ML Assessment

The Summer Mountain Leader Award allows a leader to take a group into the mountains or hilly terrain of the UK and Ireland. This summer, the Neil Mackenzie Trust gave me funding to enable me to complete the assessment of the award. I was so focussed on doing my best for the assessment that I forgot to take any photos, but I’ve attached some photographs of a few of my quality mountain days (days which are logged to show relevant mountain experience to qualify for the assessment) in the hope these give a flavour of my preparation for the assessment.

I arrived at Glenmore lodge late on a Friday night in the middle of June. The temperature was in the high twenties, which, for a redhead who has spent all their life in Scotland, could not be classed as favourable. I was feeling slightly nervous, as while I had prepared well for most aspects of my Mountain Leader (ML) assessment, I’d had an irritating foot injury preventing any last-minute walks or navigation practice. I was just going to have to trust that part to experience.

The first day did much to put my nerves at bay (not just because of the fantastic breakfast provided by the Lodge!), meeting the instructors and the rest of the people on my course and going on a short day walk (Meall a’ Bhuachaille) – the reason for the short will become apparent later. This day walk was added to by the excitement of a large thunderstorm – which had been brewing for several days – providing some real-life education on situational judgement and weather reading. This day was fantastic and definitely dispelled any myth that the assessment was purely for assessing, with our assessor providing many tip bits on all aspects of being in the mountains from emergency procedures to group management. After demonstrating different river crossing techniques – which involved getting pretty wet and was pretty welcome given the high temps – dinner and a group trip to the bar followed.

The following day saw us showing our ropework skills to the assessor. This was another very hot day, not helped by the fact we had to wear helmets, but a nice breeze made Coire an t-Sneachda and Fiacaill Ridge very pleasant. We again discussed situational judgements and when a rope is appropriate for an ML to use, as well as making ourselves some lovely anchors using the big blocks above Twin Ribs. Though this was an assessment day, it was cheerful and chatty and I enjoyed lots of learning too.

The main bulk of the ML assessment is a three-day expedition, testing group management, navigation and route choice. With the high pressure holding firm, the assessors grasped the opportunity with both hands and planned two nights of high camps in the Cairngorms. Our expedition began at the bottom of Glen Feshie from Auchlean and headed up Carn Ban Mor (one of the more plateau-like Munros!), before heading up Tom Dubh and dropping down to camp in what would usually be a bog but, due to the extended period of hot dry weather, was actually reasonably light and springy.

Now started what would be, for me, the hardest part of the expedition. By choosing to do my assessment in June, near the summer solstice, it would hardly get dark, but a key component of the award is night navigation. This saw me leaving my tent at 10.30pm, slightly apprehensive but armed with a good selection of snacks to keep me going throughout the night (jelly beans played a large role in my plan to keep myself awake and concentrating)! We navigated to a wide range of points across our bog and identified where we were on a map at several more, including the summit of Monadh Mor – a hill which has never been particularly high on my to do list due to its lack of prominence and surrounding of bog, but was made quite exciting by a fantastic red glow left by the sunset in the now almost black sky – before heading back to camp at around 2.30am. It had been a long day but the jelly beans and a particularly large piece of cake had got me through!

The next morning thankfully saw a lie in before heading up Braeriach. This was spectacular and there were views across to Cairn Toul and a long way north. It was good to see water still flowing from the Wells of Dee after the depleted water table witnessed at our campsite. A descent to the Larig Ghru followed this and then a re-ascent to the Macdui plateau before reaching our campsite for the night at the Feith Buidhe via an attempted snow patch glissade. The evening was really lovely as the campsite was reached early and I got to socialise with the other members of the course and have a wee paddle in the burn.

The last day seemed almost anticlimactic with a quick pack up and walk out to the ski centre car park. We returned to Glenmore Lodge and were fed an excellent lunch before having a debrief and finding out our results. Luckily for me (skilfully I’d argue), I passed!

I had a fantastic time, going to exciting places in perfect weather, meeting loads of new and exciting people and learning from many experienced assessors with different experiences. And it’s a huge thanks to the Neil Mackenzie Trust that I was given the funding to complete the course at the nationally renowned Glenmore Lodge and have this amazing experience!