Everything you need to know about Nick Cannon Jones
1. His love of the mountains was not a foregone conclusion.
Nick grew up in Hertfordshire, not an area known for its peaks and his father is decidedly not keen on heights, but Nick was introduced to the delights of hill walking, rock climbing and winter mountaineering through the Scouts and has never looked back.
2. He moved to the Lake District for a year out while he decided what he wanted to do with his life.
That was more than fifteen years ago. During that first year working at an outdoor education centre he realised that what he wanted to do was to give other people the chances the Scouts had given him. Whilst working in the outdoor industry and gaining lots of practical experience instructing a wide range of people he started working his way through the mountaineering instructor qualifications.
3. Nick is an MIC holder.
The MIC or Mountaineering Instructor Certifcate is the highest UK specific mountaineering qualification. An MIC holder can take you climbing, scrambling or walking in any conditions (summer or winter) anywhere in the UK. All MIC holders are extremely experienced mountaineers and instructors.
4. Nick and his wife, Jill, started More than Mountains in 2008.
Nick came up with the name for the company during a very long drive to Scotland. Building up the company together has been great fun and it is very gratifying to see customers come back again and again.
5. Nick takes CPD very seriously.
A very important part of a mountaineering instructor’s job is Continuing Professional Development. It is not good enough to just gain the qualification; it is vital to keep up to date with all aspects of the work. Nick makes sure he does this by attending courses all over the world and by reading new research on topics as diverse as developments in equipment, first aid, avalanche avoidance and coaching techniques. This is his excuse for spending too much time on the internet.
6. Nick was a member of a Mountain Rescue team for over ten years.
Unfortunately time constraints at the moment mean he is not able to be a member but during those ten years he gained some invaluable experience and has lots of great stories to tell.
7. Nick once featured in an episode of Coronation Street.
If you want to know more about this you will have to come on a course and ask him.
