It's that time of year when we reflect on a great year gone and take a minute to thank all of our clients and partners for being part of it.
We're very lucky to have such an interesting, engaged and enthusiastic group of clients. It makes running training courses easy and enjoyable and allows us to work with you to make amazing expeditions happen.
This year we've been delighted to be further involved in the orangutan bridge project in Borneo and to run a major rope access training course for local Sabahan staff giving us the biggest rope access team in the country now.
In the UK we have taught hundreds more fieldworkers safety planning skills, presented vehicle safety talks at the RGS, tested kit from the Lake District to the jungle and run first aid courses from Bristol, to Edinburgh, all across the UK and further afield in Borneo as well.
We have been delighted with the launch of our new Lakes Adventure Weekends and are proud to now be an IOL accredited training provider and to be selected by ITC to help run their 1st aid Train the Trainer Program.
We've loved working with you all - and on behalf of Simon, Christine, Dom and all the Fieldskills staff we're grateful for all your support and look forward to seeing you all on a course, an expedition or just for a chat in 2012.
New training video LIVE
Find out more about all of our training in our brand new shiny video - we hope you like it - we'd love to get your feedback.
Thanks to everyone who has helped or starred in it! Looking forward to hearing what you think...
Out of Africa
Nigel Hodgson recently completed a mega safari in Africa and saw some amazing wildlife including lions, elephants, impala and monkeys.
Nigel, who regularly leads courses for Fieldskills, was working as a guide on a film shoot for 'Catching Fire', about how cooking our food might have been the big stepping stone in human evolution.
He then went on a on a 21-day safari from Arusha to southern Tanzania. He was in the Ruaha national park - 20,000 sq km of wilderness that‘s teeming with wildlife drawn to the river.
Nigel says, “We put our camp in along a river bed under some great big trees that offered shade. Very hot from about 10am till 5pm, but overnight quite cold. Lots of night time action around camp with lions, leopard and hyena calling. Saw over 30 lions on game drives as well as 4 leopards & tonnes of elephants.“
Next they took the Tanzam highway east to the Udzungwa mountains. Nigel reported, “Short trip to the Udzungwa mountains - an ecological hotspot as it stayed warm in the ice age. No cars allowed, just walking & camping."
"8km first day to a campsite, then 16km next day on round trip. Lots of forest so hard to see things. 3 types of monkeys, heard lots of birds - a cool place with lots of atmosphere. Leopard tracks all along the trail."
Next stop Morogoro and the Selous game reserve - the largest on earth at 52,000 sq km. Unsurprisingly Nigel says "Got well lost when we first drove in - did not find our camp till 10 pm ... raining so 4X4s came into their own!"
After a 12hr drive to Pangani for a few days fishing & sailing, the trip took them to the Mokomazi national park where Nigel says they “had the whole place to ourselves - black rhino, wild dogs & cheetah.” In Nigel’s last report they were on the road into Arusha having covered 4,000kms."
It was great to meet so many keen expeditioners and researchers at the RGS Explore conference from 18th - 20th November. Dom spoke on the Saturday about vehicle safety on expeditions, and chaired the Tropical Forest Panel.
We chatted to lots of interesting and people and got through a lot of kendal mint cake on our stall!
Great weekend, packed with great presentations, invaluable workshops, tonnes of brilliant speakers and loads of people to chat to about your expedition plans.
What do the new UCEA and USHA guidelines on fieldwork safety mean for you...
Click here to see the pdf explaining more about the new guidelines.
Fieldwork Safety Workshop announced
Essential training for fieldworkers, 23 Nov at UCL - we're repeating this popular half-day session focussing on key pre-trip documents with practical sessions to illustrate the difference robust planning can make and why dynamic risk assessment on the ground is vital.
KERRY RILEY from Wiltshire wins 2 free places on our Lakes Expedition Weekend. Kerry, a Resourcing Specialist, said, "I'm delighted to have won the competition and am looking forward to the trip." We'll be announcing details of our next exciting competition soon via our newsletter - you can subscribe at the top right of this page. Pictured are some of the team from the last Lakes Expedition in May. The next Lakes Expedition Weekends
run on 16 - 18 September and 11 - 13 May.
MTB team home safely
We're delighted to say the team made it safely round Mount Kinabalu - and we have video evidence here!
We had a great week last week working on a joint course with Land Rover and Wilderness Medical Training on a course covering everything from navigation and lost procedures, camp site management and firelighting, off-road driving and remote far from help medicine.
The group learnt many new skills and the Fieldskills team of Dom, Ben and Izzy came back from a week in the woods a bit grubby but very smiley.
We're delighted the course went so well - this is just a sample of the feedback we recieved. "Just a quick missive to thank you and your team for a challenging , educating and thoroughly enjoyable course... I learnt a lot and has instilled a desire to learn more and refine my new found skills."
We have put together a little video from the course...
New Course Calendar
Check out all courses and expeditions in one place
Lakes Mini Adventure
Having set up trips and carried out adventure training across the world we thought it was about time to offer an adventure a little closer to home, the Lake District.
Over the weekend expedition junkies who love to talk expeditions, watch every new adventure travel program that comes out and want to learn new skills for being in the mountains or overseas travel, will be able to wild camp in hammocks, perfect navigation skills, deal with emergency scenarios and quiz highly experienced expedition staff.
Fieldskills UK based director, Dominic Hall, said: “We work with groups all over the world providing unique expedition training but we thought it was about time we brought some of these skills to exploring the amazing places on our doorstep like the Lakes. The aim of this weekend expedition is to learn new skills, provide a challenge of setting up your own unsupported camp in the woods followed by a reasonably taxing trek on the Sunday. It is not just for the super fit and adventurous, it is designed to be a fun and very different way to spend a weekend. Also if you are considering one of our longer overseas expeditions it's the perfect chance to get a feel for what we do, pick up some skills and chat about the trips.”
