Chris Ensoll Mountain Mentor

We all have hopes and dreams, aspirations and goals. Maybe you want to change your career, or you want to progress in your chosen field. Or you’ve set off on a particular path towards gaining an outdoor qualification, then lost momentum and given up. Or maybe you simply want to use your precious leisure time more effectively. All you need to do is to work out the next step, but sometimes that can seem beyond you. We set goals and then fail to achieve them. We make a plan to get out in the mountains at the weekend, but then life happens and we make excuses. We tell ourselves that it’s no big deal, we’ll go next weekend – but we don’t. Sound familiar? We’ve all been there.

What’s the solution? It’s really simple: mentoring. Most successful people, whatever their field of interest, will have had a mentor at some point on their journey. So find yourself a mentor who has done the things you’re striving to achieve, who is truly passionate about the outdoors, who will encourage a growth mindset, and who will challenge you. Be open to learning about your weaknesses and admitting where you’re falling short. Take advantage of someone else’s experience to work through the blockages and achieve the transformation you’ve been hoping for.

I love being asked for help and advice from people who climb for pleasure, or who want to know how to work out the next step in their outdoor career. I benefited from such advice when I was starting out as a climber nearly fifty years ago aged twelve, and as an outdoor instructor forty three years ago, and now that I have built up so much knowledge from my personal adventures and from working as an International Mountain Guide for twenty seven years, I’m super-keen to pass it all on. That’s why we’re offering this mentoring programme. We recognise that everyone has different amounts of time available and different budgets, so we’ve designed three levels to make the Mountain Mentor programme accessible to everyone.

So how might mentoring work for you?

Example 1   

You have lots of experience in a particular activity, and you want to extend yourself and learn new skills, for example

• You are an experienced mountain walker in summer conditions, and you want to learn how to look after yourself in winter, or you want to get into scrambling or rock climbing

• You’ve been rock climbing for a while and aren’t sure how to move forward. You want to progress from single pitch to multi-pitch climbing, or you want to improve your grades.

• You have lots of year-round mountaineering experience in the UK , and you would like to start doing trips to the Alps.  

Example 2

You’ve done a training course in your chosen national governing body award (Mountain Leader, Lowland Leader, Rock Climbing Instructor, Climbing Wall Instructor, Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor, etc), and you’d like to work towards your assessment but you’re unsure about a few things:

• What would an assessor think of my logbook?

• In what areas do I need to learn and grow in skills prior to assessment?

• Am I ready for assessment now or should I wait a few more months?

Example Action Plan

You have completed the Mountain Leader training course, and have signed up for Chris Ensoll Mountain Mentor for help with successfully completing the assessment. To get the info we need to design your personal action plan, we will ask you to rate your performance on key areas of the syllabus, including navigation, steep ground, background information, and personal qualities. In addition, we will go through the following questions with you:

• How many Quality Mountain Days (QMDs) have I logged?

• What is my plan for completing a minimum of 40 QMDs in three different regions of the UK and Ireland?

• What is my plan for completing a minimum of 8 nights camping, including at least 4 nights wild camping?

• What is my plan for achieving a first aid certificate, minimum 16 hours and relevant to my work as a Mountain Leader?

• What are three syllabus areas that I feel particularly confident or practised in:

• What are three syllabus areas that I think require further practice:

• What opportunities can I foresee for gaining experience to develop my Mountain Leader skill set?

• What is the timescale for doing my assessment?

The answers to these questions will form the basis of the action plan, and here’s part of one that we designed for one of our mentees:

What do our clients say about us?

Being part of the mentoring programme has been great, especially over the last few weeks when enthusiasm to carry on learning could easily have disappeared. The Facebook group is a really good idea.  There’s a lovely bunch of people, all with loads of experience I can learn from, and it’s great for getting advice and seeing what everyone else is up to. The recent Zoom call, with other members on the programme, was really helpful and an opportunity to ask Chris loads of questions.  The blogs and videos that Chris and Anne produce have been fantastic, just what I needed.  They’ve meant I can keep practising and learning things, like rope skills, when I can’t get out on the fells during ‘lockdown’. It’s just good to be part of the programme, knowing there’s that extra support and years of experience from Chris if I need it.
Sharon Bianchi, Level 1 mentee

