The Mountain Skills course is an ideal choice for walkers interested in applying their countryside walking skills to the mountain environment. Ideally, participants would have done some basic hill walking previously and have a reasonable level of fitness.

Skills in map and compass, mountain weather forecasting, movement through steep ground, planning and preparation, emergency procedures, seasonal effects and the mountain environment all form the syllabus of this course. The course is run in the main high mountain areas of the UK and Ireland.

A Mountain Skills course will start with an opportunity to meet the other people on the course and take part in a short planning session with the course tutor. After that you will be out in the mountains, moving away from marked paths and into steeper, rockier terrain in order to learn about the differences in weather, navigation and managing risk in the mountain environment.

The physical effort required on these days will be more demanding than the Hill Skills course and you can expect to be out in the mountains for between 5-6 hours. In addition, many of our providers will run an evening session that can either be a walk into darkness or an additional teaching session on other elements of the course syllabus.

Courses include:

• A copy of the Safety on Mountains book

• A navigational timing card

• A certificate of attendance for completing each course

• Lifetime use of the Mountain Training Association digital logbook (DLOG) for recording your mountain walking.

Course content:

• Planning – how to successfully plan a walk in the mountains in the UK or Ireland.

• Walking skills – what things should you consider while out walking and what can make life easier (pace, nutrition, movement skills, steep ground etc.).

• Clothing and equipment – being suitably dressed and equipped can make the difference between a great day out and a complete disaster.

• Weather – how it affects the mountains and your day out.

• Navigation in the mountains – everything from selecting a compass and using a map to navigation in poor visibility and an intro to GPS.

• Environmental knowledge – how to minimise your impact on the hill, information on good practice and useful organisations.

• Hazards and emergency procedures in the mountains – how to respond to any hazards you encounter and what to do in an emergency.