Adge was fortunate to move to Scotland as a child where he benefitted from the volunteer enthusiasm and skills of teachers at his school who introduced him to the Scottish mountains. He soon started rock climbing and the future shape of his career choices began to evolve.
Following an environmental science degree and voluntary research work in India he briefly ran his own windsurfing establishment before completing a PGCE in Outdoor Education and Biology in Bangor. Adge spent almost 10 years working in schools and youth service settings in Nottinghamshire where he developed city-based adventure activity opportunities designed to be accessible and inspirational within a local urban setting. He consolidated these experiences by completing a master’s degree in Leisure Management in Sheffield.
As the Training Officer for both the British Mountaineering Council and Mountain Training England he had the experience of working to raise safety standards in informal club settings as well as quality assurance on formal governing body award courses.
Although his focus both personally and professionally has been climbing and mountaineering, he has worked in a range of settings, also delivering activities and training in paddle sports, rafting and windsurfing. He has been an outdoor education centre manager, outdoor education adviser for a local authority and managed a climbing wall. He has over twenty five years’ experience as an expert witness and worked as a freelance inspector for AALS.
Adge has sat on many committees including the Association of Mountaineering Instructors, Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel, Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres, and the Climbers Club. He is currently a non-Executive Director and Vice Chair of Mountain Training UK and Ireland, the voluntary mountaineering adviser for the Duke of Edinburgh Award and a trustee on several charitable bodies.
He remains an active climber and enjoys spending time journeying in remote places, as well as undertaking AALA inspection work for Adventure RMS.