About Us

About Us

Graham Uney Mountaineering is owned by Graham Uney. 

Our ethos is simple: to enhance your time in the mountains by providing expertly taught mountain skills courses, enjoyable and informative rock climbing courses and experiences, and inspiring guided mountain and wildlife walks. 

Graham fell in love with the mountains at a young age – his earliest memory of hill walking is from a family holiday in the Yorkshire Dales when he (aged eight) climbed Penyghent and Plover Hill with his two older brothers. He completed the Wainwrights (the 214 hills of the Lake District) just before his 18th birthday, and in 1998 he became the first person to backpack over all the 2000ft summits of Wales (the Welsh Hewitts) in one continuous expedition. (It took two months!). He has since completed two more rounds of the Welsh Hewitts, has also completed all of the English Hewitts, and in Scotland has climbed more than 200 Munros and 100 Corbetts – many of them in the winter. He has also been a rock climber since his early teens, and has a number of first ascents to his name, mainly in Yorkshire, but a few in the Lake District too. 

Graham has also written a number of guidebooks for walkers including his most recent best-seller, Walking the Wainwrights, published by Pesda Press. He is also an accomplished photographer, a trained horticulturist and an ecological surveyor and counter of birds.

Many of our courses and guided walks and climbs are run by Graham himself, but occasionally you will get to meet one of the other members of our team. On most Mountain Training courses you will be trained and assessed by at least two members of the Graham Uney Mountaineering team.

Our Team
Graham Uney is our head guide and instructor, and the owner of the company. He holds Summer and Winter Mountain Leader awards, plus the Rock Climbing Instructor and Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor awards. He works in all the mountain and moorland areas of the UK, and runs expeditions to Nepal. 
Graham is a course director for a range of Mountain Training awards. He is a member of the Alpine Club, the Fell and Rock Climbing Club, and the Association of Mountaineering Instructors.

Sharon Kennedy is Graham's partner, and after leaving the Environment Agency, now works full-time as a freelance instructor. Sharon holds the Summer Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor awards, and is also a keen winter mountaineer. Sharon is working towards her Winter Mountain Leader award.

She's a member of a local Mountain Rescue team, and is also a first aid trainer for the British Association of Ski Patrollers, so she's a busy girl!

You're most likely to meet her working on  our Mountain Training courses.

Lucy Wallace is a self-proclaimed nature and wildlife geek. Lucy is both a Summer and a Winter Mountain Leader, as well as holding the International Mountain Leader qualification. She works all over the UK, and leads expeditions throughout Europe and as far afield as Peru and Tanzania. However, her favourite hills and mountains will always be the rugged little peaks of the Isle of Arran, which she calls home. 
You're most likely to come across Lucy working on our Mountain Leader training and assessment courses.
Nicola Carter is a Summer Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor.
She is hooked on mountaineering adventures and 'the flow state'...and is happy to admit to struggling to sit still! She is developing passions for natural history and conservation, and loves to share these interests with others.
Nic is currently working towards gaining the Development Coach and the Climbing Wall Development Instructor qualifications. Her longer term goal is to gain the Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor qualification. 

Richard Duckworth hails from Essex, but you’d never believe it from his Lancastrian accent!

He is an experienced Mountain Leader and navigation tutor and has a true passion for hillwalking. He has walked several thousand miles in every UK National Park and really enjoys passing on knowledge & skills. Beyond the hills he can often be found confusing staff in café’s by ordering “Tea for two for one”!

You're most likely to meet Richard on one of our Hill and Moorland Leader, Mountain Leader, or navigation courses.

Vikki Hughes is a Summer Mountain Leader, and a trainee Rock Climbing Instructor.

She discovered the outdoors when doing her A levels, and has stayed in love with the mountains ever since.

Her background in biological sciences has taken her to work all around the world, while having a degree in fine art shows that there is more to Vikki than mere mountains! 

Vikki loves snow and rock climbing, and can also be found occasionally on a bike or in a kayak. She's most likely to be seen working on our Camping Leader and Lowland Leader courses.

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