Heathfield School - Gold Assessment

13 Girls made it to the Gold D of E Qualifying Expedition. Their practice had been in scorchio hot weather a couple of months ago - I was a bit worried if they were ready for a wet October in South Wales. The weather started perfect for them in the first couple of days, frosty starts, clear skies - but then the sky grew cloudy, and it all fell apart. The forecast heavy rain arrived with a vengeance and the girls had to adapt fast. They had to get tough fast. All credit to them. They didn't want to be there wet to the skin, walking up hills into mist and rain - trying to trust the compass, but they made it. Particular congratulations on surviving night 3, when EVERYTHING was wet and nasty. It was great to see them in to the finish line - their boots came off FAST - and then we could let them have Lilys' birthday cake - congrats on being 18...

Congrats on passing a tough Gold assessment...

Short Roping Over Tryfan - MIA Assessment Prep

Guy Wilson on Bastow Buttress Variant ** 2/3

Today I was involved in some MIA assessment preparation for Guy Wilson and Mark Stevenson. They both have assessments very soon and they're both well on track for success. Guy has his in little over a week now.

In the excellent weather on Monday we decided to short rope over Tryfan. We started with the Tryfan Bach Approach *** (3). This is excellent and makes the approach to Tryfan more enjoyable. On the heather terrace we moved onto Nor Nor Buttress variant. We popped over the top and moved into descent mode and eventually got back to to road.

For the entire day we concentrated on 'transitions' from one mode to another, which technique was suitable and why. Both Guy and Mark were doing very well. Good luck to them both for their upcoming assessments. I had a great day, although a bit rushed because I had to dash off to Manchester at 3.30pm.

Sunday - Part 3

Nicki on the overhang of Scratch Arete - Pitch 2
Nicki on the upper slab

Matt looking good after the overhang

After lunch we had time for a final climb before getting back to PYB for tea and cakes at the end of the Student BMC Seminar - so we decided on Scratch Arete (HVS). Pitch 2 leads to the overhang and then the final slab/arete. Both Matt and Nicki have lots of experience on gritstone, so I was sure they would fist jam / hand jam their way up the final crack - but no! - They both decided to do completely different styles. Nicki prefering to lay back whenever possible and Matt going for an alternate face climb! 2 abs took us to the ground, to the car, and then to the cake .. Happy days. One of you left a small dry bag in my car.. No cake inside :(

Sunday - Part 2

Nicki showing off after the crux of One Step In The Clouds

We decided to do the Uber classic One Step In The Clouds (VS) before lunch, so yet again we dashed over hoping to beat the crouds (and rain clouds). We had about 1 minute of rain after pitch 1, but then it warmed up again - brilliant. I love this climb.

BMC Student Seminar - Sunday 4th - Part 1

Nicki on pitch 2 of Christmas Curry

Matt and Nicki
Matt on the final Christmas Curry arete

On the Sunday of the BMC Student Seminar, Nicki, Matt and I met early at 9am in PYB for a quick get away to Tremadog - to beat the crouds. We jumped immediately on one of the lower grade classics - Christmas Curry (Micah Eliminate HS). It soon got crowded, with other teams arriving below us and on the Plum. I always love this climb - awesome. The weather was threatening - we were warned of possible showers, so we all had jackets on, but soon the sun came out and we bathed in heat. We found out later that the teams who went to Ogwen had rain for most of the day and the slabs were a waterfall :( Tremadog climbing - a winner again.

BMC Student Safety And Good Practice Seminar - Saturday 3rd

Jon Garside (BMC / MLTE Training Officer) organised another successful Student Seminar this year. The Seminar was based at Plas Y Brenin on the 3rd and 4th October. Over 100 students turned up from all over Britain and the 2 day program was packed for both nights.

I was one of many instructors in the 'Instructor Army' for the weekend. On the Saturday we took a team of the students out from PYB to a local single pitch crag to look at some single pich issues - warming up, bouldering, environmental impact, suitability of venue, sensitivity towards other climbers, top roping, bottom roping, rigging, belaying, scenarios etc.. An excellent session and even the weather was good for us.