Turn your passion for the outdoors into your career
Love the outdoors? Want to spend your working life doing something you genuinely enjoy?
Outdoor Instructor Training Course in the Scottish Highlands
Our Outdoor Instructor Training Course is designed to help you turn your passion for adventure into a rewarding career.
Based at Craigower Lodge Outdoor Centre in the Cairngorms National Park, you’ll spend 4 months training, developing your skills and gaining recognised qualifications across mountains, rock, paddlesports and snowsports — with optional modules allowing you to extend your training to 5 or 6 months.
You’ll learn from experienced outdoor professionals, train in some of Scotland’s best adventure environments, gain real experience working with groups and build the skills, confidence and qualifications you need to start your career in the outdoor industry.
4 months of core training | Up to 30 qualifications
Multiple outdoor disciplines | Career-focused training
Not sure if it’s right for you? Talk to our team today on 01540 210000
Course dates & fees
Choose your starting point:
Summer ITC
16 weeks | 80 training days
Summer 2027 – 6th July 2027 to 24th October 2027
Winter ITC
20 weeks | 80 training days
Winter 2026/27 – 27th October 2026 to 28th March 2027
Winter 2027/28 – 26th October 2027 to 27th March 2028
The winter programme includes holiday periods to allow you to consolidate your skills and recharge between training blocks.
Core Course Fee
£9,495
Self-catered accommodation is included (see below)
Optional extensions
Extend your training with additional specialist modules in skiing or climbing.
Ski Performance Development — 2 weeks
PSIA Ski Instructor Module — 6 weeks
Climbing Development Spain — 2 weeks
What does the course include?
More than just training
Your course fee includes much more than your formal training and assessments.
Included:
- Self-catered accommodation
- Expert coaching and instruction
- Training five days per week
- On-course transport to training venues
- Fees for formal NGB training and assessment courses
- Personal mentoring and career support
- Access to most centre equipment during personal time
- Opportunities to shadow Active Outdoor Pursuits instructors
- Opportunities to take part in activity sessions before your course begins
- Access to Active’s outdoor equipment and clothing Pro Deals
What if your job could take you outside every day?
Imagine waking up in the Scottish Highlands and knowing that today’s workplace could be a mountain ridge, a rock face, a wild river or a loch extending beyond the horizon.
Imagine spending your days helping other people discover what they’re capable of.
Imagine gaining the skills to lead groups, teach outdoor activities, coach people, manage adventurous situations and explore wild places with confidence.
That’s what an outdoor instructor career can offer.
Our Outdoor Instructor Training Course gives you the opportunity to spend several months immersed in the outdoors, developing the technical skills, leadership abilities and professional qualifications you need to turn your passion into your profession.
This isn’t just about gaining certificates. It’s about changing what you do, where you live and how you spend your days.
Where could the course take you?
Your Instructor Training Course can be the first step in a whole new career
The outdoor industry is much bigger than simply becoming an instructor at an outdoor centre.
Your training can open pathways into areas such as:
- Outdoor instruction
- Mountain leadership
- Climbing instruction
- Paddlesports
- Adventure tourism
- Expedition work
- Snowsports
- Outdoor education
- Freelance instruction
- Coaching
- Senior instructor roles
- Outdoor centre management
- College lecturing
Some of our trainees choose to continue developing with Active Outdoor Pursuits after completing their ITC. Others take their qualifications and experience elsewhere in the UK or overseas.
The important thing is that you’ll have options.
What will you learn?
Build a broad outdoor skillset
One of the biggest advantages of our Instructor Training Course is the breadth of experience you’ll gain.
Rather than training for just one activity, you’ll develop skills across many sports on land, rock, water environments.
Up to 30 qualifications and training awards are available across the programme.
Mountains & Rock
- Mountain Leader training
- Rock Climbing Instructor training
- Navigation NNAS
- Hill walking
- Winter skills
Water & Paddlesports
- Canoeing
- River Kayaking
- Kayak Touring
- Sea Kayaking
- Stand Up Paddleboarding
- White-water rafting
- Canyoning and gorge scrambling
- Safety and rescue
- Expedition skills
Snowsports options
- Alpine skiing
- Snowboarding
- Ski touring
- Winter skills
- Ski performance development
- Optional ski instructor pathway
Professional & Expedition Skills
- Outdoor First Aid
- DofE Expedition Assessor & Supervisor
- Risk assessment
- Safeguarding
- Group leadership
- Expedition planning and delivery
Why train with Active Outdoor Pursuits?
Train with people who know the industry
There are lots of ways to gain outdoor qualifications. We believe the difference is in how you develop as an outdoor professional, not simply how many certificates you collect.
Train in the real outdoors
You’ll develop your skills on the Scotland’s mountains, rivers, lochs, crags and coastline — not just on artificial training grounds.
