spring/lockdown this year, were joined by a significant number of MTA members. These sessions were always oversubscribed and created some enthusiastic feedback, demonstrating a keen interest in this important aspect of the...

23/09/2020 10:53

Covid 19: Advice for members

15th May 2020 - Note this information will evolve over the coming weeks and months Following the UK Government’s announcement on 11th May about easing lockdown restrictions in England, we’re aware that MTA members may be looking for clarification about what this means for hill walking and climbing, gaining further experience, using your qualifications and the delivery of Mountain...

22/05/2020 10:28

Helping keep outdoor activities Covid secure

Last updated on 10th August 2021 We are committed to keeping our members informed with relevant information relating to Covid-19 across the UK and Ireland. We hope this will enable you to make responsibly informed decisions regarding any work and volunteering you do with your Mountain Training qualification, or to support your preparation for training and assessment courses. We strongly believe...

19/05/2020 11:30

Webinar programme for 2020

To support MTA members during the lockdown we're thrilled to announce the launch of a new series of FREE online webinars running throughout May and June. We have a wide range of subjects on offer and a fantastic team of experienced and knowledgeable experts to host the sessions. This series experiments with a mixture of delivery styles from presentations and tutorials to discussions, quizzes and...

22/04/2020 10:58

Contact your MP

AMI, BAIML and MTA have produced a template letter for members wishing to contact their local Member of Parliament regarding government support for freelance/self-employed workers. It’s written so that if you are not freelance or self-employed you can still send it to support fellow members should you wish to do so. We are also making representations to the government (through the...

24/03/2020 14:34

MTA and Covid-19

During these unprecedented times as we all do our bit to try to suppress the spread of the Coronavirus epidemic, we all face many challenges. MTA has advised its workshop providers to cancel upcoming CPD sessions and this will be reviewed towards the end of April. This is because travel to and from workshops, possible alternative accommodation arrangements and a close quarter learning environment...

20/03/2020 10:37

Changes to AALA

After twenty four years the contractor that has run the Adventure Activity Licensing Service, TQS, is standing down at the end of March. Our thanks go to Marcus Baillie and his team for all our joint work over the years. Adventure Risk Management Services (Adv-RMS) will takeover on 1 April 2020. We are looking forward to working with Tim Morton of Adv-RMS, who is currently employed as Deputy...

28/02/2020 09:30

Annual reports

2020 summary Due to the pandemic a fresh intake of mentor and mentee applicants was put on hold and the 2019 mentoring programme was extended for another year. All existing mentees/mentors from the previous year were invited to continue their mentoring relationships. 2019 summary Update coming soon... 2018 summary A big thank you to our mentors and mentees for being part of MTA’s first...

27/08/2019 15:26

Moors for the future partnership

By Peter Judd - MTA member & BMC specialist volunteer This is the third year that I have coordinated a day out with the Moors for the Future Partnership looking at blanket bog restoration in the Peak District with the Moors for the Future Partnership This year MFTFP chose a new venue Wessenden Moor. Whilst previous events have filled to capacity with waiting lists, I was rather disappointed...

13/08/2019 09:55

The Real3Peaks challenge 2019

This year, not only do we have the ‘Big 3’ (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon) but also Lochnagar, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui, Ben Lomond, Isle of Skye, Roseberry Topping, The Roaches, Coniston Old Man and Pen y Fan amongst others. This is a massive increase on ground we’re covering, including all the high ground in the Cairngorm National Park. That’s no modest...

19/07/2019 12:25

Green exercise for mental health

Last month, several of our MTA members volunteered as leaders in Black Dog Outdoors’ inaugural day walk, using their experience as qualified Mountain Leaders to lead the group and provide support throughout the day. Black Dog Outdoors has been established to promote outdoor activities as a means of improving mental health. “Many of the mental health organisations are citing...

