More lead climbing courses

A day off today - unusual for a Bank Holiday - but I'm quite  grateful as it is torrential rain here this morning. We managed to squeeze in quite a bit of climbing over the last few days , especially as the weather was much better than predicted and Mark, Rado and Dimitar all managed to progress their lead climbing - with just enough excitement to give climbing experience at the sharp end and a real sense of adventure on the Prow of the Longstone Pinnacle for Rado and Dimitar - well done guys !
We could of done with some more challenging weather in Snowdonia last week, as I was helping out on a mountain navigation course with Rob Johnson - as it was the dazzling sunlight made the use of map and compass a little redundant - but I'm not going to complain too much, a day out in theses beautiful mountains is always going to be a treat.

Lead climbing courses

We've enjoyed a good day out climbing some Symonds Yat classics  on Matt and Jason's lead climbing course - moving onto some leader placed protection after the sport climbing at Tintern Quarry - both found being at the sharp end of the rope an exciting experience, and we looked at how to cope rationally with the rising panic that can sometimes affect lead climbers - luckily they both survived and succeeded on their respective climbs.

Summer rock climbing

It has been a very busy few days - with people taking advantage of the extended holiday period and some stunning weather - we have all enjoyed some excellent climbing in some beautiful surroundings, and for those new to the area, quite an eye-opener as to what this part of the UK has to offer - especially for John and David who had travelled all the way from Northern Ireland and were rewarded for their efforts with a perfect day. We were able to progress courses well this week with Matthew , John, David and Kieran completing first leads outdoors - Zoe being more comfortable with heights, Laith pushing his grade and Jo realising that climbing can be fun !

A little quieter today after the Bank holiday - giving us the choice of routes today for some pre-trip training for Russell and Lucy, who are heading out to the 'Via Ferratas' of the Italian Dolomites. We were able to do some long traverses on the steep limestone cliffs, giving us a facsimile of the character of the steep rock that they might encounter !