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Dorys Day

Dorys Day

Spent a great day at Craig Dorys today where the Llyn effect was in full force, so under a sunny if somewhat breezy sky we abseiled into the Craterer Slab and climbed Pat Littlejohn route, Headwind. This route starts up Full Sail before heading out…

The Easter Bunney!

The Easter Bunney!

So generally this easter weekend has been a total wash out. With little in the way of climbing to be had due to the damp rock. That said I did manage to squeeze in 5 routes on the Range on Sunday with a good friend…

Developing a Scrambler

Developing a Scrambler

The last couple of days saw me returning to the Hills of Snowdonia with a client who wanted to develop his Scrambling Skills. Which of course begs the question, how can you develop a scrambler? Whilst the answer to this question for me at least depends on the client, there are a few essential skills and technique that I believe have to be developed for a hillwalker to bridge the gap to scrambling.

First off with scrambling, it is imperative that someone can find a route up a mountain, and not through what might be considered navigation, I am referring to a route up and throw steep and rocky terrain. A scramble does also need those navigational skills as well because getting up is just half ay on the journey and finding even the start of a scramble or more importantly your way safely back down is at times testing. Finally, if you do ‘overcook’ your route or get lost and need to get down a short step that is maybe beyond you then having some idea of how you can use a rope in an absolute emergency to aid your descent is a final skill.

With those basic skills as the syllabus then I met up with Alex who runs a small artisan Cider making business in the Black Mountains called Ty Gwyn Cider to help turn him into a mountain scrambler. How we went about that was to start on the North Ridge of Tryfan and using the guidebook description start to piece together the route on the ground.

At first looking at how we can get from where we are to a point in the distance via points we can identify over the 10m, 20m, 50m and out to the furthest point we can see. Breaking the early part of the route down like this got Alex used to the idea of picking a route through step but not generally too rocky terrain. As we ascended up and got into the more rocky scrambling I got Alex to continue following the guidebook description and then picking and choosing his way through the rocky sections by chatting through the pros and cons of each option.

Finally, as we got higher I started to steer Alex toward some of the harder options as he gained confidence and his technical improved. All so we could arrive at the North Tower full equipped for the challenge it offered. Alex then started to pick and choose his way up this before we headed to the summit. Tryfan is great for these skills.

Whilst the I love the classic North Ridge – South Ridge Traverse I like to descend Little and North Gullies as a way to introduce hard and sometimes difficult downclimbing almost from the start. Which allowed us to get a rope out and to help safeguard parts of the descent and cover those skills. We followed this up with a short session on using the rope to abseil down a short slab. If you like introducing the emergency skills you might need if it all goes wrong on the hill.

The weather was awful the following day, wet with high winds, so not ideal for learning to scramble. So instead we focused more on navigation up to Y Gribin. Using the 5 Ds of navigation to break a journey down and almost use the same process of choosing tactical places to stop along the way that we did when scrambling the day before. 

At the start of the ridge the wind was not to bad and the rain was letting up so we headed up knowing we could stay off the crest of the ridge and gain the summit plateaux, where I introduced Alex to bearings and pacing work to find the summit before we picked up the path just after we left the summit.

All in all, despite the weather we managed to get Alex to cover all of the skills and as a one to one, he got to practice them over and over so that I hope he feels confident enough to head out and go scrambling for himself or with friends. That to me is what I hope we achieved over two days and unlike simply guiding people up and down a scramble it is about giving the client as many opportunities to actively practice those skills we introduced.

I truly believe that in using this approach we really do prepare people to head out into the mountains of the UK and scramble. Click to find out more or book

Authoring the New Slate Guide for Rockfax

Authoring the New Slate Guide for Rockfax

So over the last few weeks I have been busy working on a new slate guidebook for Rockfax after it appeared that groundup had decided not to reprint or re-work their previous guidebook. As such I have been combing my external harddrives for all the…

New Role as Coaching Columnist in Climber Magazine

New Role as Coaching Columnist in Climber Magazine

I was really please to found out that a proposal I submitted to Climber Magazine was accepted and I am now the Coaching Columnist for the only UK based climbing magazine, Climber. You can get the magazine easiest by subscribing to it for just £24…

Busman’s Holiday to Chulilla

Busman’s Holiday to Chulilla

So the last week has seen me meet up with my regular climbing partner Si and a colleague of his Dan to head to Chulilla rock climbing. We have been planning this rock climbing holiday for a while and have had it earmarked for ‘big things’. What exactly that was going to mean was very unclear, we had after all only five days there, after travelling.

In the build-up to the trip Si and I have been spending many evening at the Beacon Climbing Centre training. Whether that was working on strength whilst bouldering or working hard onsights and stamina feats on the lead wall. Probably unlike any other trip we have managed to focus a lot more than the usual turn up and hope for the best. 

