Langdale

We took a trip round to Langdale to climb at Raven Crag near Chapel Stile. This gave the guys a chance to climb a number of routes from S to VS that were up to 35m long. Everyone seemed to enjoy the variety within the climbs set up, but some found the hieght the scaiest part.



In the afternoon we went for a short session on the Chapel Stile boulders. This was my first time on these boulders and I was impressed by the good mix of grades for everyone to have a crack at. The kids went wide, trying to climb anything they thought they had a chance on. Mhairi and I had a bash at the V6 Traverse which proved quite hard for the weak in the heat, both failing a hold from the end. Nevermind, the icecream in Ambleside made up for it.

Watson's Rock Trip '09

Today was the first day of the George Watson's Summer Rock Trip. Mhairi is working with me this week which will give us the chance to meet the needs of this very mixed group. The ages ramge from 12 to 18 so the chance to provide some high quality experiences for everyone is high. We met set off around 9:30 and headed to the Lakes for some climbing anmd heatwave action. We arrived early afternoon, so headed to Dalt Quarry. This is a great half day venue, with a mix of easy grades on good slate. Every got stuck in to the routes, and for some this was their first time outside. Once the heat and and sun had taken it's toll, the call of food from the hostal in Buttermere was to great to ignore.

A great start.

Quickdraw's Unleashed

This weekend I have been out with the Quickdrwaw Club with Simon. On Saturday we went down to Traprain Law. It was the parent job to get the ropes rigged, with limited help from Simon and I. It took them a little moment to gather themselves with the thought of being the ones to provide the kids safe ropes to climb on. The day went well, with everyone climbing around 8 routes each.

Today we where at Loudon Hill and lucked out with the weather again, avoiding rain for two days. The perants worked hard again rigging for the kids. I also placed some runners in a couple of climbs so that some leading could be had for the die hards in the group. The sessions that have gone before this weekend have definatly been of use if the results of the weekend are anything to go by.

Crag Rescue and Problem Solving

I was at the Hawkcraig today with Andy, Mhairi, Patryk and Martin to do some crag rescue staff training. All had done varying amounts before, so this was a follow on session. We started at the wall to go over the basics we had covered in previous sessions, this proved helpful to everyone. Once the fog had lifted we took ourselves and suncream to the Hawkcraig to put it to practise. The incoming tide was a good natural time pressure for folks to work to, everyone was working well. We rapped the day up with a cheeky ascent of the lower girdle at high tide, with the extra choppy water it made it more interesting.





Andrew rescuing a wire on Pain Piller

Limekilns

I was at the Limekilns today with Mhairi, this is the first time since the bat box saga. I'm glad to say that if I hadn't known what had happened I never would have.

We enjoyed a bit of soloing around before tying on for a couple of routes. Despite the heat we coped and took it turns to climb a couple E2's and E3's each. I even managed to do something I hadn't done before, a nice afternoon.

CWA Assessment

Today I was working on a CWA Assessment at the Glasgow Climbing Centre with Alan Halewood (climb when your ready). There were 7 candidates on the assessment so it was a full day for everyone. After some personal climbing, movement coaching, group management and problem solving, there was a mixed bag of results. Despite the results, everyone went away witth things to work on. Well done to eceryone.

Intro to Navigation

Today I was running an intro to Navigation course for the EICA. Lou, Jennifer, Pam and Jane were all taking part to become a little more independent on the hill. The course started with a short intro and classroom based session as the EICA before heading outside. We worked up and around the Harlow Hill area at the back of the Pentlands. This has many good features, most of which are contours to help the students get a grasp of interpriting them. Everyone did very well hitting soom tricky points though the session.

Overall a successfully day and now it's just a case of lots of practise.