Ace Course Highlights 2009-2010 Part I

Ace Outdoors Highlights (2009-2010) Part I

It's been an extremely busy time this past year at Ace Outdoors and this summer looks busier than even with a school holiday activities. Here's a rough guide to the high points of the year so far...just in case you're interested!

In November '09, we commissioned a specialist vegan web design agency based in Leeds to start to drive forward the development of our own web company site. Over the past few months we drew together images of all the activities and put together the final touches to the site. This project took six months of hard work .The official launch of the site was during National Vegetarian Week' May '10. Our web site contains all our latest offers, course dates and activity information. www.ace-outdoors.co.uk/offers.htm.

New ace outdoors website!

Whilst working on this project, we gained trade mark registration with the Vegan Society http://www.vegansociety.com/hubpage.aspx?id=677086&terms=vegan+holiday

and started to offer membership offers through our adverts in the societies magazine. We continue to support the society, in all of its work to raise awareness of animal welfare and vegan living.

In January '10, we were visited by AALA (Adventure Activities Licensing Authority), and were granted a licence to provide activities for youth groups. We have now been working with a range of local education authorities to provide outdoor education for school children.

February, 10 saw the company start to develop a range of positive activities for young people to help them to, "Get-out on Rock". The project enabled twenty-four young people to experience learning to climb indoors on Friday nights, before moving out to climb on real rock in Snowdonia and with a second group in the Peak District. These activities took place from February all the way through to the end of April 2010.

Later in the month, we headed out to the French Alps to start to prepare for the Winter part of the International Mountain Leaders Award Assessment. The week enables us to explore the area where the assessment would take place and gain a greater understanding of snowshoeing and the alpine winter environment and wildlife.

March'10, Pete returned to France to complete the final assessment in the IML Scheme. After a week of assessment on all aspects of the Winter part of the syllabus, Pete successfully passed the winter test. This is a huge accomplishment, as it now means that we are able to offer summer and winter trekking holidays in Europe and beyond!

Whilst over in France, we were able to have meetings with a number of chalet owners in the area to view their properties and negotiate the use of their facilities. On returning back to the UK we have secured our agreements to offer vegetarian and vegan snow shoe holidays, for the winter season in 2011.

April' 10, saw Ace again receive another commissioned project, to undertake a large scale project to work with fifteen primary schools across a large cluster to provide them with, mapping of each school site, high quality coaching and after school clubs for pupils to take part in for up to four weeks.

Ace was able to draw on our experience to provide each school with a dedicated after school coach, a school orienteering map, teaching training for staff and supporting materials. Each school, was provided with just over seven and half hours of coaching time to make up the overall 112 hours of contact time across the piece.

Children who regularly came to all the extra-curricular clubs would also be able to gain the National Navigation Award- Young Star Silver Navigation Award. Over the project 210 children took part in the scheme and acheived this award. A competition event will be held sometime next year to continue our involvement with the schools.

End of Part One

Sea Kayak Expedition - Northern Scotland 2010

Northern Scotland Sea kaykaing trip (2010)

I'm starting to pack all my gear into dry bags for my sea kayaking trip next week. All my vegan food has been prepared (with extra help - from Honest to Goodness) for a week of wild camping.

The weather will be 'interesting' for this first half of next week and the general situation looks likely improve later in the week. Wind also looks like it will also descrease with this frontal system.

The plan is to paddle and explore the waters round Oldany Island (Grid ref. NC 0863 3471) camping on the island for a few days.

Oldany Island is a large tidal island at the southwestern entrance to Eddrachillis Bay/Kylescu. It has an area of 200 hectares (500 acres) and its highest point is Sidhean nan Ealachan at 104 metres (341 ft).

Handa Island is to the north, across Eddrachillis Bay; Eilean Chrona is to the south west and Sgeir nan Gall (Norsemen's Scare) is to the north. The settlement of Oldany is on the adjacent mainland. The island has long been used for grazing sheep. Oldany island is owned by the Turner family.

