IML (accompagnateur's) summer assessment in Samoens, French Alps

1-4th September 2014 (excuse the in depth detail - this is written mostly for those preparing for or considering doing their assessment, see the bottom for top tips)

Day 1, 1st September 2014

We all arrived at the meeting point in Samoens, a bit nervous and excitedly awaiting the start of the assessment and what we would be doing over the next four days.  After meeting our assessors, Helen Barnard, Cath Wilson, Keith Ball and Simon Hale; we had a group conversation discussing the plan for the next few days, what to expect, introduced ourselves.

Shortly afterwards we had some time to prepare for a day walk that day just down the valley.  Two groups drove to the starting point and walked back, and the other two walked in and drove back.

From the Gorges des Tines carpark we made our way up towards Coudray (on the flank of the Criou), in our group of three candidates, navigating to various points along the path, while continually chatting about things we saw along the way to each other.  None of the points were particularly challenging, with the idea to be more about walking, talking and looking after the group, and less about micro nav.  Having said this, my top tip would be not to get too bogged down in the flowers and forget where you are! - thankfully my mistake was corrected quickly and soon forgiven.

The day walk itself wasn't in too inspiring an area, and I wished I had more tree knowledge, however if you can interpret the area - such as this plants grows here because..., or talk about the things you do know about that you can see, then the environmental side of things will become easier.

At the end of each day we had the chance for some feedback so each candidate knew where they were and what to focus on.  Not in terms of pass / fail, but more, keep doing this, think about this etc...

We returned at around 5pm and spent the evening packing, sorting out the hut / taxi bookings and trying to relax!

Day 2 - 2nd September

Today was the start of our three day expedition.  Before we left, some of the groups were swapped around, and we set off towards the Sixt valley, and the famous Cirque.  Again, a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere was set by our assessor, Keith, and we made our way to the Vogealle Refuge.

When it was your turn as leader, not only did you have to take the group and look after them (as a group of peers - thank god no role play here!) to a point, but you had to pretty much continually talk about the environment, the area, plants, rocks etc... and if you didn't the assessor would just start asking you questions like, name that flower there, what is that rock, why do these trees grow here.  So it was much easier just to keep blubbing on about what you did know.

On the way up we talked a bit about river crossings and did some ropework too.  I had to solve 'imagine that your client had dropped his bag off the path and it was teetering on the edge of a cliff just down the side of the path from where you are now, how would you retrieve it.'  Further along we also discussed AMS and hut use.

At the hut, as our group arrived first we became 'hut liaison officers' and went in to chat to the guardians about the hut arrangements, rooms, dinner times etc...  Luckily I spoke so-so French, and despite having spoken little since April it came flooding back and I was able to have quite a good chat with the staff.

Between stretching and soaking up rays on the terrace we briefed the other groups as they arrived on the 'hut procedure' for our stay, had a huge dinner and got stuck in our flower books again!

Day 3 - 3rd September

After a not too early breakfast we swapped assessor to Simon Hale and headed up to the Lac de Vogealle.  Taking it easy first thing we then proceeded to walk to some more 'challenging' navigation points - larger contour features and streams etc... North of the lake to the Pas au Taureau.  Initially this was off the path on steeper terrain, but no ropes required, and we made it to the path to the col before the heat of the day set in.  Plenty of flowers and interesting geology to see around us, and again  a relaxed atmostphere was set.

One thing that caught alot of us out was the long distance feature recognition.  On some of our breaks we would be asked to identify a col, plateau or building and point to it on the map.  This was something none of us were that confident at and I would recommend you practice it before the assessment as 'it's not very good if a client asks what a peak is or where the col is and you can't tell them!'

Upon making it to the Col we were then faced with a huge downhill section of fixed equipment which was discussed in detail before walking over to a large snowpatch below.  Here we were given an overview of what is expected of us as IMLs and what to expect in the winter assessment regarding personal movement and axe use.  Essentially, don't go on snow unless you have to, don't take any risks, if you go across dig a sodding great trench out for the group, and use the rope if in doubt.

We then walked to the Golese Hut via the Tete de Bostan, and by this stage very much felt as though the bulk of the assessing was over.  Stopping on the way to pick out direct and indirect anchors and why, as well as completing the remaining 10 minute talks, we navigated down in time for tea.

After dinner we played a tree identification game which a previous candidate had made, which was (I'm slightly ashamed to admit), quite fun.  It involved matching a picture of the tree, bud, leaf, name, latin name, habitat and various facts together - sort of like happy families!

Day 4 - 4th September
A much shorter day.  We headed straight down to the carpark to await the taxi, navigating and chatting along the way (the advantage of changing assessor is that you can say the same / similar things on the way down to town as you did on the way up and they will never know!!! - there is only so much you can say about Beech trees and Herb Robert).

Back to Samoens for around 11:30 and we were to meet again at about 2pm for our results.  

Thank goodness I passed and overall it was a good sucess rate - I don't know the figures but at least one person in 15 were deferred, the previous week around 4 out of 12 were - mostly on navigation.

Top Tips:

Head out to the area at least a week before (at least to the Alps to go hiking anyway)

Know a bit about everything and specialise in one or two subjects of the environment

Don't forget your nav. - particularly long distance feature recognition

Enjoy it - you are on holiday after all

Be prepared to talk alot and 'play the game'

Be enthusiastic and organised

Pack the odd useful book as you will have lots of time in the evenings to revise and chat

Put a bit of care into your leader resource pack as the assessor's do look at them!

Final thought: it didn't feel like the 'international flower spotting leader award' that people say it is... having said that, learn some of the common flowers that are out and about