The cost of the weekend (running from Friday to Sunday evening) is £150. Places are available on weekends in May (20-22) and Sept (16-18). For further details visit our adventure pages.
Borneo Guide Training
We are lucky to have an amazing team of local guides in Borneo. Last week we got them together to refresh their first aid skills, train them in vehicle safety and also discuss exciting new ideas for future trips...
It is great to get them all together in one place - they are hugely knowledgeable about the country and enthusiastic about the trips they run and the projects we support across Borneo.
It is also central to everything we do to continually improve all our staff and provide development opportunities for our all important local staff.
Thanks to everyone who came along for a great couple of days.
Video of latest outdoor first course
Pick up some top tips and see some of what we have been up to with this short video from our latest first aid course...
A Teachers View...
We're very grateful to Rebecca Winfield for the following short article about her experiences of one of our newest first aid courses - Basic Expedition Leader First Aid.
I am a DofE leader at St. Clare’s, Oxford and we run the award from the college, mainly helping students to gain their Gold award. Therefore I have been looking to attend a first aid course which covers the topics relevant to these kinds of trips. I found a course run by an expedition and outdoor training company called Fieldskills. The course is actually called “Basic Expedition Leader First Aid” and is specifically focused on things like the Basic Expedition Leadership Award, DoE and walk leaders. The course was at a convenient location and unlike most first aid courses the date and duration of the course was perfect for me to attend. Personally I was keen to extend my first aid skills and be able to relate these skills to an outdoor environment so I would feel confident about dealing with issues that could arise during expeditions.
The course covered essential first aid skills concentrating on core, first-on-scene skills which are integral to all first aid with particular application in the outdoors. The course used lots of practical training and hands on scenarios to build up confidence whilst looking at things like accident procedures, resuscitation, bleeding and shock. It also focused on specific outdoor issues such as hypothermia, burns and blisters.
The course leader was very informative and had a wealth of experience of leading expeditions in a variety of environments to help relate the course content in a relative and interesting way. The content of the course was interesting, practical and interactive. At the end of the day I feel that all the reasons why I choose to attend the course were met now feel more confident about having to deal with any first aid issues that may arise.
MTB team home safe
We're delighted to say the team made it safely round Mount Kinabalu - and we have video evidence here!
A new rigging project in Borneo sees us using our skills to support important conservation work.
Since starting Fieldskills we have always looked for ways to combine our adventure training and rigging skills to run a business whilst supporting local conservation efforts and the people of Borneo. A recent project showed how this can work to great effect.
Over the last two years Fieldskills has considerably developed its rigging arm in Borneo through Ropeskills Rigging, a specialist rope access provider working mainly on film and TV projects but also supporting canopy science in the tropical forests. In the last few weeks however they’ve been working on a highly unusual but rewarding rigging job, building bridges for orangutans in the fragile Kinabatangan wildlife reserve.
The reserve is bordered by plantations so the apes (and many other species) cannot cross the many tributaries to move along the river. Genetic mix is extremely important for the continuance of a robust population of orangutans and while small populations become isolated this is not possible.
Research has shown that by providing special bridges made from fire hoses, the orangutans can migrate along the river to find mates and dietary variety with relative ease. Camera traps placed on these bridges have shown them to be successful and a full-scale operation is under way to install the bridges the whole length of the reserve.
"If we are not able to reconnect them, they will go extinct very soon," said Marc Ancrenaz , co-founder of French-based conservation group Hutan, which is working with Malaysian state wildlife department officials on orangutan protection.
Conservationists estimate about 11,000 orangutans live in Malaysia's Sabah state in Borneo, but many are isolated by logging and oil palm plantations.
It has been a great project for us to be involved in and very rewarding to put our skills to such good use working on such an important conservation project.
Expeds launched for 2011
From a weekend taster in the Lakes to unique jungle and desert expeditions...
Fieldskills Staff Training - Jungle style
Fieldskills staff training is a little different from the run of the mill – read about new Borneo training manager James’ induction into Jungle survival:
With jokes like "see you in a year's time" and "don't be too hard on him Hanry" I was wondering what I was in for as I left Kota Kinabalu. I was going to be spending two days with Hanry, Fieldskills' jungle expert who is from the remote village of Long Pasia.
We drove to a place just down river from Kiulu, about 50km north east of Kota Kinabalu, put on our boots and backpacks and off we went. We immediately crossed the Kiulu river via a suspension bridge, which is a skill to be learned in its own right! The further upstream we ventured, the more skilful I had to be – the bridges, although not so long, were narrower and many had more holes in them than they did wood!
After a few hours’ we waded through a small river and trekked up a steep hill to arrive at Fieldskills’ very own survival camp. Situated at the top of a small hill in dense jungle above the river, this is an awesome asset for Fieldskills.
Because of the ever increasing intensity of the tropical rain, Hanry taught me his ‘advanced’ fire lighting technique and demonstrated how even the wettest of wood can be still be dry inside. He showed me the correct methods of using a parang – chopping, splitting etc. and armed with my very own I proceeded to make some kindling and chop some fire wood. Incidentally, Hanry made my parang himself and he even personalised the wooden sheath for me.
The remaining hours of daylight saw us putting up our bashas and hammocks (a new experience for me) – and preparing dinner – freshly picked tapioca leaves and dried tofu with rice.
We took a little video of Dom's recent talk at National Geographic store to give a flavour of the event for those who coudn't be there:
If you are interested in Dom speaking at an event at your school, business or organisation you can drop us a line - or see more about his public speaking on his blog.
Polar Adventure?
