UKC

Hi all,

I am a recently qualified ML who already holds their RCI and am thinking about doing my MCI.

Looking at the prerequisites I already have the required climbing experience however MT say -

You must have gained 20 quality mountain days as a leader since becoming a Mountain Leader, and logged them in DLOG

MT have a definition of what a QMDs is (along with pretty much everyone else in the world...) however a lot of this is geared towards ML and not sure how relevant/achievable this is when going towards MCI. 

Again as I said I am newly qualified ML however I would guess a large amount of ML work is in familiar locations and if freelancing some of the planning is already taken care off by the company your working for. I'd also hazard to guess that ML days are likely without the need for navigation techniques beyond perhaps a quick check of the phone or map or perhaps non existent unless teaching nav related courses. 

That being said obviously there is a lot more focus on the soft skills, leadership... group management... judgment.... dynamic risk assessments etc which will ultimately make you a better ML and MCI. 

So is anyone aware of what constitutes a QMD once an ML who is working towards MCI? Is it abit less strict and you just need to focus on gaining days working as ML in different locations, different groups etc and focus less on meeting the QMD definitions. 

Most of my days as an ML have been working on Ben Nevis, so very little navigation required in summer conditions. I put a lot of those down with a few others that I’d worked elsewhere that required a bit of forethought on planning prior to and during the day out.

If your climbing logbook is strong and above and beyond what they are asking for, then having the minimum number of days as an ML will probably be fine to get enrolled on the MCI training course.

That said, going in with 40/50/60+ days of ML work with multiple people and groups will show that you’ve stuck at it long enough to be able to manage folk effectively (with repeat jobs from the same providers) and that’s no bad thing moving up to the next level. 

As you say everyone's definition will vary. You've progressed past the point of accruing miles in the hills pre ML stage, now it's about gaining leading experience, different hills, different regions, varied weather, different abilities and ages, just to consolidate on your current qualifications. Building up experience and judgement. A group of teens up Tryfan, arguably counts more than taking 2 fit twenty somethings on the 14 peaks, think more towards skills, planning and group management, than distance and height. 

Yes on many routes you won't barely navigate at all it's your trade route, but what you might do is have to double check a track junction in the cloud whilst trying to slow the fastest down, check on the straggler, whilst thinking are the others getting cold etc... dealing with or more importantly preventing eventualities you might say. That's a qmd.