Monthly Archives: August 2010

Aug

Stag do Weekend

This weekend we ran a stag do for a bunch of lads.
Eye opener stories!!
James Swan – Stag Do
James Swan – Stag Do

Aug

Learn to Climb course and ML rope work Refresher

Well today it rained, quite a bit, so we headed for an easy route in the Langdales and then spent the afternoon a little soggy looking at refreshing Izzi’s skills for her ML rope work, we covered the confidence roping and emergency rope work part of the syllabus including some handy advanced top tips and tricks.

After a bowl of soup in the Old Dungeon Ghyll it was off to the train station to drop Izzi off for her journey home.

Aug

Learn to Climb Course

Izzi has done quite a bit of climbing on a wall and a little on single pitch crags but wanted to know the technicalities of multi pitch climbing. We spent the day looking at all the skills needed to be a competent second.

We climbed Brown Slabs Arete, Ardus and Little Chamonix.

Aug

ML Assessment & Training

This week Mike and I are running an ML Assessment and Training course at Lakeside YMCA. During these courses at Mountain Leader Courses at Lakeside YMCA we use the Real Adventure minibus, Accommodation and great food at lakeside, class rooms and coffee are on tap throughout the week until we head out to the hills for our 3 day 2 night expedition.

This week I headed to the Tilberthwaite and Weatherlam area for the first day navigation assessment then over to the Langdales for the rope work day finishing off with a stop off to get our feet wet in the river Brathay for the river crossings.

Mike has a great time with the trainees on the top of Caw and up to Kirkstone Pass.

We all ended up in and arround the upper esk for the expedition.

Thanks to everyone who attended the course and looking forward to seeing you all on the hill in the future.

Aug

Where we stay sometimes…

Next year we will be taking over most of the accommodation at Greenside Mines, Glenridding.

We have a team of 86 young people doing a variety of outdoor activities including a 1 night intro to the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme.

We will be using Striding Edge Hostel, Bell Cottage, Bury Jubilee Hut, and the Swirral Edge Barn. Our Chef, Mark and his handy little helpers will be catering for everyone staying at the huts during the adventure program.

The team at Real Adventure will be running ghyll scrambling, rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing, kayaking, DofE, caving and more from and around Glenridding that week.

We are all looking forward to it.

Aug

Accapi Gear Review

Dan Robinson & Sally Ozanne

Accapi is a success story based on innovation and research, originally a specialist in the manufacturing of technical socks for all types of sports with a particular focus on mountain activities. With a partnership with Nexus, Accapi now produces Infrared clothing for athletes.

Nexus is a revolutionary Japanese fabric with unique properties, incorporating platinum, titanium and aluminum to emit a safe infrared wavelength which is absorbed by the human body to result in thinned body fluids, increased circulation and accelerated toxin removal.

With Accapi’s longstanding support to mountaineers, when the Mountain Boot Company expanded to bring Accapi into the UK they were keen to see it on the bodies of mountain professionals. Sally Ozanne and I have been testing the technology and have only been finding really positive results.

Sally sustained an injury skiing and as a result has had an Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction, she has been using the Body Guard Action knee guard for the past couple of months and has noticed a significant difference. With the ability to improve blood circulation to the affected area it helps regain muscle tone + power and improves the elasticity of the muscles, ligaments and tendons. “Using the knee supports has helped with the recovery of a major operation and has enabled me to train and perform to a higher point than I had imagined after such trauma to a joint”.

I have been using the pro long sleeve t-shirt and a short sleeve action t-shirt. The pro range is designed to be used when you are warming down or in rest mode, and the action range for when you are active in your sport. As soon as you put the base layer on you notice a real difference, using this long term I have noticed an increase in mobility during a hard climb, and a reduction in the recovery time as a direct consequence of the increased circulation and accelerated toxin removal that this revolutionary fabric provides.

With regards to the use of the fabric as a technical garment in our work and play environments it is not as warm as wearing a thermal base layer. However, having said this, there is no issue when combined with good quality layering. The wicking properties are good and the technology in the fabric have a positive effect on the body.

Accapi offer Members of AMI a great deal on their products, have a look at the Gear Deals page in the secure area of our site for more information, although the garments a little more expensive than a traditional item of clothing, the result of the fabric to your body as a sports professional is well worth the investment for a long life career.

Aug