Intro to Mountain Skills Comments

Thanks for the course two weeks ago, I found it very beneficial. For me, I was surprised that you can learn so much information about your bearings from careful map reading. I found the one day course comprehensive, the presentation was excellent and the mountains will be a safer place for me following the course.
Tim Leahy


Overall I found the course very useful. I enjoy hill walking but when heading off the beaten track to get my own personal view of the country, I lacked the confidence of relying on my map and compass. I use O.S maps and topographic surveys on a daily basis in my job but I had never been instructed on the proper use of a compass and the correct method of pacing in the field. There is a big difference between owning a map and compass and knowing how to use them! The course gave me a little more confidence in my abilities and made me wonder what more could be gained by attending the Mountain Skills 1 course.
Niall Chamberlain


Thanks again for a wonderful day up the mountains. The most important lessons I took from the day were learning how to pace out 100m and learning to see how the map represents the landscape, like when we sat in the re-entrant and found it on the map or recognising when we really reached the top of the hill by comparing the ground we stood on with the map. It was a most enjoyable day and we learned more through spending the day outside with our maps (and you and Wally of course) than we ever could by just sitting in a classroom.
Maureen Fitzgerald


The one day Intro to Mountain Skills run by Nathan Kingerlee was excellent. We covered Equipment, Safety, Spot Heights, Cols, Spurs, Pacing and Compass Bearings. Nathan was friendly and extremely professional in all aspects of Mountain Skills which made me book a place on his Mountain Skills 1 course which I have now completed and looking forward to booking my place on Mountain Skills 2 with him.
Ger Horgan


As a keen hill walker I was, up to a point, happy to join a group of walkers under an experienced leader. However, there came a time when I was asking how these leaders knew when to go up a mountain, when not to go up a mountain, how to plan the route, how long will it take, who can you safely bring along with you, etc. On hearing of Nathan’s Intro to Mountain Skills, I decided to go along and get my questions answered. On route we were shown how to observe our surroundings, taking note of landmarks, such as rivers, woods, steep inclines, declines, buildings, etc. Then it was out with the maps and compasses and just to prove that map reading was not all plain sailing, a downpour was thrown in for good measure. What followed was not a lecture but an experience in working out a route, calculating distances walked and times required to cover a distance. This was all extremely well executed with a very good warning not to take too much for granted along the way (woods that are on a map can be felled!)
Lorcan Kehoe


The intro to mountain skills day has only wet my appetite for wanting to know and do much more. The basic skills which were kindly passed on to us on the day will always be my base, that the rest of the knowledge and skills I pick up, can be built upon.
Paul Tobin