Learn from experienced professionals
You’ll train alongside instructors and managers who understand the realities of working in the outdoor industry.
Develop across multiple disciplines
Our broad programme gives you experience across land, rock, water and snow, helping you discover where your strengths and interests lie.
Gain recognised qualifications
Your training is built around recognised National Governing Body awards and industry-relevant training.
Build confidence as well as competence
Knowing how to do something yourself is one thing. Being able to safely lead, teach and inspire other people is another.
We’ll help you make that transition.
Start building your professional network
During your course you’ll work alongside experienced instructors and have opportunities to shadow and assist with real activity sessions.
Those relationships and experiences can be incredibly valuable when you start looking for work.
You don’t need to arrive as an expert.
You don’t need to be a qualified mountain leader.
You don’t need to be a highly experienced climber.
You don’t need to know how to kayak, canoe, ski and climb before you arrive.
What you do need is enthusiasm, commitment and a willingness to learn.
The course is intensive, and you’ll be expected to work hard. But you’ll be supported throughout your development by experienced instructors and mentors.
The most important qualification you bring with you is enthusiasm.
I came in as a total beginner and am now very confident in leading and instructing groups.
The course exceeded my expectations and gave me the skills and confidence to pursue a career in the outdoors.
Learn more by clicking the tabs:
You don’t need to have followed a particular path to become an outdoor instructor
Our trainees come from all sorts of backgrounds.
Some join us straight from school or college. Others are graduates looking for a more adventurous career. Some are changing careers, leaving the military, taking a new direction in life or simply deciding that they’d rather spend their working days outdoors.
We’ve also welcomed people later in life who decided it was time to do something they were genuinely passionate about.
You must be at least 17 to join the course, but there is no upper age limit.
What matters most isn’t your age or what you’ve done before. It’s your enthusiasm for the outdoors, your willingness to learn, your ability to work with people and your determination to make the most of the opportunity.
You could be:
A school or college leaver: ready for something more adventurous than a conventional career path?
A graduate looking for a career where you’re active, outside and working with people rather than sitting behind a desk?
A career changer wondering whether you can turn the thing you love doing at weekends into the thing you do for a living?
Ex-military, looking to transfer your leadership, teamwork and outdoor experience into a new civilian career?
An experienced outdoor enthusiast who is already climbing, paddling, skiing, walking or exploring — and wondering whether you could make a career from it?
Or maybe you are simply ready for a change. Sometimes you don’t need another reason. You just know you want to do something different.
You don’t have to know exactly where this will take you.
You just need to be ready to start.
From outdoor enthusiast to professional instructor
You may arrive with a passion for the outdoors and experience in some activities, but without the formal qualifications or confidence to work professionally.
That’s where we come in.
Over the course of your training, you’ll progressively develop:
- Technical outdoor skills
- Instruction and coaching skills
- Leadership and group management
- Navigation and expedition skills
- Safety and rescue skills
- Risk awareness and assessment
- Professional instructor skills
- Confidence working with groups
- Recognised outdoor industry qualifications
- Practical experience in real outdoor environments
You’ll learn through a mixture of practical training, coaching, assessments, workshops, shadowing and real-world experience.
And because you’ll be training alongside working outdoor professionals, you’ll get to see what the job is actually like — not just learn about it in a classroom.
Your classroom is the Scottish Highlands
Craigower Lodge Outdoor Centre is your base in Newtonmore near Aviemore, right in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. From here, some of Scotland’s highest mountains, longest rivers, deepest lochs, forests and world class climbing areas are right on your doorstep and yet, we’re only a one hour drive to the coast. This isn’t somewhere we take you for the occasional training day; this is where you’ll live, train and become an outdoor instructor.
Within easy reach of the centre you’ll find Munros, climbing crags, the River Spey and River Findhorn, Loch Ness as well as some of Scotland’s best mountain and snowsports environments. And when the training day is over, the Highlands are still there to explore.
Go for a mountain day.
Paddle with your course mates.
Climb a new route.
Head out on an expedition.
Ski (when the snow arrives).
Or simply relax and enjoy being somewhere spectacular.
Come for the training. Stay for the adventure.
More than somewhere to train
During your course you’ll become part of a community of trainees, instructors and outdoor professionals.
You’ll train alongside people who share your enthusiasm for adventure, learn from instructors who have built careers in the industry and have the opportunity to get involved in the wider life of the centre.
Your training includes opportunities to:
- Shadow experienced instructors
- Assist with activity sessions
- Gain experience working with groups
- Use centre equipment in your own time
- Develop your personal outdoor skills
- Get advice and mentoring from experienced staff
- Explore the Highlands with your course mates
- Build the experience and confidence that employers look for
You’ll also have access to the wider Active Outdoor Pursuits team, most of whom started their own careers through Active’s outdoor instructor training courses.
