Spring 2018
It’s been a hectic Spring so far, and I’ve been having too much fun to update the blog since Winter… So here’s a ‘quick’ round up of what I’ve been up to since heading south from the amazing Scottish Winter!
Towards the end of March we had our first SPA training course of the year and the weather played ball – warm and sunny, gotta love Spring in Pembrokeshire! It was the last SPA Training Course as the scheme now changes to the 3 day Rock Climbing Instructor Training Course. The 4 candidates absorbed loads of info and we input the new aspects of the RCI syllabus too.
Rock Climbing Instructor Training in Pembrokeshire
Shortly after that I was out for a Climb and a Coasteer with a lovely couple visiting from Sweden, whilst working for Coastal Adventures, then it was straight to North Wales for some more mountain action!
Up in Snowdonia I ran an ML refresher for Alex, who wanted to firm up his navigation and emergency ropework ahead of his assessment. These are both typical deferral areas, so it was ace to see him performing well!
Then it was on to an ML assessment which I was working on for JB Mountain Skills – I love working on these, as well as assessing instructors we fit so much learning in to the weeks too, so everyone has a fun and rewarding time! We had some beautiful weather which makes all the difference too!
Working on an ML assessment in Snowdonia – if only the weather was always like this!
Straight after the ML assessment Roxy came out for a day in Snowdonia to brush up on her Alpine ropework ahead of a trip to Switzerland. Keen to ensure she and her mates were able to look after each other, we looked at loads of crevasse rescue techniques and plenty of other rope work, on a rather damp Tryfan!
A day off and in the sun at Holyhead and it was warm and beautiful! Friends were up from Pembrokeshire and we had a really relaxing day smashing out some easy routes and climbing until the sun set – some much needed sunny rockclimbing thanks North Wales!
Rock Climbing at Holyhead
Alun is working towards his MIA assessment, so we went out for a day Scrambling in Ogwen with Sina, so he could practise working with 2 on a rope. This is possibly one of the trickier elements to the MIA assessment, and there is so much judgment involved. We had awesome weather for it and it was great to be out in the hills with friends!
Alex joined us for another Scrambling day, he is an MIA trainee too, so I floated around as he and Alun took it in turns to lead the other two up Parsons Arête and down Cyrn Las Ridge. A top class route and some great skills practised!
Alex and Alun getting some Scrambling practise in ahead of their MIA assessments.
I hadn’t been climbing at Tremadog in ages so it was ace to get a fun personal day out climbing with Beth after that… We climbed a trio of nice routes and finished with coffee and cake in Erics Cafe, which has lovely new owners!
I’d heard the sun was due to come out in Pembrokeshire, so I headed home to climb with Joey, Roo and Rach at Caerfai. The sun shone and the rock was warm – it was ace to see this strong girl team pushing themselves! Any day climbing in the sun finishing with an ice cream in St Davids is fine by me!
It almost got too warm! Climbing at Caerfai, Pembrokeshire.
After that I was joined by Emma who was wanting to do some climbing and abseiling whilst raising money for charity, and didn’t want a standard boring charity abseil! Amazing to see her getting up VS’s on her first ever time outside! The charity looked after a friend of hers before he passed away, Luke was a local outdoor instructor too, here’s a link to the just giving page – go donate!
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/emma-keeling
A quick after work (and after surf!) hit to a rarely visited esoteric Pembs crag with Ben, the sun was out, a Peregrine flew overhead – as we did battle with a pretty horrific climb! The guide book description should have forewarned us! “Lots of loose blocks, vegetation and the lack of useful cracks for protection” is never a sentence you want to hear! Still managed to have fun mind!
Happy to be mostly passed the worst of the steep/loose/vegetated/poorly protected climbing!
A morning working inside at the Haverfordwest climbing wall was followed with an afternoon out with Roxy again, keen to swot up on her newly acquired crevasse rescue skills. Hopefully she’ll be a safer Alpinist now! Good luck in Switzerland!
Roxy hoisting me out of a ‘crevasse’ on the Pembrokeshire coast…
Aaaaaaand relax! Phew, hopefully the rest of Spring/early Summer is filled with as many fun days and dry rock! Cheers to everyone who I’ve been out with for making it such a fun start to the Welsh season!
Sina being looked after by two MIA trainees on the Parsons Arête..