Who We Are
Paddy Cave, the Lake District
Mountain Circles is based in the Lake District, Cumbria, a brilliant location for all adventures and the perfect springboard for all mountaineering aspirations.
Paddy Cave owns and runs the company, running the majority of the courses himself. In busy periods, or where a course requires lower ratio instruction and guiding, Paddy works with a team of carefully chosen instructors. Needless to say they will be professional instructors qualified to the appropriate level, but will be chosen for their breadth of experience and enthusiasm for the job they do. Paddy holds the Mountaineering Instructors Certificate, the highest UK certificate available, and has a BA Hons degree in Outdoor Studies. His experience ranges from UK summer and winter climbing, to alpine climbing, and Himalayan expeditions, often as the expedition leader, tackling some of the major peaks of the range. New routes are always high on the agenda as well with many new winter and summer routes added in the UK and 14 first ascents of peaks in the northern Himalayas.
Expedition Leading (freelance) in Kyrgyzstan
We offer a range of adventure services, mountaineering and climbing instruction and guiding in both the Summer and Winter is our specialist area, and we welcome everyone from total beginners to advanced climbers and will help advise the best course for you. We run courses with set dates and accommodation as well as bespoke courses offering clients the option of building a course around their personal requirements. Courses and our guiding services are available throughout the UK, our regular locations are the Lake District and North Yorkshire, the Isle of Skye, Glencoe and the West Highlands, as well as the Cairngorms. We also offer courses outside the UK in locations such as Norway, the Picos de Europa and Spanish Pyrenees.
We run group activities with a range of activity options to choose from for all ages and group sizes, see Group Programmes. Multi-activity days give the chance to sample two activities in a day if it is more a taster course you are looking for. With a background in Outdoor Education we can include educational lectures and content to any group programme, or arrange corporate events with team building activities and inspiring evening lectures from top adventurers.
Mountain Circles has a passion for the natural environment and our interaction with it through the activities we offer, whether it is climbing ice high on the mountain or navigating off the fells when the mist rolls in. As well as technical skills, we are always keen to share local knowledge as well as historical and environmental observations as part of a full and comprehensive mountain experience.
Mountain Circles Team
Mountain Circles – Who we are video
What is an MIC?
 |
The Mountaineering Instructor Certificate is the higher qualification within the Mountaineering Instructor scheme.MIC holders are qualified to instruct all aspects of mountaineering, both summer and winter, including rock climbing, scrambling and technical snow and ice climbing and winter mountaineering. MIC award holders have already passed the MIA and Winter Mountain Leader (Winter ML), after which they undertake further training and assessment in teaching winter climbing and mountaineering to obtain the MIC.For more information see – www.ami.org.uk/awards |
