Beginner To Mountaineer Six-Day Intensive Program

One more new course before the end of 2019. This is an intensive six-day Beginner To Mountaineer Course.

You can hit the course as a complete beginner and will leave as a safe, competent and well skilled mountaineer, able to plan a mountain route, plan a mountain expedition, navigate with map and compass, night navigate, deal with steep dangerous ground, deal with emergencies, tackle scrambling routes and ridges, and use a rope in a mountain environment.

You become a member of Mountaineering Ireland and will get qualified/signed off for completing Mountain Skills 1 plus Mountain Skills 2.

Next year the course will be priced at €652pp. This year, as a winter offer, the six-day course is €452pp; and this includes your MI Membership/MS Registration/MS Logbook.


Mountaineer Intensive Program : 930am
Become A Mountaineer In Six Days
Six Intensive Days Back To Back
Train In The Wild Caha Mountains Of West Cork
30th Nov - 5th Dec : €452pp
Price Includes Mountaineering Ireland Membership, Mountain Skills Registration, Mountain Skills Logbook


Mountaineer Intensive Program : 930am
Become A Mountaineer In Six Days
Split Into Three Weekends
Train In Three Different Mountain Regions
7th - 8th Dec Plus 14th - 15th Dec Plus 21st - 22nd Dec : €452pp
Price Includes Mountaineering Ireland Membership, Mountain Skills Registration, Mountain Skills Logbook

Course Director:
Nathan Kingerlee

Course Team:
Nathan Kingerlee
Dave Kingerlee

Surviving The M50 / Motorway Survival

Surviving The M50 / Motorway Survival:

Have been thinking about this for a while, and have some dates planned for a one-day, intensive and fun, course; 930am-530pm and €100pp.

Ever wondered what you'd do if caught in a survival situation in day to day living? Stuck on the side of the M50, or a remote country road? Bus-breakdown or train-breakdown middle of the countryside? You always think these things will never happen to you - until they do! No communication, no phone battery, no emergency services, adverse weather, someone injured, snow storm, trees across road cutting access, simple breakdown in a heatwave...

Being close enough to see the lights of civilization/safety does not always mean you can reach safety easily, or safety can reach you. Sometimes, especially with your family in the back seat, the safest and best option is to hunker down and wait for daylight, wait for six-hours, wait for twelve-hours, let the storm pass...

This one-day outdoor based program will cover the preparation, the mental attitude and thought process, the skills and the basic equipment needed to give you knowledge, confidence and choices - should a situation arise

We also cover a basic kit bag or kit bucket of gear, similar to a survival bug-out bag. We cover how to enjoy the situation you are in, and learn from it; unless of course it is an extreme emergency situation - which will probably not be enjoyable - but will have high stakes and high consequences.

Sometimes even the simplicity of making a hot brew, heating a tin of beans, foil blanket wrap under your jumper, slapping on a bandage and having the patience/confidence to sit tight for a few hours is all that is needed.

Dates:
Sat 16th Nov : Killarney
Sat 23rd Nov : Wicklow
Sat 21st Dec : Killarney

Contact:
Nathan Kingerlee : info@outdoorsireland.com : 086 860 45 63

Autumn Kayaking - Leaves Like Swarms Of Yellow Butterflies

Autumn kayaking - probably my favorite time to be on the water. Cold, but so peaceful and invigorating. The russet-yellow beech leaves, being blown in swarms across the water yesterday, were like clouds of autumn butterflies.

Simple Wilderness/Bushcraft Fire Setup

Setting A Campfire?

Here's A Nice Way To Go About It:

1. Big wet log or stump at back of fire (downwind side of fire). This contains the fire, prevents spread, reflects back a little heat and may well give you some red embers in morning. Depending on the shape of your back log - you may be able to sit a pot to simmer, as in first photo.