Join our Polar leader Helen in Norway in March or try our UK based polar skills day in June
What an exciting and busy 2010
We've built orangutan bridges in Borneo, taught hundreds of fieldworkers safety planning skills, tested kit in the mountains of El Chorro, opened our Sabah climbing wall and run first aid courses from Bristol, to Edinburgh, all across the UK and further afield in Borneo as well.
We look forward to some exciting new developments - watch this space for an Arctic Skills course, some UK expeditions and some special trips further afield.
We've loved working with you all - and on behalf of Simon, Christine, Dom and all the Fieldskills staff we're grateful for all your support and look forward to seeing you all on a course, an expedition or just for a chat in 2011.
Expedition Leader Training
We are very pleased to be working with other expedition leadership training providers to offer a structured package of expedition leadership courses.
The package is pulled together by Training Expertise and offers those thinking of a career in the outdoors or leading expeditions a source of good quality modular courses to aid their development.
The programme aims to respond to a need for providing people with a flexible, easy to access ‘suite' of training courses to support their career in the outdoors whether as paid professionals or volunteers at weekends. With the recent development of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Expedition Leaders and the BS8848 standard for Expedition Providers the long-term aim is to develop a formal qualification in Leading Expeditions. This programme is a stepping stone to that ultimate goal with many of the courses aligned to the NOS and the BS8848 standard.
The programme consists of a variety of modular courses that you can pick and choose from to suit your needs and aspirations. Courses are provided by TE themselves as well as Interhealth, Cookout and ourselves to ensure we provide a wide ranging set of skills training to meet the increasing demands of leading groups in the outdoors.
This week our whole team from across the UK and Borneo came together to support British Charity Journey of a Lifetime Trust who are over half way through an amazing journey across Borneo. Their “tip to tip to top of Borneo journey” will take them across from Tanjung Datu National Park at the southern tip of Sarawak, to Sandakan in the East of Sabah and eventually end on the northern tip of the island.
The team is made up of 24 disabled, ill, neglected and abused young people on a month-long trip. They have visited many great locations in Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah including Pulau Tiga, Tenom Agricultural Park, Maliau Basin, Balung Eco Resort, The Kinabatangan river and Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Still to come are the Sabah Tea Plantation before rafting on the Kiulu river, staying at the Meranjak Rungus Longhouse before visiting Kudat and finishing the adventure at the Tip of Borneo.
Journey of a Lifetime believes that by exposing young people with difficulties and handicaps to the wider world and exposing them to a range of challenges they will learn to appreciate their true potential and as a result be able to take control of their lives.
We are proud to be supporting the team in their journey across Borneo. This expedition has brought together all of Fieldskills’ abilities. The visit to the Maliau Basin in particular brought together the whole team including Dom Hall who with local expert Hanry Daud ran jungle survival skills sessions for the group, a large logistics team from Fieldskills Adventures under Simon managing jungle camping, food and transport and the Ropeskills Rigging team who used rope access techniques to allow all of the team including the wheel chair users to safely access Maliau’s canopy Sky Bridge.
The amazing expedition continues into Sandakan area in the coming days and finishes at the Tip of Borneo in mid early August.
Marketing Job at Fieldskills UK
We have an exciting opportunity for a new staff member in our Lake District Office. The new role will be focused on sales and marketing and we will consider a range of possible candidates. For the right candidate we would consider a part or full time role - the crucial thing for us is finding the right person for our small and growing team. The successful candidate will be hard working, enthusiastic with the ability to bring in new clients and develop exisiting ones. Full details are on the pdf and if you think you fit the bill we'd love to hear from you...
Still chance to see Dom at National Geographic
Explore at the RGS was a great success but if you missed that you can see Dom again in London on 30th November.
Dom hosted the Tropical Forest Panel at the Annual RGS expedition conference Explore. As usual this event was an absolute must in the expedition calendar with great opportunities to meet fellow enthusiasts, hear a huge range of talks and seminars by industry experts as well as chew the fat into the small hours over a beer.
The next big London event is at 6.30pm on 30th Nov at the National Geographical Store in London you can see Dom at a FREE talk. He will be talking about Adventures with a Purpose and how he has developed a Gap year expedition into a career which has taken him all across the World and got him involved in a huge range of fascinating projects and experiences. It would be great to see as many of you as possible there. For full details see our facebook page or the official poster .
Outdoor First Aid FUNDED
Over 19 in NW England? Not a full time student? You may qualify for 60% funding of your course...
Get Explore tickets NOW
Still some tickets available for the top weekend in the exped calendar - be there!
New members of Much Better Adventures
We are delighted to have been accepted as one of the early members of muchbetteradventures.com, a carefully selected community of fantastic adventure providers who have a strong ongoing commitment to sustainability.
You can see us featured as part of their local travel directory which puts you in direct contact (no commission) with handpicked active holidays, tours, courses and accommodation. The site also provides travellers reviews, the resources you need to book a low carbon journey, and have started a collection of community built guides to each adventure sport, where users are invited to share their favourite spots, useful info, ideas and inspiration.
Since going live a few months ago the site has grown quickly. Muchbetteradventures.com aim to build the widest and fairest selection of responsible adventure travel and equipment choices that outdoor lovers have ever seen, and bring support to many important conservation and community development projects around the world.
Check out our company profile
here. Please help us to benefit from this site by leaving a review of us, and by spreading the word to your friends.
Fieldskills feature at USHA
Fieldskills recently attended the USHA conference in Manchester where University fieldwork safety was a hot topic of discussion. It was great to meet many staff from Universities, with staff and students involved with a highly diverse range of research globally and locally. With increasing attention on health & safety with regards to BS8848 and the new draft UCEA/USHA Safety in Fieldwork guidance, providing adequate safety training for each venture is an important part of pre-departure preparation.
It was great to see such engaged discussion on the topic of Fieldwork safety - if you'd like to know more you can see our Universities page or read our full article published recently on the, USHA website.
