Orion Mountaineering aims to help people visiting mountain regions do so with confidence. We provide help in the form of instruction, advice and guiding. We can all extend our horizons by investing in the right type of tuition and experience.

The courses are organised by Jules Barrett, a qualified Mountaineering Instructor, who has been climbing, mountaineering and working in the outdoor industry for over 10 years. Work has been spread amongst local education authority outdoor centres, universities, companies offering mountain leader training/assessment and expeditions companies. More recently, Jules has worked with a variety of private clients helping them to enjoy the mountains and prepare for future adventures. This work is based on a broad range of experience gained climbing across the world including the USA, French Alps, Dolomites and the Andes. Underground, Jules is the training officer for the Eldon Pothole Club and a qualified Level 2 Cave Leader.

The Staff are appropriately qualified and suited to the particular activity. Guidelines for staffing as set out by the Mountain Leader Training Board are adhered to at all times. The experience and quality of the Orion instructing team is your guarantee of safety, enthusiasm, attention to detail and success.

Ruth Taylor has been instructing for nine years and holds the MIA qualification. She has been spending time in the mountains since childhood and climbing for thirteen years. She enjoys all forms of climbing but her first love is traditional climbing on the mountain crags and sea cliffs. Ruth has climbed in many of the major climbing areas across the world from traditional climbing in Australia, deep water soloing in Portugal and loads in between. Ruth will be leading the Orion Mountaineering women's climbing courses in 2006. Click [here] for details.

The Courses are diverse and vary massively in content and length. Anything from a single days tuition to a week-long holiday in the mountains. Detailed information is shown throughout this site and if you need more, just get in touch. If the activity or dates that you want does not appear on here please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate. We keep our courses small and low key. You won't see us turning up at the Coire Cas car park in a minibus and trudging off for the day in a line. We believe that mountaineering traditions such as respect for the environment and other climbers are important and encourage you to do the same.

The programs cover a wide range of mountaineering activities including hillwalking and scrambling, winter mountaineering and rock climbing. Some people have personal ambitions, such as the traverse of the Cuillin Ridge, the Inaccessible Pinnacle, the Old Man of Stoer or Long Climb on Ben Nevis. If you really, really want to do something get in touch and we'll make it happen.

We have tried to make our course program as flexible as possible and only arrange accommodation where we feel that the course requires it. By leaving you to sort out your own accommodation, we figure that you are just buying our mountain skills and nothing else.

We cater for all abilities and there is a progression through our courses. We are honest about the fitness and skills requirements of our courses which ensures that everyone gets the most out of them. Be assured that our courses are not just for super-fit mountain goats. We have plenty to offer if you prefer to take a more relaxed approach to days on the hill.