Avoiding The Storm

Rain in the morning, but thankfully it didn't come to much. After a few hours the limestone dried out and the budding climbers were able to climb. Will we escape tomorrow...
I realised today that I've only got 8 days before I meet my group, for final preparations, to go to Peru..
Better get some last minute shopping done (any excuse to buy kit)..

Morlais Quarry

Today with Outposts Ltd we looked after the climbing at Morlais Quarry, while the rest of the team were to be found all over The Brecon Beacons. Here you can see Kian Clipton finishing his water at about noon - a bad move on such a hot hot day. Tomorrow we're due persistant heavy rain and thunderstorms all over wales - Brecon Beacons in the morning, but going to Snowdonia for lightning touch down in the afternoon. Let's hope the flash flooding is slight. Not a day for caving tomorrow !

Starting With Outposts Ltd

Today I started working for Outposts Ltd. This busy company will have lots going on over the summer. I'll be looking after the climbing for the next few days, but there is also 'gorge walking', paddling, hill walking, orienteering etc, going on around the Brecon Beacons. In these photos, Lee Cave was running a 'gorge walking/canyoning' work shop, using Anne Canning as a victim/volunteer.

Last Day At The Manor

Friday was possibly my last day at Kilvrough Manor this year. Another great day of climbing down on the awesome Gower cliffs. I'll be back to the Gower Cliffs with Catrin in August (Catrin is a member of the next generation of budding climbers coming out of England).
Roll on the summer, roll on the sun...

International Day On The Black Mountain

Today I found myself heading for the Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park. There was a conference of opticians from Cardiff heading for an adventure in the Black Mountain and we were keen to deliver...

Today I was working for Adrian from Foundry Mountain Activities. Also working was Steve Lewis another MIA from Swansea.

In my group I had 4 from The Netherlands, 1 from Nepal (he loved our 'mountains')and another from Saudi. We all spoke the common language of - we want to get up that hill... We didn't have much time but managed to have a terrific day on Fan Hir and Fan Brycheiniog, a circular route taking in Llyn y Fan Fawr. I thought I'd lost the 2 boys for a second when they decided the Llyn looked good enough to swim in. Dragging them away, we managed to get back to the pub for drinks all round before the coach turned up.

Warm Gower Limestone

Working at Kilvrough Manor at Parkmill on Gower - we headed to Southgate for a spot of Climbing and Abseiling. Low tide was at 2pm so we also managed to find a million starfish, jellyfish etc. Charlie in particular managed to show great promise in his bouldering skills, he managed to traverse above water into a cave - however the return proved a little more tricky - and so he got wet..

Beautiful Day - Let's Go Caving !

Nope, I still can't read the Welsh..

Open Bronze D Of E Assessment

Congratulations to Sophie, Sophie, Gemma, Jordan, Matt and Lewis on completing their tough Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Expedition...

I was working for A to Z Expeditions. I found myself in Exmoor starting an assessment in Dunster near Minehead. The group arrived on time and we quickly set about preparing for the exciting 2 days. Kit was checked, routes were planned, food was eaten, the ice cream shop was looked at! Eventually the group was ready and the adventure started...
The group discovered that they liked sitting down a bit too much, and time slipped by, and even with no navigation errors (well done) they somehow managed to get into campsite after 9pm!! They'd walked for about 9.5hours! - But this is only Bronze!
Emotions were high, but still tents were down, so there was work to be done. Everybody rallied to get it done, but somehow they were only ready for bed by 11.30pm - tired (when do the midges go to bed - they'll be waiting for us in the morning).
Well done on getting up early - Lewis, did you get up on time? The day started well, But at about lunch time the group didn't spot an awful mistake, South instead of North, right instead of left - and so the adventure turned.
Fields were crossed, even streams were crossed, and eventually they got somewhere where they could strike for the finish - Minehead.. Eventually after over 8 hours of walking (how much time sat down!) they got to their waiting parents - and it was over. Smiles all round, blisters all round?
Gemma, Sophie and Sophie, will probably never see Lewis, Matt, and Jordan again. The boys were terrific, they helped the girls so much (even helped carry the heavy rucsacs for a bit). The team really came together in the spirit of D of E. A true success story and an Expedition to be proud of...
Get the Presentation done now..
Then finish the other parts of Bronze ans go for Silver...
Thank you, all, you made my weekend interesting, a little stressful, but also fun..

Trewern

A great day to visit Sgwd yr Eira and the other classic waterfalls. The kids loved the journey behind the falls - and my promise of a clean dry day proved a complete lie.

