Idwal Slabs

For the last day of our 5 day learn to lead course Jo & Jason lead Charity in 5 pitches on the Idwal Slabs. The route is graded V Diff and they lead it in its entirety, alternating leads on each pitch. They then lead the scramble off and abseil descent. A great end to a great week and a nice feeling for me watching them operate independently. Happy climbing both! 

Holyhead Mountain, Anglesey

Today we headed to Anglesey in search of the sunshine. The sun was indeed shining and we had a great day with Jo & Jason each leading their first routes, Black Owen (V Diff) and Slab Direct (V Diff) and then with a blast up The Bruvvers (HVS 5a) to finish their forearms off. Yesterday we spent the day looking at some of the more technical skills and movement skills whilst avoiding gale force winds and lashing rain in the climbing wall! This evening I have been out on a rescue on Snowdon.  

Classic Rock in the Llanberis Pass

It has been another stunning day of blue skies and sunshine. Jo, Jason & I headed into the Llanberis Pass and climbed Flying Buttress (V Diff 6 pitches) and Crackstone Rib (Severe 2 pitches). There were folks out on the classics like Left Wall and Cemetery Gates and plenty of people enjoying the fine weather.  

Rock Climbing in the sunshine

I have been joined for the week by Jo & Jason for a 5 day learn to lead course. (I have 1 space left on the same course from 17-21 August). It has been glorious sunshine all day today on the West which we made the most of at Tremadog. We climbed Poor Mans Peutrey (Severe) in 4 pitches and Oberon (Severe). We abseiled off both routes and spent the day looking at movement skills, bely building and progressing towards Jo & Jason leading for themselves. 

Dogs & Land Rovers

I have had a lovely weekend in the sun playing with Dogs and Land Rovers! Yesterday was a SARDA training day and today I was helping to run a driver training day for the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team Land Rovers. As you can see my Collie Pup Skye came along for the ride. This evening I am heading out cragging with the kids in the sunshine. What a life! 

North Ridge of Tryfan

Today Mike, Linda and I headed up the North Ridge of Tryfan to complete our week of navigation and scrambling. The weather did us proud completing a week of very little rain and the mountain was also pleasantly quiet. 

Snowdon Horseshoe

Yesterday Kurtis took Sam, Heidi, Linda & Mike onto the Carneddau. Kurtis is a Mountain Leader on my mentor scheme and it was a good opportunity for him to clock up some logbook days in preparation for his MIA training. Unfortunately one of the group took a nasty reaction to an insect bite and ended up cutting the day short. Kurtis and I spent the evening at the Beacon Climbing Wall looking at some more SPA skills in preparation for his forthcoming assessment. 

Today I took Linda & Mike up onto Crib Goch. The weather was glorious so we visited the summit of Snowdon and had a peek at the cafe that is due to open this weekend. We then decided to make the most of the day and head across to Lliwedd to complete the Snowdon Horseshoe. A cracking day was had by all. 

Y Garn

Today the team and I were also joined by Kurtis who is on my trainee instructor mentor scheme. Kurtis has his Mountain Leader Award and is gaining logbook days in preparation for his MIA training. We all headed up onto Y Garn and looked at some macro navigation skills. The cloud dropped down just as we reached the summit which was ideal as it allowed us to practise our micro navigation in poor visibility. This evening Kurtis and I got midged to death on the Pinnacles Crag going over some ropework in preparation for his forthcoming SPA assessment. 

Navigation & Scrambling Course

I have been joined for the week by Heidi, Linda, Sam & Mike for a 5 day navigation and scrambling course. Today we headed into Cwm Tregallan on Snowdon for a day looking at navigation skills. It has stayed dry all day and we have enjoyed some beautiful forna as shown in the photos. You can read what they all are on my instructors tips page here. 

Dolmen Ridge & Descent of the Gribin

The boys and I headed up Dolmen Ridge today and managed to stay relatively dry with just the odd shower on the summits. Carlos & Nikki lead the entire route between them with me soloing alongside offering pieces of advice and generally acting as team photographer. We descended the Gribin Ridge at a fair pace and made it down just as my pager went off. It was then a quick dash up onto Crib Goch with 5 other members of the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team to assist to stuck walkers back down. A great day out in the mountains. 

