Finding My Footing
Mountain Leader navigation training in the Comeragh Mountains, Co. Waterford
Mountain Skills – Learning to Move with Confidence
Every journey starts somewhere. For me, that was Mountain Skills training, two weekends that transformed how I think about movement in the hills. I learned to navigate by map and compass, read the lie of the land, and understand how weather, terrain, and time interact.
It was the first time I truly grasped the beauty of self-reliance. Standing in rain on a Wicklow slope, compass steady in hand, I realised I could trust my judgement — and that the hills reward calm observation more than speed.
Lowland Leader – Turning Skills into Leadership
Now, with my Lowland Leader assessment only two weeks away, I’m stepping into the next chapter: moving from walking for myself to walking for others.
The Lowland Leader award focuses on safe leadership in accessible countryside — forests, trails, and heritage paths. It’s as much about people as it is about maps: reading a group’s energy, managing risk, inspiring curiosity, and adapting when conditions or confidence change.
I’ve been refining incident management, timing, and route planning, but also the softer side — empathy, motivation, and environmental stewardship. My aim isn’t just to lead walks; it’s to help people reconnect with nature and heritage and rediscover the calm that the outdoors brings.
Mountain Leader – The Horizon Ahead
Further ahead lies the Mountain Leader qualification, the next natural step for those guiding in wilder terrain. I have already done the training - 5-days of it! It demands judgement, experience, and technical ability — but it also represents something deeper: the lifelong learning that comes with time in the mountains.
The Real Journey
As I prepare for my Lowland Leader assessment, I know the goal isn’t perfection — it’s awareness, humility, and connection. Leadership in the outdoors means reading the ground, reading the weather, and, most importantly, reading the people you walk with.
Whatever the result, this process has already changed how I move through the hills. For me, that’s the real summit.
