Looking at doing my summer ml next spring…got a few possible jobs/expeds planned for next yeAr…

How hard is the assessment? How fit do you have to be?

I’m also looking at doing mine. Started my logbook recently, so would also be interested in people’s experience of the training and assessment.

To the OP – I had a good recommendation for the training and assessment (a diff place for each) – I’ll find out what they were. PYB was for one of them, but cant remember whether it was for the training or assessment part of it.

Hols

Do you have to log walks in the book or can u use a digital app( I’ve got a great one on my phone)

I just downloaded a Microsoft Word template from the web, haven’t got a logbook as such – didn’t know you could get an app, maybe that would be easier!

Hi, I’m an ML. It doesn’t matter where you log your QMDs so long as they are in some format that’s easy to understand and printable. They aren’t looking for War and Piece on each day on the hil, just the pertinent facts – WEather, terrain, location, rough date.

I would spend as much time as possible on navigating in poor conditions.

It’s all in the navigation. Try and get out with someone who’s done the assessment before hand (if you’re in North Wales any time, drop me an email).

Geographically challenged as in Scotland…..my only weakness ATM is the nav…I’ve got a pal who’s an mic so I’m gonna get some help from him

I did my ML training at Glenmore Lodge a few years ago and learned the following:

– If you’re reasonably fit then the physical aspect of the course should be fine. You won’t be covering huge distances, and I found the pace a bit slower than I would go if just out with friends.

– The rope skills and river crossing parts are fairly straightforward but it helps if you’ve handled ropes a bit previously. There are no funky knots needed but a little bit of experience of belaying, etc will help.

– Pretty much everyone I know who’s done ML found the navigation to be key. The level of nav required is really quite technical if you’re just used to finding your way to the top of a ridge then finding your way down again. You’ll almost certainly learn a whole new bag of navigational tricks but everyone on my course found it very mentally draining as we were constantly navigating to some very indistinct points on the map. Even if you’re not leading the leg you have to be switched on because you can be asked to locate yourself on the map at any time.

– The assessors are mostly interested in seeing that you have a good level of experience from your logbook – they’re not fussed how it’s presented as long as it’s legible and clear. They will look for significantly more than the minimum hill days, and if you’re umming and aahing about whether a day you’ve had counts as a QMD then you probably need more QMDs.

– It’s a really fun and interesting thing to do!

Yep, no big deal from a fitness point of view. More about skills and safety IMO.

Some good advice there ^. Only thing I would add is, as it is ultimately a leadership award, don’t underestimate the soft-skills required to pass the course. If you’ve never led a group in the mountains, try and get some experience in that area too. There’s generally scouts and cadets groups that you might be able to shadow/lead to do this.

Also, having good campcraft and exped skills will make your experience more enjoyable, not to mention decent kit that’s light but effective – there was one girl on my assessment and her bag was bigger than her and it soon became apparent why – massive sleeping bag and a huge tent!