2010 off to busy start with training at World Challenge, Leeds University and others...
We have been delighted to start the new year working with a number of high profile clients. Four days at Leeds University were followed closely by two days with World Challenge Expeditions.
The Leeds masters students were a great group to work with, many exciting fieldwork projects will hopefully be aided by the days we spent there teaching first aid and fieldwork planning safety. The courses ended (undeterred by the snow still covering the ground) with an outdoor first aid scenario where the students not only had to deal with an unconscious casualty but also had to coordinate their evacuation from the field.
This course was followed by a really interesting two days with World Challenge Expeditions. As many people know World Challenge are a leading youth expedition provider and it was great to see their set up in High Wycombe whilst running a two day Off-site safety management course for a group of their leaders, teachers, operations room and expedition planning staff.
We are now looking forward to further course at Cranfield and Southampton Universities as well as the launch of our range of Cumbria based first aid courses.
First Aid for Furness
New Emergency First Aid at Work courses With Furness Enterprise and Cumbria Chamber of Commerce
Busy summer off to flying mountain bike start
We were joined by an intrepid family from Denmark on a challenging three day mountain biking trip.
Summer is always a busy time out in Borneo with schools expeditions and peak holiday season all hitting at once. Already one expedition team has gone having completed a great new trek in the foothills of the mountain and a community water project. At the same time an intreprid Danish family joined us for a great three days of mountain biking. Taking in tea plantations, off road jungle tracks and some gruelling days they had a great three days with us and really got the season off to a great start. The most pleasing thing was their feedback that we manage to provide a challenge for the two older lads who were seriously hard core mountain bikers, whilst making it accessible and managable for their little brother. A great combination of single track down hill, unpaved roads and tracks and a few hill climbs for good measure made for something for everyone.
Another team who are working on an education program involving local Sabah students have just arrived and many more teams arrive in the next few weeks. Its exciting to see the range of amazing jungle experiences, project work and experiences which are coming together – even if it is all just a bit hectic!!
Visit our new Borneo dedicated website
For loads more info on Borneo mountain biking, rigging and adventures. Click here
See our latest article in BMC Summit Magazine
And you can now read it online here
Free Fieldwork Safety Course for Uni Staff
We've just completed a very successful training taster in Scotland - and there is another one coming up in London.
We've been delivering fieldwork safety training to universities since 2007. Over the last few years this area has received more and more attention as Universities look to support students and staff carrying out fieldwork and ensure they meet new national guidelines such as those produced by USHA and BSI.
On 3rd June 2010 health and safety staff from across Scotland came together at an event run by Fieldskills and hosted by Strathclyde University. This one day session looked at a broad range of topics from getting the attendees involved in practical first aid scenarios to discussion of the difficulties of perception of risk in the fieldwork environment.
The issues of how to really assess risk in the field and how to be prepared in case things do go wrong are covered through Fieldskills’ unique training programs. Using hands on scenarios and discussions about real life situations the courses encourage people to get actively actively engaged with risk management and emergency planning before and during fieldwork trips.
For Universities south of the border Fieldskills will be running a second taster course at UCL on the 23rd June. Please contact us if your University may be interested in sending a representative.
Buy your expedition kit with us
We're delighted to say we've linked up with Nomad Travel store - we now have a dedicated page on their website where you can claim your fieldskills 10% discount, download free expedition kit lists and also get info about jabs, travel medicine and all sorts. Click here now and get shopping!
Latest Newsletter Available
Download it here
Sam McConnell to lead Desert Course
We're delighted that this year's desert course is led by reknowned desert explorer Sam McConnell.
Latest Fieldnews available
News from around the world cyclists, our latest courses and loads more, download here
Latest Course Photos on Facebook
A very busy Spring is featured in lots of new course photos on our facebook page - they include training expedition medics with Wilderness Medical Training, and a range of University fieldwork and first aid courses from Oxford to Leeds. They also include some photos from a great three day course in off road driving, vehicle safety, first aid and expedition skills for a team of guys from Holland planning an expedition from Amsterdam to Cape town. See all these photos at our fieldskills facebook page.
JOB in Fieldskills UK office
Part time marketing and admin manager in our UK office in Ulverston. Get full details here...
Desert Safety and First Aid for Rock Art Expedition
We were delighted to work last week with a team from Oxford University who are in the final stages of preparing a three week field trip to record several rock art sites in the
Messak Settafet, in southwest Libya.
Their fascinating programme will include an in-depth and
comprehensive survey of a major rock art site including use of total station/GPS mapping, regular photography and specialized digital
imaging techniques.
We greatly enjoyed working with the team and were delighted that they found the course useful and enjoyable, "I think you did such a fantastic job today -- exactly the right blend of information, and all delivered with the right tone - serious and intelligent, but also keeping the sensitive things lighthearted."
We wish the team the very best of luck and look forward to hearing about their trip upon their return.
NEW Mountain Biking Video
We're launching a range of new MTB trips - more details soon - but here's a little taster...
Fieldskills Support Rafting First
We are delighted to be able to say that last month a British team from the charity 'Journey of a Lifetime' became the first UK based team to descend the Kuamut river in the Malaysian state of Sabah, North
Borneo.
It being only the second time that the
river had been run, the team faced
conditions and difficulties that could
not be accurately predicted.
A log-jam and 10 metre waterfall had
to be overcome as well as wild
camping in sites where elephant and
Leopard footprints were evident - not
for the feint hearted!
The final day of the expedition proved
to be the most challenging. A ten hour
paddle on mostly flat water was
followed by a night-time transfer by
power boat for 6 hours along the
Kinabatangan river, a river famed for
its crocodiles, through a huge storm.
The day lasted from 06.00 until 02.30
the next day and the team managed
it all with smiles and songs!
Nick Baker - he knows how to fly....
