Sunderland Wall, 29th April 2009

Since I had a business appointment in Sunderland, I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at their climbing wall and to get Rach a few more routes for her log book.

The wall is down at the old Pallion ship yard and their building is one of the old ship building structures; very high and airy.

The climbing wall has an area of 900m2. The competition wall overhangs by a massive 8m, with two adjacent 6m overhangs. There are over 140 routes on the main walls, 90 of which are top-rope routes spread over 32 lines. Grading for the main walls ranges from F3 to F8a (French Sports Grade) or HVD to 6c (British Tech Grade).

We tried everything from 4a through to 5c and I must confess, they were bloody difficult, way harder than similar grades at Sheffield and Leeds.

Aido, the centre manager, tells me he likes to keep them tight so that when you transfer to rock there are no surprises.

All good and well, but the 4c groove I tackled felt like the 6b I fell off at Leeds with Dicko.

We'll be back.... but after a few 6bs....

Davie

ML Training

The Easter holidays saw Rich S partaking in some Mountain Leader training.

Day 1. We startted in the Hills of Cromdale to practice navigation and our introduction to group management and leadership skills. First we climbed to the summit of Sgòr Gaoithe where we practiced walking on bearings and identifying features. Next was over to Carn na Cloiche, using pacing and timing techniques. The pace of the day was tough and by the first evening one of the guys had decided enough was enough and threw his towel in!

Day 2. This was our introduction to steep ground so we head over to Huntly’s Cave. Here we practiced rucksack pulling/pushing, confidence roping and deployment of a safety rope for down climbing, lowering and personal abseils.

Day 3. Expedition. We set off to the Cairngorms for our over night camp. For this part of the course we were put through our paces as group leaders with each of us taking turns to manage the group and navigate. Each time, Pete would take on a different personality and punish us by acting as a difficult child (walking slower or faster than everyone else, continuously asking questions about flora and fauna, running off into the trees, etc) to test our skills. We reached Coire Odhar by 5:00pm to set up camp. From here we would start our night navigation and set off to the summit of Bynack More to watch the sun set.

Day 4. After a cold night on the mountain we set off for some more navigation and a flora/fauna beasting back to the car.

Day 5. River crossings and emergency procedures. A pleasant morning in the B&B garden mocking up river crossings to practice different techniques did not prepare me for the real thing. Top tip, if you must cross a river, find a bridge! All other techniques are horrible!!
The afternoon saw Pete showing a selection of slides with various images of cuts, wounds and broken people. Amazingly, I managed to hold on and remain conscious! With these images in our minds we set out to some near by woodland to practice improvised carries where Shona and I managed to drop Pete on the floor and then I (being the fattest) got a piggy back from Shona (the smallest).

Day 6. Final day of steep ground practice. Back to the Cairngorms and Ciste Crags for some more rucksack pushing and rope deployment.

Verdict. We were blessed with amazing weather, the folk on the course were great and I learnt loads. Brilliant!!

Leeds Wall, 7th April 2009

Today Rach, Jack and Davie were back at the wall to get another couple of routes in Rach's log book.

Started off on some top ropes to loosen off and then progressed to a grade 5 route for Rach to lead and Jack to top rope. Another 5 followed then we had a great lunch in the cafe; well, this is Verdes after all...

We went back out for round two with Davie doing a piddly 4a route and Rach leading on a 6a that saw a long fall before moving to another 6a that she bagged with loads of grit and determination.

Her hands were so pumped she couldn't fill in her log book... happy days!

Another excellent Verdes day out.

Davie

Outdoor First Aid Course, Shrewsbury, 31st March-1st April 2009

It suddenly dawned on me as I was free climbing the Dancing Bear at Brimham Rocks, that if anything untoward happened to me, I was in the hands of Rachael, the qualified life guard...

I'm not knocking the First Aid capabilities of our life guarding cousins, but I wasn't likely to be falling into a large pool face down - if I fell, things were going to break....or bleed.

This was the sick reasoning in my mind this week as Rach and I headed off to Shrewsbury for my second Outdoor First Aid course. There were 17 post grad students attending and it would be fair to say they were a lively bunch.

As always, the course is pretty full on and very practical and I'm pleased to say that Rach passed with flying colours, making a few new friends on the way.

Now we just need to get Slaney through his course to support his ML and we should be well covered. (Note to self - must make sure that its me who does the talk on bleeding for that one!)

If any of you want to get a recognised Level 2 First Aid qualification (not just a bums on seats certificate), then drop me a line or phone me.

Davie