Themountaincoach Avis 32

I agree with everything Sharon said ..This experience was awful because of the total lack of information given by the leader .The interaction from him was non existant and he put the group in danger by rushing off with out proper guidance in the dark ..I don't believe this guy is capable of running this type of event and I would warn anyone not to book on his future walks .Andrea

The initial communication and booking was good. Emails were replied to quickly and any queries dealt with.
Unfortunately I then have to agree with some of the previous reviews
When we arrived Charlie was in the carpark. I noticed a lady approach him to introduce herself and he said “we’ll do all that at the meeting point”. At that point I thought he sounded dismissive and unfriendly
The welcome chat was not particularly informative and having paid for this service I did expect information about the route and slo on the route as to places of interest He may have given some information to the people at the front but he didn’t seem to want to wait for the other walkers and usually had already set off again before they caught up. We are reasonably fit and regular walkers so we are not particularly slow
Charlie did not want to wait or interact with anyone other than a few faster and younger walkers There was no back marker on this route and his two assistants were always further up the field. At some points we did not know where Charlie had gone and it was only due to other walkers waiting that we did not get lost
The walk should have started at least an hour earlier as the last hour was in darkness. We had not realised this would happen and had not taken torches and many of the group expressed that they did not feel safe walking on this terrain in the darkness. Again the guides were not at the back. One of the party really struggled and she was helped by other walkers - Charlie was totally unaware as he was so far ahead.
We had a 10 minute break during the 4.5 hour walk and for the rest of the walk there wasn't time for a quick snack or drink
There were over 30 people in the group and the walking leaders did not seem able to cope with such numbers as they were unable to keep the group together
We had an evening meal and sat on the same table as Charlie and the other guides. There was zero interaction from any of them - found this quite rude
We may as well have downloaded a trail from an app as there was no advantage in using this company for their guiding
One of the group made their feelings known and on the second day one of the leaders did stay back which was an improvement but again we didn’t really see much of or have any interaction with Charlie
I felt that Charlie didn’t care about his clients and just couldn’t be bothered to speak with us and in my opinion the guiding is purely about him making money
Unfortunately I would not use Charlie Wardle’s service again

Another fabulous walk in the Peak District with Charlie and the team. 17 miler this time. Weather was amazing, company fantastic, such a super day out. Planning was detailed, with reminders about important stuff like don't follow postcode, use what3words - which links into Google maps and took me straight there! Some people turned up late and unfortunately made a bit of an issue about the postcode being 'wrong' - but tbf, there were 3 reminders about that, so user error rather than anything else... but didn't spoil the day, it was brilliant, as usual - can't recommend this well managed, highly qualified, easy going, wonderful team highly enough. Get booking!!

First and only walk with this company, zero interaction, 3 guides only spoke amongst themselves, not one head count at any point people at the back were just left to trot behind, 2 additional “guides” were not qualified ML, there was never a back marker of the group, on numerous occasions the leader just walked off after a brief break stop no warning, 2 minute ready call nothing, treats clients with very little respect, a client who pulled out at the beginning was openly derided amongst the “guides”, not a job for someone who appears to dislike people, if you’re not a fast walker happy in your own company don’t bother

Charlie provided our charity with guides for a fundraising climb up Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon. He is very kind and understood the needs of our participants who had experienced Head and Neck cancer. Charlie sadly wasn't available on the day of the climb put provided us with three brilliant guides who were all super professional, lovely and encouraging - making sure everyone in our group made it safely up to the summit and back down again.

I'd be more than happy to wholeheartedly recommend Charlie to any other charity or individual who wanted to participate in any of his events.

Never again! Initially I laughed along with everyone else at the start of hike info. I thought it was funny, satire! Little did I know that “I’m not gonna explain or show you which way we are going etc as you won’t remember anyway” “I’m taking you to a waterfall but it’s barely a waterfall, you’ll see” this wasn’t Charlie being funny, it’s truthful.
He strode off, younger and fitter members up front with him but the gap widened. No time or allowance for catchup. 4 hours hard hiking with less than 5 min break at which Charlie looked agitated and chomping at the bit to continue. Extremely tired after 3 and half hours I stopped along with a friend to have a sip of water and retrieve a snack from our packs. Charlie came towards us, extremely confrontational asking ‘what our problem was?’! I stated we had stopped to get some sweets out of our packs and have a 2 minute breather . He said he couldn’t see us and it was up to us to make sure we kept up. I stated that I couldn’t physically walk any faster so not sure how I could achieve this. Charlie said that we should not be expecting the faster walkers at the front to wait for us.
I told Charlie that every other hiking group I had walked with had always encouraged me to join them and reassured me that they always go with the pace of slowest person in the group. Charlie’s reply was “Where’s that come from? I’ve never heard that”!! I informed him that I hadn’t messaged him privately as I assumed he went along with this same principle especially as he called himself The Mountain coach. His face said it all at this point. He was rude, arrogant and confrontational. He doesn’t have the personality or kind nature to be leading a group. Other hiking group leaders I have met have been kind, considerate, thoughtful and motivating, unfortunately Charlie is none of these things. The difference being, the others do it because of passion and love of outdoors , it would appear Charlie does it for the ££. There were no pleasantries after the walk, checking if people were ok, no interaction later at meal time. I opted out of second day with him and did an amazing hike at my own pace using AllTrails.
At the end of the day.. if you’re slower than average and would like to admire scenery/ take photos/smell the roses/ take an occasional break this company probably isn’t for you.

