Staff @ Play Blog Category
← Older postsMining Trip
Well after a long day in the office with Simon Fenna working on the report-ability of m office database, John Riley of Fired Up Design working on the new RA website and myself working on the content of the new site and future programs we all got a little itchy and needed to go do something.
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Simon’s Mate is one of the local mining experts, she popped a black bag over our heads span us round in circles drove us to an unknown location and took the bag off only once we had walked 35 min up hill and got into the entrance.
Wow… now both simon and I have done allot of caving over the years, but nothing just compares tonight. Vast man made chambers, hanging floors, stunning blue flowstone, worrying deads (waste rock stacked precariously) long abseils, deep blue water, filled shafts, etc, etc.
This was not sport, nor was it adventure – this is adventure exploration… You do not get that feeling that you have done a great deal due to the sedate nature of your delicate movement through the passages, any heavy feeling and there is the chance of falling through on of the false floors. There is also that missing feeling that you get in a cave of the awareness of water conditions (cave are made by water not man and his dynamite) however it was replaced by the inevitable collapse of what ever lies above or below you.
Towards the end of the trip our resident mine nutter noticed a place that she had been standing just last week was now a gaping whole in the floor dropping down past the distance of a really powerful LED torch!
This level of mine exploration is not safe, it is not fun, it is not somewhere I would choose to take people and it is totally bazar to be walking in the mountains wearing caving kit. However it is really fascinating, learning about the history of what went on to extract a bit of metal out of the earth and learning about the methods and seeing the old workings is just formidable.
New Website & Blog
The Real Adventure web site is being re developed as I sit here typing this post. The Old site is now 5 years old and with new developments in web site design and back end usability it was time to move forwards.
Real Adventure has also developed as a company over the years and the range of what we can offer increased significantly. The company has been a great journey for me and I am really exited to be pushing it forwards once more with this rather large step.
So by the end of the week, if all goes to plan, you will notice that the old site will have been changed a touch.
If you notice a lack of content straight away – apologies, there will be a time laps from when it goes live to adding the copy bit by bit.
The Website address will stay the same however the Blog will change from being a Word Press Blog to a blog with its own rights stylised under the RA site.
Once this is sorted you may need to change the path if you have the original set up in your favourites.
Dan Robinson
Head of Real Adventure
River Kent
Just as I get in from work (1845) I get a little txt from Gareth “get yourself to the get in on the kent at Morrisons for 1845″
Straight back out the door for and to the get in to see no sign of any boaters, back to New Road and the crowds of onlookers gave a clue as to what was going on under the bridge, on went the dry suit for another little fix whilst the water is still here.
“There ain’t no such a thing as bad weather – just the wrong choice of toys”
River Leven
Back in the Lakes it had been raining too.
The kent was a little high so we headed over to the Leven to catch a cheeky run before work.
Kat Mclennan, Gareth Field and I ran it twice, it is such a short section at the moment as Backbarrow Falls has a large quantity of scaffolding acting like a mincing machine for any unaware kayakers whilst they repair the bridge after the Floods of November.
Gareth, Kat & I After the first run down the River Leven
Kayaking the Conwy
Well as it was raining lots and the rivers where up and Sally (one of RA’s staff) was in wales and we all had our boats it seamed a shame to go home without stealing a before breakfast run down the river.
We started at about 6 in the morning so we could all get to work on time.
The river goes at about 3+ and has a great little s shaped drop on it. It was a shame we did not have much time to play on each wave.
Sally Ozanne kitting up before the River Conwy 0615
Off back to the lakes for a 1030 start!
I need to get a waterproof camera – any suggestions?
MIA Trainee Workshop Day – Teaching Leading & Climbing in Parallel
The second day of the weekends workshop – Rain lots of.
Steve and I decided the best venue would be Milestone Buttress sue to the grades and angles of the crag allowing for climbing in the wet.
When people are at this stage in there knowledge it is possible to hypothesise various methods and perceived methods before trying them out on the crag, this allowed another cup of tea and postponed the inevitable soaking we where going to get that day.
We looked at and discussed; when it is appropriate to let students lead, choice of routes, issues associated with students on the sharp end, types of rope systems and managing the system, stuck worried weak leader, appropriate use of parallel rope systems, slick and efficient application of parallel systems and methods of skill checking clients before committing them to the risks of climbing above there gear and belaying a pier.
Cream
After the workshop, as we where at the crag and it was dry and we still had some daylight it seamed a shame not to go climbing again.
Steve Long, one of the lads on the course Liam, and I headed off after the debriefs and climbed Cream – E4 5b, 5c, 6a
Liam lead the first pitch, I lead the second (E3 5c) one of the best E3′s I have had the pleasure to climb, and Steve lead the last crux pitch. A good effort to the lad as it was still a little damp from the early morning rain!
Dan Rob eyeing up the crux moves on the middle pitch of Cream
Liam after pulling through the wet E4 6a crux moves of cream on second
White Ghyll Abseil point
Kat and I headed op to White Ghyll and Kat lead Slip Knot VS 4a, 4b before getting rained off, well it had to happen at some point this summer!
Pitch 2 of Slip Knot
There are many abseil points across the Lakes and they vary from good to just really unsightly.
Below is an example of the accumulation of new tat to back up old suspect tat and the old being left behind with a variety of either old rusting crabs maillions or chain left in place.
A shambles of dilapidated tat
I will be replacing Ab Stations with new tat, taking away the old and leaving behind large stainless rings.
It is still the judgement of the climber to ensure the reliability of the anchor point and to ensure the tat is still in good condition before committing their life to it.
This is what one of the lower off’s at White Ghyll looks like now…
The new tat and ring...
Gable Crag
Today Martin Ibbotson from High Times Mountaineering and I headed up to Gable for a crack at some harder routes…
A good early start meant that we where the first on the crag but not for long, the last count got up to 23 climbers!! just when we where saying how none of the routes looked like they had been climbed for a while and how no one climbs on high mountain crags anymore. All the routes on Gable have been climbed recently now!! Every climb on the Engineers Slab got climbed apart from Sarcophagus.
We did…
The Angle of Mercy E1 5a, 5b
The Tomb E2/3 4c, 5c, 5a
Snicker Snack E3 5c
Engineers Slab Vs 4c, 4c
[wpvideo iepsodvd]
The Wobbly Rock – Dow Crag
Now the last time I was climbing on Dow, Helen and I where chatting with a fella who was noting how quiet the crag was and that this was due to a certain rock he had wedged on the footpath along the tarn.
Anyone who has climbed on Dow Crag in the past will remember the irritating echo of the clatter of a wobbly rock which got stood on every time a walker passed along side the tarn, sometimes walkers would notice the echo and even surf it for a while oblivious to the effect on a lead climber pulling through the crux of a route.
Well today Graham and I where walking up Coniston Old Man passed Goats Water with a Year 4 School Group from Manchester and found said rock…
After removing its wedge and surfing it for while the reprobate in us wanted to leave it in its natural state.
If you find the rock, please leave it chocked!!!
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