Outdoor Courses

"Outdoor" and "Learn to Lead" courses have been busy this month - making the most of the late summer weather - my camera has been playing up , so apologies to everyone I promised snaps to, I hope your photos's came out better !
Thanks to Andy, Jane, Chris, Rachel, Tim, Alex, Craig, Paul, SJ, Mike, Steve, Bryn, Lucy and Hayley for some entertaining climbing days - a few 1st leads, some challenging climbing and hopefully some good memories of the Wye Valley - probably better than my photo's anyway !

South of France

Trip to the sunny South of France last week , with a visit to the Ariege region - near the Andorra border - Scenery was impressive and varied from rolling countryside, limestone gorges, high mountain lakes, roadside bolted crags / high mountain routes ( Dent de Orlu looks good ) , Via Ferrata's, canoeing, mountain biking, walks, cafes, caves, castles, e.t.c - a week was far too short !
We had an excellent base to explore the area from Anne and John Arran's converted farmhouse http://www.chezarran.com . Thanks to both for their warm welcome and for arranging the weather!

Climbing Courses

A busy few days at Symonds Yat with courses providing an oppurtunity for David, Phillip, Tracie, Sean, Caroline, Ross and Tim to get to grips with some steep limestone - some of it even stayed dry !! with first leads , a big tick ( a long awaited ascent of the Longstone for Caroline ) some challenging climbing in the wet, some complicated ropework, sunshine and rain - we had the lot !!
Thanks to all for an enjoyable few days.

Wye Valley Climbing

A busy week this week with courses running through the sunshine of the weekend and dodging the showers of the week - Tintern Quarry was the venue for Philipp and Rebecca's first sport climbing leads on some reasonable grade F3's and F4's, with the tree canopy of Symonds Yat providing cover from the odd shower for introducing Will and Georgina to steep limestone climbing, shade was also needed as the week warmed up with Charlotte, Emma, Ella and Kate enjoying some long abseils and challenging climbing - we even ended up in a cave at one point to cool down as the rocks seemed to start sweating ! Thanks to all above for having the energy to make the week an enjoyable one.

North Wales

A trip to North Wales this week was rewarded with some fine weather despite the gloomy forecast and allowed us to cover some mountaineering techniques - multipitch climbing, shortening the rope, scrambling and multi - abseils e.t.c , with the blue skies , strong sunshine and warm rock it felt like the alps, especially on the beautiful ridges of the Ogwen valley.

After some long days a short cut down from Castle Y Gwynt via the col down to Llyn Bochlwyd seemed a good idea, but got us onto some very fresh loose rock confined in the steep upper gully - a place for extreme caution !

Thanks to Guy, Geraldine and Andrew for an enjoyable trip - a valuable experience all round.

Wye Valley Climbing

James Lane, a local climber, leading the ever popular " Questor" at Windcliffe last week) (n.b a very large flake has fallen off near " Cadillac" - doesn't effect the climb but does put into question some of the other large flakes in this area !! )

Last week saw us climbing in blazing June sunshine - where climbs in the shade were at a premium - all chalk, suncream and sunglasses, a long summer of climbing ahead - but no, it seems that the Wye Valley has a rainforest and the monsoon arrived this week ! - the variability of the British weather - Saturday was a washout ,but Sunday improved early and with a bit of searching some dry rock was climbed ( one advantage of overhanging limestone ) and as the day improved more and more climbs came into condition.
Thanks to Sean and Tracie for persevering through the early morning mud !

Peak District

A trip to the Peak District last weekend was rewarded with some sunny and dry weather - far better than the forecast - there seems to be so much info. about the weather available now that it gets confusing ! Stanage was cold in the wind, but Froggatt was much more sheltered , with the rock dry and crisp to the touch. A return to the Wye valley on Tuesday and some stamina training on the overhanging limestone - judging by the performance we need to go on a diet !