Month five of one hundred…

So far, I have done one Quality Lowland Day (blog post to come very soon!), have another planned for tomorrow, and have clearer ideas of how I want to interact with the national parks within a limited time frame. So there’s some physical progress towards qualifications, and some mental progress towards a clearer overall end-point.

I’ve long debated how to gain both depth and breadth in terms of outdoor hiking experience. It’s not easy considering how the DLOG for qualifications demands you visit lots of different areas, yet in terms of work for companies or yourself it’s very likely you’ll keep revisiting certain areas many times. Although you can build up a solid understanding of a mountain over a number of years (Snowdon in my case) it’s tricky to have that when you start out with your clients for the first time. So how to solve that problem?

One way I’m approaching it is to give myself one year in The Peak District, Dales, North Wales and Lakes. During these years, I will put myself through a series of increasingly challenging walks that reflect the standard required at each level of award. So for example with the Peak District, I’m starting with Lowland Leader walks of the duration and complexity I might expect to see at a training or assessment. Then, for the H+ML, I’ll begin to spend more time in the area and go higher, and also off paths. Finally for the Mountain Leader version of the challenge, I might spend five days based somewhere, do two scrambling days and then a two night expedition over the highest points, including a night crossing of Kinder for example. Before I do this, I’ll be reading a comprehensive amount of local guidebooks and see which areas are mentioned time and again. These will be the most popular areas to visit. Within a year, I should be able to give myself challenges that prepare me for the actual exams that lie ahead.

Let’s see if I’m right!