My Story #15: Jon Chamberlain, Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor and Business Owner

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WRITTEN by JON CHAMBERLAIN & ANNE ENSOLL

In this series we’re sharing the stories of outdoor instructors, mountain guides and enthusiasts who work and play in the mountains. Links to all the previous posts can be found at the bottom of this post. 

We first met Jon Chamberlain several years ago when he booked on to a workshop that we were running for members of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors. Since then he has joined our team of freelance instructors, and has become a good friend. He is a Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor and holds several other outdoor qualifications.

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What are your first memories of adventures in the outdoors as a child or teenager?

My first, and very fond, memories of the outdoors were ‘hiking’ trips from Rotherham to the Peak District with Mum, Dad and my brother Simon. I loved it. Dad was a teacher, so every year we would self-cater in a cottage or caravan in North Wales or the Dales. We would walk every day. I began planning routes….I have been doing it ever since! The greatest gift my parents gave me was a love of the outdoors. I am so grateful for this early experience.

What do you remember about your outdoor adventures when you started doing them independently?

I did Bronze DofE at school, so I guess that was my first independent trip. I then self-financed a week of backpacking in the Lakes at 16 after my ‘O’ Levels. At 18 I walked the Pennine Way in 12 days with Andy, a school friend, and the following year did the Pembrokeshire Coast Path with my brother. I have always loved journeying in the outdoors.

I started climbing at Easter 1983, when a college friend introduced me to her friend Martin Middleton (now Winter Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor). We had a very wet two weeks at Stanage. We started leading routes. I remember going to Tremadog multi-pitch climbing and doing Avalanche/Red Wall on Lliwedd with Martin. I joined the college climbing club and began to climb regularly. We got some funding for a trip to the Picos Europa, Spain in 1985. That was my first experience of climbing abroad. Graham Watson (now Winter Mountaineering & Climbing Instructor) was also on that trip.

Walking the Pennine Way in 1981, second from left

Walking the Pennine Way in 1981, second from left

When did it change from a hobby to a career?

I taught in schools for twenty years, and climbed regularly throughout that time. I was initially working in Derbyshire, so grew to love both the grit and the limestone. Every year we would have six weeks in France, Spain, Italy, Germany. I climbed thousands of routes on hundreds of crags. It was my passion.

In 2005, I turned a passion into a career, and started what was to become Adventure Training North East, a company I now run with my wife, Caroline.

What has the path been since then?

After quickly gaining qualifications to support our experience, we have built a business around school-based work (DofE / GCSE PE), First Aid courses, staff training (I do a lot of technical advisor work), bushcraft and Forest School. We love the variety of what we do. Until the current Covid-19 crisis, we have seen our business grow each year.

On a climbing trip with Chris to El Chorro in Spain in 2017

On a climbing trip with Chris to El Chorro in Spain in 2017