20/05/2019 11:53

Blencathra summit stone replaced by MTA members

A group of enthusiastic Mountain Training Association members spearheaded by John Beamson have replaced the summit stone on Blencathra in the Lake District thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. The stone went missing in August 2018 and is presumed to have been stolen. After hearing rumours of the stone’s disappearance, John lead a client up Sharp Edge (a popular scramble on the Blencathra...

10/04/2019 15:36

What Brexit means for UK sport

On Tuesday 19th March Mountain Training attended an All Party Parliamentary Mountaineering Group meeting at Portcullis House in London. Representatives from Horse Riding, Paddlesport, the Ramblers, the British Mountaineering Council and the Outdoor Industry Association were all there plus three MPs, including John Mann who chaired the group. During the meeting the Sport and Recreation Alliance...

26/03/2019 16:35

Met Office & MTA collaboration

These workshops have been carefully designed to support the syllabi of Mountain Training's qualifications as well as to enhance the knowledge of qualified leaders and instructors. They are all about practically applying information gained from weather forecasts during the planning stage and dynamically whilst out in the hills and mountains. By working with Mountain Training Association the Met...

18/02/2019 16:05

Coaching & Teaching event

MTA and AMI have teamed up to bring you a weekend of “all things coaching” focusing on the processes of coaching and helping you to understand coaching concepts and when to use them. Know when and how to apply coaching skills regardless of activity or level and integrate them when leading groups or instructing clients. This event will give you an abundance of tools, models and ideas...

19/10/2018 11:55

Association leadership resources

Mountain Training's Association have teamed up with Dr Samantha McElligott, Mountain Leader and leadership consultant, to provide members with a very handy package of practical leadership resources to help you review and develop your leadership practice , as well as links to other useful websites and reading material to further enhance your understanding and growth as a leader. All of the...

26/09/2018 10:53

E-learning

We currently have five e-learning modules available, with more under development. All of the modules are designed to complement one or more of the Mountain Training schemes and we think they're a great way to supplement your learning and development, regardless of what stage you're at. One of these modules (Geology) has been designed by us, the Mountain Training Association and is exclusive to...

14/09/2018 11:26

Bridge the Gap

Our 'Bridging the gap between SPA and RCI' workshops are one day update and training sessions for people who have completed their Single Pitch Award training and wish to become familiar with the new aspects of the Rock Climbing Instructor syllabus prior to assessment, or for those assessed under the SPA to update their skills in line with the RCI syllabus. Update and refresh your skills, revisit...

07/09/2018 12:51

ML Refreshers in the Peaks

Chris Harling has been running some brilliant Mountain Leader refresher weekends this spring and summer in the Peak District and we're looking forward to him hosting more for members in the coming months. Here's a little review of the sessions so far: Until I had been asked to run a Mountain Leader refresher workshop in The Peak District, I had not really looked at the possibilities for coaching...

05/04/2018 12:05

MTUK Adventuremark Accreditation

Adventuremark is a non-statutory safety scheme devised by the Adventure Activity Industry Advisory Committee (AAIAC) for providers of adventurous activities that are outside the scope of the Adventure Activity Licensing regulations. Adventuremark allows providers to demonstrate to their customers or users that the provider's safety management and related delivery systems have been inspected and...

15/11/2017 11:19

3 is the magic number

As part of the excellent CPD workshop programme organised by the MTA Peak District regional group coordinator Stephen Jones, it has been my pleasure to provide a series of workshop days this year focusing on the Access and Environment components of the various Mountain Training award schemes. Following an initial discussion with Stephen, Belinda and Jo over coffee and cakes in the Outside...

11/10/2017 14:24

The 2017 Real3Peaks Challenge

This year's date for the Real3Peaks Challenge is Saturday 7th October The Real3Peaks (R3P) is now 5 years old and this year, not only are we cleaning up the Big 3: Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, but also Lochnagar, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui,Ben Lomond, Goat Fell and two areas of The Peak District! The aim of the Real3Peaks Challenge is to increase awareness of the ‘Leave no...