You’re not just joining a course. You’re joining an outdoor community.
Not sure if the ITC is right for you?
Come and see for yourself.
Don’t make a decision based on a website: come and visit us. We welcome potential trainees to Craigower Lodge Outdoor Centre so you can:
- Meet the instructors
- See where you’ll train
- See the accommodation
- Ask all the questions you have
- Get a feel for life at the centre
- Join us for an outdoor activity, subject to availability
- Breathe in that fresh Highland air.
You’ll get a much better idea of whether Active Outdoor Pursuits – and the outdoor instructor lifestyle – is right for you. We’d much rather you came to meet us than simply read about us.
Want to take your training further?
If you want to extend your training beyond the core ITC, we offer additional specialist modules.
Snowsports Performance Development
Take your skiing to the next level with additional training in the Rocky Mountains, developing personal performance, coaching skills and mountain awareness.
PSIA Ski Instructor Pathway
Add a dedicated ski instructor pathway, including ski performance development, coaching experience and the opportunity to work towards PSIA Level 1.
Climbing Development in Spain
Spend two weeks developing your climbing in the Javea region of Spain, gaining valuable experience and preparing for further climbing qualifications and assessments.
Build the course around the career you want.
Want to stay with Active Outdoor Pursuits?
Continue your development after the Instructor Training Course.
Successfully completing the ITC can give you the opportunity to progress onto our Instructor Development Programme.
This provides a pathway for continued training, industry experience and professional development, with the potential to work towards more senior roles.
For some trainees, the ITC is the beginning of their time with Active rather than the end.
Train with us. Develop with us. Build your career with us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need previous outdoor qualifications?
No. The course is designed to develop your skills progressively. Previous outdoor experience is certainly useful, but enthusiasm, commitment and a willingness to learn are more important.
How old do I need to be?
Our course is open to anyone aged 17 or over, with no upper age limit.
We’ve had people join us at very different stages of life — from school and college leavers to graduates, career changers, ex-military personnel and people who simply decided later in life that they wanted to do something they were passionate about.
If you’re fit enough to participate, motivated to learn and ready for an adventure, don’t let your age stop you.
Your next chapter could be your best one yet.
How fit do I need to be to train as an outdoor instructor?
You need a reasonable level of fitness and be prepared for an active, intensive training programme. If you’re unsure about your fitness or have questions about the physical demands, talk to us before applying.
Where will I live while training as an outdoor instructor?
Accommodation is provided at Craigower Lodge Outdoor Centre as part of the course.
Do I need my own kit to train as an outdoor instructor?
Outdoor instructor training requires specialist personal equipment, and you’ll need some of your own kit before the course begins.
Depending on what you already own, most trainees invest somewhere between £500 and £2,000+ in personal outdoor clothing & equipment.
Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what you need.
We’ll provide you with a detailed equipment list, recommendations and options before the course starts. Our example Equipment PDF describes everything that you will need at the start of your course.
As an Active trainee, you’ll also have access to our outdoor equipment Pro Deals, potentially saving you hundreds of pounds on clothing and equipment from leading brands.
Is this a full-time course?
Yes. The ITC is an intensive full-time learning and development programme, with at least five days of training each week.
Will I get a job afterwards?
We cannot guarantee employment, but the course is specifically designed to develop the qualifications, experience and professional skills needed to enter the outdoor industry. You’ll also receive career support and opportunities to gain practical experience.
We want you to leave with more than qualifications.
Our aim is to help you become employable as an outdoor professional.
Throughout the course you’ll have opportunities to gain practical experience, shadow instructors, work with groups and receive career guidance from people already working in the industry.
Many of our previous trainees have gone on to work in outdoor centres and adventure companies in the UK and overseas, while others have continued their development with Active Outdoor Pursuits.
Your qualifications are important.
But so are your experience, confidence, attitude, professionalism and ability to work with people.
That’s why we develop all of them.
Can I continue working with Active after the course?
Successfully completing the ITC can provide an opportunity to progress onto Active’s Instructor Development Programme, subject to the programme’s requirements and available positions.
Can I extend the course?
Yes. Additional specialist modules are available, including skiing and climbing development options and off course a place on our Instructor development programme is possible. See "Want to take your training further?" above.
Can I visit Active Outdoors before signing up to a course?
Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it.
Come and meet us, see Craigower Lodge and get a feel for the course and the lifestyle before making your decision.
Ready to change your direction?
Your next adventure could be your career.
Four months from now, you could be looking at the outdoors very differently.
Not just as somewhere you go at weekends.
But as somewhere you work.
Somewhere you learn.
Somewhere you lead.
Somewhere you build a career.
And somewhere you help other people discover their own adventures.