At a secret location in Borneo, the new Ropeskills team of Simon, Ed, Naz and Martin are working with the famous Nick Baker high up in the rainforest canopy to get rare and exclusive footage. The canopy is science's final frontier, a host of new species are discovered every year by those brave or foolish enough to make their way up to the treetops.
At 60 - 70 metres (up to 250 feet) the trees in Borneo are not too small and are home to Leopards, Bears and, well most of the animals in the rainforest are arboreal so we usually encounter something exciting.
Nick is an excellent naturalist and we are very pleased to be working with him.
Last month we worked with Charlotte Uhlenbroek, filming Orangutans in thier natural habitat and managed to get up close and personal with a few of our orange cousins.
Its all happening in Borneo, where are you?
Fieldskills Courses featured in the Guardian
We have just completed our annual training course at Oxford Brookes University. This year the program was expanded to a three day program combining first aid, fieldwork safety and specific tropical forest skills including half a day out in the woods outside of oxford learning about jungle camping, lost and search procedures and safe use of equipement such as machetes. The course was also featured in the Guardian newspaper on 17th March and you can currently view the article online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/17/survivalists-oxford-brookes
Rock climbing in Borneo
A neglected cliff on an island off the east coast of Sabah is getting some serious attention at long last!
Ropeskills have built a climbers camp and brought over two of the UK's brightest climbing stars to develop the island of Berhala as a sport climbing destination. With a cliff of over 150 metres and a stunning beach it promises to offer much to the travelling rock climber. All comers are now welcome to join the fun and if you are willing to contribute to the bolting efforts we will even feed you! See www.climbborneo.blogspot.com for more details of what we are up to....
Sign Up for the Prince's Rainforests Project
The Princes rainforest project is attempting to raise awareness of deforestation and potential solutions - you can now sign up and show your support direct from our site
Fancy Working in Borneo?
We are currently expanding our training activities out in Borneo and are looking for a training manager to head up this expansion both in terms of sales, management and delivery of courses. You would be likely to also get involved with our other expedition activities and events.
Description:
Training Manager
To take on the training side of our Borneo operations, planning and running first aid (HSE) courses, Forest safety courses and jungle training.
We have a lot of clients including the Royal Society, WWF and universities from all over the world. These clients need managing and an ongoing dialogue formed to attend to thier training needs. We require an enthusiastic and adaptable individual who has something 'extra' to offer the post.
Your salary would be commensurate with local pay scales and will allow a reasonable standard of living. Increments will reflect performance.
You will experience life in Malaysia and learn to enjoy the many benefits of living in Asia.
We have a modern office in a small city on the coast. Accommodation is not included but we will help you to find good local accommodation.
You would be expected to support our other activities which include climbing, mountain biking and adventure tourism from time to time.
QUALIFICATIONS
First aid trainer, SPA, ML
We may be able to provide trainining for the right candidate.
APPLY
Send a CV and covering letter to admin@fieldskills.com
Fieldwork Training Expanded
Following the success of the course Fieldskills ran in Leeds back in January we have extended our program to run the course again for a group of fifty masters students. We are now looking to offer this course to other departments at Leeds and other Universities around the country.
The course again looked at combining first aid skills with risk assessment and crisis planning. All of the students agreed they would recommend the course to other students in their position. One student said "I feel much more aware of safety issues and more confident in problematic situations".
A nice addition was running the course in the Biology Museum so the first two day course we taught to 1 lecturer, 25 students and a tapir skeleton!
Fieldskills offer Off-Site Safety Management
Find out more about Fieldskills' new RGS accredited Off-site Safety Management Course...
Filming the Canopy with the BBC
We are continuing our support of the Danum Valley, who as we speak are playing host to a film crew from the BBC 10 o'clock news. The crew are filming for a feature on the 10 o'clock news and if you tune in tonight (10.00 BBC1, 10th Dec) you will see live footage from the canopy at Danum.
Fieldskills have been proud both to work in the past training the researchers the crew are working with and to provide safety support and rope rigging to the film crew.
You can also see what they've been filming on the bbc science and technology page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7130000/newsid_7135800/7135863.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&bbcws=1
Borneo Mountain Bike Expedition 2008
A ten day trip that includes a two day jungle training course to prepare you for the expedition ahead, and a white water rafting trip on the daunting Padas river with Riverbug, Borneo's
most professional and best equipped rafting company. We will also undertake some short training rides to get used to the terrain and bikes with expert riding tuition from our professional rider, Justin.
The five-day odyssey is a ride around South East Asia's highest mountain and at 4000 metres it is no small hill! These granite spires will watch us ride around her foothills, splash through her chilly mountain streams and camp on her flanks.
The ride is an all-inclusive deal and by that we do mean all-inclusive, food, beer, wine, energy bars (powerbars) energy gels and drinks, bottled water, pre-built camps. All hotels and transport, bike maintenance, chocolate bars and even insect repellent!
We also have a mechanic, a local guide and a qualified medic with a satellite phone and full vehicle back-up with extensive evacuation plans and the support of the local helicopter company so you are in safe hands!
All you need to bring is a sleeping bag and your personal riding kit.
This ride is very rarely attempted because of the logistics needed to provide backup but Fieldskills have teamed up with Bike Beyond, Australia's most intrepid mountain biking company (www.bikebeyond.com.au) to prepare this event for the adventurous mountain biker that wants to try something a little different……
Bring your own bike or use one of our Giant Boulder Disk bikes
The cost for this is only 1,100 pounds excluding flight and bike hire or 1,200 pounds with bike hire.
Email simon@fieldskills.com for more details
Spring Courses already bearing fruit
Spring is a busy training period in the UK with teams preparing for expeditions all across the globe.
