This weekend I’ve been at the annual British Association of International Mountain Leaders conference and AGM. As well as being a qualified IML, to be part of the organisation, you have to periodically have completed various CPD (Continuous Professional Development) courses to prove that you are current and upto date with best practice. Given the weekend’s terrible weather, it was rather fortuitous that I’d chosen to take part in an indoor session run by one of the Met Office mountain weather forecasters, rather than a more practical outdoor class!

As well as recapping on the basics of weather forecasting, we looked more in detail at how various the weather systems change in the mountain environment and what sort of conditions we can actually expect on the ground. All very useful stuff!

There was also a good session on predicting weather ‘on the hill’ and what signs and signals the clouds and winds can give us. If ever there was a good day to be studying in a classroom, it was today! The groups that went out into the mountains almost got stranded, with the Llanberis Pass and A5 submerging underwater as all the snow melted off the hills.

As well as plenty of learning, it was good to meet up with old friends from around the country who had travelled to Llanberis, where the conference was held. We had a very nice meal at the Victoria Hotel afterwards, and I also did a course on safeguarding on international expeditions to round the weekend off.

Back home at the Cottage, the snow has all melted, and it seems that some of the plants, didn’t take too well to the cold snap!