I will try and send a few updates, via Twitter or Face Book whilst away to keep everyone informed on the expedition is going.

Blog aplogies....

Hi Ace followers...

I haven't been updating the blog as often as I would like this year. Two reasons for this, firstly I forgot and secondly I have been flat out with courses and trips. I hope you can forgive me and that we start to update the blog at least each week to keep people informed of what's been happening. PJ

Honest to Goodness - VIVA Cake Sales and shop!

VIVA Cake Sale & Honest to Goodness Shop

33 Market Street, Hoylake CH47 2BG.

Yesterday, we spent a lovely time shopping at Honest to Goodness vegan store in Hoylake. The store has over 800 products and an amazing range of vegan sweets and goodies.

John the owner and his team are extremely helpful and the store is definitely a place to stop and stock up for all your cupboard essentials! We also helped ourselves to some cakes, making a donation to VIVA as well. The coffee cake was pretty spectacular!

Welsh National Navigation Course - 16th October to 18th October 2009

Ace Outdoors has recently been approved as a registered course provider to deliver all levels of training and assessment in the National Navigation Award Schemes. We are delighted to start offering our new courses from November 2009 as part of our winter programme!

The National Navigation Award (NNAS) is a personal performance, non-competitive, incentive scheme for all ages. The award has three levels of performance, Bronze, Silver and Gold. It is open to all ages and is essential training for anyone who enjoys hill walking.

Over the weekend of 16th-18th October 2009 we ran a pilot of our proposed new navigational course to invited guests, friends and other outdoor professionals. The aim of the weekend was to help us to evaluate our Bronze and Silver Training course and assessment before we start our courses to paying clients later next month.

The weekend was a huge success, all in part to the nine participants who attended the course. Everyone, entered into the spirit of things and made sure we all worked together to learn new skills, refine techniques and have a whole lot of fun along the way!

If you would like to learn more about navigation please give Ace Outdoors a ring on:

0845 505 1221 (local rated call)

Our next Sliver NNAS Course is running on the Weekend 20-22 November 2009 in Wales!

We hope to see you there...

Pete

FAQ International Mountain Leaders or IML's?

What is an International Mountain Leader?

Looking to be guided on trekking and snowshoeing terrain, either in the UK or internationally, then you require a group leader who has been highly trained and assessed in mountain navigation, first aid, emergency ropework, group management, altitude sickness, training and physiology. You will find all these attributes in a qualified International Mountain Leader (IML).
It is your guarantee of the highest possible standards and experience.

Who regulates and trains the IMLs?

All IMLs hold the carnet and wear the badges of the Union of International Mountain Leader Associations (UIMLA), and they follow their standards and code of practice. The IML is also affiliated to their home nation association. In the British association (BAIML) there are over 300 fully qualified IMLs, who have experience from the Arctic to the Andes. The national association keeps a register of members, and like all professional bodies it expects its members to be undertaking continuous professional development.

In the UK the IML award is administered by Mountain Leader Training UK, and is valid when the IML is a member of a national association and if they hold professional indemnity insurance. The IML award is a professional qualification, recognised since 1993 by the former Commission Européenne des Accompagnateurs en Montagne (CEAM), and since November 2004 by UIMLA. You can rest assured that an IML is a highly trained professional.

Where can IMLs lead?

You should think of an IML as a trekking and snowshoeing guide who can lead in mountainous
terrain all over the world. No climbing as such is involved, but the IML will be very competent
in rope work, to look after you on steep terrain if necessary. No glacier travel is involved, as that
terrain is led by the International Mountain Guides, but an IML can lead groups on snowy treks
that do not require the use of crampons. In many cases these types of routes are guided on snowshoes, and many IMLs are highly experienced in their use, as well as in snow safety and avalanche awareness. The scope of where an IML can lead you is vast, and you will see them all around the world’s mountains from Everest base camp to the Tour du Mont Blanc trek, and from Kilimanjaro to snowshoeing in the Rockies.

What should I expect to learn from an IML?

