Refresher and CPD Workshops

For those working towards a Mountain Training qualification there is an interim period between the training course and the final assessment.

During this consolidation period it is essential to gain as much further experience as possible to make sure you are up to speed on every aspect of the syllabus. 

We offer a range of workshops for those in their consolidation period, as well as a few CPD opportunities for those who are already qualified.

These workshops are open to members of the Mountain Training Association at a discounted rate.

Navigation for a successful assessment - a Masterclass for HML and ML trainees. £70pp (£60pp for MTA members).

This workshop is for anyone working towards the Hill and Moorland Leader or Mountain Leader assessment. We'll the spend the day looking at bringing everything together using micro navigation. We usually start the day with a little bit of linear navigation to get us onto the open hill, then move into strategies, and off-path navigation to contour features. The day will be held in the Haweswater area, and candidates will need to bring their own Explorer OL5, plus walking gear.

19th November 2025 (6 places available)

13th February 2026 (6 places available)

21st April 2026 (6 places available)

1st June 2026 (6 places available)

10th September 2026 (6 places available)

8th December 2026 (6 places available)

Navigating using different map scales - 1:50,000 and 1:40,000 scale maps. £70pp (£60pp for MTA members).

The syllabus for both Hill and Moorland and Mountain Leader states that candidates should be comfortable navigating with a range of commonly used map scales. In reality this could mean that you'll spend a portion of your training and/or assessment using not only 1:25,000 scale (on either OS or Harvey Maps), but also 1:50,000 scale (OS Landranger), or 1:40,000 scale (Harvey Ultra Map or British Mountain Map). The Candidate Notes also suggest that using orienteering maps may be useful as a training aid, and these maps come in a wide range of scales, including 1:5,000, 1:7,500, :1;10,000 and 1:12,5000. For many candidates this can be baffling. As Providers and Course Directors we often find that candidates are only really comfortable with one scale (often the OS 1:25,000). So, we've put together a specialist workshop, run on a handful of dates each year, were we look at how your navigation skills should and can be transferable to any scale of map. We'll help you develop the skills to be confident as a navigator no matter which scale of map you're using.

22nd December 2025 (6 places available)

26th June 2026 (6 places available)

Understanding Contours for HML and ML trainees. £70pp (£60pp for MTA members).

Contour interpretation is a common cause of confusion for candidates on Hill and Moorland and Mountain Leader assessments. Working out just what a knoll, a spur or re-entrant actually looks like on the map, and also on the ground can be frustrating for many people, and contour interpretation is one of the recurring reasons for deferral we keep hearing about from candidates. We have developed a number of ways to help you with this, and have put together a workshop that focuses on exactly how to overcome your fear of 'innies and outies', and how to gain a better understanding of how contours relate to the landscape through which you're walking. We'll provide 'contour-only' and 'natural-features-only' maps for you to use during this workshop.

21st October 2025 2025 (2 places available)

23rd December 2025 2025 (5 places available)

2nd July 2026 (6 places available)

Night Navigation Workshop for HML and ML Trainees. £50 (£40 for MTA members).

An opportunity to join the Graham Uney Mountaineering team in the Bampton Fell area for a refresher of your night navigation skills to get you ready for an assessment. We'll provide maps for this workshop, but you'll need your own personal walking kit, and a compass. Starting times will vary according to the time of the year.

19th November 2025 (6 places available)

13th February 2026 (6 places available)

21st April 2026 (6 places available)

10th September 2026 (6 places available)

8th December 2026 (6 places available)

ML Ropework Masterclass - Nothing More - Nothing Less. £75pp (£65pp for MTA members).

For many people going for their Mountain Leader assessment, this is one of the most daunting aspects of the syllabus. On this workshop we'll aim to simplify ropework for the Mountain Leader, and will delve into decision-making scenarios for those working on steep mountain-walking terrain. Many people find this workshop the ideal preparation for their assessment, and we also often get qualified Mountain Leaders coming along too so that they can refresh these skills.

29th October 2025 (5 places available)

22nd April 2026 (6 places available)

9th September 2026 (6 places available)

7th December 2026 (6 places available)

The Shaping of the Lake District Landscape - A Haweswater Case Study. £70pp (£60pp for MTA members).

This workshop is offered by our staff member, Sharon Kennedy. Sharon now works on a lot of our HML and ML course, but before that she worked for the Environment Agency. During the workshop you will delve into the carving of the Lake District landscape as we see it today, looking how glaciation has created our favourite National Park since the great mountain building process. You'll learn about more modern earth-changing processes too, including the formation of the Haweswater Reservoir and how land owners and environmental charities are now managing this landscape.

3rd April 2026 (6 places available)

13th November 2026 (6 places available)

Mountain Leader 2-day Refresher. £220pp (£200pp for MTA members).

This is a two-day refresher which includes a wild camp and night navigation. During the two days we will cover as much of the ML syllabus as we can, and as candidates require, depending on areas of the syllabus they feel they would most benefit from revisiting. This often includes day navigation, contour only navigation, night navigation, ropework, leadership, group management, environmental awareness, campcraft, weather, and emergency procedures. We'll cover as much of this as time allows!

16th - 17th February 2026 - Grasmere area in the Lake District (5 places available)