2. Smaller log at front of fire, again to contain fire, and cut down on fuel wastage.

3. Pyramid lay or teepee lay to your sticks to get fire going and initially roaring up.

4. Two to four long logs in fire, placed in from sides. This is called a star lay. As the fire fully catches and your star logs burn nicely, you can simply push them in to keep fire going, or increase heat. Or pull the star logs apart to slow down fire. See second photo especially for this.

Bushcraft & Wilderness Training For New TV Production

Just finished two great days work with Troy Studios; bushcraft and wilderness training for a new tv production.

Last Training Courses Of 2019

As the oak trees turn brown, the beech trees turn yellow, and the swallows slip away; we're on the final countdown! Here are our four training courses left in 2019:

Mountain Skills 1 : Killarney/Kerry : 2nd & 3rd Nov

Bushcraft Skills 1 : Glengarriff/Cork : 16th & 17th Nov

Mountain Skills 1 : Kinvara/Galway : 7th & 8th Dec

Mountain Skills 2 : Glengarriff/Cork : 14th & 15th Dec

Contact Nathan For More Details

Broken Finger & Useful Mittens

Had a student with a broken finger on a recent bushcraft course. Cleaned it with plenty of clean water, then couple of plasters over the wound, and some surgical tape to splint broken finger to a good finger. Thankfully he wasn't in much pain - fair play to you Gavin!

Obviously spare/emergency gloves and spare/emergency hat in your backpack should be pretty standard - hopefully! But you can see here the bonus of using mittens instead of gloves. Imagine trying to fit a broken/splinted finger into a pair of regular gloves. These were €10 lidl mittens. Mittens are a super way to keep an injured hand warm and protected once first aid has been done.

People often say to me that mittens are clumsy, but I've found with practice most things still possible, including tying laces, tying knots and sending a text message!

Forest & Jungle Navigation Skills Weekend - Bushcraft Navigation

Places available for a Forest Skills 1 this weekend in Glengarriff/West Cork. This two-day, complete beginner friendly, course covers navigation skills using bushcraft methods and natural methods.

Learn to navigate in forest, jungle and moorland using things like the sun, wind, clouds, animals, cobwebs... Also some nice compass skills while crawling through undergrowth, using your nose, making progress blindfolded, and more.

For details contact Nathan on 086 860 45 63 or info@outdoorsireland.com.

Bushcraft Skills 1 This Weekend - One Place Available

One spot is still available for a Bushcraft Skills 1 this coming weekend in Killarney (19th & 20th). Weekend is beginner friendly and will give you the skills to build a shelter, sleep outdoors, make fire from spark, cook on a fire and an intro to foraging for food. Plus how to make water safe for drinking.

More Details Here: http://www.outdoorsireland.com/bushcraftsurvival.php
Click Here To Get In Touch: http://www.outdoorsireland.com/contact.php

Summer Mountaineering Or Scrambling - How To Get There

I meet a lot of experienced and accomplished hill walkers, wanting to get more adventurous in terms of ridges and scrambles; be able to pack a rope into the mountains and use it; but unsure how to get there. Basically moving into what we call 'Summer Mountaineering' or 'Scrambling'.

These are usually the three points they need to sort out:

A. Their backpack is usually too small and their gear is usually too minimal. A lot more backup gear/emergency gear needs to be carried (http://outdoorsireland.blogspot.com/2016/06/what-kit-to-carry-in-mountains.html). Yes your backpack gets heavier - but you get self sufficient!

B. They do not see enough of the risks and dangers around them; like rope damage, loose rock, less than ideal anchors, the need for (safe) speed, a climber above you dislodging rocks, slippy grass ramps, traverses above big exposure.

C. 13 Clear Cut Skills:

1. Anchor Choice

2. Anchor Placement

3. Rope Flake/Coil/Knots

4. Body Belay Climb

5. Body Belay Lower

6. Ascending A Pitch

7. Descending A Pitch

8. Placing Runners

9. Communication

10. Equipment

11. Retrievable Classic Abseil

12. Retrievable Full Abseil

13. Moving Together

Get these three big things sorted - and you become a mountaineer or scrambler!