Monthly Archives: June 2010

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Caving Day

Today Sam, Bob and Graham took a team of young people from Appletree treatment centre caving.

Appletree opened in 1995 with a mission to help support young children whose lives have been severely disrupted to grow socially and emotionally and learn to cope with school.

The day was really positive for the young people and we look forward to building positive relations and taking them on adventures in the future.

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!

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.

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…

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

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Bowfell Buttress with Langdale Primary School

Langdale Primary School adopts understands that everyone is an individual and each person will find what they are best at in life, they believe in giving each young person the opportunity to experience every thing they have to offer and to allow for further development for those who connect to topic.

At Real Adventure we take the Langdale kids out from an early age teaching them to do what we love in their back yard and afield, over the years we have been to the Dales for a week’s caving and rock climbing based residential, Ennerdale for the hill’s water and climbing, and to local crags. each young person has now done a good number of progressive taster climbing sessions.

Last year some of the team asked us if they could go Multi Pitch climbing on the crags they pass on their way to school each day so we built them up to the challenge and took a few of them up Middle Fell Buttress after a little training and risk assessing with Cathy.

2 of them that we took out may just be the next Dave Birket of the Lakes. Mark Squires asked me if I would be happy taking them up Bowfell Buttress.

Looking at the amount of climbing and hill walking they had done and remembering the skills they had picked up along the way I felt comfortable that they would be able to manage the day but only if the stars alined and it was perfect weather for them.

Today was the day, the two budding climbers and Cathy a well experienced climber (and their teacher from a really young age) and I headed to Brambles for a traditional bacon bun climbing start to the day before heading off up the valley to Stool End Farm and the long walk in up the Band.

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Mountain Biking – Flookburgh Primary School

As part of the Schools Extended Services we provided a days mountain biking.

Steve Pugh took them around the woods and tracks of the Cartmel area where they all learned to bike safely and mastered skills from the tuition of Steve.

Langdale Primary BBQ

Langdale Primary Y4, 5 & 6′s have been doing an unassisted walk cir-cum navigating Lingmore with an over night camp.

We headed out to meet them for a BBQ at Blea Tarn. As there was time and it was in the van…

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!!!

Hodge Close Quarry

After work we headed over to Hodge to take out the Bolt that had been placed in Ten Years After. The route is a classic traditional climb that is one of the “classic slate scare fests” a bolt was placed next to the old peg.

The Cumbria Bolt Fund which I chair works towards seeing replaced bolts cumbria’s bolted climbs, no illegitimate bolts will stay in any trad route under my watch.

On abseil we saw that someone had beaten us to roving it – thanks.

So we did Sky, E2 5c and Ten Years After E4 5c then had a BBQ on the side of Windermere.

Guided Rock – Wasdale

Paul had not been rock climbing since hemp rope and hobnailed boots, he was keen to convert his skills to the present day!

During the week Paul learnt his limits using his new boots, all there was to know about basic rope work, placing gear, building anchors and abseiling.

Going away with a set of skills get himself up climbs safely he headed back South.

Paul and I will be climbing together again in September where we will build on what he has learnt and take it to another dimension.

Enjoy the video…

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Ghyll Scrambling – Langdale Primary

Lessons are outside today once again for Langdale Primary. Graham and I took a class of Year 5′s Ghyll Scrambling up Stickle Ghyll for the day with Mark Squires the head of the school.

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Its great working closely with a school for a long period of time, getting to know the young people and seeing them on many adventure means that we can rank up the adventure level.

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