Kendal Mountain Festival 2024
Kendal Mountain Festival; it is massive, and there’s so much enthusiasm for the outdoors. The vibe is so positive in every way you could imagine. It’s the UK’s biggest celebration of the outdoors, which really shows off all that the industry has to offer. Something worth embracing once every few years if you haven’t already or recently. Stu McAleese (Senior Instructor) was down at the event representing Glenmore Lodge by offering some mountain skills in the Lakeland fells with our partner Rab. And I (Emma Holgate – Senior Instructor) was down presenting and answering questions on a recent expedition I have been a part of to the Himalayas. Our expedition involved some ski mountaineering and general high altitude mountaineering in an attempt to summit an unclimbed peak.
KMF has multiple venues where talks/workshops/films/film collections are shown, involving everything imaginable that happens in the outdoors. Plus, there is ‘Basecamp’ a massive tent with stands and stages. Outside there are covered spaces, coffee and food vans for refuelling through the day. There were also brand vans; Vibram sole had an HGV where you could get your boots re-soled, and Alpkit a gear swap service. This is all based right in the centre of Kendal!
I held a Q&A session on the stage at Basecamp and I also was on stage for quick Q&A session following on from our Nepal film ‘Footsteps’ being shown in the ‘mountain red’ selection of films. A common theme with questions and what stood out for me from our audience and then from mingling after the chats was ‘where did you gain your experience and knowledge before going on an expedition to the Himalaya’. Our answers always came back to Scotland and the grounding we have all had here in the Cairngorms, through training at Glenmore Lodge when we were younger, learning the basic winter skills.
This foundation was followed by many adventures and experiences within the Scottish mountains, climbing, mountaineering, walking and skiing. Then later entering the industry as professionals and doing our UK qualifications. Scotland sets you up for everything you may encounter in mountains across the world; apart from glacial travel and altitude, but that’s where neighbouring countries in Europe and Scandinavia also provide brilliant places to learn and adventure. We are always learning, and we certainly continued to learn on our first expedition in the Himalaya.
Stu and I both felt that there was so much energy from the members of the public at this event to connect with others. We had some great conversations and exchanges of stories with many new people at this event.
Stu took different people out each day, meeting at Rab’s stand in basecamp each morning then venturing into the Lakeland hills for some hillwalking including instruction in basic mountain skills and navigation. They encountered all weather conditions, including some snowy scenes! Regardless of the very wet weather we had everyone was excited to be out and had a great experience. Everyone was able to borrow Rab kit from Glenmore Lodge’s stores, so they were well equipped for the conditions and had some great days out away from the bustle of Kendal.
Whether you were at Kendal Mountain Festival this year or have never been before, we hope to see you there next year!