This last week has been a good one! The water has been as good as it gets; clear, calm, clean and some good low tides – great for some Coasteering and Climbing in Pembrokeshire! I have been working for TYF as well as getting plenty of climbing in… These September days, once the school holiday crowds have gone, truly are magical in Pembrokeshire…
We’ve had some great days Coasteering at both St. Nons and Abereiddy, with some lovely low tide explores, as well as some bigger swell adventures! Plenty of seals around too, with the pups appearing on the beaches. Be aware if you see any to keep your distance and stay quiet, don’t linger too long as the mums might not come and feed them whilst you’re there…
Coasteering at Abereiddy
In the “tumble dryer”, Coasteering at Abereiddy
After a few days in the water I was glad to be on dry land, accompanying a school group on a coastal walk, looking at map skills along with environmental issues, with the fantastic weather giving us awesome views over to Strumble Head, one of my favourite vistas in Pembrokeshire…
Looking over to Strumble Head
A weekend away climbing in South Pembrokeshire completed a really brilliant week! We did some fantastic climbs on Range East, and some new routes, but what will linger in my mind longest is the Lemon and Dill sauce we had at the Stackpole Inn! Amazing and highly recommended! We spent the day in the sun climbing in the Blockhouse Buttress area, slightly off the beaten track (due to it’s long by Pembrokeshire standards 20 minute walk in!), the area contains some fantastic routes, so go check them out!
Climbing on Range East
Alun and Sophie following a route at Blockhouse Buttress…
This week I have been working in Dartmoor for Wet and High Adventures, who organised a weeks activity and development programme for Bridgwater College and their MOD engineering apprentices. I always enjoy these weeks as not only do I get to go to new places and work, but the team of Instructors is always top notch, with a vast array of highly qualified and motivated people. You always learn more and develop as an instructor within the week.
The week started with some camp craft skills prep for our expedition later in the week, putting up tents, using stoves, how to pack and fit bags… And we managed a quick after-work hit to Bone Hill for a spot of bouldering, some decent problems climbed and an awesome sunset…
Camp craft skills in Dartmoor – pre expedition
After work Bouldering at Bone Hill
Pretty nice sunset post bouldering!
We had a day climbing at the Dewerstone, where we did loads of bouldering and scrambling, and got the students to rig all their own abseils, which we then turned into climbs – a top day in the sunshine! Mid week we travelled to the great trail centre at Haldon Forest, for some Mountain Biking. Everyone got down a red run, some managing a bit of black. Great effort from the team and only a few spills! Not too much blood spilt!
Mountain Biking at Haldon Forest
Rock Climbing at the Dewerstone
The last two days were a self sufficient exped walking on Dartmoor with a wild camp. The students were given all the knowledge and skills to navigate themselves, negotiate risk such as rivers and rocky ground, and how to look after themselves at camp. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, and as the guys were really competent, we were able to leave them too it and self lead at times. Great week with a great team of students and group of instructors – and not a drop of rain on Dartmoor for us! Who’d have thought it!
What a great couple of weeks it has been! I’ve been too busy climbing, working and exploring in Pembrokeshire to write any blog updates, so here is a sum up of the last couple of weeks, and the bank holiday weekend climbing in Pembrokeshire…. The weathers been almost non-stop good, great tides and magical sunsets, great clients and new routes climbed to boot!
We had a great day with Sicco and Hannah, a father and daughter from Germany (who thankfully spoke perfect English…). Hannah was psyched to get on any climb she possible could, and at only 9 shows great promise for the future should she keep it up, whilst dad Sicco had done loads of sport climbing previously – so he cruised his first trad lead climb here on the Pembrokeshire sea cliffs.
Sicco happy having led his first trad route!
We had a day out with some local instructors who have got their SPA assessments coming up. This award lets them take groups of novices onto single pitch crags, a vital stepping stone in the ladder to being a successful outdoor instructor. We went through top and bottom roping, group abseils, and problem solving. We were luck to have some willing guinea pigs come along for the guys to practice on too!