Kilvrough Manor

Back at Kilvrough Manor today - off caving. We went to Porth yr Ogof. I was with Ben and his group of 11 Year 6. Above Ben is in the 'Letterbox' and below he is enjoying the delights of the 'Washing Machine'. We also did the 'Corkscrew' and the 'White Line' etc..
Of course the day finished with everybody thouroughly wet, we got changed out of our wet clothes into our dry - in the rain - so ended up as wet as before... A typical day.

Up The Road To Manchester

I went to Altrincham Grammar School for Girls on Tuesday night to meet my Peru Expedition. The Expedition is being run through Outlook Expeditions. In the group are 15 girls and 2 link staff from the school. We met up and had a quick training session on the School lawn before moving the training to a local pub for food. I was impressed with the 2 courses for £10, but surprised to see a Lamborghini outside (my car looks a bit old now - I parked in the corner out of site lol).
We all know each other better now. Unfortunately the Assistant leader, Henry, couldn't make it, so we'll meet him for the first time at Heathrow - wow.
After dessert - quick dash home to Swansea...

D of E Accredited Assessor Course

On the Saturday 13th I went to Plas y Brenin for the Duke of Edinburgh Accredited Assessor Course.

The course was good and so soon I hope to be an accredited assessor for all levels of D of E.

The venue was of course PYB, a place I know well, so I thought I'd take these photos from the centre to show the stunning views for all to see. You can see the Snowdon horseshoe in the distance.

The course finished early, so I managed to get onto Grooved Arete on Tryfan. As I topped out, I realised there were so so many goats on the mountain. I was able to sit and watch the goats at the top of Tryfan as the sun set - magical.

Outdoor Education on Gower

After the downpours of yesterday and the flash flooding in some parts, it was good to get some sun back today. Gower was the place to be with wall to wall sunshine - so away went the jackets and out came the suncream.
I was with good friends at Kilvrough Manor O.E.C. today. We found ourselves down on the gorgeous Gower coast climbing and abseiling. Everybody avoided sun burn and loved the day.
Kilvrough Manor has been much improved in recent months and looks terrific inside and out. Well done to everybody at the centre for the hard work. Hope to see you next week...

Morlais Quarry

Today working for Trewern O.E.C. we headed for Morlais Quarry. The group did very well in their climbing and then were exceptional in the abseil, even with the backdrop of thunder, and heavy downpours attempting to put them off. At the same time apparently parts of Wales were experiencing flash floods - best wishes to them all - not a day for caving..

Ogof Clogwyn

I discovered on the way to work that Porth Yr Ogof was flooded, so we headed for a different cave today - Ogof Clogwyn. Still we managed to do squeezes, crawls, climbing and get wet :)

Porth Yr Ogof

Working for Trewern OEC we decided to go caving in Porth Yr Ogof, before the flood struck. After weeks of very dry weather the Afon Mellte going into the cave was very low - but the rain had started...

After 3 hours in the cave and on the way back to the centre the heavens opened with thunder and hail.. The roads were hard to see in the downpour. According to Richard Hill, later, the cave had flooded by late afternoon and the resurgence had sumped.

I visited the cave entrance early Sunday morning, and found that the cave was still flooding - photo below. The Brecon Beacons had had an enormous amount of rain in 24 hours.



Where would we cave on Sunday?

Bridge Cave, Cwm Pwll Y Rhyd, White Lady Cave And Town Drain

Last night was a great BBQ party down at Langland, thanks to Leila and Jon, tonight I met up with Craig to go Caving. Craig is a diver, and is into open water diving and cave diving but has done no 'dry' caving - so here we go..

All cavers should know that the above photo is from Bridge cave.

These other photos are from Cwm Pwll Y rhyd, White Lady or Town Drain. A good night , but very hot in all the cave gear. Also the midges came out, so eventually time to go home..

Rams Tor Bays

The amazing weather continues. Today I met up with Leila and Sally, and we headed for Rams Tor Bays. A couple of the routes start with an exciting step off the boulder at the base - visible in the photo above. A good example of rough sharp Gower limestone. A good set of routes. Hopefully the cold front approaching won't stop the climbing...

Juniper Wall - A Day In The Sun

Alex on Assasin

Another day climbing with Alex. Even after the weekend, Gower remains busy, holiday season is definitely upon us. We managed to find a crag to ourselves - Juniper Wall. The only downside was being in the sun all day, and we both sank over 2 litres each.
Alex found himself on one of the crag classics - Assasin, he'd had his eye on it for a while.

Alex on Assasin