What do you do you for work?
I’ve just started a new job as a university lecturer at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Prior to that I was deputy head at a school on the Isle of Arran.
Why did you want to become an International Mountain Leader? I didn’t exactly – I sort of fell into it! I was on Winter Mountain Leader training when some of the other candidates were talking about the qualification and that was the first I had heard of it. Looking into it I realised that it was something I would like to do and had the experience necessary to start on the scheme. I wanted to do it as a professional development activity, basically to see if it was a standard I could reach.
How do you use the qualification? In 2006 a friend and I began Women with Altitude, with the aim of enabling other women to go on expeditions overseas by removing some of the barriers to participation and generally to demystify the process. The intention is that if we can make it accessible and pass on the know how, then they in turn will pay it forward by taking others. We give our time for free and do the skills training and pre-expedition planning, as well as organising in country. We aim to go every 2-3 years and our trips have included Mera Peak, the Five Kings of Mongolia, and Kebnekaise. I also use the qualification with Ramblers Worldwide Holidays, volunteering with them once a year which I love, and also with my own school on expeditions including to Ethiopia in 2019.
What do you enjoy about leading groups around the world? I enjoy enabling others to see other places and environments. It is difficult to understand how others live, the importance of other environments and the challenges that other cultures can face by sitting on the sofa at home. But it is also a journey that the group and I go on together, learning about ourselves and as a group. In addition to the above I have also led in Zambia and Botswana, Morocco, Austria and Chile, all very different and unique experiences!
HEADING Bod
What do you wish you’d known before you started the assessment? How mentally tough it was to sit an assessment in a country you had never been to! The assessment was in the Alps and it was the first time I had been trekking in the Alps as all my experience was further afield. I had to very quickly learn about flora and fauna and also what to do with fixed equipment as though it’s an international qualification, at that time it was European-based skills that counted. You don’t know what you don’t know and I wished I had talked to others about trekking in the Alps beforehand, or had found the finances to go on a visit first, it would have been a lot less stressful!
What was the best thing you learned while pursuing the qualification? I learnt about friendship, adaptability and to enjoy being out and about. I liked the International Mountain Leader more than any other qualification because the focus was on the journeys and the experience for the clients, as well as the technical skills. I think also pretty much what I have said above, be prepared and do your homework on the area. Also to think about ensuring that what you know is adaptable. I had an MSc in Managing Sustainable Mountain Development but I found that at the time, that type of knowledge was seen as less relevant at assessment than perhaps more traditional knowledge of geology, plants and language.
What are your walking/outdoor plans for the future? To continue with Women with Altitude and as my children move out of the toddler stage, to take them, and any of their friends who want to come, along with me to see and appreciate what the world has to offer.
Where’s your favourite place to go walking? I love where I live – Isle of Arran is Scotland in miniature with coast and mountains. I lived in Ethiopia for a number of years and the mountains and people there are pretty special.
Suzie Dick
International Mountain Leader SUMMIT#105 | SPRING 2022 | 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
