APIOL

[sammoore]

Today I was recognised as an APIOL. This is the outdoor industries equivilent of chartered status. It's taken 6 months, 8000 words of explanation and a 2 hour interview.

Apparently I was a 'strong candidate'.

This pleases me.

Comments

[sulkyblue]

Yay! Congratulations!

More letters for your name ;0)

[pozorvlak]

Fandabbydozy! I'm guessing that this is the latest and greatest in a long line of other qualifications?

[sammoore]

I have my fair share...

S

[pozorvlak]

By the way, I can't see any of the articles on your website - anything with a URL ending in article.php has a little graphic but no text.

[sammoore]

Yeah, an ongoing issue, maybe I'll fix it this afternoon.

[shuripentu]

Was there ever any doubt in your mind that you wouldn't be? :)

[pozorvlak]

By the way: I'm thinking of trying for an ML qualification. Do you think it's a good idea, and how much time/effort/cost are we talking about?

[sammoore]

Short answer: Probably not.

Long answer: Prod me if I dont get around to adding it :-)

[pozorvlak]

Prod :-)

My reasoning was:

1) I increasingly find myself in the role of The Experienced One on hillwalking trips, but I'm not convinced I have enough experience or knowledge to take on a leadership role safely. Jo's still getting occasional flashbacks to Beinn Dubhcraig, apparently, and as her friend and the trip leader, this concerns me. My navigation, first aid, and route planning could all stand to be a lot better, and a formal qualification could help here - I find having a target to aim for usually helps me.
2) I'd like to push my grade a bit, and do more scrambling/general mountaineering stuff, and it strikes me as a good idea to be really solid on the basics.
3) I'm probably going to do the requisite amount of hillwalking anyway (I think they ask for 40 Quality Mountain Days), and I might as well get a certificate out of it.
4) My Dad did an ML qualification some years ago, and said he found it beneficial.

So, what's the downside I'm not seeing? :-)