MTB Leadership Level 3 Training

MTB Leadership Level 3 Training

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The Level 3 Mountain Bike Leadership Award is aimed at highly experienced mountain bike leaders, who wish to extend their remit to include remote terrain and trails of severe technical difficulty.

The award particularly focuses on group management in technical terrain, navigation in challenging conditions with few navigational features and incident management in remote environments.


Training

Leaders at this level are expected to be proficient in all areas of mountain bike leadership. The three day training course builds upon the skills and knowledge gained at Level 2, with expansion on specific topics that are then covered in more depth.

The award particularly focuses on group management in technical terrain, navigation in challenging conditions with few navigational features and incident management in remote environments.

Reflecting the training format at Level 2, the majority of the course will take place in the environment that is relevant to the course, with plenty of opportunities to practice.  This is the ideal preparation for the practical assessment and the written assignment, which you will need to complete at a later date to gain the qualification.

When attending a Level 3 training course, you will need to fulfil the following pre-requisites:

  • Be well practised and fully competent in all aspects of the Level 2 MTB Leadership Award (or TCL or MBL Awards as appropriate).
  • Be a committed mountain biker prepared to ride all day in challenging, up to black-graded terrain, with energy in reserve.
  • Be a skilful rider, competent at negotiating the typical trail features found in Level 3 terrain, where obvious line choices and rollable options are often not available. Required techniques include step-up, bunny-hop and drop-off techniques.
  • Be comfortable with setting a map, taking bearings and creating flow in a trail environment.
  • Have a working knowledge of the variety of mechanical systems on current mountain bikes and a desire to increase this knowledge.

You will also be required to send your log book to the provider demonstrating that you have fulfilled the following minimum requirements for training:

  • In preparation for the Level 3 Mountain Bike Leadership Award, you should log at least 30 quality days since the completion of Level 2. The majority of these should be within the last 12-18 months and represent all the UK has to offer. At least 12 of these rides should be as group leader or assistant leader.

What is a quality day?

The quality of a day lies in a range of factors that make a positive contribution towards your development and maturity as an all-round mountain biker.

Quality days usually meet some or all of the following criteria:

  • Involvement in planning and leadership.
  • Adverse conditions may be encountered and navigation skills required.
  • Experience in terrain and weather comparable to the UK.
  • Attention is paid to safety, increasing knowledge and practising skills.
  • The journey time is four hours or more.
  • The majority of these days will be in the UK and Ireland.
  • The ride will include sections of technical difficulty suitable for a Level 3 award holder.
  • Journeys are likely to contain a significant amount of ascent and descent throughout.