Intro to Climbing

This evening Mhairi and I were at Rosyth Quarry with Steve, Sam, Matthew and Ffion on an intro to outdoor climbing for the EICA. I was climbing with Steve and Sam. We climbed a range of routes from Diff to HVS, with Steve leading a route as well. A very productive evening was had by everyone.

Climbing Coaching

I was at the Limekilns this evening with Simon who wants to push his grade. We started with Simon leading a classic Limekilns VS to see how he was going. He led this quite well, but showed some areas to work on. The rest of the session was spent with Simon seconding at the top of his grade. This gave him the chance to work on his footwork and body positions without the stress of leading. As the session went on Simon's climbing was starting to flow a lot better. The session ended well, with Simon having a few key points to work on.

Malham

Over the last few days I have been at Malham with Neil doing a bit of sport and trad. We started on Monday on the catwalk warming up on the usual suspects before heading up to the wings for a bit of trad action. I had a crack at Slender Loris which is a limestone classic. After around 2 hours and 3m from the top I blew it. The rain then stopped play so we ran to the catwalk where Neil climbed Mesceleto and I did Rose Coronary.

Day 2 was a dry one on the wings. After the same warm up I led Friday the 13th, which I thought was nippy for the grade. Neil then led Reggatta de Blanc which was very sustained and technical, a steely lead. We finished up with a cheecky 3 star HVS. A great end to a couple of days.

The road back after an injury is a long one, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Quickdraw's Do Rosyth

Today Simon, Ruth and I went to Rosyth Quarry with the Quickdraw Massive. The aim of the day was again for the perants to take on the job of rigging the climbs for the kids whilst Simon and I watched. The Quickdraw machaine was pretty effective at rigging today, proving that you can teach old dogs new tricks. It's been great seeing everyone learn and progress over the weeks as the group is starting to become more independent. The kids all had the chance to try around 16 routes from Diff to E2 with varying success. Overall, another great day.

Bouldering

The last day, so only half a day to get some more climbing in. On the way home we stopped at the Honister boulders. This was great, something for everyone to have a go at. we had folks doing 4a to 6b problems with varying success. We then moved on to the Bowderstone where some climbed and some picniced. A nice morning before the long drive home.

Headend Quarry

Today was the first time the rain stopped play. However, not before we managed to do a few routes at this limestone crag near Silverdale. Everyone bottom roped around 8 routes, some led and couple of route either placing the gear themselves or on pre placed gear. Once the rain came it stopped things for the day. Keswick anyone?

Sheherd's

Today we had a slightly earier start and went to Shepard's Crag. Everyone started on the Brown Slabs, all bottom roping and some learning to lead. A couple of others went and seconded up Fisher's Folly as well. In the Afternoon we all moved over to the Jackdaw Ridge area. Some of the group stayed here and bottom roped a selection of routes whilst others did a mix of different things. Huge went with Richard and seconded his first trad route on the Brown Slabs, Ailsa seconded Mhairi up a 2 pitch HS called Cresendo and Robbie and James did their first Trad lead whilst I hung around next to them on Little Chamonix. The bottom ropers ran away a little earlier to the Spa, so we went back and had a swim in Buttermere Lake. An Amazing way to finish a brillient day.

Cragging

Today the Watson's Massive went paddling to break the week up. Mhairi and I opted to go cragging instead. The overnight rain and early drop off meant we headed up to Shepard's. This was Mhairi's first time at the crag so we climbed the classics on Fisher's Folly Buttress as things dried out. As the sun got hotter we found a little shade on Battering Ram. Although this is an eliminate, it offered to excellent 5c pitches and is worth a look. We met the group back in Keswick for icecream then went back for tea.

After tea we went to Moss Crag in the Honister Pass with the 4 older lads. Mhairi, Richard and I led them up a route each to finish the day nicely with the sun setting behind us.