Peak Mountaineering
The climbing blog of Paul Lewis
Archive for October, 2008
October 29, 2008 at 10:19 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
Cal and I have been out at Stanage plantation for some very wintery bouldering this morning. But….and I know my mates will rib me for this….we deserted the great outdoors and retreated to the great indoors this afternoon.
Numb fingers and a temperature gauge that absolutely refused to move above 2 degrees gave us enough reason (in our minds at least!) to head to The Edge climbing wall in Sheffield. Great routes and great cake…..and I can feel my fingers again! Thats better!
Charlie also called to say far more snow has fallen in Snowdonia today….anyone for an early winter skills course!
October 28, 2008 at 10:01 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
Okay. So I admit I’ve pinched the title for this blog posting from a Steve House article in the latest Patagonia catalogue - but it does rather sum up the need to keep things moving today……………
I’ve been scrambling over in Snowdonia and was as caught out as everyone else by snow…and plenty of it! Cal and I were joined by returning client Jake and we had a great time on North Ridge and Bristly Ridge. Jake is a man of steel and a little snow simply added to the ‘gnarl factor’ of his day - what a star!
More snow is forecast in Snowdonia so predictions of a full on winter may not be far of the mark!
October 27, 2008 at 9:09 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
The famous Snowdon viewpoint at LLandegla - not today though!
Today the weather has switched from horizontal rain to sleet to sunshine….perfect for mountain biking then!
We’ve spent the day blasting the trails over at Llandegla forest near Llangollen. This is a great venue that combines quality faciliities with kilometre after kilometre of quality biking. More sections are being added all the time but the black sections (black being most difficult) are world class. Infact, don’t just take our word for it - Llandegla was voted one of the world’s best riding venues by the IMBA a few years ago. Even better, there are trails for all abilities and even some fine family rides.
Today we were surprised to find very few riders out and about and we had the forest pretty much to ourselves. There were plenty of puddles to splash through but the surface is very forgiving of poor weather and we had a great time. We were surprised to find that the temperature was still only 2 degrees when we got back in the cars at 4pm - a perfect excuse to brew up some mulled wine when we got back tonight!
If you want more information on Llandegla check out their website at coedllandegla.com - or give us a call and we’ll happily show you the best trails.
Cheers,
Paul
October 25, 2008 at 9:39 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
The end of an Edelrid Ultralight!
Yesterday I went up to Kendal to meet up with Fieldskills, an up and coming expedition company based partly in the UK and partly in Borneo. It was a great day meeting up with instructors from near and far and sharing ideas and knowledge.
Today I have been over to Plas Y Brenin for the BMC Technical Conference. This is the second time this event has been run and its a great chance to look at a range of current issues and get up to speed on current best practice.
Along with 50 other instructors I attended a range of workshops in the morning then listened to a variety of speakers in the afternoon. The morning sessions were all practical and we destroyed a range of helmets, placed a range of resin and mechanical bolts and tested a bunch of belay plates.
In the afternoon the BMC Technical Committee fed back information on recent recalls and incidents and we had lectures from legendary equipment tester Ken Ledward and Charlie Thwaites from W.L Gore (manufacturers of Gore-Tex). I have been asked to write up the event for AMI News so I’ll make sure all the relevant info is fed back on the website in due course.
What is reassuring is that the equipment we have available nowadays is extremely well made and the result of extensive research and development. A reassuring thought next time you are on that runout crux pitch!
Have a great weekend.
Paul
October 24, 2008 at 8:02 am · Filed under peak mountaineering
I’m now the proud owner of another shiny badge to add to my shiny badge collection - proof that the first part of the first aid trainers schedule was a success. A rather intense assessment needed a suitable antedote and a good climbing wall session last night was just the ticket!
Yesterday also saw the second part of our winter equipment articles published on UKClimbing. We had great feedback to our article a few weeks ago on choosing ice axes and yesterdays effort looks at crampon choice. Of course, you don’t really need to go that far - all the articles are in the advice articles section of the site too…enjoy!
October 22, 2008 at 9:54 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
Over the years we’ve often been asked if we provide first aid training and even though I’ve had a long time interest in the subject, attended many first aid courses over the years and even worked in pathology for 4 years - the answer has always had to be no.
Finally, this week, I’ve started the process of doing something about that by attending the first course on the road to becoming a first aid trainer. The process is reassuringly thorough and with the various courses and mentoring process it will be sometime next year before Peak Mountaineering’s own version of Peak Practice can hit the high street.
But, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this weeks training (despite a thorough assessment that might put the plans back tomorrow) and look forward to part 2 in December. Thinking about it, now would be a good time to attend any of our courses while all that knowledge is fresh in my mind wouldn’t it! Free cold compress with every booking!
October 19, 2008 at 8:15 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
The mighty Marin
This weekend has been devoted to mountain biking - and what a contrast……
On Saturday I went over to Wales to meet up with James, Dean, Sarah and Mark for a day blasting the Marin Trail. I can never get enough of this ride and its always great to do it with a team like this who are on it for the first time.
Fair to say that the programming in Dean’s brain that warns him about danger was mysteriously left out at birth….we all spent the day chasing him down wild descents as he whooped and bansheed his way through the forest (all in a controlled, instructory sort of way you understand!).
We ended the day with tea and cakes in Capel and the team promising to be back for more. I can’t wait!
Thanks for a great day guys. In the words of Vinny Jones…”it was emotional!”
Sunday was another riding day…although thankfully at a more sedate pace. I was out with the family tootling around the Derwent Valley on what turned out to be a lovely autumn day. The trees in the Derwent are just turning to their beautiful autumn colours and its a very special place to be just now.
The boys did good….helped by bribes of chocolate and the occasional push on the steeper bits. Ben even managed a fairly spectacular wipe out on one descent and I shot across to him expecting the worst. No problem, he just bounced up laughing. He is most definately made of rubber that boy!
October 18, 2008 at 10:08 pm · Filed under peak mountaineering
On Friday Al was over in Wales for a scrambling day with returning client Rose. They were also joined by Simon who is currently working his way through the Mountain Instructor Scheme and is always keen to ‘clock up some mileage’ on classic Snowdonia scrambling terrain.
The trio headed up Nor’Nor’ Buttress Variant on the East Face of Tryfan then carried on over tryfan and up on to the Glyders via Bristly Ridge. They descended the Y Gribin Ridge and, in Rose’s words’ it was a “top day!
Thanks to the two thorns for all their hard work and thanks to Rose for putting up with Al’s bad jokes!
October 16, 2008 at 8:52 am · Filed under peak mountaineering
No. I don’t mean really call them out! Call Out Mountain Rescue is the name of a new book published by the Mountain Rescue Council which offers readers a host of valuable advice on staying safe on the hills. It first came to my attention when my friend Judy asked me to write a review of it for the Mountain Rescue Magazine - within 20 minutes of opening it I was hooked!
The book is a handy pocket size (or, more realistically, rucksack top pocket!) and takes readers through preparation and route planning, what to take on the hill and how to pack it, how best to stay safe in the mountains and what to do if you have an accident. The second part of the book also gives a fascinating history of mountain rescue and advice on publications, websites and organisations with which to hone skills before setting out.
Its a snip at £10, makes a great chrimbles pressie for the outdoor activist in your life and, best of all, a proportion of each sale goes to help the Mountain Rescue Organisation. A great book.
October 15, 2008 at 8:40 am · Filed under peak mountaineering
Adrian and Vanessa night navving around the Llanberis Pass
In a modern take on that Crowded House classic Snowdonia upped the ante this week for our latest Navigation Course. Vanessa had cruised through her NNAS Bronze Award in April and was back for more. Adrian is leading up to ML assessment and was keen to brush up on, ermmm, well, everything!
On Monday we went into the Carneddau and the team put in a sterling effort accurately finding tiny features after contouring hillsides, fording streams, ascending gullies and interpreting tiny map features. For Vanessa I threw in as many new techniques as possible and for Adrian I just gave him as hard a time as I could (all in a supportive, educational environment you understand!). The weather was very kind to us and at one point Adrian even took his Gore-Tex off…..a real Snowdonian summer’s day!
After a meal in Pete’s Eats we headed out in the Llanberis Pass for some night navigation practice. For Adrian this will be an essential part of his ML assessment and for Vanessa it’s extremely useful to have experience of the specific techniques in case she’s ever caught out on a windswept mountain after dark (in my opinion if you are booking a navigation course it is well worth checking this option is included…..it isn’t always).
On Tuesday we woke up to the rain that had been forecast…..the sort of horizontal wind driven rain Snowdonia excels at! We had a full on day around Snowdon and the team did real good. Navigating in adverse weather is when solid skills are essential and the guys showed the way. You know its bad when you empty rain water out of your pockets at the end of the day and our debrief hot choccy in Pete’s has never tasted so good.
Needless to say Vanessa cruised her NNAS Silver Award, Adrian honed his skills (and has some idea what he needs to work on before going for assessment) and I had a great few days with inspiring people……..everyone’s a winner!
Thanks for a great few days team……now KEEP PRACTICING!
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