Pre-Assessment Refreshers in the Lake District

There are many reasons why you might feel the need for a refresher before you undertake your assessment. Maybe it's quite a few years since you did your training course, and you could really do with a reminder. Or perhaps you've already done your assessment, but you were deferred on one aspect of the syllabus. Whatever the reason, we can help. We are very familiar with current best practice, and we provide refreshers for Mountain Leader, Rock Climbing Instructor and Climbing Wall Instructor in the Lake District. We recommend leaving plenty of time between your refresher and your assessment or reassessment, so that you can absorb and practice any new information. 

Mountain Leader Refreshers

We offer three options:

1. Book on to the Mountain Leader Two-Day Masterclass

A two-day course covering navigation and rope work, and offering an optional wild camp - more info here.

2. Book on to a one-day Masterclass

Several of our masterclasses are perfect for Mountain Leader refreshers:
Contour Masterclass
Poor Visibility Contour Masterclass
Mountain Leader Steep Ground Masterclass

More info here.

3. Book a day or more for private guiding

You tell us what you want to cover and we build the day around your agenda. If you particularly want to cover night navigation, try to avoid May, June and July. Max ratio 1:6

Cost: see the Essential Info for the Lake District page

What do our clients say about us?

Anne was very helpful in finding a date that suited - it took some time but really happy with the day as it enabled me to go out and put into practice what I had learnt. Chris was very helpful in sharing his knowledge and happily answering any questions I asked. It was very useful him sharing insights and giving feedback. I find sometimes confidence a difficult thing with navigation, but felt like I was making progress toward the end of the day - with this I didn't feel pressured by Chris - this made it easier to learn and do some of the legs. Thanks for the spiritual conversation over the day, it's a great joy to share truths together and discuss things. Hopefully see you sometime in the future.
Andy Norris, 1:1 Mountain Leader refresher day, July 2016

An excellent one day course that we both really enjoyed. Chris is very knowledgeable and very good at imparting his skills.
Charles Eggleston, 2:1 Mountain Leader refresher day, June 2018

We asked for coaching on ropework and navigation, but got considerably more with flora and fauna and a movement masterclass thrown in for free! Excellent value for money, delivered in a positive, upbeat and friendly way. I would have no hesitation in recommending Chris to anyone. A thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable day!
Tom Hiley, 2:1 Mountain Leader refresher day, June 2018

I’d just like to say thanks to Chris for the coaching session on Thursday, I found this really helpful as it gave me a much better idea as to what was expected particularly for the level of detail required for navigation.
Leon Lindsey, Mountain Leader refresher day, March 2019

Absorbing some of your knowledge, remembering some old things, learning plenty of new ones, gaining some confidence to go and consolidate, plus some unexpected lovely weather! I'm astounded by the difference your walking technique coaching makes, and the ML assessment now looks a whole lot more attainable than it did - I'm pleased the ground is starting to make sense. Spending time on a hill with you and Bobby has been a pleasure.
Roz, January 2020

I just wanted to say thank you again to Chris (and Bobby) for yesterday's day out in the Langdales. It was extremely helpful, learnt loads as always and was good to refresh things I will be doing in assessment as well as picking up some new and better ways of doing things. A really great day out and thank you to Chris for being so encouraging. Thank you!
Sharon Bianchi, Mountain Leader refresher day, October 2021

I’m delighted to say I had a great time with Alex. I really enjoyed his company, did some great climbing and took away some valuable and instructive lessons. I achieved most of my aspirations and hopefully will repeat the experience.
Dave Elson, Rock Climbing Instructor refresher, July 2022

We can not explain how good Alex was for us! He's an absolute legend. He excelled all our expectations as an instructor and filled us with so much excitement and energy in continuing our journey to become Mountain Leaders. The depth of his knowledge is superb and a real credit to your company. We would love to be in Alex's company again, and we would like to book our assessment with you guys.
Tom Code, Mountain Leader two-day refresher, July 2022

I'm incredibly grateful to Chris and Alex for their help and guidance. They totally refocused and change my approach to being in the mountains. I'm 100% that I wouldn't have felt so comfortable on my assessment without doing this course. There were so many great tips that really made a difference and made me stand out compared to other candidates. Both incredibly inspiring, informative and professional. Thank you!
Tom Hodgson, Mountain Leader refresher day, September 2022

The amount of information covered was top quality and there was loads of it, not sure you could cram any more into a day, really beneficial for anyone at any level. Alex was great from the moment we met up in the car park to the very end of the session. Coaching, training, educating, demonstrating, giving feedback, all done to a very high and professional standard with lots of fun thrown in too. A really great coach. I always book with Chris Ensoll because you can guarantee it is going to be an excellent experience with top drawer skills and experience shared freely and openly. I wasn’t looking forward to the additional river crossing added in by request of one of the candidates, it actually turned out to be loads of fun and educational of course, but a really good finish to a great day.
Russ Malone, Mountain Leader refresher day, November 2022

In short, the course was excellent. Detailed, informative, challenging, inspiring, encouraging, thought-provoking, enjoyable and fun. A great day working on hard topics. Alex was a great instructor, detailed and informative, lots of jokes and encouragement and useful advice. Really focused instruction, that covered everything you needed (and some things you didn't realise you would need). Miserable weather, but honestly didn't notice it that much as the day was so engaging. Learnt lots and took away several action points and things to work on. Would definitely recommend. 5 out of 5. Thanks.
Richard Gavaghan, Mountain Leader refresher day, November 2022

Rock Climbing Instructor Refreshers

We offer three options:

1. Join a scheduled training course

We split the programme into personal climbing and group climbing skills. You would need to have some flexibility, as the programmes for our scheduled courses are dependent on the weather, and we sometimes have to make a last-minute decision about which way round to do the days.

Cost: £90 per day for one day, £170 for two days, £240 for the full three-day course

2. Book on to a Masterclass

The Rock Climbing Instructor Masterclass is perfect as a refresher before assessment.

What do our clients say about us?

Chris delivered a great session that was packed with thought-provoking ideas and delivered in a dynamic style.  
Richard Ensoll, Single Pitch Award Masterclass, June 2016

3. Book a day or more with Chris for private guiding

You tell us what you want to cover and we build the day around your agenda. Max ratio 1:4

Cost: see the Essential Info for the Lake District page

Climbing Wall Instructor Refreshers

We offer two options:

1. Book on to a Masterclass

The Climbing Wall Masterclass is perfect as a refresher before assessment.

2. Book a day or more with Chris for private guiding

You tell us what you want to cover and we build the day around your agenda. Max ratio 1:4

Cost: see the Essential Info for the Lake District page

What equipment will I need?

Visit the relevant page for full kit lists:
Mountain Leader courses
Rock Climbing Instructor courses
Climbing Wall Instructor courses

Useful blog posts

See the Essential Info for Qualification Courses page