The first and only woman to hold the Mountaineering Instructor Advanced Certificate (MIAC), Barbara Roscoe, has died at the age of 82. Barbara was a key player in the early years of Mountain Training, joining the Mountain Leadership Training Board as a board member in 1966 which later became Mountain Training England and training over 400 outdoor graduate teachers through her role at Bangor University.
An excellent climber and determined mountaineer, Barbara grew up in north east Wales and initially trained as a PE teacher in Liverpool. While working as a teacher she learned to climb on courses at Plas y Brenin where she first met Jo Scarr, who remained a lifelong friend. The pair went on a successful year long trip to the Himalayas in 1961-62; they drove to India, climbed two unclimbed peaks in the Kulu Himalaya (both 20,000ft mountains), taught in a pre-school in Delhi and joined the women's Jagdula expedition to the unexplored Kanjiroba Himal in N.W. Nepal, making first ascents of six unclimbed peaks, before driving back to the UK.
The experience she had gained from the expedition and her many climbing adventures in the UK, led to Barbara becoming an instructor at Plas y Brenin in mid-1962. In 1964, Barbara had a climbing accident on Pillar Rock in the Lake District when a belay gave way. The significant injuries she suffered plagued her for the rest of her life.
In 1965, Barbara was invited by Sir Charles Evans to start a PGCE, teacher training, course in Outdoor Activities at Bangor University, the first in the UK, where she continued her respected work in outdoor education until her retirement in 1983. During those 18 years, Barbara taught over 400 students and her influence reaches further than those individuals to the people they have taught, sharing her wisdom and leadership far beyond the university. Tim Jepson, who ran the PGCE course at Bangor from 1983 spoke highly of Barbara; “Many teachers and instructors will remember Barbara fondly for her inspiration and encouragement along their journey to becoming outdoor professionals. Barbara worked to the highest standards herself and she demanded high standards from those she taught and worked with too. She will be missed by all who knew her!”
John Cousins, Mountain Training UK CEO, recognises the impact she had on the delivery and development of Mountain Training’s qualifications; “For several decades the local education authority (LEA) centres were one of the mainstays of Mountain Training’s delivery workforce and Barbara inspired and developed a great many of those LEA staff.”
Barbara remained physically active well into her retirement and was awarded Honorary membership of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI) along with her husband Don, who survives her. She and Don cycled around the world in 1988-89, following the summer through Asia, Australia, New Zealand and America. Together they fished, walked, climbed, cycled and canoed regularly until a series of knee and ankle operations in the early 2000’s restricted her adventurous activity.
Barbara was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005. Despite the limitations and challenges of her final years, Barbara remained her positive and enthusiastic self, enjoying support from a host of friends, neighbours, family and ex-students. She was able to remain in her much-loved Bwlch-y-Fron home throughout her illness, thanks to the help of her devoted, full-time carers from 2016.
The loss of Barbara Roscoe comes less than two months after
Andy Nisbet died at the age of 65 whilst winter climbing with Steve Perry on Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro. Andy was a Mountaineering Instructor and prolific winter climber with over 1,000 new routes to his name. John Cousins reflected; “This is such tragic news: not only did so many of us prize repeating a Nisbet route, but Andy was a talented and well known mountaineering instructor and former aspirant Guide who shared with so many people not only his passion for climbing and walking but also his technical skills and his incomparable knowledge of the Highlands.”
Both highly influential in different ways, Barbara and Andy will be sadly missed by the mountaineering community. They were two very contrasting Mountaineering Instructors but their enthusiasm, endless encouragement to others and lifelong commitment to the sport perfectly encapsulates Mountain Training’s recently developed
ethos. Mountain Training sends its condolences to their families and friends.