Iona Pawson

July 19, 2022

Family holidays spent walking and skiing inspired Iona’s passion for the mountains. Leaving her full-time education and passing her Summer Mountain Leader Award kick-started her career in the outdoors. Since she has moved from being a Centre Assistant at Plas y Brenin to a fully-fledged instructor with a specialism in land-based mountain sports.
In her spare time, she enjoys going on ski mountaineering trips where she combines all of the mountain skills she has learned from camping and navigating to decision making, and hopefully skiing some good powder too. Highlights have included traversing the Bugaboos, skiing in Mongolia and reaching the summit of Mount Logan.

Ambitions

“To keep learning, enjoying and challenging myself in the outdoors.”
Currently, her winter work is changing from teaching skiing in the Alps to working in the UK as a newly qualified Winter Mountain Leader.
“Personally, I always have a range of dots on my Google Earth, expedition reports to read, and suggestions from friends. Who knows where my next ski expedition will take me, but it will probably involve some remote self-sufficient type 2 fun!”
She has also been learning to Mountain Bike, which is a very good reminder of what it is like to be a scared beginner! However, she is hoping to go on some bike packing journeys and combine this new skill with her love of self-sufficient travel.
She is also a keen vegetable gardener and enjoys baking bread and cakes. Each year she sets herself a new cooking challenge and at the moment she’s tackling croissants