Advanced Scrambling

I have been joined by repeat client Carlos and his friend and colleague Nicky for the weekend. Both are instructors on the fast jets at RAF Valley and so are ideally placed to enjoy the mountains of Snowdonia. We had a wet and wild day yesterday with 60 mph winds and heavy rain all day. We headed into Cwm Idwal and used the grade 2 ground either side of the Slabs to look at short roping in ascent and descent. Last night we had 3 rescues on the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. I found myself being winched onto the South Ridge of Snowdon in 100 mph gusts which was fun! 

Site Specific Training

I have spent the last couple of days delivering some site specific training for a group of teachers at a climbing wall in the West Midlands. It was beautiful weather which was ideal as the wall is outdoors! The training allows the teachers to supervise groups of pupils climbing on the specific climbing wall that they have been trained and assessed on. 

Navigation Coaching

Sally and I have been out in the hills above Beddgelert today doing some concentrated navigation practice on contour interpretation. The sun has been beating down all day again so it has been warm work but we enjoyed an ice cream at the end of the day to cool us down! Good luck to Sally on her forthcoming assessment - I am sure luck won't be needed though. 

Navigation Coaching

I have been out with Sally today who is preparing for a forthcoming assessment and wanted to spend a couple of days looking at micro navigation and contour interpretation. It has been beautiful weather and a lovely day to be out walking in the mountains. 

Cragging in the Llanberis Pass

It has been a stunning cloudless day today here in North Wales. I teamed up with Andy and we headed onto Dinas Mot to seek out some shade for some cragging. We climbed Super Direct (E1 5b), Gardd (HVS 5a) and Hornets Attack Victor Mature (E2 5c). It was lovely to be out in the sunshine with stunning views and all 20 minutes from home! 

Inaccessible Pinnacle - Summit Success!

As you can see from the photos Monica, Geoff, Ian & Sue all enjoyed summit success on the In Pinn on Friday after a great week on Skye. We had a very wet day climbing the Cioch on Thursday but Friday saw a lifting of the cloud and some strong winds combined with the sunshine to dry the rock out nicely. Well done to all four and thanks to Bryn for his help all week - a great week. You can view the weeks photos on the gallery page of the website. 

Skye - The Misty Isle

Well Skye has been living up to its name over the last couple of days. I arrived on Saturday and spent Sunday revisiting old friends and favourite places in driving rain and gale force winds. 

I have been joined for the week by regular client Monica and her friends Sue & Geoff, as well as returning client Ian. Friend Bryn has been working with me to keep the ratios at 1:2 and the aim of the week is to pick off some of the best grade 1, 2 & 3 scrambles on the island. 

On Monday we headed onto Sgurr a Mhadaidh (2) and Sgurr a Ghreadaidh (3). The cloud stayed low for most of the day but the wind stayed away and we only had a light drizzle to contend with. As the day went on the sun came out to play and we enjoyed some of the stunning views of mountains dropping straight down into the sea that we had come to see. 

Yesterday we headed up on Banachdich via its South Ridge. This gives a great grade 2 scarmble along a knife edge ridge that typifies Skye. The weather threw everything at us from snow to sunshine and we enjoyed some more fine views in the afternoon. 

Today is being spent at the Schoolhouse Buttress at Elgol looking at a spot of rock climbing and abseiling in preparation for what lays in store in the mountains later in the week.

Lake District Rock Climbing - Napes Needle & Little Chamonix

Its a well known fact that rock climbing in the Lake District is not as good as in North Wales (cue instant emails and abuse!!) but I have ventured over the border for a couple of days climbing with Jo and Adam. Jo has been out with me a couple of times before and fancied climbing Napes Needle, so dragged Adam along for his first ever outdoor rock climb. When we arrived yesterday morning the weather was dry and the rock dry enough so we decided to crack straight on with the main event.

Napes Needle is often described as the birthplace of English rock climbing. It is a free standing pinnacle of rock on the side of Great Gable, at an altitude of about 600m with fine views down to Wast Water and then out to sea. The day was dry and bright but with a chill breeze to keep us on our toes. 

