Fia Mountaineering runs both of the official Mountaineering Ireland Mountain Skills courses as well as bespoke navigation sessions that get you out independently in the Irish Mountains and beyond. You will progress from merely being brought on someone else’s hike to going hiking yourself. On any of our courses you’ll take a huge step forward in your self-confidence, both on the mountains and back in the ‘real’ world. Navigation is a life skill, and after these courses you’ll have it in spades.

Mountain Skills 1 is a fantastic, fun, beginner-friendly starting point where navigation stops being something that other people can do and becomes something YOU do. The course consists of far more action than listening, and for the majority of the time you are putting your new skills into practice, rather than watching me talk.  We’ll go into understanding your map; translating what you see on the map into what you see on the ground, and vice versa; starting to use your compass; planning your route; calculating distance and timing; feature recognition, both on the ground and on your map; interpreting contours; hazards in the mountains; and your personal equipment. You’ll come away from these two days equipped to take on your own adventures, and raring to go. Check out the reviews on our Facebook page.

Location: Anywhere in Ireland that you can find a mountain.

Mountain Skills 2 is a great follow on from Mountain Skills 1. You take the next step, learning how to demystify the compass, and navigate your way with confidence through cloud, at night, and on steep ground. Sometimes all three!

Again it’s a two-day course and takes up where Mountain Skills 1 left off. You get the chance to assess your progress, and then we are off into the hills, culminating in a navigation session that doesn’t head for home as darkness falls. Rather than being ‘caught out’ after dark your new navigation skills will allow you to head out as darkness falls around us. This is a complete game-changer. The next day we go back into the mountains for more navigation, incorporating into the mix movement and route finding on steep ground, together with emergency procedures, hypothermia, and confidence in difficult conditions. At the end of these two courses you, my friend, will be an independent mountaineer.

Location: Anywhere in Ireland or the UK.