Already our earliest expeditioners are returning from the field and its nice to hear their training has come to good use:
"I have just come back to the UK after six weeks in Thailand. It was a wonderful experience and I am indeed glad that the tropical safety course was very helpful in the course of my work. I used the pacing skill I had learned to note the distance between my sample points and also had the right clothing and was better prepared for worse case scenarios...(like the snake encounter in the photo!). The list is endless, the mosquitoes, dehydration, getting wet because it rained most of the time, and so on, so it was honestly worth it that I did the course with fieldskills."
Training for round the world cyclist Ken Roberts
Ken Roberts is planning an epic round the world cycle expedition which he expects to take him four years. Its been a pleasure to work with him for two days to help prepare him for living in the jungle, savannah and desert environments. Ken's trip promises to be a massive adventure and its all in a good cause - to raise money for The Outward Bound Trust. You can read more about it on his website http://www.acrosscontinents.org
Summer Expedition Season a Huge Success
We have had a hectic few months in Borneo and all our school teams are now home with amazing tales to tell of the Borneo jungle.
We were delighted to support teams in partnership with Adventureworks and Wilderness Expertise, looking after a range of schools based from Ilkley to Paris. Despite some challenging weather conditions, which kept a few teams from the Summit of Kinabalu, beautiful jungle treks were completed, miles of boardwalk laid and invaluable community projects completed at a number of schools and children's homes across Sabah and Sarawak.
We were delighted to be able to support all these expeditions and acheive the combination of educational programs, adventure and support of local projects which Fieldskills are all about. Congratulations to all the students who came to Borneo this year.
Fieldskills support OP3 research program in Borneo
Fieldskills is running a number of training courses to prepare members of the OP3 tropical rainforest research project. The project will run for three years and aims to look at how tropical forests in Malaysia impact upon atmospheric composition, chemistry and climate. Fieldskills has run a series of UK training courses to arm the team with first aid and tropical forest safety skills for their time in the field.
The project will involve many UK universities and make use of methodology including Danum valley's 100 metre high tower and the Natural Environment Research Council's research aircraft.
Fieldskills feature in local enterprise agency film promotion
Fieldskills have been delighted to be selected by Furness Enterprise to be featured in a series of short films about enterprise in the Furness region. You can check out the film here...
FIELD SKILLS Live>Work>Go Furness from Dreamtime Film on Vimeo
or http://vimeo.com/2154020
Fancy West Papua?
This October Fieldskills will be providing logistical advice and expertise to a very exciting exploratory expedition to West Papua.
West Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya) is the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea, the second largest island on the planet. Barely known to the western world until the start of the 20th Century and even now it boasts some of the few truly unexplored regions on Earth.
The October expedition will spend approximately 10 days in the company of the Korawai and Kombai and will begin and end in the Dani highland town of Wamena, itself a 45 minute flight from Jayapura, the administrative capital of Papua. In total, a minimum of 16 days is recommended to allow for logistical uncertainties. Travel to and from the trek will be by a chartered missionary plane and with the exception of one day crossing the river that separates the two tribes by dug out canoe the team will be trekking and carrying all supplies supported by porters and an experienced guide.
This special introductory expedition is being offered by the organisers at a price that will not be repeated. There are two remaining spaces available for this once in a lifetime opportunity.
For those interested do not hesitate to contact us now as final logistical arrangements are being made. Do not underestimate the undertaking of this expedition. New Guinea is on the equator and we will be mostly in the lowlands where it will be sweaty to the extreme, in all likelihood very wet and with many creatures of the forests, big and small out to irritate us. Malaria is endemic to the region and must be a consideration.
To view pictures from previous Papua expeditions have a look at the Fieldskills facebook group page and if you are interested in joining the expedition drop us an email. There is also more about Papua in our latest fieldnews newsletter.
October Expedition Leadership Courses
Info on the expedition industry and practical scenario exercises in expedition planning skills
Come and meet us at Explore at the RGS
It's nearly Explore time... the annual expedition and fieldwork conference at the RGS is a must...
Be inspired by over 100 leading field scientists and explorers who will provide contacts and advice through key lectures, workshops and one-to-one consultations on a wide-range of topics:
• Operating in remote environments: desert, polar, forest, marine, mountain
• Field research skills: biological, earth and human sciences, GIS and field mapping, education projects
• Vehicle or bicycle dependent expeditions
• Communicating discoveries: film, newmedia and journalism
• Exhibits displaying innovative field equipment and other expedition services
• Planning overseas field research, conservation or adventure projects
We'll be there on a stall so its a great chance to catch up for a cuppa and a chat about your plans - we'll be happy to help in any way we can.
See RGS website for full details: http://www.rgs.org/explore
LAST FEW PLACES - Sept course
We have a few last minute places on our tropical forest and outdoor first aid courses in September. See full details and book online or give us to ring to chat about what the courses entail...
Recruitment at Fieldskills
Over the past 6 weeks we have been recruiting for freelance trainers and expeditioners...
We are expanding our UK operations and are keen to put together a small team of people interested in getting involved.
In late November we had the first get together of freelance staff for an enjoyable day of training and planning. We discussed what Fieldskills do, developed new course ideas and also taught each other valuable new skills including origami and how to make the perfect omelette!
Though this get together brings to an end our current round of recruitment we are always keen to hear from keen trainers and expeditioners who are interested in working on our courses, running overseas events and expeditions or developing new courses to complement our range.
Please feel free to drop Dom a line or send a CV to dominic@fieldskills.com
LAST FEW PLACES - June courses
We are booking up the last few places for our June Tropical Forest and First Aid courses - book now
Time to book for the spring
Spring is upon us so its time to book up for our training courses before the summer season. Have a look and book now...
New First Aid course dates for after Christmas
Sign up now!
Fieldskills on Facebook
We have started up a fieldskills group on facebook. It provides a place for clients and other interested people to meet to discuss expeditions, share photos, help each other out with logistical problems etc. We've got it going with a few discussion questions and photos so now it is up to you to get on there and get chatting...
