Month: January 2016

Venues We are able to carry out our courses in a variety of locations to meet your needs.  It is stated on the course information where they can be held.  This flexibility means we can make the best of the weather, conditions and travel time.

Pembrokeshire – Possibly the most diverse climbing area in the UK, world class sea-cliffs, single and multi pitch, deep water soloing, bouldering – we have it all!  With a very kind climate the weather is often dry here, making it an ideal place to book your climbing course.  We also have the Preseli Hills, a very undiscovered upland area which is ideal for our introduction to hill skills courses.

Looking across Pembrokeshire from Porth Clais. There’s a lot of Adventures to be had here!

Snowdonia – The Snowdonia National Park is simply breath-taking.  Whether your here for one of our hillwalking, climbing or scrambling courses, a lifetimes worth of adventures awaits.  Its the perfect location for some navigation, has some astounding crags to learn on, you’re sure to venture back on your own after a course with us.

Snowdonia has it all, hills, cliffs, sea…

Brecon Beacons – Within such close proximity to Cardiff and the M4, we are so lucky to have this beautiful area on our door step in South Wales.  Whilst not as rugged as the hills of Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons sure do pack a punch, there are some truly wild places making it superb for navigation and learning different hillwalking skills.

Great walking to be had in the Brecon Beacons!

Wye Valley – So close to the Severn Bridge, yet so many people just don’t know of this amazing and beautiful resource.  Rock abounds here, often in a tranquil forest above the winding River Wye, making this area simply superb for learning to rock climb.

Some great Limestone for climbing in the Wye Valley!

Scotland – It’s a big old country, full of history, folklore and awe inspiring views. We base our Winter courses up here, either on the dramatic West Coast (Glencoe) or the Cairngorms (Aviemore). People are always surprised by the amount of snow we get up here – there’s even a few ski fields around! Our courses here are big on adventure, exercise, and views… Come up North this winter and explore the area with us!

The incredible Scottish West coast during the Winter months…

Skiing in Finland

After a busy year we thought we’d go Skiing in Finland, for an actual holiday! It’s not often I go on holiday (yes most people think my life is just one long holiday…) so I was super excited to head to Finland. We’d booked there due to the guaranteed snow early season, and it being pretty well priced (unless you’re gonna eat out every meal then take out a bank loan!).

Looking at the forecast in the run up, we knew we’d made the right decision do go skiing in Finland as opposed to the usual spots of France, Italy etc, as the snow was just so good there in comparison. We were unsure what the shorter daylight hours would mean (Ruka was near but not in the Arctic circle), but the pistes were so well lit up we needn’t have worries, with the slopes open every day till 7pm, and night skiing till 11pm on a Friday!

The next concern was the temperature! Now I’m pretty used to super cold temps having done lots of Alpine winter climbing and high altitude stuff, but be prepared if your used to the Alpine temperatures! On our coldest day the air temp was 30 below, with the wind putting it closer to minus 40 Celcius… Luckily the runs weren’t too long, but any exposed skin was tingling to say the least! Fortunately at the bottom of the runs (and sometimes the top or even part way down) they have got nice big wooden huts with fires alight! A luxury, and a great spot to grill your sausages at lunch, or to stop and have your flask of coffee whilst you defrost…

The slopes at Ruka were well sized for a week, and well looked after, the big bonus was how quiet it was – often doing several runs without passing another soul.. The off-piste was limited, but there was some very nice skiing between the trees. There were jumps, half-pipes, rails, enough to keep everyone entertained. As well as the skiing, there was heaps to do, not that we did anything but ski! You could ice-fish, skidoo, reindeer and husky sleigh ride, spot the northern lights, cross country ski, go bear spotting, and obviously being Lapland – see Santa!

Being a decent priced, guaranteed snow spot in Europe, I’d definitely go skiing in Finland again!

Some powder in the trees Skiing in Finland

The big ski jump!

The winters sun over Ruka