Teaching SPA Skills to Instructors
It’s almost a tradition now for people to spend the bank holiday climbing in Pembrokeshire, and with the release of the excellent Climbers Club Pembrokeshire guidebooks, we are definitely noticing the area is getting busier, with crags that were relatively unexplored before, now having frequent visits.. Luckily for us we know more secret spots (and whole crags with no routes on!) so we were able to escape the crowds with Si and Elliot on a learn to lead course over the Bank Holiday Weekend…
Seconding a climb in Pembrokeshire
We visited several crags on the first day, looking at loads of belays and rope work, gear placements and of course climbing heaps of classic routes, and on the second day, from being relative novices, both Si and Elliot were doing their first trad lead climbs. Great effort guys and thanks for a great weekend with good company…
Lead Climbing Course in Pembrokeshire
I was lucky to have bank holiday Monday off for a rare change, and was rearing to get out and have a climb, and being super sunny and warm, a dip in the sea. Not many places in the work you can go on what is one of the busiest tourist days of the year, and have the crag to yourself, right by the turquoise sea, watch Porpoises and seals and swim in the warm(ish!) water to cool off as it’s too hot! Magical! Gotta love bank holidays in Pembrokeshire climbing with the cliffs to yourself!
Stunning St David’s Head
Once the crowds had departed from Pembrokeshire, the weather was still awesome, and the tides perfect for some exploration. We spent the day looking at lead climbing skills at a very unexplored crag near Newgale, with some excellent established routes, great to learn to lead climb on, it should be more popular – but we’re not complaining! We had the pleasure of doing a couple of first ascents during the day, the most memorable being up a pinnacle, with a proper pointy summit necessitating a counterbalance abseil decent. Throughout the day our only company was a couple of seals that watched us pretty mush non-stop… I’m excited to get back here and check out more of the new routes…
After a beautiful start to the week, and a day climbing in South Pembrokeshire at Saddle Head in the sun and a warm afternoon in North Pembrokeshire at a crag near Solva, the rest of the week was spent Coasteering!
Coasteering in Cathedral Caves in North Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is renowned for it’s Coasteering, and in a commercial sense it all started here back in the 80’s. There are a phenomenal amount of different places to Coasteer, not all suitable for groups, some being really adventurous Coasteers!
Coasteering in big seas in Pembrokeshire
I think I’ve spent a total of nearly 20 hours in the water this week, luckily there’s a big element of scrambling and climbing whilst Coasteering in Pembrokeshire…
DWS whilst Coasteering in Pembrokeshire
We not only run many rock climbing courses, but are able to take you on these fantastic and wild Coasteers, come and check out what it’s all about and have an adventurous day Coasteering in Pembrokeshire with us…
The group had slightly more ambitious plans after their hike on Chimbarazo. An ascent of the technical 4700m peak Ruminahui was the goal. As we were well acclimatised by this point we made swift progress on the easy lower slopes, and were rewarded with spectacular views of a family on Condors floating above us on the mountain.
It was cold and blustery in the way up, with no views of what lay ahead, but it got much steeper the higher we ascended, and soon we were scrambling.
We got the rope out to protect the group for the last 20 meters or so, but they all managed to get to the exposed summit, their first bit of proper climbing at 4700m!
We didnt linger too long on top as it was pretty chilly and windy, once back down the rope we were able to move faster and warm up.
The clouds parted on the decent to give us some spectacular views… Well done on your ascent team… If your in the area, Ruminahui is well worth having a go at climbing, but it’s no pushover!
This month I am in Ecuador working, taking a bunch of school kids trekking in the Andes, followed by some time in the Jungle and doing some sight seeing and exploring…
We flew into Quito and took it easy for a few days, as the altitude in Ecuadors capital city is over 3000m. We had a nice day out walking up nearby Ilalo Peak to get great views of the city. Once we transferred to a place called El Chaupi we spent a few days acclimatising by getting out in walks, notably up to 4000m on Cerro El Corazon- the team started feeling the altitude here!
Our main trek was around Chimbarazo, at 6300m it’s summit is famous for being the point furthest from the centre of the Earth, due to Equatorial bulge…. Our high point was planned to be the Whymper Refuge at 5000m.
