Month: March 2017

Spring Sunshine in Pembrokeshire

It may have rained the last few days, but we’ve had more than our fair share of a Spring Sunshine here in Pembrokeshire – and we’ve made the most of it! It’s still a relatively quiet time of year work wise, and in between shifts at the local climbing wall and admin for upcoming courses, we’ve managed to get out on the rock loads!

In lovely warm Spring Sunshine I took a run out to St Davids Head, partly to reccee for some of our upcoming Cliff Camping adventures, but obviously I couldn’t resist a few climbs at the brilliant Craig Coetan. It amazes me how you never see anyone else out here! (Don’t tell anyone about it!)

Spring Sunshine for a spot of Climbing in Pembrokeshire

The first evenings Climbing was a quick after work hit at Porth y Fynnon and Velvet wall, just before the Spring clock change. Always lovely to get back on the local crags after a Winter working away in a Scotland!

Joey on Velvet Wall

After a long day working at the Haverfordwest Climbing Wall, my next evening escape was to Caerfai. A popular sandstone crag in Pembrokeshire, and for good reason. Joey led her first Hard Severe routes tonight, and seconded up to HVS – awesome effort! It was warm and we were treated to the usual Pembrokeshire sunset. Then all of a 30 second drive home… (I know we should have walked the whole way but we wanted to get as much climbing done as possible!)

Climbing at Caerfai in the Spring Sunshine in Pembrokeshire

Not a bad view from the belay…

Sunny Spring Sunset in Pembrokeshire

A shift at the climbing wall in the middle of the day meant a split shift Climbing! The morning was spent bouldering up at Dianas. Another lesser know gem of Pembrokeshire – Dolerite bouldering. Breathtaking views, warm weather – unfortunately the only picture I got was of Aluns pasty white body! If you’re a boulder in South Wales and you’ve never been here, you need to make a visit!

Bouldering at Dinas, Pembrokeshire. Alun on the classic problem “Gargoyle”, V4

A whistle stop visit to the wall to coach a school group then it was back out to the crags. The Spring Sunshine was turning to windier conditions, but we still had an excellent session at Porth Clais, top roping all the classic routes there before an “in the dark” solo of Red Wall, one of my all time favourite routes! It was a good run, lots of climbing, now to get back to work!

Climbing the classics at Porth Clais, Pembrokeshire

A night time solo ascent of Red Wall, Porth Clais

Back in Pembrokeshire…

Its been a fun filled winter, but now I’m back in Pembrokeshire, our season on the rock here has started! It’s been a busy start, with a fair bit of time on the computer – important stuff being a business owner, but not why I got in to the outdoors at all! Managing to work a bit at the Haverfordwest climbing wall, I’m able to do what I love and stay dry (and train a little!), but thankfully we’ve been getting outside too!

With a first outdoor sunny rock climb of the year back in Pembrokeshire at Saddle Head, warm and with Porpoises sauntering in the water down below – psyche for climbing rock has increased!

Sunny Sea Cliff spring climbing in Pembrokeshire

This weekend we’ve run our first Single Pitch Award assessment of the year. We had really broad mix of candidates; a stunt man, an RAF engineer and a teacher, all looking at gaining their SPA for different reasons. We spent the first morning indoors at the Haverfordwest wall, looking at the climbing wall aspects of the syllabus, and reviewed the home paper whilst the rain stopped. After lunch we headed up to Wolfs Rocks to look at some of the group climbing parts of the award. Pretty breezy up there but dry at least! Not many people think of Pembrokeshire as having inland climbing – and the routes here aren’t amazing – but there is some incredible bouldering in this lovely spot if you’re ever visiting. It’s in the excellent Climbers Club guidebook to North Pembrokeshire, volume 1…

Managing some warm up bouldering during this weekends SPA assessment..

Day 2 of the SPA assessment and with windy but dry weather we went to Newton Head for the guys to all do some personal climbing. Everyone led some super nice routes and set up a personal abseil each, before looking at group abseils. We re-visited a couple of bits from the previous day before a coffee and individual feedback. A long day on the  rock and a lot of effort put in from the candidates. I’m pleased to say they all passed!

2 of the SPA candidates leading at Newton Head

Top rope set up at Newton Head during the SPA assessment this weekend

Managing a group abseil during this weekends SPA assessment

We have an exciting summer ahead, with work trips planned to some bigger mountains overseas, but I’m really psyched to be back in Pembrokeshire and ready for some adventurous sea cliff rock climbing in the sun! Come and join us for an adventure!

Scottish Winter Skills Course

My last Scottish Winter Skills Course of the season was with Sara and Charlie. They’d come all the way up from Pembrokeshire to spend a couple of days learning all the aspects of Scottish Winter Skills to keep themselves safe in the hills over the winter months. They were also kindly going to be mock clients for me for a couple of days climbing. I’m in the consolidation period working towards my MIC Assessment so these days out practising are really useful for me!

