Mountain Skills Assessment
Mountain Skills Assessment is a two day assessment in personal proficiency of mountain navigation and knowledge.
The Mountain Skills Assessment follows a similar format to that as experienced during the Mountain Skills One and Two course thereby providing participants with the best possible opportunity to have a positive experience.
We will focus on map reading skills, the ability to visualise a journey, understand distance, timing and contour interpretation.
Day One – Day into Night Navigation
During day one and we will undertake a realistic journey into the mountains. You will individually lead navigational legs displaying your navigational skillset, while those following will have to relocate when you stop.
We will move from daylight into darkness during day one and you will be expected to navigation back to our starting point with confidence under headtorch, using the appropriate navigation skills.
During the day into night navigation we may also assess equipment, understanding of mountain hazards, environment and leave no trace principals.
You will have been sent a home paper to complete a week before the course and we will discuss if there are differing opinions on the various scenarios as outlined in the paper.
We will also discuss your understanding of current magnetic variation, reliability of the features on the map and how we can create a hierarch of what features can provide navigational certainty.
Day Two – Steep Ground and Contours
During day two we will focus on contour interpretation and assessing risk on steep ground. You will be expected to show a pragmatic approach to navigation in the mountains where you will be requested to set your map, you will be given a place to find and if visibility allows, you will be asked to find it without using a compass, pacing or timing.
We will endeavour to carry out several navigation legs where you move away from an over reliance on the core navigational tools and instead focus on contour interpretation.
Mountain Skills Assessment candidates will be given every opportunity to pass the assessment and fundamentally performance will come down to how much time and practice went into their preparation before presenting themselves for assessment.
There will be ample opportunity to redress errors during the assessment therefore psychologically it is best to assume you will make errors but that there will be many chances to rectify them.
If prepared appropriately candidates should not only enjoy the assessment process but also view it as another learning opportunity.
Mountain Skills Assessment runs over two days in Wicklow, however I will travel to others areas if a group requests.
This is an official Mountain Ireland assessment and costs €170 per person.
Upon contacting info@hikeandclimb.ie or clicking on the book now button below you will receive an email and PDF outlining the course details and booking information.
I look forward to seeing you on the beautiful Irish Mountains