Tuesday 22 September 2015

Top mountaineering day for the MTA

Today I was working on the 3rd of 4 workshops for the MTA. The last 2 have been run by MICs Lou and Max and the latter has one more to go. Copying a model for a workshop run in Wales the idea is to give Association members some CPD based around improving their personal mountaineering skills.
Today I was out with Lucy (experienced ML and WML starting down the IML pathway) and Wally (an old hand ML thinking about MIA) from Arran. They are both climbers with plenty of past mountaineering experience- although they claimed to be a 'bit rusty'.
We decided a full mountain day would be the ticket and so despite a damp forecast we headed to Ben Nevis and Tower Ridge. I guided the first part of the ridge as a Mountaineering Instructor would to illustrate to Wally to some of the skills he would pick up going through the MIA. We passed a party who were abseiling off owing to greasy conditions and made good speed to the bottom of the Little Tower. Here I handed over to Lucy and Wally and they used their personal mountaineering skills to make their way to the top of the ridge placing gear and taking belays as required. Top job to Lucy taking us across the Gap- the scene of some very mixed personal experiences in the past!
After a quick look down into No.4 to check on the various flowering Mouse-ears and Saxifrages (late this year) we headed to Ledge Route. Taking the easiest way down we had a good chat about where the scope of the ML Award starts and finishes before the clouds began to ease off to finally give us a view back to where we had been.
A fun day with a top couple of MTA members taking their own personal development seriously!
 Low on Tower Ridge
 Wally interested in how an MIA might do it
Wally and Lucy take over
 Lucy bringing Wally up some easy ground
 Slimey and smiley!
 On the Great Tower
 See it wasn't that big a step Lucy!
 Lucy styling Tower Gap
 Fun and games on the way down Ledge Route
 My Sherpa softshell jacket getting a good outing
The clouds part revealing the Great Tower

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