Our first day coincided with high winds so we opted for a tour of Coire Leis and Coire na Ciste looking at gaining solid movement skills, using the axe and crampons and a large amount of snow sense, avalanche awareness and emergency procedures. Lucky for us we had the key for the top car park so we had a long day practising lots of Scottish Winter Skills with minimal physical effort! The girls certainly had a great time sliding about in the snow, a far cry from the sea cliffs of Pembrokeshire!

Sara looking happy during this weeks Scottish Winter Skills Course

With the girls having learnt loads the previous day, and being confidant on their feet from lots of climbing experience, day 2 was to be the Carn Mor Dearg arête and up and over the Ben. Despite having the key for the upper car park the walk up to the ridge still seemed a long way! Along the way we looked at a fair bit of fauna and flora, and the difference in the snow conditions from the previous day. The arête was in perfect condition; snow, dry rock and windless… A really nice walk was had, but the view soon dissapeared once in the summit of the Ben! With a bit of navigation on the way down with the classic dog-leg bearing off the Ben, we wrapped up a thoroughly enjoyable day!  Great effort from the team over a long day!

The team after the CMD arête during the Scottish Winter Skills Course

Over the 2 day Scottish Winter Skills Course the girls had a great snapshot of what’s needed to venture out on their own in the hills. It’s not something that you can go from zero to hero in over two days, but they took loads on board, seemed to absorb most of it, and I’m sure will be competent Winter Mountaineers in not time!

The next day was to be Sara and Charlie’s first taste of winter climbing. They had volunteered their services for me to practise on as guinea pigs as I work towards my MIC Assessment. Both of them being experienced summer climbers, they wanted a long day in the hills up a decent route. Our intended objective for the day was Golden Oldie on the West Face of Aonach Mor. Using the gondola on the Nevis Range ski area gives you quicker access to this 500m climb, but it’s still a long day out, and speed is of the essence to make the last lift down! We took the grade 3 direct start and after a couple of pitches gained the crest of the ridge. The girls certainly didn’t need a top rope on the easier grade 2 ground so I coached them both through their first winter leads.

On Golden Oldie, Aonach Mor

They both led a couple of pitches and when we gained the easier but exposed upper ridge, I short roped them to the summit, as we needed to get a shift on to make the gondola down! I was super impressed with their efforts, and we navigated to the ski area in a white out to make the gondola no problem! Phew!

For our last day, the girls were going to lead the whole way up Ledge Route on Carn Dearg. We wanted to be quick to avoid the high winds forecast for later in the day. With a mixture of pitching, moving together and short roping, the girls led the majority of the route in fine style. With the winds strengthening and lots of fresh snow being blown around, we arrived on the plateau and followed the tourist route down to a well earnt rest and a beer! A great 4 days were had, lots of new skills for the girls and great practise for me! Thanks Sara and Charlie!

On Ledge Route, Carn Dearg

3 Day Winter Skills Course in Glencoe

We’ve just finished our latest 3 day Winter Skills Course up in Scotland. Return client Mo brought Reg along with him to learn all about Scottish Winter Mountaineering in Glencoe. Being good navigators already from their day jobs with the MOD, we put the focus on learning about snow, avalanche conditions and route choice, along with using crampons and ice axe. The guys hope to go on to bigger Mountaineering objectives, so it was all about giving them the skills to be confidant to head out into the Mountains independently.

Day 1 saw us heading up Meall a Bhuiridh in soggy but wintry conditions. With a change in the snowpack from recent days it was great to be able to start seeing stuff happening that the guys could learn from. We finished the day wet through but had a great start to the few days..

A snowy Meal a Bhuiridh on our Winter Skills Course

The weather turned sublime the next day, but with some fresh snow and wind transportation happening, the avalanche hazard had increased. The Buchaille was our chosen Hill for the day, knowing it would give us some new stuff to look at in the snowpack, but also give us a real opportunity to look at route choice and decision making in avalanche terrain. Topping out of the Coire to be greeted with views across all of Scotland put the icing on the cake! A grand day and lots learnt.

What a day on The Buchaille on day 2 of our Winter Skills Course!

My final day with Reg and Mo was to be up Stob Coire Nan Lochan. It was one of those one in a hundred days, weather perfection… Light winds and warm in the sun, meant long pauses to take in the views! We could see from Skye to Schiehallion! Getting onto some steeper terrain with more exposure pushed the guys just enough to give some spice to the day. They led the way in decision making and route choice, putting into practice all they had picked up over the previous days. A fantastic day in the hills and a great end to the 3 day Winter Skills Course.

Towards the summit of The Lochan, on the last day of our Scottish Winter Skills Course…