Indoor to Outdoor climbing course

Despite forecasts of rain the weekend produced more spring sunshine - a good incentive to get climbing outdoors on warm limestone in a beautiful location and although the course involved a lot of technical instruction - knots, anchors, systems e.t.c some well known Symonds Yat routes were enjoyed aswell : Pistol , Zymurgy, Vertigo, Golden Fleece, The Druid e.t.c.
Thanks to Paul, George, Debbie and Mark for an enjoyable weekend's climbing !

Introduction to climbing course

After rain mid-week, the warm sunshine on the weekend dried out the rock and made for some very pleasant climbing conditions. Symonds Yat wasn't too busy with only half a dozen teams out all weekend enjoying the warm limestone; one team had a rude introduction to the climbing here with an aborted lead attempt on 'Offspring' - a well known 'sand-bagger', it looks fairly straight forward with plenty of gear and obvious holds, but it is much more strenuous than first appears and the crux has a little trick to it - they wouldn't be the first team to be repulsed !

Next weekend may be a little busier as The Climbers Club has a meet in the Wye Valley area and, with a new guide book for Symonds Yat being prepared, may increase interest.

Winter walking Scotland

After such a good winter in Scotland the winter conditions are proving resilient to the recent high temperatures - with heavy snowfall on tuesday night and with some cooler temps. the climbing has improved again( Ben Nevis is positively arctic on top ) . Easter traditionally has been a good time to visit - with longer days, more settled weather, and old snow . The long trip home, however, kind of signals a change, with ice axes put away and rock boots brought out - roll on the spring !