I’ve just sneaked off from wrapping Christmas prezzies and drinking mulled wine to wish everyone a fantastic Christmas and our very very best wishes for 2009. Many thanks for your continued support and we hope to share more exciting adventures with old friends and new in the coming year.
Now it’s back to the presents!
Cheers,
Paul
Errm. Good question! The lead up to Christmas whizzed by with a varied round of business meetings and catching up with friends and acquaintances. The business meetings have paved the way for some exciting developments in 2009. We will be running SPA and mountain leader courses and we have also been developing some exciting collaborations with a few companies that share our ethos and approach. We will get more details posted as soon as details are hammered out.
The social meetings were more inclined to produce a few next morning headaches and the details are hazy - but a lot of fun was had nonetheless! Peak Mountaineering operations will be closed down until January 5th but we will be around to deal with enquiries if you can’t wait to organise that 2009 adventure!
Happy wrapping.
Paul
Our Costa Blanca trips have now finished for this year and a great time was had by all. Al was in charge of operations and he reports good weather, quality climbing and loads of good natured and enthusiastic participants. 3 parties ascended the Puig Campana, others scrambled and Via Ferrated and loads of sport climbing was enjoyed at Toix and Sella.
Al has promised a full report when I catch up with him at the Peak Mountaineering Christmas party - so I hope to catch him early in the evening when he is still coherent. Watch this space!
Cheers,
Cal
I’m just catching my breath after a 12 day stretch and I’ve finally got around to updating the blog……
First there was a leader assessment over in the Peak District for potential leaders looking to lead expeditions to various parts of the world next year. My job was to give them plenty of input on expedition life as well as assessing their suitability for the role. Luckily the assessment coincided with some gorgeous early winter weather during the days and the temperature dropping down to a bracing -8 degrees at night. These assessments are always fun and I’m delighted that many of the group will now be heading off to all sorts of exotic destinations in 2009. My best wishes to them all.
The day after finishing the assessment I whizzed over to Sheffield to start my ITC First Aid Trainers Course. This 4 day marathon looks at various methods for delivering effective first aid training on 1 day, 2 day and First aid at work courses. It was intense and it was challenging - but most of all it was inspiring.
Now ‘all’ I have to do is make sure my first aid knowledge is up to the job, observe some others trainers in action, present some sections in front of other trainers and finally be observed running a full course…..Oh dear, when I list all that it sounds like quite a mountain to climb! I’ll let you know how it all goes and hopefully we will get some courses online as soon as possible.
Finally, over the last weekend I’ve been running some expedition training for a team that are heading out to Mongolia next year. If Mongolia throws strong winds, torrential unceasing rain and low cloud at them then the weekend will have prepared them well! Luckily this was a team made of steel and they kept smiling inspite of the rain. We covered a host of skills they will need and also some emergency procedures I certainly hope they don’t need. Thanks for a great weekend guys and I wish you well for your great adventure.
Of course theres always other adventures on the go while I’m busy. Simon headed over to Wales last week to run a private navigation course with Sarah and Michael. They also experienced some challenging weather but, by all accounts, they had a very successful course. Sarah’s email summed it up nicely….please thank Simon for a top course!
Yesterday I caught up on admin jobs and tried to clear some space amongst the paper mountain that was hiding my desk. Its been a busy time back at the mothership and we have sent out more gift vouchers than ever this year. I look forward to seeing lots of happy recipients on courses next year and hope the vouchers are well received on Christmas day. We have also had loads of orders for T-shirts and we’ve been busy whisking them off around the country (and to Australia!). Unfortunately we are now completely sold out of Medium and Large sizes until the new year but if you still want to order we can certainly get one to you early in 2009.
Cheers for now,
Paul
At the recent BMC Technical Conference we discussed an incident where a Rock Empire flexible stemmed cam had failed in a fall situation. The cam was about 5 years old and, although well used, was found to be in good general condition. The climber had fallen 16 metres in total (from an initial position 2 metres above the placement) but thankfully had avoided serious injury. On inspection it became clear that the cable had snapped at the point where the stem entered black plastic sleeving at the top of the unit.
All wire cam stems are vulnerable to damage after repeated bending and obviously regular user inspections are vital (as with all you kit!). The crucial thing in this case was that the black sleeving made it very hard to check for cable damage after the point that the cable entered the sleeve. The Technical Committees report said…..
“Fatigue failure in wire cables is a well known phenomenom, and is known to usually be detectable as progressive mechanical failure of the wire strands occur. Unfortunately, the black plastic sleeve hinders the ready examination by the user in detecting broken wire strands, making it extremely difficult for the user to make an informed judgement regarding retirement of the device.”
Please be aware of this possibility next time you do your equipment checks, and when you’re next buying cams it is worth checking the design you choose allows you to easily check for damage.
Take care out there!
Cheers, Paul
The wintery snap continues……great isn’t it (apart from having to get up earlier to de-ice the cars!).
Yesterday Al was on the highest mountain in Snowdoninium with Gill, Sarah, Kate and Alison. They are visiting our peachy little island from another peachy little island that goes by the name of New Zealandia. Apparently it takes a long time in a large flying metal tube (or even longer by water vessel) to access this south pacific jewel - but they report it to be a magical place filled with mountains, lakes, forests and hobbits.
Al said that they battled extreme cold, snowy weather and even needed sunglasses to ward off snow blindness near the summit. Congratulations to the team on a very successful ascent accomplished with good humour and no supplementary oxygen. Awesome.
They are back for round 2 in March when they plan to ascend the highest mountain in England (notice a summit bagging trend here?). Scaffold pole is a majestic peak in the district of lakes and it should really test our southern hemisphere challengers. Get the training hours in team…..Yesterday was just a warm up!
Its been a great weekend in the Peak. The Autumn leaves still lie fallen on the ground but winter is definitely here. That alpine winter weather where you stay warm in the sunshine but the temperature never really gets above freezing and the sky is a clear dazzling blue. Perfect.
Yesterday we spent the morning mountain biking in the Derwent Valley before I blasted over to Burbage South to bag some perfect friction on the grit with Davey S. A great day.
While we climbed at Burbage my eyes kept wandering up to Parthian Shot. This classic gritsone E9 6c has just received a pasting (along with loads of other gritstone classics) from a group of uber talented American visitors. Here’s a Youtube of Team America’s Kevin Jorgeson doing the first ground up ascent….
Parthian Shot from UKClimbing.com TV on Vimeo.
Now tell me your fingers aren’t sweating!
Cheers,
Paul