Canterbury Mountain Club Trip Leaders Course – May 2026

On a beautiful sunny weekend in Arthur’s Pass, 8 future trip leaders and our 2 instructors met at Kennedy Lodge for the inaugural Canterbury Mountaineering Club Trip Leaders course. The course was designed to help support volunteer members in leading CMC trips with confidence and care, helping everyone work to a consistent and clear standard. Our instructors for the weekend were Gideon Geerling and Jamie Macalister, who brought a wealth of knowledge and a great deal of patience for our endless questions and tangents. 

Saturday started with breakfast and chit chat as we all made our introductions and got to know each other’s varied backgrounds and outdoor interests. Then we dove into a theory session at the lodge, covering trip planning logistics, risk assessment, heuristics (everyone else is doing it, so it must be safe right?), and leadership skills.

We had lunch on the deck and then got into the nitty gritty details of weather dynamics and forecasting and discussed emergency management and backcountry communication options. After an interesting session with much Q&A, we needed some fresh air and to experience the weather first hand! We trundled up Temple Basin Track to enjoy some sunlight and discuss avalanche risk and assessment. We finished the day with a First Aid refresher and a fantastic nacho dinner – thanks Chef Jamie! 

After a good night’s rest, we broke out the maps and compasses for a navigation lesson. In order to refocus the group’s attention at one point, Gideon produced a Mars bar to demonstrate how crevasses form, which gained the immediate and undivided attention of all participants.

We gave the lodge a quick top to bottom before we packed up our gear and headed down to the Waimakariri River to discuss river crossings and their many dangers! Even on a sunny day rivers can be hazardous, and I managed to get at least a dozen savage sandfly bites before we got back in the cars and headed to Castle Hill Village. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the beech forest, practicing various lowering and rappelling techniques with minimal gear. After a debrief back at the carpark, we all headed our separate ways with stoke meters at full.

I learned a lot from this weekend, and I know everyone else did too. There were many trip ideas being suggested, so keep an eye out for upcoming trips on the CMC website! I’d like to thank all the other participants for your input and banter, our fantastic instructors Gideon and Jamie, and the generous support of the FMC Mountain and Forest Trust.

See you in the hills!

Canterbury Mountaineering Club was awarded an FMC Training Grant: a cash grant to go towards a training course for upskilling the club. To learn more about Training Grants or to apply, please visit the FMC website.