Martin Chester – UIAGM guide, Level 5 Kayak Coach and Chief Instructor at Joint Services Mountain Training.
Outdoor Lives by Mike RaineShow Notes
Martin Chester has built a reputation as one of the mostrespected figures in the outdoor world. A former Chief Instructor at the National Outdoor Centre, Plas y Brenin, before going on to help shape Mountain Training’s coaching programme. Along the way, he’s worked in television, becomea sought-after conference speaker and consultant. He continues to work in the role of Guide and Coach. Despite this we talk about imposter syndrome! A ski tourer at heart, Martin recently stepped into the roleof Chief Instructor for the MOD’s Joint Services Mountain Training - an organisation operating across Wales, Scotland, Norway and Germany. Martin is now the only person to have led both Plas y Breninand Joint Services Mountain Training - and alongside all of that, he’s a dedicated family man and a cancer survivor. Martin talks movingly about how tough the canccer challenge has been and still is.
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Mark Reid is an experienced Mountain Leader, outdoorwriter, and lifelong lover of the outdoors. His company is called TeamWalking, they provide team events, navigation courses and guided walking. With nearly 30 years of professional experience, Mark hasguided over 21,000 people on walks of all ages and abilities, walked more than 32,000 miles of footpaths, and written 17 walking guidebooks. Mark and I have been working together on the Nature ofthe Yorkshire Dales workshops, Mark bring expert input on the geology, archaeology and history of the Dales, together we make a good team.
Colin has authored or co-authored over 60 outdoor books.These include The Dales Way (now in its 11th edition), and walking guides to areas both in the UK and in mainland Europe, as well as poetry, topography, biography, transport history, and two literary anthologies. He worked as a teacher, lecturer, tourism officer and he ran the UK’s first green travelagency. Colin is a founder member of the Gritstone Authors Publishing Co-operative. In 1997 Colin received an honorary degree (D.Lit.) from Bradford University in recognition of his literary and environmental work, and in 2007 was awarded the first Dalesman Rural Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015 he was named the UK Transport Campaigner of the year by the SheilaMcKechnie Trust, and in 2020 was cited as one of the UK’s “Walking Heroes” by noted countryside journalist Roly Smith. In 2021 he received the Golden Eagle Lifetime Achievement award from the Outdoor Writers & Photographers Guildfor his outstanding services to the Outdoors.