From Follower to Leader….

Sophie Nicholson    ash, trekkingholidays     climbing, IML, International Mountain Leader, Mountain leader, Rock Climbing

Just over a year and a half ago I jacked in my comfortable yet rather benign life in West Sussex and embarked upon a journey into the unknown. I had no clear idea of what it was that I wanted, just a gut feeling that this was not where I was supposed to be. I left with just one clear goal in mind – to follow my love of the outdoors and in particular, mountains.

The adventure since has been one wild ride and over the course of the last 18 months I have ski toured in the Canadian Rockies, trad climbed in the wilderness of Scotland, trekked high into the Himalayas, stood on top a 4,000m Alpine peak at sunrise and ice climbed in the Vallee du Giffre.

My life in 2010 was somewhat like a Lara Croft version of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and now I find myself living in the French Alps with a more defined goal for the year ahead. 2011 is about building on my existing mountain experiences and making the transition from follower to leader in the outdoors. I want to become more informed, more rounded, and more complete in the mountain environment.

Instead of following my father when we go ski touring in Scotland, I want to share the responsibility for our winter adventures. Rather than just seconding when I go climbing in the Alps, I am aiming to lead the routes myself. I want to know what knots to tie and when, which slopes are potentially avalanche prone at which time of day, and ultimately I want to be able to introduce others to the wonders that lie high up in the vertical world.

Currently I am about to start working towards my International Mountain Leader qualification and have the immediate goal of leading a 6A sport climb by the end of the summer. Other goals for the next few months include doing some multipitch climbs in the Haute Savoie, long summer hikes with nights in Alpine refuges, and mastering some of the cols that make up the mountain stages of the Tour de France.

I hope to be able to document the next phase of this adventure with you and detail routes climbed, kit used, knowledge learned, behaviours observed, and much more. No doubt there will also be plentiful stories of painful bruises acquired, large portions of cake devoured, and even larger post crag beers consumed! If you fancy dropping by to find out how it’s all panning out, it’d be great to share the adventure with you: from follower to leader.

About the author

Sophie Nicholson wrote 9 articles on this blog.

Sophie left the real world for a life of adventures in the world's high places. She is passionate about the vertical wilderness, hiking, backcountry skiing, mountaineering, biking, rock climbing and ice climbing. She writes for a number of leading outdoor/adventure publications and websites and is supported by Faction Skis, Arcteryx, Go-Pro, and Mammut. She is also studying to be an International Mountain Leader and has an incurable weakness for Cadbury's Creme Eggs.

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Related posts:

1. Cuts and crampons: the IML journey continues
2. Training to be an International Mountain Leader
3. What’s left to climb?

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