Rocks & Ridges: a mountain skills course to build your skills and confidence on technical walking terrain
a special collaboration between:
Join us for a three day course designed to help you gain skills and confidence for more challenging mountain adventures. This will include different techniques for moving safely and efficiently over rocky ground including how to improve your strength and balance, movement on steep slopes and how to reduce anxiety on exposed terrain.
As part of the course you will also discover the natural history of the area and how the mountains were formed. You will also understanding more about the rocks at your feet and how this can be useful when moving through the mountains.
The culmination of the course is to put everything learnt in to practice on a classic ridge walking route. The will be one of the following: Ben Nevis via CMD arête, Ring of Steall or The Grey Corries.
Course Logistics
The course is led by Anna Danby, Wild Roots Highland Guiding and Jon Fearne, E3 Coach.
Jon has been working with endurance and adventure athletes for over 20 years as well as actively pursuing his own challenges, including being the only athlete to complete both run and MTB races across the alps. His personal experience is mixed with academic study of sports science and means he is highly skilled in helping you make the most of your adventures.
Anna is a qualified Mountain Leader with over 15 years experience working in education and leadership. She has a wealth of experience in the Scottish mountains and spends the majority of her time walking, running and climbing in the hills. She loves putting her skills and experience to use helping people grow in confidence in the mountains and seek out new adventures.
The course will be based out of Fort William. Over the three days you will get the opportunity to visit a diverse range of beautiful locations in the local area. Fort William can be reached via public transport and lifts can be arranged from there to the location for each day.
The course is run with a maximum group size of 6. This ensures plenty of time for everyone to benefit from 1:1 support and guidance. You do not need any previous experience of ridge walking to participate. You should have a good level of fitness and be capable of walking for 8 hours in the hills.
The three day course costs £225 per person which includes; guiding and coaching from 2 highly qualified professionals, transport from Fort William if required. Accommodation and lunches are not provided.
Course Content
- Techniques for moving safely and efficiently over rocky ground
- Techniques for ascending and descending steep slopes
- Exercises for improving strength and balance
- Controlling nerves and anxiety on exposed ground
- Use of walking poles to support movement
- Route finding through complicated ground
- Introduction to the geology of the West Highlands
- Identifying different common rock types and landscape features
- Landscape stories of the area including natural and human history
- A mountain ridge journey including munro summits
If you are looking to improve your navigation skills then check out our other course: Maps & Mountains
Scheduled courses and booking
Scheduled open group courses are below. If you are interested in this course but can’t make any of the dates then get in touch as we can make a bespoke arrangement.
If you would struggle to meet the cost of the course, The Neil Mackenzie Trust may be able to help. They are a small charity who offer a limited number of grants for skills training and expeditions. You can find out more about their grants here.