Friday 27 March 2009

ML Refresher

Yesterday I headed out into the Moelwyns with Chris and Dan for a Mountain Leader refresher day. They had both done their training many years ago and wanted to brush up on there navigation skills before taking their assessment this year. Thankfully the grim weather that came through over night had passed over by mid morning so we had a very pleasant day walking on bearings, practicing pacing and timings and get to grips with navigating on both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scale maps. Both Chris and Dan were much more confident with their ability by the end of the day and I wish them the best for their assessment.

Axle Attack

Despite the worrying return to wet and windy weather in the mountains of North Wales I managed to get a quality days climbing in at the Great Orme, Llandudno. The best of the routes I climbed was the historic and superb Axle Attack. Nowadays it is well bolted and gets a sports grade of 7a+ but when it was first put up in 1981 by M Griffiths and L McGinley it was E5. This route initiated a new route boom at Pen Trwyn in the 80's, many of which where put up by the likes of moffat, moon and pollit. The orme is a great venue for when the weather is not looking good in the mountains and has a good mix of sport and trad climbing.

Monday 23 March 2009

Christleton High School D of E



I had a fantastic 5 days with a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Training group from Christleton High School. The weather was amazing and the group did exceptionally well. We spent some time looking at navigational techniques, emergency procedures and I took the boys on their first grade 1 scramble which they loved! They then headed off on their own for 2 nights out in the mountains - which included hiking over both Snowdon and the Glyders. A big well done to Oli, Mouldy, Boz, Gaz, Jez, Oli and Rhodri... good luck in Nepal!

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Spring is on its way

The sun is out and the birds are singing here in North Wales. There is that excitment in the air that only spring and the prospect of climbing after work can bring. I've been out this evening to a small crag called Drws y Gwynt in the Llanberis pass and climbed a couple of fine routes as the sun set over Llanberis. I also had a good day in the slate yesterday getting up an E4 and E5 on the yellow wall above Serengeti. The weather looks fine for the week which is great for the Duke of Edinburgh group from Christleton high school that I will be looking after for the next 5 days - no wet camps this week!

Skiing



I'm hooked! I love the powder, I love the speed! I'm not long back from a week long trip to Les Menuires in the Three Valleys with Yorston Lodge School. The snow conditions were perfect and from wednesday to saturday we were blessed with blue skies and sunshine! The children were fantastic were a pleasure to look after. I was also constantly amazed throughout the week at their level of skiing - watching a 4 year old ski down a red run in complete control is quite something! Thanks go to Lindsey who organised the trip, the rest of the staff, Karine our instructor who inspired and improved us all, the parents and most of all the children!