Mountain skills 1 course

jimmer123

Hi

just wondering if anyone here has completed mountain skills1 and what they thought of it.

http://www.mountaineering.ie/trainingandsafety/tier1viewdetials.asp?ID=9&Tier1ID=71

sparrowcar

Fantastic course. I did it a few years ago having never had any documentation or awards to prove all my years of experience on mountains.

It was great to refresh old skills and if I'm honest I learned many new ones.

The night navigation was great fun but spoiled a bit by a full moon which made cheating a bit easier.

Started the prep for mountain leader award but have not gotten around to doing yet.

Defo worth doing.

jimmer123

thanks spaarow glad you liked it.

sadly the night navigation isnt until mt2 really like the sound of that.

think i am going to go ahead and do it

Boardnashea

Yes, I would recommend the MS1 and 2 courses. Just formalises what you maybe already know but as above, you're sure to pick up something new as well. I just did the REC 3 first aid course and that also was very good. A lot has changed in the First Aid area since I last did a course so good to be up to date with current practice.

999/112

MS1 & MS 2 are very good courses. Nathan Kingerlee [posts on here from time to time] would be able to give you more info on dates & costs etc.

duckysauce

Did Ms1 and highly recommend the course will get around to the rest someday.

Orion

Doing the MS1 myself in 3 weeks with Mountain Ventures. Looking forward to refreshing some old skills and learning new ones.

Esroh

Did MS 1 and MS2 and they are great. the grounding you get set you up for your days in the hills.

UDP

Anyone know the costs of these courses?

jimmer123

Mountain Ventures charge €120 for MTSkills1 and €140 for MTSkills2

Rantan

I did MS1 recently in wicklow, really enjoyed the weekend, hope to do MS 2 and maybe get the MSA in before the end of the year if possible.

I'd highly recomend it

jimmer123

All positive reviews looks like this its well worth doing. Looking forward to doing it

Pat Mustard

I also did MS1 and MS2 with Nathan Kingerlee of Outdoors Ireland. Would highly recommend.

mr spuckler

i've been thinking of doing this and all the positive comments are definitely pushing me towards it.

Orion

Even if you don't go on to do the MLA or ML course it's still worth doing the MS1 just for the skills you'll learn that can only help on the hills

Orion

Did the course with Aaron in Mountain Ventures. I was already able to read a map, take a bearing and give a grid reference. But putting following a bearing in to practice when off trail on the hills was a great thing to learn (still needs practice of course). Learned a lot of valuable tricks for navigating in the hills such as handrailing, aiming-off and pacing (I've learned that 59 of my paces is 100m).

Definitely worth doing if you do any hiking in the hills - even if you stay on established routes. Well worth the money imo.

FrostyJack

I concure with the above, did MS1 with Nathan from Outdoors Ireland the other day, although I had a good knowledge of map reading etc, you can only learn so much from books and the internet. Putting all the stuff together in a practical way was great. Highly recommend it for any level of hillwalker, well worth the investment. Could literally save your life (or embarrassment for calling mountain rescue:D) and a great way to spend the weekend.

kerry4sam

Just completed my Mountain Skills #1 Course this past w/end with Outdoors Ireland and even posted some images in the photos thread stickied above (right here).

Out-standing team-work from both Nathan & Jason! Cannot commend those two guys enough. They were kind, professional, helpful, thorough and just pure sweet! They both brought the week-end together in such a way that made it enjoyable (even though my sciatica gave me grief); they delivered an outstanding educational week-end that I am already trying to plan manageable routes for myself to complete in between my preparations for the ROK Cycle 2013 and working.

The best decision I could have made and could not have chosen better company to be out there learning with. Thoroughly Enjoyable! Highly Recommend.

Anyone can feel free to pm me if they would like to know further details about what is covered

Thanks again to Nathan & Jason!

KilOit

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Myself and the girlfriend are looking to do something like the MW1 course. Has much changed with the course in the last year? anymore recommendations?
Both of us have climbed some of the mountains in Wicklow but i would like to get some navigation training to boost my confidence hill walking in bad weather and to learn about the terrain etc

mr spuckler

KilOit wrote: »

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Myself and the girlfriend are looking to do something like the MW1 course. Has much changed with the course in the last year? anymore recommendations?
Both of us have climbed some of the mountains in Wicklow but i would like to get some navigation training to boost my confidence hill walking in bad weather and to learn about the terrain etc

i'm keen to do this too so interested in any replies!

knucklehead6

i did it in june.

Well worth it in my opinion. Haven't done MS2 yet, but intend on doing it early in the new year, just want to get a few more hikes under my belt between now and then

kerry4sam

KilOit wrote: »

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Myself and the girlfriend are looking to do something like the MW1 course. Has much changed with the course in the last year? anymore recommendations?
Both of us have climbed some of the mountains in Wicklow but i would like to get some navigation training to boost my confidence hill walking in bad weather and to learn about the terrain etc

Contact Nathan with Outdoors Ireland, details here. That's who two of us done our MS1 with and simply wonderful.

Can't mountain-climb at present, but can hill walk as it's less strenuous on my back and still use the skills I learned. Actually, being the swat that I am, I test myself as I go. Even just the preparations before setting off is wonderful to learn

That's who I'd recommend anywhoo,
Hope that helps,
kerry4sam

wrt40

Also interested in this. See quite a few rescue helicopters overhead where I live, gets you thinking. Is there anyone providing training in the Dublin\Wicklow mountains?

Alun

wrt40 wrote: »

Also interested in this. See quite a few rescue helicopters overhead where I live, gets you thinking. Is there anyone providing training in the Dublin\Wicklow mountains?

Yes, loads. Take a look here ...

https://www.mountaineering.ie/courses/

hmmm

The requirement for 16 hours of first aid training looks a bit excessive.

Alun

hmmm wrote: »

The requirement for 16 hours of first aid training looks a bit excessive.

That's only a requirement if you choose to do the MS assessment (MSA) which is optional. There's nothing stopping you just doing the MS1 and MS2 courses and stopping there, unless you want to go on and do a instructor or leader qualification, such as ML.

hmmm

Alun wrote: »

That's only a requirement if you choose to do the MS assessment (MSA) which is optional. There's nothing stopping you just doing the MS1 and MS2 courses and stopping there, unless you want to go on and do a instructor or leader qualification, such as ML.

Sure, and in case anyone thinks otherwise I think the MS1 & 2 are excellent and well worth doing.

FrostyJack

hmmm wrote: »

The requirement for 16 hours of first aid training looks a bit excessive.

If anything it is too short a time, especially the ML levels, if I was been led up a mountain I would hope the guide would know what to do should something happen.

Alun

FrostyJack wrote: »

If anything it is too short a time, especially the ML levels, if I was been led up a mountain I would hope the guide would know what to do should something happen.

You're required to have a higher level qualification for ML (REC 3) than for MSA (REC 2).

hmmm

FrostyJack wrote: »

If anything it is too short a time, especially the ML levels, if I was been led up a mountain I would hope the guide would know what to do should something happen.

At ML level, perhaps yes, but at Mountain Skills level what do you need 16 hours of First Aid training for? At best I'd argue you'd need to know what signs to look for, and how to get help.

FrostyJack

Yeah Rec 2 is about 2 days and Rec 3 is about 3 days if memory serves me correctly. There isn't much difference. MSA is a more personal thing so I suppose it is up to the individual, but if you were to take a couple of friends or family up on trek on the basis of having that knowledge, it would be good to have the medical know how.