Soggy Students & Delicious Cakes

For 18 years now the BMC have been running a Student Safety & Best Practice seminar at Plas y Brenin. I don't know why but it had never occured to me to work on it before. Anyway, after a conversation with Jon Garside a few months ago and some late drop outs, I joined about 90 students and 30 volunteer instructors at he National Mountain Centre.

The weather could have been a lot better but, then again, I've been out in far worse. I headed out to a local outcrop called the Ricks & Racks with another volunteer and 8 of the students. It really wasn't climbing weather and the rock was very slippery. However, the aim of the session was to look at general security around a crag, belay building for personal and group use, pros and cons of various bits of gear and all that other good stuff. So, although we climbed not at all, hopefully lots was learned.


After about 5 hours, it was decided we had had all the fun we coud take and would return to PyB. This was excellent timing as coffee and cakes were freely available and very tasty. This provided the opportunity to review the session a bit then we went to the vacant lecture room to look at belay devices in more detail.

On the social side, I saw a couple of old friends from long ago. We used to work together in a centre near Buxton and it was great to catch up a bit. Hopefully, it won't be as long till the next time we meet up.

Talking of next times, would I do it again? Absolutely. Having come through a university climbing club myself, I think these seminars are a great idea, lots of fun and really useful.

Back to the Forest

Well, back to Back Forest actually.

I guess it must be about 26 years since I last climbed at Back Forest, near Gradbach Mill and at the far, far end of the Roaches. Didn't really remember much about it except that I was with a giant, red haired outdoor photographer called Rob. Had it filed under, good views, not much to do.

Sure enough, the view is still nice. But, so is the peace and isolation. Also, lots of bugs and birds about for the budding naturalist. And the climbing? Actually, not bad at all. Only about 30 routes all told and mostly around 7m high, so not exactly on the scale of its neighbours. However, for all their low grades and stature, the climbs have both charm and quality and some of are just a bit steep!

Think I might go back a bit sooner next time.

Minus 4 Minutes & Counting

Minus 4 minutes. That is the length of today compared to yesterday. We are heading for the dark days and it is picking up speed. If you have any evening trips planned, get them done quick.

I have been remiss with this blogging. I find the will to blog is rarely followed by the time to blog. That it not to say I have not found time to get out and about a bit. For instance, a couple of weeks ago I headed up the Kinder Downfall after work. My mate Scott was up in the area working and wanted to go do Zigzag.

Rockforms in Kinder Amphitheatre

It is a bit of a walk up (especially if you are a bit short of time) but those moorland crags are well worth the effort. For a start, they are usually quiet. Even the Mynedd CC, based in local Hayfield, only had one trip up there this year. Secondly, the rock forms are absorbing, the grit almost seems to ooze into laybacks and overhangs with little or no polish. Thirdly, the view at sunset is awesome.

So get up there quick before it gets dark, and don't forget the headtorch!

Going Round in Circles

No, not a navigation problem. The sudden demise of the exceptional winter conditions in Wales and the Lakes rather scuppered my plans for the last few weeks. The fact that the snow was replaced by rather damp conditions didn’t offer any decent alternatives either. When we do get a sunny day (today for instance) I’m stuck in the office.

Still, the indoor scene is keeping me active in unexpected ways. Last week I kicked off a four week introductory course at Awesome. We take novices and build their skills from an introduction to climbing through, hopefully, to their first leads.

The week before, I had a call from Andy Say to see if I would be willing to take part in a BMC training film about the CWLA award. So, the day after kicking off the four week introductory course, I was back at Awesome filming with the BMC. The gist of the filming was showing how the CWLA award is aimed at giving you the skills to introduce climbers to leading in a safe and structured way. Thursday I am back at the same wall carrying on that very process.

Life’s little circles…….