Just go to www.facebook.com, if you're not already a member sign up - its free and takes two minutes. Then on the groups page search for fieldskills - easy...
Borneo International Marathon
Ever thought about running a marathon? What about a half marathon or even a 10 km run? Ever thought about doing it in exotic Borneo and for good local causes?
Well now is your chance, sign up for the marathon and support our efforts to improve life for many disadvantaged local people as well as the Semporna Islands conservation efforts.
Fieldskills are directly involved in the setting up and organising of this event which is going to be huge.
We can help you to organise your training, get flights and accommodation and even bring your family along and enjoy the amazing attractions that Sabah and Sarawak have to offer.
www.borneomarathon.com
Filming with Monty Halls
Fieldskills once again rig up for the stars!
Monty Halls came to Borneo for a feature programme recording session and Fieldskills got him where he loves to be; somewhere dangerous and remote.
With extra long ropes and a very intrepid camera man Monty sailed down one of the most terrifying free-fall absiels into a huge cave system in Borneo to look at...well you'll have to watch the programme to find out just what this was all about....
Come to Explore at the RGS
The Explore conference at the RGS is again set to be one of the major events in the expedition calender. Always inspirational with the Society packed full of experienced and first time expeditioners, great speakers and a wealth of information and inspiration. Fieldskills will once again be there with a stall and talking on some of the panels so come and find us for a chat. Explore starts on Friday 21st Nov and runs till Sunday 23rd. Tickets and more information are available from the www.rgs.org/explore
FINAL BOOKINGS NOW FOR OUTDOOR FIRST AID COURSE
For full details and to book click here
Sign up now for Spring training courses
We are now booking places for our series of environment specific expedition training courses in the UK this spring.
Our first tropical forest course of 2008 will be at the beginning of March. This established and popular course has provided many expeditioners, travellers and researchers with a grounding in safety in the jungle. This year we are also pleased to launch new courses in desert, savannah and mountain safety.
Each of these courses is scheduled for one date only so sign up now to secure your place.
Full details of all the courses are on our training pages.
Staff wanted at Fieldskills
Freelance trainers and expeditioners wanted...
We are expanding our UK operations and are keen to put together a small team of people interested in getting involved.
In particular we are looking for freelance trainers to run our UK courses. Ideal candidates would have a combination of UK outdoor education experience, training skills and plenty of experience of overseas expeditions, travel and fieldwork. The ability to teach first aid would be an advantage but training could be provided for the right candidates.
We are also looking for someone to work with us on a more regular basis in a role combining sales, marketing, course design and administration as well as running courses.
We are keen to hear from anyone else who likes the sound of what we do and thinks they have something to offer.
If you are interested email Dom on dominic@fieldskills.com
Zoogirl Filming project in Sabah
Fieldskills have just completed the filming project with TV personality Claire Madden from Australia. We were asked to get her up close and personal with the native animals and their habitat, which is what we did.
Wild Orangutans, Elephants, Proboscis monkeys, Crocodiles and leeches to name a few, as well as ascending into the canopy to see where most of the Borneo inhabitants actually live were on the menu.
A lot of great footage was taken and we hope to have some clips of the finished product on the website in the coming months.
Conservation starts with knowledge sharing, and whether it is through popular TV or formal education doesn't really matter - that the message gets through is what counts. See What Claire is up to on www.zoogirlclaire.com
Sabah Adventure Challenge - Race
Fieldskills will be running the logistics for this prestigious race in 2008, having been involved for the last two years in the organisation and safety.
Asia's longest running adventure race, the Sabah Adventure Challenge has grown from humble beginnings as an enthusiasts indulgence to one of the regions most important events attracting competitors from all over the world.
Cycling, running, kayaking, orienteering, tubing on rapids are the main disciplines, all in the shadow of the mighty Mount Kinabalu. The next race will be in March 2008 and if you are interested, get in touch with us!
Summer expedition season
Summer expedition season is now over, Fieldskills hosted a lot of schools with companies such as Adventureworks, Wilderness Expertise and Adventure Lifesigns, all three are leaders in this field delivering extremely high standard schools expeditions specifically tailored to the needs of the schools.
Fieldskills prepared risk assessments, provided backup and support as well as organising their amazing project work which included working on a remote Orangutan research camp that has never had a group of outsiders there before and installing a water supply at a remote tribal village in Sarawak, here you can see the kids at an orphanage in the interior where two teams went and made a lot of friends...
Great feedback from Tropical Forest Course
The spring period has been hectic - but our overflowing inbox was brightened today by this:
"Hope you're well. I just wanted to say thanks, I really enjoyed the course. I learnt loads. I can't believe how much information was crammed into those few days - I hope it sticks! I'm really glad you provided the booklet because I can now refer to stuff that I can't remember really well.
I feel much more confident about being an assistant leader on the expedition now."
Since we started the Tropical Forest Course the feedback on the end of course questionnaires has been overwhelming positive and these comments are very typical. However it was still great to get this email and realise that all the rushing about is worth it!
Come to Explore at the RGS
Explore is a major event in the expedition calender. It takes place at the RGS in London and Fieldskills will be attending. We highly recommend it and hope to see you there. See details from the RGS on the event...
Explore takes place over the weekend of 24-25th November.
It is THE place to find inspiration, contacts and practical advice for successful expeditions or research projects.
Lectures, workshops and exhibits cover planning projects in variety of environments and research disciplines. Over 100 of Europe’s leading field scientists and explorers cover topics including:
- project management
- field research techniques
- fundraising health & safety
- insurance
- logistics of living and working in rainforest, polar, marine, desert and mountain environments.
Explore will open on the Friday night (23rd November) with a lecture by Jason Lewis and Steve Smith of Expedition 360.com who will talk about their experiences of circumnavigating the world by human power alone.
