Hi everyone,

welcome back to Neb’s blog after quite a long spell off - we’re gonna fix that now and make a committment to monthly updates as a start. Hey I guess many of us experienced tumultuous times in 2009 but hopefully we’re on the up again - it certainly seemed so at the Ordnance Survey Outdoor Show last weekend (This is the UK’s largest outdoor show, held in Birmingham England)!

As part of the Wilderness Camp, organised by Bushcraft and Survival Magazine, the show was manic on the Staurday and Sunday, so much so that it was difficult to grab a bite to eat even!

Some of the highlights from the North Ridge stand were:

Launching the UKs first Survival Instructor certificate

(Yes there are in-house courses available, and also some bushcraft courses but not like this one!) This course will run, for people with existing outdoor experience over a full year, allowing plenty of time for consolidation plus plenty of exposure to the good old British weather - with modules in England, South Wales, Snowdonia and the Scottish Highlands we’re pretty much guaranteed to get it all!

Key to the Instructor course, will be the establishment of a new hierarchy of needs as framework to what we do, and all decision making as part of a group - obviously whilst retaining flexibility. As they say - no plan survives contact with enemy! For a civilian course it’s also going to have some interesting content on the subject of hostile environments when we may not want to be ‘rescued’ by the first people to happen along - how can we evade and if necessary protect ourselves and groups?

Another unique element to this course will be our ability to train candidates in a variety of operating environments - not only will all the usual woodland based skills and drills be covered (and some not-so-usual ones also) but we will be fully exposing candidates to the rigours of mountain survival - what does it mean, how does it feel etc.. part of this phase will be dealing with steep ground (use of ropes and improvised equipment for climbing, rapelling and other techniques) and water - river crossings, flotation methods and the like..

 We have quite a network of instructors whom we will be inviting as guests at various times throughout the course - one guy I want to introduce you to is Perry McGee, 

Perry Mcgee

 who is a highly knowledgeable survival instructor and tracking expert in his own right, as well as being son of the (late) Eddie McGee. If you don’t know who he is please Google him and keep your eyes out for The Tracking Handbook which he will be releasing soon….

Also a huge draw at the show - the announcement of our next race. This one is styled on the ‘Long Drag’ the famous SAS endurance march in the Brecon Beacons which has been written about so much…hitting the spot with a full 70 Kilometres (half distance option) the competitors will need to carry a 40lb bergen over those rolling green hills - to all those folks who said ‘that’s not very heavy’, I look forwards to receiving your entry form….take it from me, everyone who completes this event inside the 20hours will have achieved something spectacular for themselves. Of course a race like this wouldn’t be complete without those old warhorses who simply don’t know what quit means…some of our contestants will KNOW they can do it, just a bit slower these days!! Entry for this can be done at www.runnersworld.co.uk as well as www.northridgeadventure.co.uk and for serving military please deduct 50% from the Bimble price (maybe donate the balance to H4H or RBL?)

Here I am at the end of the show, still smiling after 3 days of non-stop talking! One of the best things about exhibiting here is all the people you meet - some serious about training, looking to book courses, others just wanting a casual chat as part of their show tour, and many junior one-day outdoor folks, stopping by with their folks. I lost count of the fires we let the kids spark up over the weekend but every one was accompanied by big grins and I bet there’s back gardens all over being used for camp-fire lighting over this Easter holiday!

Watch this space for updates - I’ve got gear reviews and training plans to share and look forwards to your comments and feedback, as always…

till next time…

This is information regarding the article published below in the Sun about Bob Spour and SAS Survival

Many of you will know that I was asked by SAS Survival (website unavailable) to run HILL and ENDURANCE courses (those that teach map reading, mountain skills and promote physical resolve, fitness and mental strength) and that I had done so on a number of occasions. Recently I have redesigned these courses in order to make them more accessible to a wider audience of people and they will continue to be available from North Ridge Adventure.

Recently I was caught up in the investigation by ARRSE (ARmy Rumour SErvice) which led to this story http://www.arrse.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/t=48629/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=11320.html and as you would expect,  was quickly validated by those who needed to know. Enough said - it’s old news and boring…

North Ridge Adventure trades on our reputation for excellence, and our ability to deliver quality, exciting and motivating courses to a wide range of folks.

What you get with North Ridge Adventure is 100% accurate, authentic and within our areas of knowledge.

**Accordingly, we will be delivering the ‘Fan Dance’ and ‘Ultimate Endurance’ courses as planned**

UPDATE SPRING 2010 - this event is now being run under the title ‘BEACONS BIMBLE’ - see website or www.runnersworld.co.uk for details. Entry cost is only £70 and half price for serving military who want to give it a go.

Now, before you read the article, and make your own judgements, I have to say - and no doubt I’ll be criticised for saying this : Bob Spour has been a charismatic, inspiring and prolific teacher in the realms of human confidence and ambition and furthermore he has helped many people on their personal journeys. I know for a fact that he provided training free of charge to students who couldn’t afford it. The truth of the matter - you decide…

Here is the article - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2445041/TVs-SAS-hero-Bob-Spour-is-a-fraud.html

Stay safe

Duncan.