William Close-Ash 490/08
Membership BAIML
Membership Type Full Member
Membership Number 490/08
Renewal Date 31/12/2024
I started out like most people, taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as a student and my love for the mountains grew from there. As a volunteer with the Air Cadets, I’ve had the chance to run many UK and overseas expeditions and running my own mountaineering company was the next logical step. Mountain Energy (Naomi came up with the name!) has been in operation since 2009 and we are delighted with how quickly our little business has grown- we’ve been offering UK summer and winter expeditions since 2009 and overseas adventures since 2010 in Europe and Africa.
I’ve been lucky enough to climb several Alpine Peaks up to AD and I’ve travelled through Peru, Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa and Morocco. My highest personal summit to date was a dormant volcano in Bolivia called Lincancubur which sits at 5960m; a tough climb, I even got frost-bite on my big toes!
In 2008 I was awarded the Life Saving Medal of the Order of St John for leading an expedition which rescued 7 Belgian climbers from a peak in the Pyrenees (see video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj1WrFkuDb8).
We’re not an all ‘singing all dancing company’ and we don’t pretend to be. We offer a select range of experiences, but what we do, we do well and we know. If there’s something not on our list, we can probably recommend a good provider who can help you achieve your ambitions.
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Winter Mountain Leader | 18/02/2010 | |
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International Mountain Leader Award (EML) | 25/08/2007 | |
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Mountain Leader | 22/03/2002 |
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Team training event (full day) | 02/07/2022 | 1.00 |
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Team training event (evening) | 24/05/2022 | 0.25 |
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Team training event (full day) | 10/04/2022 | 1.00 |
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Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable People course | 05/04/2022 | 1.00 |
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Team training event (full day) | 13/03/2022 | 1.00 |
I started out as a summer ML in 2002 and have been running expeditions in the UK and overseas since then.
As a school teacher and a youth group leader with the air cadets, I understand the importance of getting young people out into the wilderness and to help them appreciate nature. For many years, I worked exclusively with young people, but in 2009 I started my own company with my wife and we've branched out to running courses and expeditions for adults and young people alike!
We've run expeditions to South Africa, Namibia, North Africa, Europe and South America over the last 10 or so years. This in addition to running courses and training in the UK summer and winter mountains.
I enjoy giving something back and am now a fellow with the Royal Geographical Society where I have supported their annual Explore conference for the past 4 years and through whom I deliver the Off Site Safety Management Course.
I am also a cas carer with Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team.
