walking Archives - The Climbing Company

Pembrokeshire Coast Path

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk January 5, 2016 January 5, 2016 Adventures, Pembrokeshire

Running the Pembrokeshire Coast Path…

Despite not having been back long from India, this winter seems to have gone on forever! No-one will have escaped the fact that it’s been one of the wettest, windiest and miserable on record! It may mean that the Ski season in the Alps has been a slow starter, but it doesn’t have to stop you getting out and exploring, even closer to home.. During the first week of the New Year, we decided to get out on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, and combine some New Years (much needed) fitness training and some exploring the nooks and crannies of the area we live…

Hidden beaches on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path

Having lived in Pembrokeshire on and off for eight years, and spending most of my work and play time outdoors, I have been on most parts of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, and, without a hint of bias, honestly believe it to be one of the best, most scenic, most picturesque and rugged wild places in the British Isles…

Looking West on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path to St. David’s Head

In an attempt to be able to draw a line around the whole Pembrokeshire Coast Path on the Ordinance Survey map I have on my wall, we made a conscious effort to go out and explore some more of it. And it’s making this effort, especially at this time of year, that really enables you to discover new places, see amazing sights and not feel like a dire winters day is wasted! So, come rain or shine (usually more rain and wind!) we have been out running on the coastal path. The guides say the total distance is 186 miles, and climbs over 33,000ft, and given that you’re rarely likely to encounter another soul on certain parts of it, it feels pretty wild and remote.

Just a small part of the wild, rugged and remote Pembrokeshire Coast Path

During our exploration of the coastal path (which is a National Trail no less..) we’ve discovered beaches we had no idea existed, seen remote beaches full of lazing Seal and spied whole cliff faces with not a single established rock-climb on…

Some blue skies between all the recent storms of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path

It wont be long till the Springs here, daylight hours get longer, and with any luck the weather will be better. But on these dark, wet winter months, don’t stay inside and have unproductive days – the Pembrokeshire Coast Path should be explored all year round!

Get out there and explore the Pembrokeshire Coast Path!

More details on the coastal path can be found here…

Climbing in Pembrokeshire

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk September 29, 2015 September 29, 2015 Courses, Pembrokeshire, work

Last week we had a few days off at last! And it was a joy to be out on the crags climbing in Pembrokeshire for fun! As we hadn’t been on the limestone in a while, we spent a few days down there. Initially with Alun, but Bramble also got out of his kayak and came with us one day! Great company and some new places explored, and steep, adventurous routes done!

Climbing at St Govans

Steep ground Climbing in Pembrokeshire

Climbing through the Blow Hole

After a few days personal climbing in Pembrokeshire, I had a great day teaching lead climbing skills to Steve and Nikki. Being strong indoor climbers they picked up all the new skills quickly, and both did their first lead climbs in the Porth Clais area. Amazing weather and good company, hopefully they will both be back out on the cliffs again soon!

Steve on a course lead climbing in Pembrokeshire

After a busy Monday to Friday it was a quick trip to North Wales for the weekend… I was attending a “Train the Trainers” course at Plas Y Brenin. Run by Mike Raine, this course is aimed at those delivering training to candidates going through the national governing body awards, such as the SPA and ML. The goal is to get like minded people to explore different teaching styles and models, using mock clients. An interesting couple of days, and a joy to be in the hills in such amazing weather!

Teaching ML rope work in Snowdonia

Coasteering and Climbing in Pembrokeshire

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk September 21, 2015 September 29, 2015 work

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…

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Ruminahui Ascent

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk August 7, 2015 August 7, 2015 Adventures, Courses, work

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!

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Trekking on Chimbarazo…

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk August 1, 2015 August 1, 2015 Adventures, work

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….

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Walking, Climbing and Coasteering in Pembrokeshire…

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk July 10, 2015 July 10, 2015 work

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!

Walking to Abereiddy Headland

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Walking Skills in Pembrokeshire

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk June 30, 2015 June 30, 2015 Courses

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…

Whitesands Beach Sunset

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MOD apprentice week in Dartmoor

By stu_mcinnes@hotmail.co.uk May 24, 2015 May 24, 2015 work

This week I’ve been working on behalf of “Wet and High Adventures” with a group of engineering apprentices from the MOD for Bridgwater College. A busy week aimed to develop their problem solving and team-work and to provide a bit of bonding for them! We climbed, mountain biked and hiked throughout Dartmoor from out base at the brilliant “Dartmoor Expedition Centre”.

Our first day of climbing coincided with the only bit of rain for the week, so we headed indoors to the Dart-Rock Climbing Centre. An excellent place for the guys to take their first steps. We spent the morning looking at good climbing technique on the bouldering wall, before learning to belay and get on some routes. A few of the guys even managed some lead climbs – on their very first day climbing – great effort! We finished the day with an awesome inter-team bouldering comp…

Our 2 day hike over some fantastic scenery was couple with amazing weather – a real treat, and the guys coped well with the navigation and physical nature of the long miles – we did have a fair few stops in the sun by the river though to soak up the rays!

Our final day mountain biking on the excellent Haldon Forest Trails was a brilliant end to the week. Starting on the skills track with the burms, drop-offs and other obstacles, we developed their personal biking enough to finish the day on one of the tricky red trails. A fun week at work with some great people – really nice to be working with a bunch of super highly experienced instructors – and another week of it starting tomorrow!