skills weekend for Island Peak at Pat Falvey's Mountain Lodge in Kerry.

This weekend has seen all of the Hope Foundation team do their final preparation for their Everest Challenge and their climb beyond base camp to the beautiful 20,000 foot peak of Island Peak right in the heart of the Himalaya.

The weekend presented them with the final skills training required for the glaciers, head wall and narrow ridges that they will have to negoatiate to reach their objective of summiting Island Peak.

They went through, gear, cramponing with 12 spikes attached to their boots, ice axe training, including the art of falling, ice axe arrest, fixed rope techniques for dummaring up a 600 foot head wall and crossing the mountains narrow ridge. They also learnt the skill of abseiling for descending the exposed head wall as they retreat to base camp.

Their course was carried out at Pat Falvey school of Mountaineering at the mountain lodge at the base of Irelands highest mountains in Kerry and practised they skills on the steep head walls of the Gap of Dunloe as well as climbing along the narrow ridges of Coimin Na Peiste Ridge, the Big Gun and Cruach Mhor in what was demanding weather conditions.

Their was also gear review and the importance of team work on challenging mountain.

This weekend was attended by. Teena Gate head of news 98fm : Jenni Kavanagh actress in Fair City, Rob Ross RTE presenter: George McMahon actor: Philip Grey extreme artist: Rosaleen Thomas hope foundation: Ed O Donnell support team: David Walsh Support team.

The weekend was facilitated by worlded renowned adventurer Pat Falvey with his technical guides Con Moriarty and trekking guide Tony Nation.

See courses training

world Adventures Lots of new adventures coming up in the next twelve months as we expand our programs throughout the world.

Today in the Cork Examiner The team claims they have reached their Everest after been swept from their goal on many occasions in rescent years just as they were about to reach their summit beaten by the Green and Gold avalanche of their neighbours Kerry.

In reaching their summit today they contribute one of the elements to their success was their miliarty boot camp training in Bear Island last Easter on the 2nd of April.

The squad’s training camp in Bere Island off West Cork earlier this year – details of which were revealed in his All-Ireland diary in yesterday’s Irish Examiner by John Hayes – has been identified as a pivotal moment in their season.

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/sport/counihan-ponders-future-131390.html#ixzz10BPCVCA2

This contributed to their belief of never giving up until the final whistle and that getting to the top was like eating an Elephant that it was to take each stage of the game like eating the elephant and that was to take each stage bite by bite and to never give up until they had the elephant eaten.

Pat Falvey Boot camps for your next training session.

Find out more how you can challenge your group, team or company on one of our new range of Bootcamps and visit the new outdoor training facility in Cork.

Contact us for more details or go to out Irish training section for more details

Name: Ian O Neill

Role: Trainer

Experience: Ian is an avid climber with over 20 years experience behind him. He is a frequent visitor to the Scottish highlands. As a lead trainer in Scouting Ireland he has written several courses for their adult leaders including their only internal mountain navigation course. After nearly twenty years in sales, he is now dedicating his time to the activities he most enjoys- walking and training.

Tony Nation, Trekking Guide & Trainer

Tony's love for adventure has taken him to many regions of our planet,  he enjoys leading groups in Africa, Russia, Nepal and South America.

Like many of our adventure guides and trainers his passion is that of communication and instilling the culture of the places we visit to those that join in our our adventures and courses.

He is also one of our leading Irish guides with special knowledge in the Cork and Kerry hills and mountains.

He is a father of  four Sean, Damien, Sara and Timothy and from a very early age to instill adventure to his children became involved with his wife Mary as a leading light in Scouting Ireland, giving of his time voluntary for over 20 years to promote the adventurous spirit in children.

He is a County Commissioner for Cork South and heavily involved in training new Leaders and delivering Mountain Skills training to all Leaders and Scouters.

Tony is a good story teller, has a passion for the outdoors, enjoys good food and after a hard day on the hills a few pints in good atmosphere.

Tony is also a manager/trainer in our Health, Safety and team-building Corporate division

Let us introduce you to Tony in a short video

Course:      Navigation & Rope Skills Weekend

Altitude:     832m / 2730f approx
Route:        Weather dependent
Date:          March 2nd - 3rd
Duration:     2 days - 18hrs
Grade:        Easy to Moderate
Price:         € 150pp - Residential option available

Fed up of walking on the beaten track? Want to explore off the trail? Try our Navigation and Rope Skills Course!!

