My Story #17: Simon Sampson, School Teacher & Mountain Leader
/In this series we’re sharing the stories of outdoor instructors, mountain guides and enthusiasts who work and play in the mountains. Links to all the previous posts can be found at the bottom of this post.
We first met Simon Sampson in June 2019 when he completed his Mountain Leader assessment with us. He is currently a mentee on our Chris Ensoll Mountain Mentor programme.
Simon (left) and friend Tom outside the Britannia Hut (3030m) in July 2016
What are your first memories of adventures in the outdoors as a child or teenager?
As a child, my grandmother was influential in allowing me to access adventure in the outdoors. She was the daughter of a gamekeeper and grew up in the wilds of Scotland living and working on various estates in and around the Cabrach in Aberdeenshire. She had three brothers that all became gamekeepers themselves, with their children either working within or marrying someone that also worked in the industry. This allowed her to take me north each summer from around the age of eight to help support the running of the working bothies and kennels, as well as to work as a beater driving birds for the shooting parties that would tour through the estates in mid to late August.
We would take time to tour the Highlands in her small campervan, always accompanied by several schipperkes (Belgian barge dogs) as our canine companions. These really were special times for me, allowing me to appreciate, learn about and foster a deep and genuine love for wild, remote places. This has stayed with me and although I have now lived most of my life cooped up within a city, I take every chance that I can get to escape back into the mountains.
Simon with his gran and the dogs in Scotland
What do you remember about your outdoor adventures when you started doing them independently?
My adventures started to become more independent when I joined a local scout group as a teenager. My family were based in East Anglia at the time and so rather amusingly, we spent most of these camping trips below sea level, rather than towering above it on the top of snow-capped peaks.
I perhaps unsurprisingly gravitated towards Edinburgh as a student, making brief forays into the hills but to nowhere near the extent that I might have predicted. I was consumed by traditional team sports and the draw of being a student in such a vibrant city. This meant that I really didn’t return to remote and exciting outdoor adventures until I had trained as a teacher and got a job working in a secondary school. I suddenly found that there were a) several other teachers also interested in outdoor adventures and b) a significant number of students wishing to be taken on them! It seemed like a match made in heaven and it has proved to be as such ever since.
When did it change from a hobby to a career?
It hasn’t, yet! Although I am getting closer, which is testament to the support that I receive from my employer. I am now in my tenth year as a full-time teacher working in secondary education and my involvement in the outdoors is beginning to become more career-worthy, rather than just an overexuberant hobby.
My main involvement is through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and for the past decade I have regularly supported annual trips to the Lake District and Cairngorm National Parks. In addition, I have been fortunate enough to venture further afield, organising a biennial expedition to the Swiss Alps through the support of an international travel provider. I am also a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer, working closely with both Royal Navy and Marine Cadets, which affords me the tremendous luxury of not only spending more time in the outdoors, but also having access to CCAT, the Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training.
Simon (right) and Tom on the summit of The Dom (4545m) in July 2016
What has the path been since then?
Since becoming established as an outdoor leader within a school setting, I have been on the lookout for continued opportunities to develop my adventurous skillset. At present, this is centred on learning how to climb and I am in the process of working towards becoming a Climbing Wall Instructor. In time, it would be great to gain more experience climbing outside, as well as continuing to lead international expeditions in the hope of accruing enough experience to pursue the International Mountain Leader Award in the next three to five years. I have two young children, Ollie who is two and half and Felicity, who is just 6 months old and so there are several other moving parts to our lives. I really enjoyed the recent blog post from Richard Cole in February, and I can’t wait to begin exploring the outdoors in earnest with our two little ones as well.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to work in the outdoors what would it be?
Volunteer, particularly with as many people or organisations that are working in fields other than what you are used to or experienced within. This is hard to achieve to some degree in the outdoors as often a specialist skillset is required to support, however an open and willing approach will bring about more opportunities than you had perhaps first imagined.
Read the full My Story series
My Story #1: Chris Ensoll, International Mountain Guide
My Story #2: John Kettle, Climbing & Mountain Biking Coach
My Story #3: Kelvyn James, International Mountain Leader
My Story #4: Anne Ensoll, Business Manager And Ex-Outdoor Instructor
My Story #5: Michael Curry, All-Round Outdoor Instructor and Business Owner
My Story #6: Esther Foster, Freelance Outdoor Instructor
My Story #7: Rob Pugh, Mountaineering Instructor and Stay-at-Home Dad
My Story #8: Colin Reilly, Outdoor Instructor & Church Pastor
My Story #9: Rhiannon Pritchard, Arctic Nature Guide and Academic
My Story #10: Alan Kimber, Mountain Guide and Accommodation Provider
My Story #11: Claire Hendrickse, Freelance Outdoor Instructor
My Story #12: Alice Kerr, Outdoor Instructor & Long Distance Runner
My Story #13: Ben Roe, Outdoor Education Graduate and Climbing Wall Route Setter
My Story #14: Susan Byrne, Mountain Leader and Outdoor Youth Worker
My Story #15: Jon Chamberlain, Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor and Business Owner
My story #16: Sandra Schmidt, Mountain Leader and Tour Guide