Student rate: £65pp
Groups students 3+: £50pp
Groups students10+: £40pp
Standard rate: £100pp Standard groups 3+: £70pp
Standard groups 10+: £60pp
Please go to www.rgs.org/explore for more details
Extra Tropical Forest Date added
BOOK NOW - LAST PLACES AVAILABLE... For the second year running Fieldskills is collaborating with the renowned training company, Wilderness Medical Training.
Fieldskills are pleased to add a further Tropical Forest course date to run alongside WMT's winter program of medical expedition training.
The Tropical Forest Safety course will be held on 4th and 5th December, immediately preceding WMT's Far from Help Course. WMT's hugely popular and respected courses cover a range of skills for operating in remote regions - so why not take advantage of the opportunity to attend two market leading expedition training courses on one trip to Oxford!
For more details on the medical training visit www.wildernessmedicaltraining.co.uk.
To book the Tropical Forest Training course please contact dominic@fieldskills.com or see our training pages.
Support for SOS Rhino survey
SOS Rhino are carrying out a wide reaching survey to establish population size of the rare Sumatran Rhino in Tabin in Sabah. The current survey brings together staff from SOS Rhino, WWF and various protected areas and forestry areas across Sabah and even includes members from Sarawak and Kalimantan. Fieldskills has been very happy to be involved in supporting the survey by providing first aid kits, first aid training and also sourcing other equipment for the group. Find out more about SOS rhino at www.sosrhino.org
PADI open water diving course in Sabah for only 150 pounds.
We are offering this fantastic price (and do look at what others are offering) at fully certified PADI dive centres where you learn to dive in pristine water at a marine park amongst coral reefs.
This cost includes accommodation at a hostel in Kota Kinabalu and an insiders guide to getting out and about in Sabah for budget travellers.
Add this on to your holiday plans and go home with a new and exciting hobby or better still, do it on arrival then go and visit the world famous dive sites around Sabah like Sipadan Island and let us get you the very best prices.
Hammerhead sharks, Manta rays, Turtles, Humphead Wrasse, Reef Sharks, Seahorses, the list goes on and on....
Not to mention the amazing tropical island paradise and sunsets that make you weep.
Autumn training courses - BOOK NOW
We are now taking bookings for our autumn season of UK courses. We have a few courses remaining this year in September and October before we head for winter hibernation so have a look through our training section and book now...
Spring Training Courses
With Spring upon us many teams are putting in place their final expedition preparations, which has meant a hectic month on the training front in the UK and Borneo. Seventy-five expeditioners have been through courses this month including bespoke courses for Aberdeen and Plymouth Universities and Herefordshire Expedition Society.
Open courses in Oxford have also seen another successful forest safety course and the launch of the new first aid and expedition training courses.
From their feedback the groups have universally benefitted from and enjoyed the courses. We wish them all luck and look forward to hearing their tales from the field.
The next UK open courses are fast approaching in May so sign up now on our training pages.
First Aid Launch
New one day course alongside our Tropical Forest Safety Course. For further details go to our training section and click on Emergency First Aid.
Course bookings - early booking discount
Book open courses more than a month in advance and claim a 10% discount. Book now...
New water safety course launched NOW
See here for more details
First ever attempt for Fieldskills director
Simon Amos, with reknowned adventure racer Claus Pederson will attempt the first ever non-stop mountain bike ride around Mount Kinabalu.
This ride has only ever been successfully achieved twice before and one of those was by a Fieldskills team!
However, both times the ride has been completed it was with a support crew and over several days, this will be the first attempt at a non-stop ride.
The ride involves a great deal of hills, muddy jungle, technical single track and baking heat.
Fieldwork Safety Training at Leeds Uni
In early January Fieldskills ran a bespoke course with lecturers from Leeds University. All of the staff were involved in University fieldwork in locations across the UK, Europe and all over the world.
The first day of the two day course covered first aid training. The second extended these skills by looking at the bigger picture of fieldwork planning. We looked at risk assessment, crisis management planning and how to apply this paperwork dynamically in the field. We also extended the first aid directly with discussions of what medical and other equipment teams would want available to help deal with a medical emergency.
The course aimed to show how good planning could reduce the chances of having to deal with a major emergency and ensure that the team are well placed to deal with it should one occur.
The course ended with an extended scenario where the group put into the practice the planning skills they had learnt and pitted them against a series of simulated emergencies.
The feedback was very positive with all attendees suggesting they would recommend the course to others and comments including, "very useful, highly relevent, very well taught", "pertinent, concise, informal, practical".
Focus on Safety
Sabah has recently experienced a surge in awareness of the safety needs of tour operators.
Providers of tours and adventurous activities are becoming ever more aware that a comprehensive risk assessment and some minor investment in improving safety features can pay dividends to prospective clients looking to find a safe operator to book with.
Western tourists are very safety savvy when booking holidays and now the Asian market is getting more discerning about avoiding becoming victims of cheap companies cutting corners with safety.
Risk assessment consultancy is cheap, quick and provides operators with the skills to keep up the system themselves within thier company.
Tropical Forest Safety at Edinburgh University
Fieldskills have completed a forest safety course for a group of students from Edinburgh University. Many of the team are heading to Borneo in the summer to carry out a scientific expedition to the Danum Valley. The team covered a wide variety of topics to prepare them for some of the issues they may face in Borneo. Students said they found the course, 'confidence building' and that the content was, 'relevant and extremely helpful'. Teaching tropical forest skills in the centre of Edinburgh involved some improvisation (with students acting as trees at one point!). However we mainly focused on the theoretical skills with the team planning to get out into the woods in the UK or when they get out to Borneo to practice the skills they learnt. We wish them luck and will continue to support them through their preparation.
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