Glasbury to Hay

At last the kayak makes it out of the Garage, for a trip from Glasbury to Hay on the Wye. I didn't choose a day with the best weather, but in weather like this you can't go climbing anyway. I did manage to do it late in the day though, so I managed to avoid all the Saturday traffic, and I had the entire river to myself. The rain clouds did burst on top of me - made it very atmospheric.

I tried to take a photo of the flock of swans overhead, nearly capsized as a result - so the photo is rubbish - as good as my nature photography gets.
I've left the kayak on my roof - maybe I'll go kayak surfing on Gower when it rains next...

Busy Day

A busy day. I went to Trewern Outdoor Education Centre for Freelance induction and paperwork etc. It was a good chance to see their excellent indoor climbing wall facility. If you get a chance take your group down there to use this excellent Entreprises set of walls.

After this I managed to get out and do a mini hill walk onto part of the Brecon Beacons I'd not seen before.

I even managed to visit several venues, and I even got to check out Porth yr Ogof again.

Saturday 9th - Outlook Conference

Based at Plas Menai, Outlook Expeditions held their first annual conference. It turned out to be a sociable event, and I found out the last few details about my expedition. On the 8th July I'll be off to Peru with Altrincham Grammar School. A few of the highlights will be 1. a project based at the Sachacavayoc Jungle Lodge 2. a trek in the Sacred Valley to Soraypampa (up to 4600m) 3. visit to Machu Picchu 4. exploring Lima, Cusco, Arequipa etc...

Sunday 3rd - A Day In North Wales

Sunday was the day of the Outlook Expeditions CPD day for expedition leaders, introduced by Sarah Tansell (Senior Intructor for Outlook). We had three sessions. The first was 'Working with groups at the waters' edge'. As you can see above we had fun throwing ropes around. Here Siobhan is practising her skills. Lunch was layed out by Sarah - excellent, thank you. Our next session was 'Working with groups at altitude', and last session 'Reviewing techniques for Expedition leaders'. It was good to meet lots of the others leaders, and we're looking forward to the conference next Saturday now based at Plas Menai.
I managed to find time for a quick climb in Ogwen, on the way to PYB to get food at the bar. I caught up with more friends, made some new ones and managed to get home to Swansea before falling asleep . A good day.

Three Cliffs Bay

Today the rain stopped early enough to allow the rock to dry out, so combined with a low tide I found myself climbing on Three Cliffs. I had the whole bay to myself except for 3 riders on ponies.

With the tide slowly advancing and the sun going down I climbed Initiation Flake, Perseverance, Spouse Crack and Left Corner II. The other climbs will be there for another day.



Above you can see Great Tor in the distance from the top of 3 Cliffs.

Back In The Saddle

At last I'm back in the saddle.

In the background of the photo you can see Three Cliffs in Three Cliff Bay, with Pobbles Bay and Shirecombe beyond. Three Cliffs and Great Tor are 2 of the jewels in the Gower Crown. You can also see the clouds brewing - shortly after the photo was taken it started to rain.

After a long lay off of 8 weeks, I'm starting to get fit again. Today I cycled to Great Tor on Gower to climb one of my favourites - the 'East Ridge' (S, 4 pitches, 73m ***) - this is fantastic and a must for everybody.

I managed to climb one of my favourites and cycle 32km - so a good day. I'm well on the road to a full recovery..

Time to put axes away?

The days are long now and the daffodils are out, it's Spring in Fort William, but you can just about find winter in the high hills if you look. There are still high ice routes in nic on the Ben.

There were people skiing on Aonach Mor today - there's still a few runs open for the mega keen. The chair and lots of buttons were open for business. However the snow continues to melt with freezing levels above the summits at least for another 2 days.Hannah had to work hard today cutting about 200 steps on the steeper snow, putting her training into practice. Good effort.
For those wanting to climb on the higher Ben routes the temp looks to be dropping in the near future (less than a week from now). However for those that have already given up, dry summer crags beckon... Axes away and time to squeak those rock boots again...