Sadly the mountain coach does not demonstrate a duty of care for his clients. The backstop did not have a working phone and did not know the route. If you’re slow expect to be left behind to find your own way home. I gave feedback via email only to be told I was lying and he didn’t have time for slow people.

My first experience of The Mountain Coach wasn’t the best. From my perspective: There wasn’t much engagement from the outset. A brief shout out of names on the hike (and credit where it is due, he got every name correct); and an explanation that there had been a slight change of plan due to the high winds, that we would hike a shorter route up the mountain, then drive to another location and continue an approximate 3-mile coastal walk. Both hikes on the Saturday passed uneventfully. Day 2 was a different experience, which prompted an email to Charlie (The Mountain Coach) to ask what the itinerary for my next experience was with him (Helvellyn in January). I explained that I felt the hike was rushed; with little engagement from him; (In fact, he was heard to say on the car park as he stood by his car, that he was “not in the mood for this today” – I assume making reference to 2 participants who were running a few minutes late). No communication to ask if we were okay or if the pace was okay; We had a brief 20-minute stop for food at 11 a.m. and then no real chance to stop, rest etc. There were occasions when me and two friends, who have a decent level of fitness had lost sight of the main group when we stopped to take off our wet over trousers (he was there with us so knew that we were sorting our gear out - and a lady attending to a few blisters that she was suffering from), and off he just went. We then had to guess where they had gone. My friend and I ended up going back to make sure that a lady who had come alone, who had hurt her knee at the end, knew where we had turned through the sand dunes, as she was so far back she wouldn’t have seen the turning and may have got lost. I expressed my concern that I thought he would have remained at the car park (we were due to drive to another car park as it was a linear walk) to make sure that all hikers in the group were back safely. The email that I got back from him expressed the fact that he was insulted by some of my comments. However, as a first timer with his groups (but not a first-time hiker!) I felt that I wanted to clarify the situation with regards to the next hike I had booked. He asked if it was fair that the faster walkers were expected to slow down. (Yes Charlie, because the idea is to keep the group together – it’s unfair to expect the ones who may be struggling to keep jogging to have to catch up). He told me, had I “listened to the briefing on Day 1, we would have known that there was a guide to assist”. We did listen. We were next to him. At no point was a guide mentioned – and several people confirmed the same. If there had been, we would have known who to voice any concerns to, given that Charlie was way ahead in the distance, with us at times trying anxiously to see where the rest of the group had gone. A lovely walk, spoiled, for me, by lack of communication and engagement from Charlie. I accept that we all have bad days, but when you feel that your leader is annoyed and irritated, and just appeared to want it over so that he could get home, it was just a disappointing first encounter for me. I will thank Charlie however, for refunding my fee for the Helvellyn hike, which I withdrew from based on my experience on this particular hike. Maybe a little more time spent on the brief at the start, clearly explaining that there are guides to assist, and pointing them out. Had he done this, we wouldn't have been so worried about the lady who was struggling with blisters and a knee issue at the end. We might also have felt more reassured that we might not have got left behind - as the group went out of sight a few times.

Charlie and the team are knowledgable, friendly and organised. They maintain a good pace and cater to all abilities within the group. I’ve done a few trips with the mountain coach and highly recommend. He doesn’t ever ask for reviews or recommendations so don’t be put off by the one or two negative comments.

Very disappointed in Charlie Wardle aka The Mountain Coach. We booked a walk/climb up Ben Nevis for 10 friends back in May of this year and we were due to climb the 1st week of October. We paid in full but due to recent announcements re; Covid it made it impossible for us to travel in vehicles from mixed households through Scotland, safely or without very probably being fined.

We emailed Charlie to try and find an amicable and mutually beneficial resolution. My suggestion was to postpone the trip until it was safe to travel, we even offered to pay him additional money on the date of the successful trip. A more than reasonable suggestion I thought?

Although Charlie's email reply began suggesting he also wanted to find an amicable solution the remainder of the email was rude, self centred and utterly unhelpful.

In his words, not mine;

How we got to Scotland was not his issue or problem. If we used his transport, we wouldn't of had a problem? Charlie clearly doesn't understand the Scottish Covid travel restrictions.

That he would keep £60 pp (£600 in total) to cover his costs? because it was a lost opportunity and that IF he gave us all the money back it would be unfair and unreasonable?

He hasn't responded to my last email which again was worded in a mature and respectful manner.

It is obvious that Charlie is a fair weather businessman, has absolutely no idea about customer service or care and does not have the decency to respond to emails and furthermore deletes our responses to his social media posts in which he claims its business a usual for his trips. That is clearly not the case for Ben Nevis unless you live on the doorstep.

My advice, don't use the Mountain Coach. he might be well versed in walking mountains but he is clueless about business and customer care.