Qualify as a Mountain Leader
A friend has invited you to do this with them.
The Mountain Leader qualification is for people who want to lead groups in the mountains, hills and moorlands of the UK and Ireland. It is built on a logbook of your own mountain days, followed by a training course and an assessment that includes an expedition with overnight camps.
Demanding£100 to £500 / $130 to $650A year or moreOutdoorsWith othersUK
Someone who has done it
Barbara O'Donnell left a job in IT management and qualified as a mountain leader in Ireland.
How to start
- Join a mountaineering council (the BMC, Mountaineering Scotland or Mountaineering Ireland) and read the Mountain Leader page for where you live.
- Start logging full mountain days that you planned and navigated yourself; in Ireland, book a Mountain Skills course and assessment first.
- Register for the scheme, book the training course, then take an in-person first aid course before assessment.
Where to go
- Mountain Training, Mountain Leader qualification page (UK) UK
- Mountaineering Ireland, Mountain Leader page
We opened these links on 9 October 2026 and found them to be what we say. Dates, places and prices are on the official page, where they stay up to date.
This is general information, not financial or business advice for your own circumstances.
Plan this
Pick a day, or a month, and we will set out how to get ready, step by step, with a date and a reason for each. Projects run over months and stall without a rhythm, so the plan sets milestones you can see.
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