Hi guys, So after asking people the other day what else they would like to see on here rather than just endless descriptions of my trips, people would also like to have some gear reviews and the occasional technical post about a skill for mountaineering, rigging anchors for example. This post today came from a question someone asked me the other week about what I deem some of the essential skills of a mountaineer so here they are in an A-Z format.

A- Altitude: Understanding the effect altitude can have on your decision making skills is essential, knowing when your decision making skills are impaired means you can realise when it is happening and do something to keep yourself in control of it.

B- Bearing: knowing how to take a bearing can be essential, first of all it lets you know you are walking in the correct direction and also helps with walking in adverse weather conditions such as severe rain or walking in white out conditions in winter when you cannot see anything due to snow.

C- Clouds: recognising different cloud formations and what they mean for the weather you have at the moment and also what weather they can bring with it, recognising storm fronts etc can be essential in forward planning which way you are walking and when you should turn around etc.

D- Direction: knowing what is in which direction so that even when you have taken a compass direction or a bearing you should know what you are meant to be walking towards and also what you should not come accross can be key.

E- Equipment: You must make sure you have the correct equipment for the activities and weather you are going to be experiencing on any day. Be this a full climbing rack for a day of rock climbing, a partial rack for an intended scramble, winter kit for a trip in the snow or even just some lunch and a set of waterproofs.

F- First aid: having a fully stocked first aid kit and knowing how to use it to help yourself or other people on your climbing team. Your kit should have the correct things in it for the people you are climbing with, especially if you are leading the trip. You never know but one day your skills may be needed for someone else on the mountain, someone you’ve only just met who’s had an accident and life could be dependant on your skills at first aid.

G- GPS: while for some people this is not an essential piece of kit to take on a trip up a mountain it can make life a lot easier especially in rubbish weather or after a long climb when you’re tired and just need to quickly get a fix on your position so you can work out where to go next.

H- Help: knowing when to ask or call for help, before it gets into a life or death situation, this is essecntial not just for your safety but also in an extreme circumstance that you don’t put any rescue service personnel’s life at risk. It is well known that there are ‘bold mountaineers’ and ‘old mountaineers’ but there are not any ‘old and bold mountaineers’ If you need help, then ask for it!

I- Injuries: you should know how to recognise different injuries that could occur in a mountain environment and how to deal with them when they occur.

J- Jumar use: the use of an ascender to move up a fixed rope, be that while big wall climbing or moving up a mountain attached to a fixed rope, these can also be used for rigging tentioned ropes or rescues.

K- Knots: A good mountaineer knows many knots, how and when to use them and the correct knot for the correct job. At some stage in the near future I will make a post about different knots, how to tie them and when they are needed.

L-Leave a copy of your route: Just in case something goes wrong, so people will now where to start looking for you, this is especially essential if you are venturing out into the mountains by yourself.

M- Maps: knowing how to correctly use a map, this means always carrying one with you, no matter how easy the route is. It is also good practice to keep it attached to something in a waterproof case, I normally attach mine to my bag. this means it will not get wet in the rain and snow and also will not blow away if the wind picks up.

N-North: knowing which way is north, this is map reading 101, knowing where north is means you can orientate the map in the correct direction so that things like taking a bearing are all correct,

O- Oxygen: Important to every day life but especially important to mountaineers. Be this things like how the thinner oxygen at altitude affects your brain and the way it processes decisions, or even while climbing at very high altitude where oxygen is lacking and supplemental oxygen is all that stops you getting into trouble on the summit.

P- People: Tell other people where you are going and when you plan on getting back, this goes well with L. Also while on this route, be polite to people that you meat while out on a mountain as they love being there just like you do.

Q- Quickdraws and runners: These are a way of attaching the rope you are using and attached to to the rock face, be this while climbing, or even something like short roping on a scramble that may need protecting. Knowing what length quickdraws to use to use is just as important as being able to place them one handed with either hand.

R- Rope work: Knowing not just how to use a rope, for things like confidence roping, rock climbing, scrambling and even moving together over things like crevasse fields, but also knowing when to use it, when it will be a help or a hindrance, is also important.

S-Snow: Knowing what to do in large amounts of sno, how to walk oin it, both going up and down a mountain, how to use your crampons for things like kicking steps while ascending a steep slope, or how to use your ice axe for walking up and down slopes of varying gradients and like everything when using these things will be useful or a hindrance again.

T- Turn around: This point comes in 2 stages. Stage 1, periodically turn around and stay familiar with the route you have already walked up, this is essential as in adverse weather conditions it will be essential to know your route backwards as this may be the safest way down. Stage 2, Turn around and look at the view! All to often people are to engrossed in where they are going, always looking up at the summit, that they forget to look at where they have been, people might say that it doesn’t matter as they will see this view on the way back down, but on the way down people are normally to tired to be paying much attention to it so why not look on the way up and enjoy the whole day this way?

U- Understanding: You need to remember that you don’t own the mountain, and while it may feel like the right thing to do to recommend someone does not climb in the current conditions, they may have more experience than you and may feel safe and confident even when you don’t. You can advise them but you do not have the right to stop them climbing.

V- Visibility: knowing which you should be heading is essential on a mountain. While this may seem simple and like I’m teaching you to suck eggs, believe me when out in bad weather, or even at night it is very easy to take a wrong turn or walk in the wrong direction. Take advantage in bad weather, especially when climbing in fog or in low cloud, of any break in the weather that will give you the chance to take a look around you and work out where you should be heading.

W- Weather: knowing what the weather is forecast to do for the day, when sun rise and sun set is, what approaching weather fronts may look like and what that really awesome cloud formation coming your way means for you.

Y- Y anchor: Used for securing a rope while rock climbing or for rigging an abseil. This can be an essential, life or death skill to know if you need to retreat from a rock climb or for getting off the side of a mountain by the quickest route, while this may not be the safest route it can some times be the safest best option. This is another setup that I will demonstrate at some stage in the near future.

Z- Z pulley system: This is an essential skill for rescuing someone if there is a chance of anyone falling into something (crossing a crevasse field for example). Again I will demonstrate this one at some stage too.

You may notice that I dont have anything for X, the reason for this is really simple, after 4 days of thinking and asking a few people, none of us could come up with anything for X at all. If you have any ideas i’d love you to leave me a comment and let me know, you never know, you may see your idea appear on here.

cheers guys.

Matt