The first night in our tents at 4200m was a wild one! The weather was bad enough to batten down the hatches and stay in the tents for 15 hours… The scenery the next day made up for our rough night though…
The third day was a long one! Trekking up to the refuge at 4800m took a good 10 hours. The team really pushed hard and we arrived in a flurry of snow to warm drinks and a welcome rest! The views from up here once the cloud cleared in the morning were awesome!
The final day we headed up to 5000m at a slow steady pace, it was only a short walk up to here and the bright sunshine warned everyone despite the strong winds and cold weather. Our descent was truly awesome. After traversing to a historic cave that has been used for over 500 years for Inca rituals, we had a long sandy descent, reminiscent of running down a sand dune – for a thousand meters!
A great time was had by all, and a big sense of accomplishment for the guys who have done very little of this sort of stuff before. The acclimatisation stood us in good stead for our next ascent….
This week I have been working walking, climbing and coasteering for TYF with the schools they have had staying with them in Pembrokeshire. The week started with a few days coasteering and climbing in the St Nons and Porth Clais area, where the swell proved to be entertaining.. The kids coped amazingly!
Big swell climbing in Pembrokeshire
Finally the swell died down to make coasteering far more accommodating! The last couple of days were spent walking sections of the awesome Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, looking at fauna and flora along the way as well as a spot of rock-pooling and scrambling. The weather was superb and as always with good company… Now I’m off for a month in South America – no matter what far flung places I go to, I always miss Pembrokeshire though!
This weekend I’ve been down in Dorset, working on a “learn to sport climb” course for Freeborn Climbing. We had 5 fantastic people who had varying levels of experience, all progressed massively over the two days. It makes a nice change for me, as we have virtually no sport climbing in Pembrokeshire, so it was great to clip some bolts in the sunshine!
Sport Climbing in Portland
Over the course of the weekend we climbed loads of great routes, initially looking at a focus on belaying, climbing movement and efficient technique, alongside the art of clipping quick-draws!
Teaching threading lower-offs at The Cuttings
Once the team all had the skills to thread lower offs and felt confidant to lead, we climbed loads of routes to reinforce the skills…
Coaching leading on the sharp end whilst sport climbing
We rounded up the weekend with some problem solving and avoidance. Hopefully everyone will be confidant to get out themselves now and get on the sharp end! Awesome effort in hot weather!\
Following on from last weeks starting Trad Climbing Kit Article, here’s a run down of what kit you might need to move into the realms of Multi-Pitch Trad Climbing:
By now you’ve done plenty of single pitch climbing, and your chomping at the bit to get onto some longer routes, right? Hopefully you’ve acquired the skills to safely and correctly place gear, how to extend it properly to reduce rope-drag, and multiple ways of attaching yourself into a belay as well as probably having done some abseiling. The transition to trad multi-pitch climbing should be a fairly smooth one and progress should be fairly rapid, as you’re just adapting skills you already have…
Now you’re getting on longer routes, it makes sense we might need more gear. All the previous information on kit holds true, so if you’re playing catch up check out the previous article: trad starter rack. All we really need is some duplicates of equipment we already have, plus perhaps a few new bits and pieces. This article is assuming we’re still looking at easy to mid-grade routes, and we shall look at specialist kit for harder routes another time…
Multi-pitch Climbing Skills in Pembrokeshire
So, first up, get some more nuts! We started out with a single set of nuts, now we will want to double them all up. It might be an idea to go for the different brand to what you went with before. Slightly different shapes (even though the sizes are the same) give you more options. The DMM nuts tend to be a bit fatter and curvy, whilst Wildcountry are slimmer and straighter. I like to rack them in 4 size sets on separate carabiners. Roughly 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-11. Too many nuts on a crab gets messy.
