sunshine, a little stress, rope work practice and a few wild flowers…

Last summer I passed my summer International Mountain Leader (IML) assessment – It was a mixture of enjoyment and stress. I was out in the Pyrenees for 10 days prior to the assessment, keen to get out and about in the area to familiarise myself with the mountains and the local environment. Over those 10 days I joined other aspirants for days out, where we tried to increase our knowledge of the local environment and practice other areas of the IML syllabus; I was hoping that this would be very helpful and indeed it was. I also managed to get out for a few solo journey days that unfortunately seemed to coincide with the rain and everybody else having some home paper work to do.

The assessment itself lasted four days, the first day being a day walk in and around the stunning limestone La Caranca gorge, with its mixture of trees and wildlife. We were assessed on a few parts of the syllabus including navigation, where I made a slight navigational error on my second leg, which I immediately remedied. The main focus of that first day was on rope work, security on steep ground and fixed equipment, where we all seemed to have nervous, anxious and at times, clumsy clients.

The second day we began a three day two night mountain journey, which included two nights in mountain huts. The first day was the longest, with each aspirant taking it in turns to lead the group – this included small detours to avoid cows and patous along the way. We had lots of relocation during this part of the assessment and a few five minute talks, finishing the first day of the mountain journey at a hut in a stunning location.

The following day we journeyed over more steep ground with a traverse of the Perics. This particular day I found very enjoyable, as we all got turns to lead the group and demonstrate our knowledge and skills of looking after clients on steep ground. With an occasional question from the assessor, I also got to deliver the first of my hill talks, ‘Alpine plant adaptations’. We then had further assessments in using a rope to get people up a difficult rock step on the way to the second hut. I was now beginning to feel a lot more positive about passing. and enjoyed a beer in the sunshine outside another beautiful hut.

The final day was shorter, back to where we started, following the now familiar pattern of taking it in turns to lead the group, and enthuse about our surroundings. I was also able to deliver the second of my hill talks, ‘Altitudinal belts in the Pyrenees’. We all by now had an idea of whether we had passed due to the daily feedback that we had been receiving and this lead to a more relaxed day.

All in all the International Mountain Leader Summer Assessment was an enjoyable experience, if not a little stressful. I was particularly happy that I had gone out prior to the assessment to bank and reenforce my knowledge.

Whilst out with others preparing I Came across many flowers and I am going to follow this post up with a write up of a few.