Earlier this month I travelled down to sunny Perthshire for a Go MTB Orientation Course.

The outcome of the course was to allow to me to coach and sign people off at the various levels of the GoMtb award scheme. The scheme provides a structure that allows people to progress all the way from setting up a bike properly and putting their first pedal strokes on a mountain bike to doing wheelies and riding advanced trails and even jumps and drop offs. The course was run by Eliot Palmer through Angus Council at Kinnoul Woodland Park. We had a great time learning about the scheme and coaching each other on various mountain bike skills. As we were rounding up the day we were pulled away from the course to deal with an emergency first aid situation by a few lads who had been hitting some of the jumps.

A guy had over shot a jump and hurt himself requiring medical attention. We helped coordinate the rescue as well as giving him some much needed first aid and then taking the casualty down to the ambulance in a stretcher. It was a stark reminder as to what can go wrong if you run before you can walk, as well as how even though we were a few hundred metres from a road, excavating a casualty over rough ground can require a lot of thought and planning. They were lucky that the accident had occurred so close to seven first aid trained outdoor professionals. We wrapped the course up from there and all went away with a good understanding on the award system and ideas on how we could deliver with our various providers.

Torridon Activities will be looking to deliver the GoMTB awards next year so keep an eye out on the website. These courses will be aimed at everyone from beginners all the way to more advanced riders. If you would like any mountain bike coaching or guiding then get in touch.

A full day of instruction costs as little as £60pp and we also offer mountain bike rental.