Peak Mountaineering: Introductory Climbing Course – A Review

Introduction

As mentioned in my previous post I wanted to look at participating in an introductory climbing course. The reason is to improve my basic rope skills and climbing skills to help aid in my mountaineering course next February and, going forward, hopefully in the Alps. I chose Peak Mountaineering due to online reviews.

I've booked a climbing course :-)

As preparation for my Winter Mountaineering course in February next year I have decided to sign up for an introductory climbing course with a company called Peak Mountaineering. To quote Peak Mountaineering their course is as follows:

“Peak Mountaineering's Introductory Rock Climbing Course is our most popular Peak District climbing course.  Two full days gives plenty of time to try this exciting sport as well as learning some of the essential skills.  We'll also use a variety of locations to give you a real taste of the countries first national park.

In the safe hands of Peak Mountaineering's highly experienced instructor team we'll help you gain the most from your time in a supportive and friendly environment.

Our Introductory Rock Climbing Course suits those new to climbing but it's also a very popular choice for indoor climbers who want to learn about climbing outside.  We'll provide the equipment.  We'll provide world class venues and we'll provide an expert to show you the ropes.  All you need is enthusiasm, lunch and a sense of adventure.  The only trouble is.....climb with us for two days and you'll be desperate for more!”

I really like the sound of the course and the people running it. I want to brush up on rope work and the other basics so that when I go for my course in February and hopefully on to the Alps in the future that I don't need any instruction in basic rope work. That would allow for more focus on tuition in more relevant techniques and skills. This was some advice given to me by Paul Warnock at Plas Y Brenin and I intend to follow it.

The course is £140 for two days with a maximum guide to client ratio of 1:8. My contact with Paul Lewis, the company founder, has been appropriate and quick. I've explained my aims from the course and my restriction, with which Paul was more than happy to work with me. Looking at online reviews the tuition seems to be of a high standard. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The Peak Mountaineering web address: http://www.peakmountaineering.com/

Windows 10 and Blogger

Out of interest, does anyone use 'Edge' in Windows 10 (yep, I turned to the dark side) to surf the Internet? If you do, do you experience a strange shimmering effect from the text on the side of my blog i.e. the blog list etc?

Well I've gone and done it now....... Again!

I have signed up for another mountaineering trip, this time with Moran Mountaineering, in Scotland. The company was started up and is run by Martin Moran, mountain guide and Author. I read Martin's biography, Higher Ground, last year, which was very inspiring. His journey to becoming a mountain guide, highlighted in his biography, is very interesting with quite surprising origins. I can highly recommend reading Martin's biography with signed copies available from Martin himself on his website (www.moran-mountain.co.uk). You can also purchase his books; The 4000 Peaks of the Alps and The Munros in Winter.

Training will be beginning in vain now. Long walks with a weighted pack (off out early tomorrow morning), High Intensity Interval Training, weight training and trail runs to make sure I am fit enough for February 2017. I was not as fit as I would have liked when I went to Wales in February this year. I am fitter now than I was then, but want to turn up the wick and make sure I can enjoy myself and learn a great deal.

I will write a review after the trip. I have just had a break from the blog for a few months to concentrate on other things. But hopefully I can use writing on here to provide some motivation, along with having paid my deposit already.

www.moran-mountain.co.uk

Salewa Raven Boots: A Review

Introduction

Weighing around the same as their competitors, but quite a bit cheaper, the Salewa Raven Mountain B2 boots are designed by Salewa for:

High mountain

Snow/Ice

Rocky/Technical Path

Mud/Grass

Mixed Mountain Terrain

I bought the boots around 18 months ago and have used them on a variety of terrain. The following is my review based on that use.

Welsh Winter Mountaineering: A few photographs

Plas Y Brenin: Welsh Winter Mountaineering (A Course Review)

Introduction

 

Plas Y Brenin is an outdoor sports education facility with quit a reputation for excellence. Their main site is in the small village of Capel Curig in North Wales right in the Snowdonia National Park. As mentioned in December 2015, I had signed up for a Welsh Winter Mountaineering course with them. The only thing missing was the snow, but some did arrive, and we found more. I mention this separately from my review as this was the only part of the course with much to desire and out of the hands of the Plas Y Brenin team.

 

 

 

 

HAPPY NEW!!!


 

Well I've gone and done it now.......

I've finally made the jump and paid out for a Welsh Winter Mountaineering course with Plas Y Brenin. I know that a course in Scotland would have a higher guarantee of snow, but I also want to book a scrambling course in Wales with Plas Y Brenin later in the year.

 

The information for the course can be found here:

 

http://pyb.co.uk/courses-detail.php?coursecode=WWM04&irisref=247

 

I'm looking forward to the course more than Christmas. I'm off to do the course the first week in February 2016 and will feedback my experiences on here. I've gone for the full bag of mashings; the course, accommodation and insurance. The pricing is on the site, and I think it is very reasonable when taking into account five nights stay and all the meals. But like most things, proof of the pudding is in the eating.