I have found the mix of time in the hills with Chris pre lockdown, then the community discussion on Facebook and the Zoom session great for building on skills, sharing experiences  and staying motivated. Along with support to shift from building skills in the hills to building skills with online content and also starting to plan UK based trips when the restrictions are started to be lifted. I had a big debate about which level to sign up for, and eventually decided that based on the amount of holiday I had and what I was looking to achieve, level 1 with the Facebook community plus some extra masterclasses, day in Scotland in winter and then my Summer IML training at Glenmore Lodge, was the best mix to make progress.  
Richard Cole, Level 1 mentee

It’s very easy to do a sport for years and pick up technique habits that just hold you back and slow you down. Loads of us know the importance of footwork but how many of us really take time to get it right? Yes, I’d read the books but hadn’t managed to put it into practice. The same goes for trying to get stronger rather than getting better. Outside, I was faffing about on belays / changeovers as I’d seen too many people whose belay construction would scare you to death. Chris has so much experience, he has probably seen all of the faults a thousand times over and was very quickly able to spot and fix the things that were necessary. My list of tips and comments from Chris has gone on to a few pages now and they really do make a difference. The real test is that the people I climb with have already noticed some big changes in how much more smoothly and efficiently I am climbing.
Charles Eggleston, Level 3 mentee

During lockdown 1, I was struggling with not being able to get and do activities. I came across Chris’s YouTube clips and this motivated me to practice in and around the house. Through researching further, I found the website and noticed about the Masterclasses but also the Mentoring Scheme so I booked onto the Level 4 (now Level 3) mentoring scheme. Even though I couldn't get out to climb either indoors or out, Chris provided me with information and support to what to do for example, get stronger, fitter or practice things. Anne was very quick responding to emails. The Zoom meetings were a great way to communicate with other Chris, Anne and other mentees. The 1:1 session was great as Chris made the day flow and basically just climbed and picked up a lot of processes either correcting techniques such as with belaying and setting quick drawers to showing new ways when rigging ropes for abseiling. Confidence after session was good and wanting to get back out on the crags asap.
Dominic DiMuccio, Level 3 mentee

All the booking info was very timely as usual and it was good to have the opportunity to say what I wanted to work on with Chris on my 1:1 day - movement and navigation. The experience that Chris has to pass on is invaluable. In usual style, Chris pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me, which is exactly what I need to develop.
Lou Hemingway, Level 2 mentee

You can read case studies about some of our mentees in this blog post.

We want to say a big thank you to the five lovely people who took part in our mentoring trial during 2019, and whose input has been invaluable in helping us to develop Chris Ensoll Mountain Mentor. You can read more about our mentoring trial in the blog post Who Needs A Mountain Mentor? This is what being mentored has meant to them:

Brian
It has shifted my focus from what do I want to achieve to how am I going to achieve it.

James
It has helped me to understand the context in which certain techniques should be used, and their limitations.  Chris has also given me a better appreciation of the basics, right down to 'how to walk'!  It's also a brilliant way to meet other like-minded people who love the outdoors. I would thoroughly recommend a mentoring scheme as a way of improving your confidence and skills in a way that can be tailored to your needs. One of the aspects I've appreciated is the way the scheme has been spread out over a number of months, which gives you the opportunity to go away and practice, and then check anything you're not sure on, or might have forgotten.

Ros
It’s really helped me to have an ongoing supportive and relaxed conversation with someone who really knows what they are talking about. It’s really helped me to understand the ML assessment process, to realise that I am ready and that I now just need to book it!

Phil
Being able to have a professional resource to answer your own specific questions is, in my opinion, invaluable.  It has helped me grow in confidence and self belief, whilst also helping me to be more open about my perceived weaknesses and to get specific coaching to address them. I have also been able to link up with other members of the mentoring scheme and have enjoyed numerous days out in the mountains, practicing the skills learned from Chris and consolidating my knowledge.

Jill
I was very grateful to be a mentee, I am now aware of how to improve the areas I am weak in and I felt privileged to have some lovely mountain days out in great company.

Ready to step out, sign up and achieve your goals?