Mountain Team 2022 Roundup
In 2022, the wonderful Cheshire leaders have achieved 8 new hill walking permits for Terrain 1 and Terrain 2. On top of this we have just awarded 3 new Lead Top Rope Climbing Permits and one Supervise Permit. This is superb after the reduced training through the pandemic, the only way is further up!
Our aim is to get young people out into the crags, hills and mountains. Climbing and hiking are truly a core part of the Scouting experience. Are there climbers and hill walkers in your district that might not know how to gain a permit to take young people out onto there? Please spread the word and point them in our
direction.
Our record for 2022 looks a bit like this…
Every single time we go out in the UK, the sun shines! Sadly, I don’t believe this can last! You have been warned!
Hafod Training
We kicked off 2022 with the much-anticipated-post-covid return to our hill walking training course at Yr Hafod in March. A new bunch of 18 keen hill and mountain leaders explored the area through the day and night, learning how to keep our young members safe and happy. We had a strange mountain quiz and social on the Friday night, followed by two days of navigating and walking in the most beautiful sunshine. The trainees were a fabulous bunch and many returned for assessment in November.
Winter ML Courses for our team
Meanwhile, 3 of our summer assessors drove up to the Cairngorms for 6 days of extremely-extreme training up high. This was to begin their journey to be winter assessors. We are very grateful for the support of the County team who helped with the cost. Though we have a lot to learn before we have to go for assessment, we hope that this means we will be able to continue to offer winter courses for many years to come. It does mean that we are able to run the Winter Skills Weekend in
February 2023.
County Skills Weekend at Forest Camp
In May, the Mountain Team helped out with the climbing wall at the County Skills day at Forest Camp, getting some people introduced to the climbing wall and helping some others start their permit journey.
Hill Walking Taster Days
New for 2022! When May came along, we had two beautiful days out introducing 15 leaders to the chilled experience of hill walking and starting their journey to leading young people in the hills. Pat and Neil took the teams for a stroll around Shining Tor, looking for nice views and aircraft wreckage while learning how to use new navigation tools in a zero-pressure environment. We are planning to run these again for 2023 so please spread the word.
Outdoor Climbing Training
The team did another new thing this year … running a course for those interested in taking Scouts climbing outdoors, and maybe even getting their outdoor permit. Gav, Pat, Ollie, Phil and Ali brought the trainees and a million bags of kit to the crag at Teggs Nose Country Park where they learned how to rig-up and run safe and challenging outdoor climbing days, while maybe just enjoying being out in the sunshine yet again!
Supporting the Knutsford and Mid-Cheshire Snowdon Days
Two of our districts had the ambition to run large events to get as many Scouts as possible up Yr Wyddfa. Knutsford and MidCheshire both managed to get over 50 young people all the way up and down safely and happily. The mountain team was pleased to support the districts in the planning and running of the event. It really was such an experience to witness so many Scouts out in the wilds, challenging themselves (and sometimes their leaders!). If any other district might like to try this in 2023 then please just get in touch with the team.
Triglav and Slovenia
Supporting little-old-ex-district Knutsford again, the county team helped as the Knutsford Network went off to Slovenia to climb their highest mountain. This was a very serious challenge for a highly trained team. We took the team out training, first to Go Ape in Delamere to learn how to use via Ferrata kit, then to Striding Edge before heading to North Wales to tackle a tricky route up the North Face of Tryfan. Slovenia was simply awe-striking and we managed two great mountain days, but sadly the weather closed in with thunder storms so we were unable to summit Triglav. Safety First! The mountain will be there for another day. Again, if any other district would like to try something like this then please ask how we can support you.
Hill Walking November Training and Assessment
Not quite finished yet, for November we moved from our usual haunt at Yr Hafod to the very nice adventure centre in Rhy Ddu for the T1 and T2 training and assessment. We had 3 assessment teams out this time, alongside one training team, meaning it was all-hands-on-deck for the Mountain Team. The new location presented a fresh challenge for us all, and the sun shone for two gorgeous mountain days. We climbed up and around Snowdon and the Nantile Ridge, testing the candidate’s navigation, group management and rope safety.
Indoor Climbing Training and Assessment
We have signed out for 2022 with the climbing wall training and assessment on the wall at 5th Knutsford. We looked at setting up the venue, managing the group, kit safety, rope safety, dealing with issues and more. Lots of leaders completed their training and will hopefully come back for assessment soon, while 3 leaders managed to pass their assessment and can now get more young people onto those climbing walls! We can organise more training to support you, just ask.
What’s next?
For our 2023 events, visit the events calendar on our website.