 

One positive already is communication. I asked a question via email and the response took a couple of days, but was very good and exactly what I needed.

 

If you have experienced a Plas Y Brenin course please feel free to pass on your comments below.

What I keep running into........

Besides helping improve my fitness, my early morning runs have another advantage.

Time for change

 

Possibly not quite as dramatic as it may sound, but I have decided I am too sedentary and started on a road to improved fitness. Or, possibly more accurate, a trail to improved fitness. From 1991 for almost twenty years I studied and trained in the martial art of Taekwondo, including 3-4 workouts at the gym every week. I was as fit as the proverbial ‘butchers dog’. After the ‘almost twenty years’ I had to give it up due to other priorities having, by then, reached the grade of 5th Dan Master. Although I have done a fair amount of walking since my accident back in 2010, I haven’t been as fit as I had liked. I have found the hills harder work than I should have. So several months ago I began a plan to improve my hill fitness.

 

Eagle Crag: A Tough Old Bird

“How the chuffnell do I get up there?” (Marc: September 2015)

 

 

Those were my first words when I looked at Eagle Crag, not for the first time, but certainly for the first time with intent to ascend it. Having decided to start and look at new challenges, not quite so traditional, I had read about Eagle Crag in ‘Scrambles in the Lake District - North: Volume 2: Northern Lakes’. I then saw a Tweet by Alan Hinkes about his ascent of Eagle Crag, Nethermost Ridge onto Nethermost Pike. I decided that this might make a good step up onto tougher walks.

 

 

 

Oxford Crag, A Place of Learning (Grade 2 Scramble Number 3)

Located on the northern slopes of Arnison Crag, Oxford Crag is referred to as a grade 2 scramble in the Cicerone book ‘Scrambles in the Lake District - North: Volume 2: Northern Lakes’. I had a morning free during my most recent visit to the Lake District, so I called into Patterdale to check it out.

 

 

DMM Locking Carabiner Recall

There is a recall notice for particular models of DMM Locking Carabiners. I thought I had better pass this information on as I had to check one of mine that happens to be one of the models potentially affected. Fortunately mine is okay, but yours may not be.

 

Link for information from DMM:

 

http://dmmclimbing.com/documents/dmm-product-recall-14-09-2015.pdf

Liked the Crag, Loved the Pike

Have you ever had a particular summit in mind and ended up finding something better in the process? I have. I’d spotted St Sunday Crag (841m) while heading up Helvellyn earlier in the year. St Sunday Crag has a bit of reputation for the crags on its North West flanks; the Chockstone Gullies and Pinnacle Ridge. I decided I had to give it a go.

 

 

King Kong Climbing Centre: Loads of fun for all Apes

While having a conversation with an experienced climber in Needle Sports of Keswick a few weeks ago, particularly with respect to my right arms limitations (which are constantly improving, but may have a limit) I was advised to go to a climbing wall. This would allow for a safe environment where I could work with an instructor and find my current limitations. I’ve had some climbing experience, but things have changed considerably since then.

 

 

Wilderness Gully East: Grade 2 Scramble Number 2 in the bag.

It may only be around 250 feet from bottom to top, but Wilderness Gully East has the most fun packed into such a small space I have yet come across scrambling. If you look around on the Internet you will find it referred to as a classic, I have to totally agree. It is easily on par with Wildboar Clough, if considerably smaller.

 

 

High Cup Nick: If I could only do one walk…..

High Cup Nick is a glacial valley situated near the village of Dufton, in Cumbria, on the western edge of the Pennines. The Pennine Way literally passes along the edge of the valley. I’ve read that is considered a geological wonder, and I would have to totally agree. For me, it is like The Roaches, one of England’s natural wonders. The valley is an almost perfectly symmetrical ‘U’ shape that I have never seen before.

 

 

 

Ashton Clough: A C47 Dakota and A B29 Superfortress

Located in the Peak District Ashton Clough is a narrow clough that goes from the path of the old Roman Road (at the point of Doctor's Gate) up to Shelf Moor and the Lower and Higher Shelf Stones. I accessed the clough from the top end of the snake pass just over three miles east of the little town of Glossop.

 

 

Ashton Clough is not really the subject of this post, the two wrecks are. The first is a C47 Dakota Skytrain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain). The second wreck is that of a B29 Superfortress, a huge quad engine bomber of the Second World War era (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress).

 

Black Diamond Speed 22: A Little Gem

Trying to get a spot on pack for scrambling is quite tough. Smaller packs tend to be a little short, not comfortable or not designed for the purpose. I recently reviewed the Lowe Alpine Illusion 16 that punches above its weight, but not always large enough. So I wanted a reasonably priced, narrow, comfortable pack of around 20 litres or slightly above. After a lot of research and looking around I settled on the Black Diamond Speed 22.