ML Assessment

This week I was back in the Lake for an ML Assessment.   I was doing the expedition section, which is 3 days with a night navigation. We had a couple of dig days out,  which tested the candidates.  A mixed day and night for one cost them the award, but I'm sure that they will come back strong on their re assessment.  They weather was quite mixed and helped add to the assessment.  Overall, it was a good few days.

George Watson's Climbing Week

This week I have been in the Lakes with George Watson's College for their summer climbing trip.  I met them on Monday in Eskdale where we were staying and got stuck straight in.  We went climbing and bouldering in the Diamond Area of the Fisherground.  This worked really well after their long drive.

Tuesday meant we didn't have to drive,as we walked to Hare Crag.  This Granite Crag offered a great range of routes from VD to E3 for the kids to get stuck into.  The style of climbing was a bit different from what they have been used to, but they adapted well.

We headed to the coast on Wednesday to escape the heat.  St Bee's proved to be a good choice.  Again the group climbed many routes to 6a, as well as ticking some nice boulder problems.

Enjoying a nice day by the coast 

St. Bee's action 

On Thursday we went over to the Duddon Valley and climbed at Wallow Barrow.   Here we did a mixture of single and multi pitch routes up to VS 4c.  A great venue with the whole crag to ourselves.

As they had to head off early, we went back to the Diamond Area and ticked off the last of the amenable problems they had left.  It was a great way to finish the trip and see how much their footwork had improved during the week.

Work, Work

It's been a busy period lately, with a CWA Training last weekend, Route Setting and this week a multi pitch climbing trip with Bolton School in Wales.

Anosh on sighting his first 6a

The Bolton Trip went really well, with the weather playing ball allowing us to get lots of climbing done.  As we travelled down on Monday, we decided to stop at Castle Inn Quarry and do some sports climbing.  All the lads did really well leading a load of routes up to 6a.  I took advantage when the chilled out and had lunch to back a few routes.  All the 6c's on the main face are top quality here, so I did these again.

Andy cruising

Tuesday was spent in the Pass in the baking sun.  We all climbed a few routes on Wastad, some of which challenged the lads.  I did Ribstone Crack VS 4c/5s, Skylon HS and Shadow Wall VS 4c with my guys.  Ribstone Crack proving to be the real challenge.  After tea at Pete's Eats, we went up to BUS Stop Quarry and did a few of the sports routes there.  It was a full day of climbing.

Luke leading in Bus Stop

Yesterday we went up to Little Tryfan.  It was a great day and the lads learnt to lead.  They managed to do 2 routes before it started to spit mid afternoon.  Steve and Luke banged out loads of routes to give Luke as much mileage as possible.  I think the lads managed around 25 pitches of climbing over the 3 days, a fine effort.

Andy on his first trad lead

Catch Up

It's been a bit busy of late, but I have managed to do a little in between work etc.  I had a quick hit at the Party Block/Jobseekers Buttress last Thursday, climbing a range of cool problems.  This newly revamped boulder has an easy approach and a mix of quality blocs in the V5toV11 range.  I ticked a few of them from V3 to V8, but was getting sore and tired by the time I left.

Last weekend was the 8a Agency and Beyond Hope Team meet up at the Lad Stones.  Despite the long slog in high winds and chilly weather, folks were in good spirits and getting stuck in.  Some good tick were had for everyone, and I was particularly happy to climb a few Problems from 7a to 7b.  I am still far from back to my best, but feel like most things have healed and are on the way up.

Today I have been in the Lakes doing a site visit to Eskdale gorge.   Thankfully the better weather made it a slightly warmer experience than it could have been.

SPA Assessment

I was running an SPA Assessment over the weekend for Mckinlay Mountaineering in the Peaks.  Nice weather for grit on Saturday took us to Burbage North.  This has been a great spot for these courses lately.  A number of folks have been caught out not checking blocks and boulders, as a fair bit moves around here.  This assessment group however, were on it.  All led a couple of routes at or above the standard.  One straight up and the other a traverse to demonstrate the different judgement needed to look after a second.  The wall session threw up a couple of weak areas in the afternoon/evening.

Hal fiddling in gear at Burbage North

Yesterday was spent looking at the rigging and group management aspects of the syllabus.  Lawrencefield and Millstone proved 2 good venues to challenge the candidates to make good decisions to meet the groups needs.

The Lads rigging at the top of Hell's Bells area Millstone

Overall, good performances by everyone.  Unfortunately, an unforgiveable error at the wall cost one a deferral.  But it should be a quick and easy re assessment.

SPA Training

I was back in the Peak District for an SPA Training course this weekend. A large course of 7 candidates, made for a great weekend. Lots of discussions and sharing of ideas.

An interesting first day at Burbage North for personal climbing, before heading to the Foundry to course the climbing wall side of the award.

The group day was done a Lawrencefield roadside bay.  Again a good day, with lots covered and shared.

I look forward to seeing folks back for assessment.

Back to Work

It's been a frustrating month after a bad bike crash, which has meant no climbing or work for me.  So it was a good feeling to go bouldering to Burbage South for a couple of hours on Friday. I'd never Bouldered here before, so picked of lots of easy stuff and tried some trickier things to see how the body had recovered.   I managed a nice range of problems up to 7a+, so the the signs are good that things are recovering well.

Sending the Sheep

On Saturday I volunteered my services to guide Gerard, Andy and Matt around the course for the 10 in 10 in 10 for Napal challenge.  They did really well and completed the course in a respectable 7 hour 25 mins.  So far the event etc. Has raise over £10,000 and you can still donate.

Yesterday I was at Heptonstall with Suzy and David looking at how to rig bottom ropes.  The weather help off and gave us a great day out.   Both seemed to take a lot on board, so just need to get out and practice.