Last time we looked at hexes. Now I’m not saying scrap them, they are great on some traditional mountain routes, but now it’s time to think about getting some cams, which can make hexes a little redundant. It’s definitely best to leave these till now, as you really need to serve your apprenticeship placing really decent passive (nuts, hexes – no moving bits) protection first. Cams are what we call active protection (moving parts) and far, far too many people place them in a totally useless way as they simply don’t understand how it works. Placed well, in decent rock, cams are awesome bits of kit, and vital bits of kit in certain places (Stanage, any Gritstone or Granite crag etc…). You may be limited by cost as they are expensive, but in an ideal world we would get a set of at 1-4 including half sizes ( ie-7 cams!) but obviously that’s a retail value of mega$$! As a minimum I would try and get sizes 1,2,3 and you can build it up over time. Perhaps go in half’s with your climbing partner? Of the many brands out there, I would look at the excellent DMM Dragon, with useful extendable sling, or the Black Diamond Camalots. The golden rule with cams is extend extend extend! You’ll cry if they walk back into a crack to be lost forever or the rope drag inverts them and they get stuck!
We’re going to need to splash out on new ropes too. So far, we’ve been climbing on 1 single rope, which is great for sport climbing, indoors, and straight up trad climbs. There’s a good chance now on the multi-pitch climbs our routes will wander back and forth, with protection all over the place, and there’s a good chance you might start looking at retrievable abseils to descend from the crags. SO what we need, is a pair of half ropes. These are indicated with the rope mark, a circle with a half symbol inside (1/2). Using 2 ropes allow us to reduce rope drag (by clipping the rope nearest the straight line of kit we place), do a full length retrievable abseil, and also put lower impact on the kit (not that we’d be placing gear of dubious quality though eh?!) For UK trad, get 50 or 60m ropes – oh and make sure they are different colours! I’m a big fan of the offerings from Mammut.
About to step right into the next crack, you can see how using 2 half ropes can reduce rope drag… Route: Amorican – VS 4c – One of the best VS’s anywhere! Caerfai Bay, Pembrokeshire…
Something to think about now is what problems might occur when climbng that you need to sort out. Remember, once you’re more than a pitch up you can’t simply lower an injured climber to the floor, and once committed, escape might be difficult – you may need to abandon gear if retreating. The techniques need to be learned are many and varied, and that’s another article. Better still, book on one of our “Self Rescue for Climbers Courses“! However, have a think about what kit you have and how it can be used to sort out problems. Remember we had 2 prussik loops from our trad starter kit list as well as some slings. You will need to double the amount of screw gates we mentioned (your going to need enough for 2 belays on multi-pitch climbs remember)!
The world of Multi-Pitch Climbing opens up so many possibilities for you, and is a vital stepping stone if you want to head into the Mountains, the Alps and further afield. Perhaps you’ve aspirations to go Big Walling? Maybe it’s Winter Climbing? Either way, this is it! You’re well on your way to being a proper climber!
Joey on the sharp end and pushing her grade on some adventurous Pembrokeshire sea cliff multi-pitch climbing!
If you come on a course with us you’ll receive a 15% discount voucher for V12 in Llanberis – one of the best climbing shops going!
This week I have been working and walking in Pembrokeshire on behalf of TYF delivering walking skills courses to students from Tormead School. The walking skills were delivered in the under-visited Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire. The area is famous for the Bluestones (Spotted Dolerite rock) that were actually used in the inner circle at Stonehenge… Its pretty mad that all that time ago these massive stones were transported 200km! Aliens? Glaicial erratics? Rolled on logs? You decide!
The site of the Bluestones from Stonehenge
We started the week with a big dump of rain, the first in what seems like months here, and finished in sweltering heat! The focus of the walking skills course was to give the students a grounding in decision making and risk assessing, hopefully leading to them being safer walkers and scramblers in the future. As well as looking at map reading skills and plenty of fauna and flora, we spend much of the time scrambling around the various summit rocks.
Summit rocks on Carn Menyn
The area is usually deserted, which is mad! There is loads of potential for short scrambles and bouldering to spice up your day, and it feels like a proper upland environment. I really enjoy running mountain skills courses here, it’s great for navigation and the aforementioned scrambling, plus contains loads of fauna and flora and sites of historical significance. As well as the usual plants, mosses and lichens, we were lucky enough to see loads of Ravens and spot a Peregrine close up…
Ben above an old Ravens nest in the Preseli Hills
A great week working with Ben was had, and we had a few great nights down Whitesands Beach and Abereiddy with the students soaking up the sun and the ever amazing Pembrokeshire sunsets…
