Idwal Slabs

The weather has changed today, we managed a morning in the dry before the heavens opened and for the first time since the beginning of May I was forced to don waterproofs! Not bad though!
Rich, Julian and I headed into Cwm Idwal and for their second day of climbing we climbed Ordinary Route with the direct finish in the wet. We then looked at some scrambling skills in descent before retreating to the warmth and dry!

Climbing in the sunshine

I have been joined by Julian and Rich for an intro to climbing course. I changed the format of these courses this year from a 1:4 ratio to a 1:2 ratio and its much better as we are able to skip the top-roping phase and get straight into climbing routes as a team from the ground up, single and multi-pitch. The forecast made Anglesey the obvious choice and so we headed to Holyhead Mountain and worked our way through the grades until the boys had reached their limit at VS - a good effort for a first days climbing.

Beautiful week in Scotland

I am home now after a lovely week in the Cairngorms. We headed up via the Lake District and stayed a night in the YHA at Ambleside before continuing our journey to Braemar. It was my Mums birthday so we had a big family get together and all stayed the week at Mar Lodge, a beautiful former shooting lodge that is owned by the National Trust and divided into very posh apartments! We had a great week of walking, cycling, cricket, football and swing ball with no midges and only the odd shower - gorgeous.

ML Camp

Last night was one of the nicest ML camps I have been on. We started our day at Ogwen Cottage and headed up Seniors Ridge onto the Glyderau and having traversed the tops we camped at Llyn Caseg Fraith which made for a wonderful wild swim and of course some beautiful photos. Thanks to all of the guys for a great week.

ML Training - Security on Steep Ground

The ML training team and I headed up the North Ridge of Tryfan today looking at security on steep ground. We spent the day looking how to coach clients in movement skills, assess and manage risk, the dark art of spotting and of course enjoying the stunning scenery along the way.

ML Ropework and Evening Cragging

Paul and I were working on the 3rd day of my ML training course today looking at ropework in the Llanberis Pass. Having spent the day looking at the crags from below in the sunshine it felt wrong not to play on them this evening after work. The temperatures have dropped a couple of degrees (or we have got used to them) so we headed up Brant Direct (HVS 5a) which was lovely.

Video from last week

Here is the video from last week, including some quadcopter footage of the classic scrambles in Snowdonia that I took each evening after work.

Mountain Leader Training

Today is the first day of a Mountain Leader Training course that we are running here in Snowdonia. I have been joined for the 6 days by John, Nick, Al, Huw, Gareth and Wayne and we spent today looking at navigation skills and how we impart them to our group. We enjoyed the dappled shade of the Watkin Path and as we left the trees we were treated to a cooling breeze. Lots of folk were out enjoying the pools too. Another stunning summer day in Snowdonia. 

SARDA Weekend

Heres a quick vid of the dogs cooling off today:

Clogwyn y Person Arete

For the final day of our scrambling course Jim, Gary and I headed up the Clogwyn y Person Arete, having the route to ourselves and of course warm rock, blue skies and sunshine. It feels very continental here in Snowdonia at the moment, the weather is good, people are in a good mood, there are paragliders circling as we climb, people bathing in the mountain pools and I can think of no where else I would rather be - wonderful.

I am making a short film of the week so keep an eye on the blog to see some lovely footage of the mountains.

More glorious scrambling in the sunshine

For the last two days of the week I have an advanced scrambling course running with Jim & Garry whilst friends Alec & Paul and have joined me to take the last two days of the classic scrambling course. We all skipped out into the sunshine once more with each team heading off to different venues to progress onto grade 2 and 3 ground. Jim, Garry and I headed up the Idwal Staircase and then the Cneifion Arete, enjoying more stunning views and sunbathing - incredible summer weather this!

Crib Goch

For the 3rd day of our classic scrambling week we fancied Crib Goch. The car park at Pen y Pass was full so we parked at the Climbers Club hut in the Pass and headed up into Cwm Glas, up the North Ridge of Crib Goch and then descended back to the hut to bathe in the pools of Afon Nant Peris giving another glorious day out. I forgot my camera today but managed a couple of stills from my GoPro.

Tryfan - Scorchio

For the 2nd day of our scrambling course we headed up the North Ridge of Tryfan today on another stunning Snowdonia day. We had frequent water stops and enjoyed amazing views in t-shirts and shorts all day - incredible. Following the obligatory summit shots we descended Little & North Gullies to the heather terrace and then back to the cafe for cold drinks!