Becoming a mountain leader has been one of the best and most rewarding learning experiences of my life. I passed my Mountain Leader Award in 2004 and then went on to gain the Winter and International Mountain Leader Awards. Together with the Lowland Leader Award and Hill and Moorland Award, these are part of a family of five professional walking and trekking qualifications, covering UK and Ireland, offered by an organisation called Mountain Training. Gaining a walking qualification – whatever the level – is a challenging, absorbing and satisfying experience that takes time and committment. It also opens up opportunities to work and volunteer in the outdoors.

Understanding what’s involved in gaining these qualifications, however, isn’t always so straightforward and I often get asked to explain the process. This blog article outlines what’s involved with links on where to get more information and advice on which Award might be best for you. The blog also offers some clarification on  how these qualifications relate to supervising Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions.

So the Mountain Training website is key place to get information on these qualifications. It is the place to go to register for the scheme, look for training and assessment courses, log your experience and search for and record continuing professional development. Mountain Training is a collection of awarding bodies for skills and qualification courses for walking, climbing and mountaineering for the UK and Ireland.

The five walking qualifications are listed below together with links to the respective candidate handbooks:

• Lowland Leader Award (LL)
• Hill and Moorland Award (HML) (used to be called Walking Group Leader Award)
• Mountain Leader Award (ML) (sometimes called the Summer Mountain Leader Award)
• Winter Mountain Leader Award (WML)
• International Mountain Leader Award (IML)

The Expedition Skills Module is an optional module available to holders of the Lowland Leader and Hill and Moorland Award. The module trains and asseses candidates in the skills required to lead others on camping expeditions.The award extends the scope of the Lowland Leader and Hill and Moorland Award’s to include leading multi day camping expeditioins within the respective terrain and conditions of the reward held.

Each qualification relates to different types of terrain and conditions. This is called the scope of the award.

*Typically winter conditions prevail in Scotland during the months of January to March but may extend from November to May depending on local conditions.

The syllabus for each award scheme includes three core components: navigation skills; leadership and party management; and, environmental knowledge. The level of knowledge and capability in these three areas increases as you progress through the awards, each award becomes progressively more challenging. In addition to navigation, leadership and environmental knowledge there are some award specific skills like: avalanche awareness in the WML and IML; ropework in the ML, WML and IML; and river crossings in the ML.

Each of these awards opens up opportunities to volunteer or work in the outdoors. Note that the requirements organisations offering volunteer and work opportunities vary. Also note other training and experience may be required. Here is a list of examples:

The structure of the award schemes – for all of them – is much the same; comprising of the following stages:

1. Meet the prerequisites for registration for an Award Scheme (e.g. meet the age requirement; membership of a organisation like British Mountaineering Council or Mountaineering Scotland)
2. Create an account with Mountain Training’s Candidate Management System (CMS) or log in if you already have one. CMS is an online database that enables candidates to register for schemes, log their experience, search for and book onto a training or assessment course, and also search for and record their continuing professional development.
3. Register for an Award Scheme (e.g. Lowland Leader, Hill and Moorland, Mountain Leader).
4. Meet the prerequisites for the training course. Prior to attending a training course, you will need to have completed a specificed minimum number of walks on suitable terrain (see table below).
5. Undertake the training course (see table below).
6. Complete the consolidation period between training and assessment where the candidate develops their skills and experience, paying particular attention to any areas of development identified during the training course.
7. Meet the prerequisites for the assessment. Prior to assessment you will need to have completed a specified minimum number of walks on suitable terrain (see table below).
8. Undertake the assessment (see table below)

To find a training or assessment course click here.  Also, here are a few links to providers of training and assessment courses (all Scotland based):

• Outdoor Pursuits Scotland: Lowland Leader Award
• Mountain Motion: Hill and Moorland Award, Mountain Leader Award, Winter Mountain Award
• Glenmore Lodge: Mountain Leader Award, Winter Mountain Leader Award, International Mountian Leader Awards

Having undertaken the assessment, candidates either pass, fail or are deferred. Deferral means that the candidate has failed to meet the required standard on part of the syllabus and is required to return – usually for a day – to be reassessed.

Having gone through the awards myself here are some top tips for candidates preparing for assessment:

• Don’t take any short cuts when it comes to the consolidation phase. In my opinion this is the most important part of the whole process, when you gain more experience and develop your skills. Be honest with yourself in respect to whether your day on the hill is really a quality day; for example, if you have gone up and down Ben Lomond in four hours by the main path, for the third time….. this won’t count as a quality day. I also think it is a good idea to do more quality days that the minimum required.
• Go out and do skill specific training. So rather than just go out with the aim of bagging some mountain tops, going out to practice something specific: like, mirco-navigation, night navigation or ropework. It’s also very beneficial to go out with an aim to learn about mountain flora and fauna. Mountain Training produce award scheme checklists that set out all of the skills, knowledge and competencies you should have before assessment. It is good idea for candidates to study the checklist and identify any areas you need to work on some more. National Navigation Award courses – Bronze, Silver and Gold – offer really good skill specific training for candidates preparing for assessment. Aspen Outdoors Ltd run courses throughout the year. For more information click here.
• My third bit of advice is to team up with others preparing for assessment, for examples others that may have been on your training course. I learnt a huge amount from working with other candidates.

The last part of this article offers some clarification about how these qualifications relate to the supervision of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions. I sometimes hear leaders say that the Lowland Leader Award qualifies you to supervise Bronze expeds, the Hill and Moorland Award Silver expeds and the Mountain Leader Award Gold expeditions. Whilst that may be the case, linking these qualifications to levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award misses a very important point: that the qualifications required of a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award superviser should be dependent upon the terrain the expedition route goes through. You may; for example, have a Bronze expedition route that goes through a relatively remote moorland area, where participants are more that 3km from a point of access. In those circumstances the superviser should hold the Hill and Moorland or higher award. Similarly you may have a silver route that runs through lowland countryside terrain and remains, throughout its course, within 3km of a road or populated area. In those circumstance the Lowland Leader Award would be sufficient. Importantly, the competence and qualifications of the superviser should be matched to the terrain and conditions of the route.