My first experience of The Mountain Coach wasn’t the best. From my perspective: There wasn’t much engagement from the outset. A brief shout out of names on the hike (and credit where it is due, he got every name correct); and an explanation that there had been a slight change of plan due to the high winds, that we would hike a shorter route up the mountain, then drive to another location and continue an approximate 3-mile coastal walk. Both hikes on the Saturday passed uneventfully. Day 2 was a different experience, which prompted an email to Charlie (The Mountain Coach) to ask what the itinerary for my next experience was with him (Helvellyn in January). I explained that I felt the hike was rushed; with little engagement from him; (In fact, he was heard to say on the car park as he stood by his car, that he was “not in the mood for this today” – I assume making reference to 2 participants who were running a few minutes late). No communication to ask if we were okay or if the pace was okay; We had a brief 20-minute stop for food at 11 a.m. and then no real chance to stop, rest etc. There were occasions when me and two friends, who have a decent level of fitness had lost sight of the main group when we stopped to take off our wet over trousers (he was there with us so knew that we were sorting our gear out - and a lady attending to a few blisters that she was suffering from), and off he just went. We then had to guess where they had gone. My friend and I ended up going back to make sure that a lady who had come alone, who had hurt her knee at the end, knew where we had turned through the sand dunes, as she was so far back she wouldn’t have seen the turning and may have got lost. I expressed my concern that I thought he would have remained at the car park (we were due to drive to another car park as it was a linear walk) to make sure that all hikers in the group were back safely. The email that I got back from him expressed the fact that he was insulted by some of my comments. However, as a first timer with his groups (but not a first-time hiker!) I felt that I wanted to clarify the situation with regards to the next hike I had booked. He asked if it was fair that the faster walkers were expected to slow down. (Yes Charlie, because the idea is to keep the group together – it’s unfair to expect the ones who may be struggling to keep jogging to have to catch up). He told me, had I “listened to the briefing on Day 1, we would have known that there was a guide to assist”. We did listen. We were next to him. At no point was a guide mentioned – and several people confirmed the same. If there had been, we would have known who to voice any concerns to, given that Charlie was way ahead in the distance, with us at times trying anxiously to see where the rest of the group had gone. A lovely walk, spoiled, for me, by lack of communication and engagement from Charlie. I accept that we all have bad days, but when you feel that your leader is annoyed and irritated, and just appeared to want it over so that he could get home, it was just a disappointing first encounter for me. I will thank Charlie however, for refunding my fee for the Helvellyn hike, which I withdrew from based on my experience on this particular hike. Maybe a little more time spent on the brief at the start, clearly explaining that there are guides to assist, and pointing them out. Had he done this, we wouldn't have been so worried about the lady who was struggling with blisters and a knee issue at the end. We might also have felt more reassured that we might not have got left behind - as the group went out of sight a few times.
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