our guides & instructors
our guides & instructors
accreditations & risk
JOHN CUTHBERTSON is in overall charge of all courses at Snowgoose Mountain Centre.
John's professional mountain experience spans over 40 years – after a childhood in Yorkshire & travelling with family to the Lake District and Wales. He was an active member of RAF Mountain Rescue for 15 years, before being demobbed in 1973.
He was an active member RAF Mountain Rescue Teams at Leeming, St Athans (South Wales), Leuchars Kinross, Cyprus (2 tours), Singapore (Jungle Rescue), Sharjah (Desert Rescue) and North Africa. In his spare time in RAF John instructed at Glenmore Lodge on Winter and Summer Mountain Courses, as well as Advanced Mountain Rescue Courses. He has gained the Mountaineering Instructors Certificate and is a BCU Kayak and Open Canoe Level 3 Coach with 4* Open Canoe and Sea.
On leaving the RAF John taught at Moray Sea School from 1974, transferring later to Outward Bound Loch Eil near Fort William. For a few years sailing became the mainstay of John's business - doing yacht charter and offshore yacht deliveries to Norway, the Mediterranean, Canaries etc, before setting up Snowgoose Mountain Centre in 1986.
John has climbed extensively in the UK, as well as Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Kenya, Iran, South East Asia and the Alps. He is responsible for all the activity instruction and safety. John has also worked as a part-time ski instructor at Nevis Range Ski School.
Instructors and Guides
Snowgoose Mountain Centre often uses locally based, well qualified and experienced freelance instructors/guides to run many of the holidays, activity breaks & courses described on this website. These instructors/guides will vary with the seasons some of whom work for other companies elsewhere or run their own small businesses.
Those instructors and guides working for Snowgoose Mountain Centre will always be experienced, qualified and personally compatible to the specific activity in which they are to be involved. Many of our freelance staff you will come into contact with will have spent time climbing, trekking, paddling, sailing, rafting, ski-ing and working worldwide in iconic outdoor locations bringing a wealth of in depth knowledge, experience which they are always happy share with you.
Some such staff actually started their own outdoor careers by “shadowing” John on the hill or water. Over the years there have been many such folks whom we introduced to our unique “adventure with attitude” and who now run their own outdoor businesses.
A few individual assistant instructors will be shadowing or under training by Snowgoose prior to attending the necessary outdoor NGB assessments or i.e. your accompanying instructor may be very experienced but not fully qualified in the formal sense or may be upping the level of their present qualifications.
Some of these instructors will be moving up through the various UK and international paddling, mountain, sailing or mountain biking training schemes of:
- British Canoe Union Coaching Awards;
- Summer & Winter Mountain Leader UK;
- MIA (Mountain Instructor Award) & MIC (Mountaineering Instructors Certificate – the highest UK based mountaineering award) Training and Assessments;
- British Mountain Guides,
- RYA Coaching Scheme
- SRA (Scottish Rafting Association)
- MBLA / SMBLA awards (Scottish Mountain Leader Awards).
Also look at the Association of Mountaineering Instructors for more details.
At Snowgoose we seriously underpin and realise that working experience and professional mentoring for all instructors moving up through the UK based awards structure is essential. We are proud that ourselves in the fact that numbers of trainee mountain & water based instructors and guides have worked with us successfully over many years, before going on to gain their full qualifications.
guides
Brian has been teaching outdoor activities for more than 20 years. He loves taking people to new places and teaching them the skills to be able to safely participate in outdoor sports. His main interests are in sailing, skiing, sea kayaking, walking and climbing.
Spike Sellers is a 5'8" 10-stone weakling with bigger and better inferiority complex each year. Enjoys talking about himself in the third person. Sounds like a sort of teacher. Walks beside you. Explains what you came to learn in your own time. Large tool bag. Mechanically confident, morally suspect. Have I said too much?
Dougie Little is currently working in Costa Rica with World Challenge – he will be back soon.
OUR ACCREDITATIONS
Alongside the personal professional qualifications held by the owners and instructional staff employed by Snowgoose, we have these additional Approvals, Licenses & Accreditations
- Snowgoose Mountain Centre has been inspected under the AALS (Adventure Activity Licensing Service) and approved since 1998 – our current 2 year License Number is L8104 / RO565
The Adventure Activities Licensing Service (AALS) came into existence on 1 April 2007. The AALS is presently operated by TQS Ltd, a not-for-profit company under contract to the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA). TQS Ltd was previously the AALA. www.hse.gov.aala/
Adventure activities licensing has been in place since April 1996. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Adventure activities licensing is delivered jointly by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (a role undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive since 1 April 2007) and the Adventure Activities Licensing Service, which is under contract to the Health and Safety Executive to deliver licensing day to day on their behalf to activity providers who also deliver activities to under 18 year olds.
The Adventure Activities Licensing Service (presently provided by TQS Ltd) has many years of experience operating the licensing scheme, having been the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority between April 1996 and March 2007.
The arrangement in place from 1 April 2007 is a result of the Government's revision of statutory regulators, as recommended by the Hampton Report (HM Treasury 2005).
- For the past few years John has become more involved in assessing Duke of Edinburgh Award Groups. He is an accredited Silver and Gold Expedition Supervisor and Assessor (Assessor No: - SC0922A) www.doe.org.uk
- Snowgoose Mountain Centre has an approval pending from the Duke of Edinburgh Award as an AAP (Approved Activity Provider) for Expeditions, Skills & Residential
THE RISKS
Mountaineering, hill walking, rock climbing, river and sea kayaking, canoeing & dinghy sailing are all risk activities – whatever your age. The level of risk can be minimised and controlled by being accompanied by an appropriately qualified leader or instructor. There will always be an element of risk involved in any adventurous outdoor activities.
- You should always expect to get cold, wet or at least damp! And uncomfortable when undertaking these adventurous outdoor activities;
- You should always make sure that you are personally adequately clothed and equipped to be taking part in such activities;
- You should not do these types of activity or lead others unless you accept the possibility of injury
We lucky enough to have had a 100% safety record, but no one should ever be complacent in the variable and – at times – challenging outdoor environment in which we work. Neither should any other similar adventure tourism companies. Mountains, rivers and the sea are potentially dangerous arenas.
We fully aim to keep it that way if at all possible. The experience, background and quality of individual instructional staff and guides should be a guarantee of attention to safety, detail, success, and - enjoyment – after all that is why we do what we do and are here for!