The question is did it work?

Well, I think we did OK, although the real debate is on the grading at Chulilla, the softness makes it a really popular area for sports climbers to push their grade. So on day one, we climbed up to 6c+ all onsight, we then worked a 7b, which was pretty tough. The following day we went to an easy crag to warm up and then redpoint the 7b first go that day.

The following day we went to another area and climb a bunch of 6b/6cs and then onsighted a 7b. Which for me is really what I like to do. I am not one for redpointing routes, as my main focus is on trad climbing routes on mountains and sea cliffs, which I predominantly do onsight, ground up. So to get a 7b onsight was a real buzz for me.

The problem then was we had climbed at our max for three days, fingers and bodies were hurting. So I had a bit of a rest day before climbing on our last day. Where I managed to get a 7a+ second go, the irony was for me anyway that route seemed way harder than the two 7bs I had climbed that week.

Anyway, the good news is I really liked Chulilla and feel that for the right climbers, those want to break the 7th grade that this will be another destination in our overseas coaching destinations. The hostel is a great place to hang out and the village and surrounding area are wonderful. The climbs are really long and often more exposed than you’d think. 

If you are interested in some bespoke coaching or you want a training programme put together for a trip next season then get in touch. I am sure we can help you reach for your dreams.

Anyway the list of routes from the four/five days climbing was:

 
Name  Grade  Style  Date  Crag name 
 
         
 
Conflicto territorial 7a+ ** Lead RP 22/Feb Chulilla
 
Terreros royos 6b+  Lead O/S 22/Feb Chulilla
 
Las carcamas de la maja 7a+  Lead 22/Feb Chulilla
 
El desaguisado 7c+  Lead dnf 22/Feb Chulilla
 
Presiscrack 6c * Lead O/S 20/Feb Chulilla
 
El catador de sake 7b *** Lead O/S 20/Feb Chulilla
 
La costra nostra 6b+ ** Lead O/S 20/Feb Chulilla
 
Las lituanas 6b ** Lead O/S 20/Feb Chulilla
 
El Colmillo 6a+  Lead O/S 19/Feb Chulilla
 
Techno Polvo 6b+ *** Lead O/S 19/Feb Chulilla
 
Joan 6b+ ** Lead O/S 19/Feb Chulilla
 
Verano del 97 6a  Lead O/S 19/Feb Chulilla
 
Dale duro negro 7b *** Lead RP 19/Feb Chulilla
 
Bolas chinas 6b+  Lead O/S 18/Feb Chulilla
 
Panza con panza 6c+ ** Lead O/S 18/Feb Chulilla
 
Animalversion 6a  Lead O/S 18/Feb Chulilla
 
 
Back in Costa Blanca

Back in Costa Blanca

So having spent another month back in the UK trying to avoid getting washed away in the rain or buried in the occasional snow has meant that I have most been climbing indoors. Over that time I managed to do some pretty good route at…

ITV – Top 100 Walks

ITV – Top 100 Walks

If you were lucky enough to catch ITV’s top 100 walks last night you will know that Snowdon narrowly missed out on being the number one walk in the UK. There is a full list on the OS website, or watch the 2.5 hour ITV…

Back Home on the Range

Back Home on the Range

Well, this weekend I was out suffering in the name of Winter Skills at Plas Y Brenin. It was a typical welsh winter with double-figure temperatures, rain and strong winds. As a result, we spent some time on the infamous Plas Y Brenin Glacier, a series of railway sleepers that mimic ice for crampon work. We also spent a lot of time working on the students navigation.

Luckily for me my climbing partner had the following week off so we have been to the wall and finally managed to get out on real rock for the first time since I got back. We headed out to the range the day before the bird ban comes into effect. I have a few lines I have spied out and we decided to go to one of them. 

To the left of the Allure a steep E5, is a slab that runs into a short steep corner groove. I sent Simon up this and he delivered the good through sub-optimal conditions. It has been a while since I got the hot aches rock climbing. It is a funky E2 pitch with poor gear and rock above the groove but nothing too bad and you can stand on a ledge forever assess the situation before committing to the to moves through to the top of the difficulty.

We then went round the corner to Olympic Zawn where we ticked off the two HVS’s The Qualifier and Opening Ceremony. After which we were pretty cold due to the relentless wind. Still, it was a grand day out of the range and three mini adventures were had.

We run quite a few of our rock climbing courses out on Anglesey, either at Gogarth, South Stack, Holyhead Mountain or the Range. We have even had a few of our clients involved in first ascents over the years.

 

Costa Blanca Christmas

Costa Blanca Christmas

So yet again I have been lucky enough to spend another 3 weeks rock climbing and generally hanging out with my partner and her family and friends in Costa Blanca. We have been holed up in a lovely villa near Moraira, just north of Calpe.…