02/10/2017 11:02

Climbing with confidence

31/07/2017 15:16

Tahdah premium features for association members

We are excited to announce that our members will now receive tahdah premium features for free as part of their Mountain Training Association membership. We know that a lot of our members have been using these features already so for them this is a great annual saving of up to £20. We think the premium features have a lot to offer which is why we wanted to share them with all of our members. ...

17/05/2017 14:23

Cath Sinclair Mountain Leader a members story

Cath Sinclair has been a member of the association for the past three years and holds the Mountain Leader qualification. Read more about her story: Brought up in a walking and nature loving family, I walked up Snowdon aged 5 and never looked back!The inspiration to do mountain training came from wanting to increase my skills as I was already leading walks and my friends encouraged me to follow...

12/04/2017 09:23

Alex Frood A Winter Mountain Leader at 22

Alex has been an association member for almost four years and became a Winter Mountain Leader at the age of 22. Read more about his journey... I've always been interested in the outdoors, since I was a child. I think growing up watching the National Geographic and Discovery Channels on TV shaped my dream of being an adventurer for a job, but school and college sort of put you into the mind-set...

05/04/2017 14:39

Ali Evans a members story

Ali Evans joined the association two years ago. She was already a Hill & Moorland Leader award holder and is now currently working towards her Mountain leader and Climbing Wall Award qualifications. Read more about her journey ... My real passion didn’t come until my late twenties. In fact, I hadn’t climbed Pen y Fan until my 29th birthday – embarrassing as it’s on...

30/03/2017 11:02

Alex Kendall story

Alex Kendall has been an Association member for six years and is a qualified Winter Mountain Leader working in the outdoors. Read more about his outdoor journey here... I've always enjoyed being in the outdoors, from holidays to Wales and Devon when I was small, to walking weeks in Austria and Switzerland when I was a bit bigger. It was during my degree that I really got into mountain walking in...

24/03/2017 09:52

Reading the View

The Milestone Buttress, low down on the West face of Tryfan above Llyn Ogwen is a place where many instructors will spend a little time looking at the view. On ascents and descents of Tryfan by the North Ridge or the west face this is a good chunk of your view. In this view there are features left being by glacial erosion, ridges of different rock types, fluvial features of erosion and there is...

30/08/2016 09:42

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...

12/07/2016 16:26

Rewilding in Ennerdale

- 10th May 2016- The biodiversity of the hills is, in most places, unfortunately impoverished. The 2013 'State of Nature' report found that 65% of upland species have declined over the last 40 years , and many of these have 'declined strongly'. Any effort to turn around this trajectory should be welcomed, and it was with interest at seeing one of the most famous examples that I signed up to the...

24/05/2016 09:16

Upper Dove from above

Spring's Professional Mountaineer magazine arrived and I was highly delighted when I got to page 28 to see an article by Paul Gannon on superimposed drainage in the Peak District. Why delighted? As a volunteer leader for Staffordshire Moorlands District Council some 8 months ago I'd arranged a walk from the County's highest village, Flash, through the landscape that Paul was describing in his...

18/04/2016 16:47

Real3Peaks Challenge

Saturday's results... Ben Nevis 13 Volunteers, 153kg Scafell Pike39 Volunteers, 155.5kg Snowdon36 Volunteers, 205kg What an astounding day, organised by three members of the Mountian Training Association and joined by 88 people who came out on Saturday 10th October to support the Real3Peaks Challenge on the UK’s highest peaks - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & Snowdon, collecting litter...

20/10/2015 11:57

Identifying Trees

On Friday 7 August 2015, the Friends of the Lake District and the Mountain Training Association organised a Tree Identification Workshop led by Pete Leeson, Woodland Creation Adviser for The Woodland Trust. This interesting and informative day took place at ‘The Helm’ woods, near Kendal, Cumbria. The Helm is partly owned and managed by the Friends of the Lake District who have planted...

22/09/2015 12:29

A geological and geomorphological tour

No Vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end. A geological and geomorphological tour of Holyrood Park, Edinburgh On Wednesday 26th August 2015 ten members (and one dog) went on a Geological and Geomorphological tour of Holyrood Park led by member Alistair McGowan, Hills of Hame We began by looking at some of the sedimentary rocks, which form the bedrock before the volcanic eruptions that...

