Technical & Committee Blog Category

Newer posts →

BMC Technical Committee Meeting

BMC Technical Committee Report for AMI By Dan Robinson

For the BMC’s Summit magazine the technical committee produce the Tech Skills section. this is about researching the technical aspects of equipment that aid us in what we do. The research informs the readers as to the strength, construction, choice when considering a purchase and more, Dan Middleton is the guru from the BMC that rights the main article, a suitable person is then contacted to right the Q & A’s. The committee are welcome to ideas of what to cover in future articles, have a look in the equipment advice area of the BMC’s website at the history of what has been covered and let me know if you have a moment of inspiration.

The Helmets Booklet is now complete and available as a free download from the BMC’s website, go to the equipment advice section of the site and hit “technical Booklets”. I am sure many of you use these booklets as part of the further reading on technical courses or qualifications so thanks to the BMC for yet another great resource.

The next booklet to come out is “Ropes – a climbers guide”, the text is being worked on at the moment. It will include essential info, using a rope, choosing a rope, history of ropes, rope construction and more. These booklets take time to produce, ill let you know when it is ready to download from the BMC’s website.

The Next UIAA Safety Commission meet is in June, held in Italy this year and will last for 5 days. A huge thanks goes out to Neville McMillan for representing the UK over the years, Rob Foster receives the baton and has now been accepted to replace Neville. This meet will look at and debate the technical aspects and practical uses of equipment and the standards that they are tested to. Textiles, metal parts& connectors, bolt corrosion, via ferrata connectors, crampons strength, etc will be cover over the week with a visit to the test lab. Information on failures from each participating country is looked with regards to changing the standards to increase safety for climbers and mountaineers.

MLTE Board Meeting

I stand as the AMI representative on the Mountain Leader Training England Board.

Today was the AGM and General Board meeting held at the BMC offices in Manchester.

Church Beck User Group Meeting

Church Beck is a fantastic Ghyll in the Lake District Nr Coniston.

Tonight was a meeting of all users for the ghyll to talk about access and run through ideas for reducing erosion.

I am beginning the process of collating information of other venues throughout the Lakes that have been closed over the years and looking at way we can re-open these for use with groups and individuals.

If anyone has any information of ghylls we may not have thought about or access history that may be useful please drop me an e-mail.

The Outdoor Show

The AMI are invited by DMM to run the Ice Climbing wall at the Outdoor Show each year.

This year I went down to help out on the stand.

The wall is made from a high density foam and offered a great opportunity for people to have a go at using ice axes and crampons.

Thanks DMM for the invite and to all the people who I saw and coached during the day.

Grip ‘a’ bility

At this years BMC’s Technical Conference at PYB in November I will be running a workshop on Grip’a'bility. Designed to increase peoples knowledge of the ability to grip different diameters of rope by hand, attendees will be able to test and experience the load that their hand can hold on different ropes.

Today I went along to Lyon Equipment’s facilities to run some preliminary tests and to finalise the practical for the conference.

BMC Technical Committee Meeting

I stand on the BMC’s Technical Committee representing the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI).

This is a group of highly knowledgeable people ranging from metallurgists, engineers, manufactures, textile experts who are all climbers. The Aim of the group is to issue safety advice and investigate incidents of failed equipment.

Biannually the committee holds a conference at Plas y Brennin this year the theme is friction. There will be practical sessions in the morning and lectures + theory session in the afternoon with a speaker in the evening. Sportiva will be there demonstrating the friction of boots and Vibram rubber. Jim Titt from Bolt Products will be running a workshop on belay devices and rope friction through them and I have been invited to run a workshop on gip ‘a’ bility.

We all meet in Manchester at the BMC’s offices around 5 time per year.

See you on an adventure soon…

A short taste of the kind of things we do.

• School Residentials
• Adult Skills & Qualifications ML, SPA & CWA
• Educational Activity Days
• Family Adventures
• Winter Skills and Guided Ice Climbing

[wpvideo zZudh327]

Video by Aqueous Films, Stills by Real Adventure

Newer posts →