Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust
Scottish Winter Mountaineering
The family of Jonathan Conville established the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust (JCMT) after he died on the Matterhorn in the winter of 1979/80, aged 27. He was a sound, ambitious climber who had been to school at Marlborough, spent some time in Australia, been in the Army and taught at the Outward Bound School, Loch Eil. He identified strongly with the outdoors where he constantly found challenge.
The Trust’s aims are to encourage and assist individuals to train for and pursue outdoor adventure in the spirit that Jonathan followed during his life. In view of Jonathan's great interest in mountaineering the Trust wishes to assist more mountaineers to enjoy the mountains in greater safety. The Trust is aware that many climbers do not always know the safest and best technique to be used on the mountains in winter conditions. It is also aware that most climbers are put off the idea of doing any course, due to the time and expense involved.
The Conville courses are aimed at those who have not done any sort of course in the Winter Mountains before, but are experienced summer hill walkers and climbers. This winter the Trust is offering subsidised winter training courses based in the Cairngorms. These courses are specially designed to give a sound introduction to the techniques needed for moving on snow and ice - both in Britain in winter and in the Alps. The course will include use of crampons and ice axes, belaying and rope work, avalanche assessment and other topics related to Winter Mountains.
The courses are being run by Jonathan Preston and are based at Ardenbeg Outdoor Centre in Grantown-on-Spey. The courses last for two days and students must arrive the night before the course is due to start. The course fee includes accommodation (two nights), food and all essential in-course transport. Please note that should you wish to arrive early or stay for extra days, accommodation will be available (subject to availability) at Ardenbeg for an additional cost. Further will be sent to successful applicants. details
Each course place costs approximately £150, yet trainees are only charged £75. The Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust provides approximately £3000 to subsidise these courses and Plas y Brenin absorbs the costs associated with delivering the courses along with the BMC who also contribute financially.
Read the detailed course notes here
Closing date and selections
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 12th October 2011. Applications must be completed online unless you do not have access to the Internet. If you require a printed application form please contact Plas y Brenin on 01690 720214.
Applicants will be informed by email on the success of their application by the 21st of October 2011.
PLEASE NOTE:
E-mails do not always reach their destination and it is therefore the applicant’s responsibility to contact PYB if email notification has not been received by the 15th October. Successful applicants will be expected to confirm acceptance of the place and provide prompt payment.
Due to the high numbers of applicants for each place, it will not be possible to answer individual requests for feedback regarding why a particular application has been unsuccessful.
Notes for online form
The form must be filled out in one sitting. It cannot be saved and then retrieved at a later date.
All data will be lost if the form crashes. We therefore recommend that any long answers are written in another computer application like Microsoft Word and pasted into the form.
If your application is successful we will ask for prompt payment.
Preparation in the UK
It is recommended that you do some preparatory reading or undertake some form of training prior to attending the course. This could be increasing your aerobic fitness, familiarising yourself with new equipment such as mountain boots, watching the Winter Essentials DVD.
| No. Days | Subsidised Cost 2012 | Dates 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | £75 | 7-8 January 10-11 January 14-15 January 17-18 January 21-22 January |
