Episodes
Angela heads up the Ramblers in Wales. She leads a team campaign on behalf of footpaths and walkers. We chat about what the Ramblers are doing and how they are going about it. We touch on many topics, such as working with Welsh Government, volunteers and landowners.
Published 03/26/24
Published 03/19/24
Sarah believes passionately in the importantance of walking for all. Her business is based in a lowland area and she thinks the Lowland Leader could be more valued. “There are such a high percentage of the population that, if you have ‘hill’, ‘mountain’, ‘challenge’ or ‘hike’ in the title of anything, they won’t even consider it.” Sarah Price.
Published 03/19/24
Staff Sergeant Nathan Jones is an Adventurous Training Instructor (ATI) in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC), Nathan is on a mission to transform people's lives through the power of the outdoors by connecting wannabe adventurers with professional guides and instructors through the Discover A Guide platform.
Published 03/12/24
Rhys works for a combination of the National Trust, the Eryri National Park and Natural Resources Wales. He is the warden and public engagement officer for the National Nature Reserve that contains Cwm Idwal.
Published 03/05/24
Rob is the current Chair of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI). He is a keen climber, freelance mountaineering instructor and technical advisor based in the South Lakes. He offers offer Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI), Climbing Wall Instructor (CWI) and Climbing Wall Development Instructor(CWDI) courses. He can provide guiding, and a range of climbing courses.
Published 02/27/24
David is a conservationist and naturalist, and this book is a story of nature, farming, conservation and reconciliation in the Welsh uplands. It is set on one particualr farm and we get to learn about that farm, the people who work there, their history and the story of their land. It's a great read. In this podcast we discuss some of the issues raised in the book and glance at the interaction between farming and conservation.
Published 02/20/24
Shane is the Chief Executive Officer of Ourea events. Ourea Events are well known as the organisers of challenging running events such as the Dragon’s Back Race and the Cape Wrath Trail Run. He is a seasoned elite runner and extreme climber himself; he currently holds the record for the fastest unsupported round of the Lake District Classic Rock Routes. Shane is also a member of the Kendal Mountain Rescue Team and has held senior roles within the team for the last ten years. Our conversation...
Published 02/13/24
Chris Forrest – Chief Instructor Joint Services Mountain Training, former Senior Instructor at Plas y Brenin and Instructor at Glenmore Lodge. UIAGM Guide, Kayak and Canoe Coach, Climber, skier, paddler and family man.
Published 02/06/24
Alec works for the Eryri National Park and is the project manager for the Yr Wyddfa Plastic Free project. The project is about much more than just plastic. Listed to Alec explain what is going on, why it's important, how it's making a difference and how you can help. Can Snowdon become the world’s first ‘plastic free’ mountain?
Published 01/30/24
Rich is a climber, walker, biker and A&E Consultant. He heads up the medical team for Ourea Events and is an active member of, and doctor with, the busiest mountain rescue team in the country.
Published 01/23/24
The Snowdonia Society is a member-based conservation charity that works with local communities, organisations, businesses and individuals to help look after Snowdonia.  Since 1967 the Snowdonia Society has worked tirelessly to ensure that Snowdonia is well-protected, well-managed and enjoyed by all.
Published 01/16/24
Mountain Leader, Nature Friendly Farmer, former Bannau Brycheiniog Ranger, former Yr Wyddfa Warden, Former Head Warden and Senior Manager at Eryri National Park; Helen Pye chats about her new role at the National Trust the land the Trust own, how it’s managed and a few other tangents besides.
Published 01/10/24
Former headteachers Fiona and Rob Nicholson have been running Gwesty Plas Coch in Llanberis since 2019. Their vision was to develop Plas Coch as part of the outdoor community whilst themselves working hard to become part of their new home village community. Their knowledge of the Eryri mountains and lakes have helped them to establish themselves and drove their recent endeavours to become the first ‘Gold Level’ business under the Plastic Free Yr Wyddfa scheme.  
Published 01/02/24
Phill has been an active mountaineer for over 40 years. During that time he has completed the Winter Mountain Climbing Instructor (WMCI) qualification and the British Mountain Guides scheme (IFMGA) which qualifies him for all aspects of mountaineering activities world wide. Phill is a qualified teacher and has worked for private and local Education based centres throughout the country on an instructional basis and as a technical expert. Based in Snowdonia, he is now a very popular provider of...
Published 12/26/23
Pete Edwards owns and runs his own business, Prowess Climbing Coaching; helping climbers of all abilities and ages to not only improve their climbing grade but also their enjoyment of their climbing by helping improve technical, tactical and psychological skills. Prowess also provides coach education courses, including the BMC FUNdamentals of Climbing workshops and other CPD workshops. Pete speaks intelligently about the relatively new world of climbing coaching.
Published 12/19/23
In a wide ranging conversation with Tom about his role and how he comes to be doing it we touch on all sorts of things, including the fact that it didn't freeze on Clogwyn Ddu (850m) at all last winter!
Published 12/12/23
Mal Creasey has influenced thousands of mountain leaders, instructors and guides in a climbing career spanning over 60 years. He worked as the Technical Officer for Mountain Training England, as a Guide in the Alps and as a member of staff at Plas y Brenin. He was involved in the first two MIA (now MCI) courses, he’s an author, writer and is still active walking and climbing every week.
Published 12/05/23
Dewi Davies is the Project Manager for National Trust Cymru focussing on the Uwch Conwy catchment in the east of Eryri National Park. Dewi leads a team of people on the restoration of nature, predominantly peatland at the head of the river basin, but also working on rivers and their catchments to improve habitats by restoring natural processes and increasing tree cover. The project also supports farming tradition and heritage. They are working on access improvements, so that people living...
Published 11/28/23
Paul Poole runs a range of mountain based training courses in north Wales. He's a very popular provider of the Mountain Leader Courses and the Rock Climbing Instrucotor courses. Paul also runs trips to Scotland, Morocco and Nepal. Listen in to find out more about him and the way he does things.
Published 11/21/23
My guest today is Robbie Blackhall-Miles of Llanberis. He is, amongst other things, a conservation scientist, ethno-ecologist, ecology lecturer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, writer, horticulturist, and the charity Plantlife’s Vascular Plant Officer for the National Heritage Lottery funded Natur am Byth project - a partnership project between Natural Resources Wales and 9 environmental charities.
Published 11/14/23
Dan Lane, Operations Manager at RAW Adventures is a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor, Chemistry Graduate, keen climber and proud dog owner. Dan is also a trustee of the Tom Furey Trust. In Dan's role he employs many walking leaders and climbing instructors, he organises major events and manages to climb in between. He works on ML courses and has been central to the setting up of the Tom Fury Trust.
Published 11/07/23
Jut a little chat about First Aid in the outdoors. To fill the mid-summer gap before Outdoor Lives returns in the Autumn.
Published 07/17/23
James McHaffie is well known in climbing circles for his high-end ascents of some of the hardest sport and trad rook climbs in the world. He has climbed over 200 routes of E7 and above. He has soled 100 Extremes in a day in the Lake District, he has completed all the climbs in Ken Wilson’s Extreme Rock book and he’s the ‘King of the Pass’ having climbed Jerry’s Roof, Central Icefall Direct and Lord of the Flies all on the same day. But he’s more than a climber and today I wanted to ask him...
Published 06/30/23
Let me tell you more about the pictures used in The Mountain Leader -a practical manual.
Published 05/04/23