JSMTC Mission
'To train Service Personnel as leaders and instructors in directed Adventurous Training activities to ensure they have the requisite qualifications and experience in order to conduct these activities in their units.'
Services Lead Centre
JSMTC is the Services Lead Centre for Summer Mountaineering, Winter Mountaineering, Rock Climbing, Winter Climbing, Canoeing, Caving and skiing.
Nuffield Centre
JSMTC is also tasked to maintain, support and run the support and run the Nuffield Centre for the use of Service personnel and their families for welfare, recreation and as a base for Level 2 Adventurous Training activities. The Nuffield Centre has self catering family and dormitory accommodation, a camp site for tents, an indoor swimming pool, an indoor climbing wall and a sail centre that offers both dinghy sailing and powerboat handling courses
Joint Service Mountain Training Wing
JSMTW is collocated with HQ JSMTC, on Anglesey, North Wales. It is commanded by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and is the largest Wing, with a total of 20 staff. It can accommodate up to 68 students in the main building but can double that by use of the Nuffield Centre.
The wing trains students in Summer Mountaineering, Rock Climbing and Canoeing, with all of the training taking place on the mountains of Snowdonia or on the waters in and around North Wales and Anglesey. It has the added advantage of having the Nuffield Centre's 'Climbing Wall', Sail Centre and Swimming Pool on site.
JSMTW also sponsors one annual overseas exercise that is based in host-nation commercial facilities. This is EX NORPADDLE (in Norway for Inland Kayak).
Joint Service Mountain Training Wing (Scotland)
JSMTW(S) is well located in Argyll, Scotland, in an excellent building which was once a Territorial Army drill hall. It is commanded by a Army Physical Training Corp (APTC) Captain and has a total of 12 staff. It has accommodation for 31 students and trains them not only in Summer Mountaineering, Rock Climbing and Canoeing, but also and uniquely at JSMTC, in Winter Mountaineering and Winter Climbing. All training takes place in the Scottish Highlands, but students may have to travel some distance to wherever in the mountains the essential winter conditions are present. Training is enhanced by the Wing being close to a civilian indoor climbing facility at Kinlochleven, which has the largest Ice Climbing Wall in the United Kingdom.
JSMTW(S) also sponsors three annual overseas exercises that are based in host-nation commercial facilities. These are Ex CANPADDLE (in Canada for Open Boat Canoeing), Ex NORICE (in Norway for Winter Climbing) and EX HARDSKI (in Norway for Ski Touring).
Joint Service Mountain Training Wing (Ripon)
Located in Deverell Barracks, Ripon, in an Army Training Estate Camp, JSMTW(R) benefits from being collocated alongside 38 Engineer Regiment, who provide them with administrative support. The wing is commanded by an APTC Captain and has a total of 11 staff. It has accommodation for 35 students and trains them not only in Summer Mountaineering, Rock Climbing and Canoeing, but also, and uniquely at JSMTC, in Caving. Training takes place in the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, but the Wing also has an indoor, climbing and caving training facility onsite.
JSMTW(R) also sponsors two annual overseas exercises that are based in host-nation commercial facilities. These are EX TITAN HALL (in Spain for Caving) and Ex RIPON ROCK (in Spain for Rock Climbing)
Joint Service Mountain Training Wing (Norway)
Between November and April each year, JSMTW(N) is operational. It is located in a rented civilian lodge complex near Lillehammer, in the heart of Norway. The contract provides for all messing and infrastructure support, less clothing, equipment and 24hr ration packs, which JSMTC provides. It is staffed on rotation by our own headquarters and wing staff, with no additional manpower assistance from out with JSMTC. It has accommodation for 40 students and trains them in Alpine, Nordic and Touring techniques but, because of the travel distance and costs involved, students complete two, 5-day courses, back to back, as oppose to the normal 5-day courses conducted at the other wings
Level 2 Centres
JSMTC also commands two level 2 adventure training centres located as follows: Army Level 2 Adventure Training Centre (AL2ATC) in Capel Curig, north Wales and Northern Ireland Adventure Training Centre (NIATC) in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland. Both Centres welcome instructors from the services to come and teach to build on their logbook experience and despite the name the Centres can take personnel from the tri services. For information on these level 2 centres, please see the Related pages.