Instructors at the Pat Falvey School of Mountaineering have developed a weekend course to provide you with the skills required to be confident and self-sufficient in navigating on the hills and mountains here in Ireland. Along with these skills, you will be introduced to certain Rope Techniques such as coiling, belaying, confidence roping, knots and abseiling.

Just a quick word of thanks for a very well organised weekend of scramblin in Kerry. John was very good at explaining how to use the ropes and deciding what path to take when climbing. It was obvious he really enjoys been out on the hills and this enthusiasm rubs off on the rest of us. 
The weather was also lovely but I don't think I will be able to credit ye with this.
Many thanks again, its a nice change to go on a training course that was well orgainised and the guide knows exactly what he is doing, has all the equipment and its in good order. 

Kind Regards,
Regina

Just a quick note to say what a great weekend we had. John was an excellent instructor- we learned loads and would now feel confident doing a bit of scrambling ourselves. I would recommend this course highly and would recommend John as an instructor.

All the Best,

Michelle

Just a quick note to say how much i (we all!) enjoyed the Scrambling course at the weekend. Thankfully we got great weather which made it even better. I cant speak highly enough of John. We all found him to be an excellent instructor for the weekend. His  teaching technique is second to none as is his knowledge and patience!
What we wanted from the course were the skills to attempt more difficult scrambling routes by ourselves and i feel we definitely achieved our objective.
On the Saturday, we climbed Stumpa and onto Benkeeragh. All the time being introduced to different scenarios and new techniques. On Sunday, we were given 2 options - 1. Howling Ridge (with John as guide) or 2. Knocknapeasta and the Big Gun (for more instruction). Although it was a tough decision the deciding vote of the 3 was to get more instruction on the Big Gun. At the end of the day, however,we all agreed the further instruction had given us more confidence. We'll be back for Howling Ridge next time! I have attached afew photos if you want to use.

Thanks again,
Elaine

Mountain Skills 1 07th & 08th Nov Grade: Beginner- Intermediate                                                                                     325euro 2xB&B+2xPacked Lunch+1xDinner (Non Residential Option 160 euro)
Introduction to Mountain Skills-Navigation-Feature recognition-pacing and timing-hazards-equipment. Completion of this BOS course + logged walks nables you to go for MS2

Mountain Skills 2 31st Oct & 01st Nov Grade: Intermediate
325euro 2xB&B+2xPacked Lunch+1xDinner (Non Residential Option 160 euro)
Follow on includes practicing MS1 skills-compass work-rescue procedures-route planning-night navigation-scrambling. Completeion of this BOS course + logged walks enables you to go for MSA (Assessment)

Dates for following weekends arranged on demand-

Expedition skills 290euro Grade: Beginner- Intermediate 2xNgtsTents&2xPacked Lunch&ExpeditionFood
This course is designed for people heading off on any kind of expedition, which will require the skills, involved in tent placement/pitching, camp-craft & includes a night walk simulation. The course also looks at some of the more technical skills that are used on these expeditions.

Scrambling Weekends                                                                                                                                                        Grade: Introductory 325euro 2xB&B+2xPacked Lunch+1xDinner (Non Residential Option 160 euro)
At introductory level we would look at some of the more straightforward scrambles with the intention of giving people an idea of the kind of terrain that scramblers seek, what to expect, what risks and hazards to look out for, what equipment is appropriate & how to use it.

Grade: Advanced 415euro 2xB&B+2xPacked Lunch+1xDinner (Non Residential Option 250euro)
The advanced scrambling course would look at steeper more committing scrambles, including use of a rope in scrambling. The aim would be to include an ascent of Howling Ridge on Corran Tuathail during the weekend which is regarded as the best scramble in the country. Minimum of 2 pax required

Fitness Assessment Grade: Beginner- Intermediate 325euro 2xB&B+2xPackedLunch+1xDinner (Non Residential 160 euro)
Aimed at people who want to gauge their hillwalking fitness, some of these people will be going on to do Kilimanjaro or similar treks. It consists of an Intermediate trek, general fitness assessment on the reeks and gear information.