ABOUT ADVENTURE BURN
Adventure Burn is a family business in Co. Wicklow run by husband-and-wife duo Simon and Joanna. As a couple they are passionate about the outdoors and the environment. In their spare time they can be seen out in the hills either climbing or walking. Usually, Simon is staring at a rock face visualising climbing routes and Joanna is staring at the ground trying to identify wildflowers! One of our main ethos in life and business is to stay curious and be continually learning! They love including plenty of facts about history, nature and the environment into their walks, meaning you will always walk away having learnt something new! Currently they live in Wicklow with their dog; Jet!
At Adventure Burn we have a focus on safety and responsibility. All our instructors and leaders have First Aid training (Rescue Emergency Care 3) which is renewed every 2 years and has completed Child protection/ Safeguarding training. Adventure Burn is fully insured for both rock-climbing and hillwalking, amongst other team building activities.
About Simon
Simon Byrne is the main instructor and walking leader at Adventure Burn. He aims to bring you on a quality adventure through hillwalking or rock climbing.
Growing up on the Beara peninsula in West Cork provided Simon with the space to explore and discover his love of nature and hillwalking. From the age of 16 he spent his weekends and holidays planning extensive long-distance walks through the Caha and Kerry mountains. After school Simon started working towards his qualifications in rock climbing and hillwalking. He spent time freelancing at adventure centres and gaining experience at home and abroad before establishing Adventure Burn in 2010.
In 2018 Simon completed a BA in Outdoor learning shortly before taking a brief hiatus from Adventure Burn to take on the role of an activity manager. Here he received training with IOSH and found an interest in risk management and assessment. In 2023 Simon reopened Adventure Burn, focusing on providing quality guided hill walks, navigation courses including Mountain Skills and rock climbing adventures.
Simon has gained qualifications in the 20 years he has been active in the outdoor sports sector such as:
- Mountain Leader (ML)
- Rock Climbing Instructor (RCI)
- Climbing Wall Instructor (CWI)
- Climbing Wall Development Instructor (CWDI)
- Route Setting Level 2
- ERCA Park Instructor & Generic Rescuer
- Leave No Trace Trainer
- Level 2 Kayak Instructor
- Level 2 Canoeing Instructor
He has completed several certificates related to the adventure sports field such as;
- Off-site Safety Management
- IOSH Managing Safely
- Inclusive Adventure Activities Training
- Provider of Mountaineering Ireland's accredited navigation courses: Mountain Skills.
Simon is equally as passionate about spending his downtime in the mountains or on the rock both at home and abroad. While he is just as content to be rambling around a local hill or climbing a 6000m mountain, he is never one to shy away from a challenge.
In 2014 he took on a personal challenge called Project Mountain Goat in which he completed all 407 mountains of Ireland (Arderins and Vander-Lynam's) in one year. From this he has gained extensive knowledge of the Irish Mountains in which he continues to explore both professionally and personally. Simon is the only person so far to complete this immense challenge in one single year.
He has spent time in Germany trying to complete another challenge, Project 180, climbing all 186 mountains over 2000m in the Bavarian Alps, still yet to be successfully completed. In 2019 he had a successful self-led expedition to Denali, summiting the highest mountain in North America at 6190m known for its challenging weather conditions. He has since summited another of the seven summits; Kilimanjaro numerous times and has gained valuable experience and learning while working on guided trips to Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
About Joanna
While you will see Joanna out on the trails, her work is mainly done behind the scenes. Joanna is a Lowland Leader and Climbing Wall Instructor. When she is not working for Adventure Burn, she is running her own art and design business; Storehouse Arts. She brings her creative side into her work at Adventure Burn from planning to marketing and of course leading walks!
Growing up in rural Wicklow, Joanna has always had a huge love of nature which has only expanded throughout the years. Her knowledge, particularly in flora is vast and when you get her talking about plants you can really see how passionate she is about the natural world! She dedicates some of her time to the National Rare Plant Monitoring scheme where she counts populations of rare plants as part of a citizen science program.
Her love of hiking, especially trekking started in 2015 when she completed the West Highland Way in Scotland with her sister. Long distance trekking is still a firm favourite for her, and she has completed numerous trails, the latest being a sea to summit and back down to sea traverse of Tenerife and Mount Teide. Joanna has climbed mountains all over Ireland, Scotland, Norway and has summited Kilimanjaro also. She is currently slowly working away at completing the Scottish Munro mountain list and has many plans for larger summits and mountains.
Joanna has a BA hons degree in Photography; she really learnt to appreciate the mountains while working on multiple photography projects that centred around wild spaces. This experience adds to her role in marketing and media with Adventure Burn. During her time as a student, she started to work part time at an activity centre. Here she experienced a range of activities including climbing, high rope challenges, team games and archery. From early in her career, she learnt how outdoor activities can provide learning outcomes for both teams and individuals, she continually aims to provide a safe and fun learning environment. She has over a decade of experience working in the outdoor adventure and education sector on a variety of different programmes including a senior instructor role at an indoor climbing and activity centre.
