10 Top Tips for Passing Your Winter Mountain Leader

This winter I was delighted to pass my Winter Mountain Leader so thought I would share a few tips for trainees to help prepare for the big week .

Waking up to this from a snowhole reminds you whats it's all about! 
Photo - Kirsty Macmillan

Read the syllabus 
This helps focus your practice and structures what you need to spend more time working on. I like profile wheels to visually map my progress, scoring each area of the syllabus out of 10 so I can focus on my weaker areas. Others use a traffic light system; green = pass standard, amber = needs work, red = haven’t a clue. Find something that works for you and helps motivate and focus your days out.

My profile wheel with updates as I progressed and 'to do' lists around the edge

Attend a refresher course
My training course was a few winters ago so a two day refresher course was a great way to; get feedback from an assessor on areas to improve, ask lots of questions and identify any bad habits to work on.

Shadow some current wMLs
This really puts into context everything that you are working on. It is particularly useful for learning different ways to teach the required movement skills, but also how the BAA fits into a day, what to teach to newbies, how to use venues and what a proficient wML looks like.

Shadowing a Glenmore Lodge winter skills course

QMDs
Get them done early and aim for more than the bare minimum. Ensure you do them in different areas, with varied weather, types of terrain and with different people. This will enrich your experiences, allowing you to learn way more during them.

Some cracking QMDage in the NW of Scotland

Nav with mates 
Solo nav is brilliant for getting lots of legs and going at your own pace, but following people is a very important skill to nail. During your assessment, you will spend more time relocating than leading so practice this and in the worst possible weather. Train hard assess easy (hopefully)!

Liam Malone embracing some perfect west coast nav, weather

Take friends out
Put all your leadership skills to the test by taking out non-wintery friends. It’s a good chance to practice teaching the movement skills but also to catch up with them and share the mountain love. You will be amazed what you take for granted and the range of skills that a wML has to teach.

James, Camille and Amy learning how to navigate off Cairngorm

Avalanche notebook
If you are not out in the hills regularly or living away from them, keeping an avalanche forecast diary is a great way to keep in tune with the snowpack. Predicting the forecast before you read it and identifying features in the field that were recorded in yesterday's snow profile are great ways to broaden your avalanche knowledge.

Snow profile, MWIS weather forecast, my avalanche risk forecast and the SAIS one

Source infomation
There are loads of excellent books and videos to learn tons from. The Glenmore Lodge and Mountain Training Youtube channels have loads of brilliant videos to get stuck into. I really enjoyed reading/looking at Mike and Allan’s Avalanche Book which clearly explains lots of avalanche geekary, aided by some brilliant cartoons.

Lots of really accessible avalanche info in this great book

My dyslexic brain trying to slimline all of the avalanche geekary

Gold standard
Aim to reach the gold standard when out practicing, not just ‘that will be enough to pass’. You want to show your assessor textbook examples so you cruise through the assessment and more importantly make a great mountain leader.

Amy enjoying a beaut of a day out on Creag Meagaidh

Enjoy it!
This qualification is a great excuse to spend a whole winter in the hills. Squeezing it in between life might be a challenge, but it should be a really fun journey, full of lots of laughs and good memories.

Fun and games during a traverse of An Teallach.  Photo - Charlie Beard