Page 26 - RADC 2020

Finishing a hairy climb in Coire-an-Sneachda
Summer
and Winter Mountaineering Capt G Cheesbrough, 3 Med, RADC
The Joint Service Mountain Training Centre (JSMTC) team delivers leadership courses for a whole range of mountaineering activities, from Rock Climbing and Summer Mountaineering to Ice Climbing
in the Scottish winter. In the past year,
I’ve had the good fortune to attend two JSMTC courses and spent a third week on a course with the Army Mountaineering Association.
The JSMTC courses are provided free
of charge at different locations across the UK, including North Wales, Yorkshire, and the Scottish Highlands. They are open to
all, although some courses require certain levels of previous experience. If you have no experience with mountaineering whatsoever, then there are foundation courses available to get you going. The ultimate aim of JSMTC courses are to get qualified leaders within units and for those individuals to go on to lead future Adventure Training exercises (AT).
Summer Mountain Leader Training (MLT) – August 2019
I attended my MLT course at Ballachulish
in the Scottish Highlands in the summer
of 2019. However, being in the Scottish summer doesn’t mean much, except that there would be lots of rain and plentiful midges. The MLT course is the second
of four summer mountaineering courses designed to develop your skills to the
point where you can safely lead teams on mountaineering expeditions below the snow line.
When applying for a course there are often multiple locations providing the same course and you can apply depending on your
preference. However, there is no guarantee of getting a place on your preferred course date and often you will apply for a few before being successful. Ballachulish might sound like the worst choice of location but there really is no substitute for the Scottish Highlands and the (very!) long drive is simply stunning in the right weather. All the courses are fully catered and the chef, Ross, in Ballachulish is reputed to be the best in the business!
The course initially focussed on affirming the skills that should already be present from the previous Summer Mountain Foundation course and from your personal experience. This included navigation skills, from macro-nav using large ground features, down to micro-nav at a much finer degree of detail. We progressed through the week developing the leadership skills needed to not only look after yourself on the mountain but to also safely lead a team of novices.
On top of safety, along the way, we also developed our knowledge of the British flora, fauna, and geology.
The next course in the series, the Summer Mountain Leader qualification, is the equivalent to a civilian qualification awarded by Mountain Training England. This would allow you to lead groups of civilian novices in the mountains.
Winter Mountaineering Foundation (WMF) – January 2020
The key to getting Chain of Command (CoC) support for leadership courses is to identify an area where your unit or region is lacking instructors. Some instructor qualifications
Glorious sunset to end the first day of our overnight expedition
24 RADC BULLETIN 2020
Descending Sgorr Dhearg back towards the training centre in Ballachulish
SPORT & AT