21/09/2015 12:23

A day getting to know upland plants

‘Getting to know your Upland Plants’ with Arthur Jones of Trossachs Treks was a really excellent workshop. It took place in the Mentieth Hills, north of Glasgow in a mixture of woodland and moorland terrain. The small group was evenly split between prospective MLs, looking to increase their environmental awareness for assessment, and practicing MLs supplementing their knowledge for...

19/05/2015 11:55

Climbing for all

On 18 April Graham Hill (GB Paraclimbing Team Manager) delivered a very well received Climbing For All workshop at Redpoint Birmingham. The day started with a discussion on appropriate and inappropriate references and definitions and how easy it is to fall into the associated traps – the take away is use positive language and don’t be shy about discussing the person’s needs and...

21/04/2015 10:31

Leadership for special educational needs

I've worked for several years in a variety of special and mainstream school and outdoor centress and am passionate about the differences you can make to peoples lives by having some knowledge and understanding of their challenges. I started my career as a teaching assistant, before becoming a behaviour specialist and finally completing teacher training in outdoor education at Bangor university, I...

20/04/2015 16:04

Members get to know their GPS

It’s a small and generally misunderstood creature, bright yellow in colour and usually found lurking in the bottom of my rucksack . . . or hiding in a Random Dry-Bag of Stuff as it was last weekend which meant I was last to arrive for the start of the workshop on Saturday, oops! It is of course my trusty GPS receiver; the etrex 10 to be precise. It’s a basic model, but on those...

07/04/2015 15:12

Getting together with Mountain Rescue

Joint Associations' Furness and Duddon Mountain Rescue Team Workshop – 5th March 2015 The aim of the workshop was to learn more about the role of the Team, the type of call outs they attend and how we can best assist them as professional mountaineers. There were 3 sessions: The control room and ‘behind the scenes’ management of a call out. The theory of cliff rescue, searches...

11/03/2015 12:57

Avalanche Awareness - Getting Updated

Last month I attended the Mountain Training Association (MTA) CPD day hosted by Andy Townsend IFMGA Guide based in the Northen Cairngorms and a Director of Infinity Mountain Guides. The day was a mix of practical and static sessions looking at Avalanche awareness, route planning and decision making in the mountains under winter conditions. The course was aimed at Summer Mountain Leaders who are...

02/03/2015 12:26

Launching the Peaks Regional Group

Nature had turned a simple moorland walk into something rather more challenging, following a heavy fall of snow. But some of the views were spectacular! Seventeen brave pioneers turned out for the day, and a couple more were able to join us for the meeting. I’d planned a few challenges along the way providing a little bit of insight into the local Bronze age settlements often used for...

06/02/2015 11:22

Through the Ages on Tal y Fan

Who would have thought there was so much Archaeological history on one mountain! The hills of Snowdonia have been inhabited for at least 6000 years and modern day hikers and mountaineers are walking in the footsteps of our ancestors but rarely notice their remains. Not this day though, thanks to Jane Kenney a Senior Archeologist from the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust who took us on a grand tour...

23/10/2014 17:27

What a load of rubbish

An astonishing 488kgs of rubbish was lifted from the 3 most popular mountains in the UK during this years Real3Peaks Clean and Conserve event which took place on Saturday 4th October. Coordinated and led by committed members of the Mountain Training Association, it was no suprise to see a host of volunteers (many of them freelance instructors) turning out despite a dreadful forecast. A modest...

22/10/2014 12:10

The Real3Peaks Challenge

This year's date for the ‘Real3Peaks Challenge: Cleanse & Conserve' is Saturday 4th October In 2013, Mountain Training Association member Rich Pyne was working on Ben Nevis and was shocked by the amounts of rubbish he found - posting about this on social media he soon heard back from other outdoor professionals - the UK's three highest peaks were becoming a dumping ground for near...

29/09/2014 15:33