Apart from navigating and looking after your safety, the key role of an IML is an educational one, and they will aim to impart a lot of information about the region you are visiting in terms of geology, history, culture, geomorphology and the environment. Many IMLs choose to specialise in one of these topics, which might appeal to certain clients seeking in depth knowledge on topics such as glaciology or the flora and fauna. In other words, an IML will do far more than just to lead you from A to B. They aim to enthuse and share with you their knowledge, to give you a far richer experience and understanding of the mountains.


How should I select an IML to lead you?

By now you are aware of the high level of training that an IML has received to earn their award, but just the qualification alone should not be enough for you. When selecting an IML to lead you, look for the experience they have in the region that you are visiting. All IMLs will happily provide you with details of this, and if you have a special interest such as geology, you should check that your IML has the depth of knowledge you require in this field. You can look at the British association of IMLs website (www.baiml.org) for the online directory of members, where you can search for IMLs by different criteria including regional experience.

What time of year is best?
You can travel at any time of year, but you should ask your IML for advice on when is the best season to visit your chosen location. For example, if you are trekking in the Himalayas there is a
Spring and Autumn season that avoids the monsoon rains. For an activity such as snowshoeing, in the Alps this is best enjoyed from December to April each year. Whatever time of year
you want to travel, there will be some of the world’s mountains in prime condition. Ask the IML for ideas…

Should I train for a trek led by an IML?
Your IML will be able to advise you on the length of days and the height gains and losses that are involved on each day of your trek, and they will tell you what level of fitness is required. Some day walks only require a low level of fitness, and your existing level of fitness will be absolutely fine, whilst other multi-day treks can be gruelling unless you have a very high fitness level. The IML can help devise a training regime for you, or you can consult a doctor or personal trainer for more detailed information. It is important for you to be at a suitable level of fitness for your trek, so that you can enjoy it and get the most out of your time in the mountains. When first discussing your plans with an IML, it is essential to discuss the training requirements.

Ace-Outdoors.co.uk?

Currently we are working towards accrediting all our instructors who operate overseas with the IML award as a main leading qualification. Pete already had passed the summer assessment and will be looking to be assessed on the winter assessment in March 2010.

We hope to start offering international trekking and snow shoeing journeys starting in 2011...please visit our main website at www.ace-outdoors.co.uk to view information on hill walking and trekking.

IML Winter training days 4-5

Nearly towards the end of the training course close to the town of Grand Bornand in the French Alps.

The overview of day 4 consisted of a mountain journey, starting from the easy to access ski area and then moving away from here to a stunning viewpoint observing some of the rules for being in a Ski du fond area or piste area. (See picture)

This clearly demonstrated the accessibility and relative ease of the activity of Snowshoeing to get to places with groups in the mountains which offer some fabulous vistas (without huge effort).

The remainder of the intineary for the day was to select an appropriate route back to the Gite using one of the many local snow shoeing tracks and trails which criss cross through the forest back to the valley below. Our group took a longer route back in to the town of Grand Bornarnd and arranged for a lift back to the accommodation!

The technical aspects covered;

• Multiple transceiver searching and techniques for probing for deeper burials.
• Personal movement skills.
• Warm up and games!
• Snow and avalanche awareness practical observations and evening lecture.

DAY5 - IML Final Day / Debrief

The morning session of the course investigated the roles and required decisive actions required for leaders in the sudden and unexpected event of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and everyone in the group gets avalanched! (or if you come to assist others in a group burial)

The training scenario involved one team on the hill acting the role of the victims placing out objects, in the debris field or others to become the rescuers. Each team had the opportunity to observe what was happening and then review the others' performance.

The main learning points became clear to organise an effective search needs good planning, direction of members in to searchers, diggers and probers and one person to direct the actions of the team to quickly find victims when at the scene.

In the afternoon, a summary was given of each of the days on the course and an overall evaluation of the training and if required individual coaching points and a verbal action plan given from the guides delivering the course for the IML winter syllabus.