Philip Sykes Dale is a highly qualified outdoor education with many years of experience in a range of settings and locations. He climbs, walk, paddles, bikes and skis.

Phil has just taken over as head of Centre and the impressively refurbished Towers Outdoor Centre in Capel Curig. The Towers is now under the ownership of Active Learning Centres. I wanted to find out more about the redeveloped of this crumbling former LEA Centre and the plans Active Learning Centres have for it. We talk widely about the outdoors, outdoor education and of course what happening at the Towers.

Derek Ryden, inventor of Reflexcell and founder of Blizzard Protection Systems

Derek was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. He started hill-walking aged 12 and rock-climbing aged 15. Now been climbing for 51 years, but started inventing stuff aged 8! Worked variously as a teacher, property renovator, transport consultant and energy conservation researcher before realising that inventing things was what I did best. Founded Blizzard in 2000 to make a new design of emergency survival bags and blankets. Other inventions include “Slugs” (a type of slide nut formerly made by Faces) and the Ropeman (a prusiking device made by Wild Country). Now semi-retired, but still climbing, inventing things, and playing the saxophone.

Sabine Nouvet is a project officer with the Celtic Rainforest Project. This 7-year LIFE project is funded by the European Commission Nature and Biodiversity Fund and Welsh Government Green Infrastructure Grant. It focuses on protecting and restoring 5 designated temperate rainforests across 40,000ha of Wales.

As an Ecologist, Sabine has been working with farmers and landowners across Eryri for more than 15 years with the mission to improve the environment in cooperation with people and their livestock. Before that, she studied Fish and Wildlife Management in her home country of Canada, and helped with various ecological research projects across North America, from the Yukon to New Hampshire. Her appreciation of the role humans have in our natural systems stems from experience with hunters and trappers of Canada, as well as journeys around the world. For Sabine, the Holy Grail of conservation management is finding solutions which deliver high value nature while including people and their culture.

We find out what these rainforests are, how to recognise them, how special they are and how the proect is working hard improve them.

Guy Wilson is the founder of Pure Outdoor, based in the Peak District. An award winning Outdoor Training Centre and B Corp. Guy has been working as a

Gecko Experience is a West Midlands- based outdoor business, which is predominately a DofE-approved activity provider.

Tasha started the business in 2014 after completing a degree in Outdoor Adventure Education in Plymouth, during which time I also completed my Mountain Leader training, and then my assessment in 2015. Prior to starting up Gecko Experience Tasha volunteered with local Duke of Ed groups, and really enjoyed working with young people, encouraging them make the most of the great outdoors.

Much of the work is based locally in the West Midlands for Bronze and Silver expeditions. Gold expeditions are run in the Peak District, Snowdonia or the Lake District.

As well as working in the outdoors Tasha spend a lot of spare time camping, walking and biking both within the UK and overseas. Tasha is a great example of setting up your own business and making things happen.

In this episode we talk to Becky Parker and Sam Goodfellow from Simon Langton Grammar School in Kent. Straight away you may spot that this is not our standard podcast, but the work Becky and Sam have been doing is very relevant to Mountain Leaders, Hill and Moorland Leaders, Lowland Leaders and Mountaineering Instructors. What they’ve been doing is not only connecting young people to nature, but proving it makes a difference. They are joined by two of their students, Charlotte and May who, I’m sure you will agree, slightly steal the show! They are inspiring and will give you faith that young people are keen to step up and make a difference.

Dr. Nathan Chrismas, Mountain Leader, climber and Lichenologist. Nathan is a keen outdoor person with a passion for the natural world. He’s a key member of the British Lichenological Society’s education team. Nathan has joined in with one or two of my workshops and his enthusiasm and natural way of introducing the world of lichens has proven fascinating and inspiring to the group. Nathan will the be leading on a Nature of Snowdonia - Lichen Special Workshop in the Rhinogiau, look out for these on www.mikeraine.co.uk 

My guest today is Bryn Williams of Bryn Williams Mountaineering. Bryn is a MIC (WMCI, IML). Bryn is a provider of Mountain Training courses, technical advisor, former MTC and MTUK executive officer, now MTC board director volunteer and a founder and trustee of the Tom Furey Memorial Trust. He’s a family man, skier, paraglider and climber. Bryn has been part of the Llanberis Mountain Rescue team for nearly 20 years. Bryn was born and bred in north Wales and is one of very few Welsh speaking instructors operating at provider level, as such he is an important role model for local people who are often unaware of what opportunities are on their doorstep.

See Bryn's great day out in north Wales here https://youtu.be/yDPAVy4bnPc 

Kevin Walker, author, photographer, mountain leader and public speaker, perhaps best known for his range of mountain and moorland navigation books and courses which he runs from Crickhowell, in the Brecon Beacons.