We climbed the Wasdale Crack. The first pitch is only about V Diff but is highly polished and leads to a shoulder below an overhanging block. The second pitch leads to the top on balancy holds with little gear and is now graded Hard Severe. The summit has room for two people and a belay is fashioned by looping the rope around the back of the pinnacle and under the overhang. Adam & Jo climbed well and we all enjoyed the summit views before descending. The top pitch has to be down climbed by the leader to the shoulder, followed by an abseil. 

Today we chased the sun to Borrowdale for some roadside cragging above Derwent Water at Sergeants Crags. We climbed Little Chamonix which is a beautiful 4 pitch V Diff, continuously interesting and very pretty. This allowed us to look at the skills needed for Jo & Adam to lead their own climbs. We then headed to Brown Slab (Diff) which they both lead in succession. 

A lovely couple of days! I am now heading up to Skye for the rest of next week. 

Off to the Lakes & then Skye

I am heading upto the Lake District this evening for a couple of days and then onto the Isle of Skye for our Skye scrambling course next week. This might mean that I am little slower than normal replying to emails etc so bear with me. Photos and reports will follow as long as I can get some internet access. Kate and family will be home to answer any telephone enquiries as normal. 

Learn to lead private guiding day

I was joined for the day today by Gavin and Lesley who climb together indoors and have done a little outdoor climbing in the Peak District. They wanted a day looking at leading climbs outdoors and so we headed to Tremadog and enjoyed some multi pitch climbing looking at the skills involved in leading. We worked with my goal setting chart and managed to stay dry despite a very wet start! 

Mountain Rescue Weekend

I have been with SARDA Wales this weekend. We spent both days in the Llanberis Pass in some pretty foul weather although it did brighten up this afternoon. We had 5 seperate rescues yesterday on Snowdon due to the high winds. It was gusting in excess of 80mph on the summit and people were literally being blown off their feet and suffering some quite nasty injuries. It just goes to show the value of knowing the weather forecast for the mountains before you go. 

Mentor Day

I have been out with Danny today who is on my trainee instructor mentor scheme. Danny is preparing for his Mountain Leader assessment so we spent the day looking at security on steep ground and ropework for the Mountain Leader. It has been drizzly all day but not as bad as forecast. 

Cneifion Arete

Robert and I headed bouldering this morning to improve his rock climbing movement skills in the form of some movement coaching. We then headed up into Cwm Cneifion in the beautiful spring sunshine and climbed the Cneifion Arete. It has been a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and brisk Easterly winds keeping the temperature down. 

Intro to Climbing

I have ben joined for two days by Robert and Hava for two days of intro to climbing. They are interested in climbing within a mountaineering context and so today we headed up Ordinary Route on the Idwal Slabs, catching the sun as we topped out and carried on with a scramble. It has been a gorgeous cloud free afternoon. 

I spent the weekend at home with the family, taking the kids climbing on Sunday. I have included a photo of our Collie pup Skye who is now 3 1/2 months old and full of fun! I am hoping to train her as a SARDA mountain rescue search dog. 

Cwm Idwal, Scrambling Day

I have been joined for the day by Paulo for a days private guiding booked as a gift voucher by his wife Davina. Paulo wanted to look at some advanced scrambling techniques as a refresher and with very strong winds and some equally strong rain and hail we headed into Cwm Idwal. The day brightened nicely and with Paulos background in professional work at height we enjoyed a geeky day talking about anchors, fall factors, kilonewtons etc whilst also managing to get some scrambling done! 

Keeping the spirits up

This is a short video of last weeks 5 days of private guiding scrambling and climbing here in Snowdonia. It is for anyone sat in an office or sat at home and wishing they were out in the mountains. Not long till the weekend! 

Moel Siabod

It has been another lovely spring day here in Snowdonia with no rain and lots of sunshine. We headed up Moel Siabod with the team doing the navigation and also looking at movement on steep ground, re-locating when lost and of course enjoying a beautiful day in the mountains.  

Navigation & Hill Skills Course

I have been joined for the weekend by Emma, Sue & Nick for a navigation and hill skills course. today we headed into Cwmfinnon and looked at micro navigation in fine weather! We have also had 3 rescues this afternoon and evening on Snowdon.