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Eliminate 'A' - Dow Crag

25/4/2019

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#eliminate-A-dow-crag-lake-district-climbing
Enjoying the amazing positions of this route
A plan was hatched to spend a rest day climbing up on Dow Crag with Sam. I always prefer being up on the mountain crags and Dow certainly qualifies as one of those. Thankfully Sam is always pretty keen for the higher crags too, so when Dow was mentioned he was well keen. Then Eliminate 'A' was mentioned and it was 'game on'.

Checking the guidebook I couldn't believe it had been 7 years since I had climbed this magnificent route, where does the time go!

Walking up to the crag, it almost felt like we were running, so keen we were to get up there and enjoy the beauty of Dow. As is typical for this crag, the approach walk is hot & sweaty, the crag is chilly and jackets come out of the bags! We hadn't actually packed jackets though, oh dear. But between us we more or less had enough to keep us warm...ish.

As I'd previously led all the pitches, we engineered it for Sam to get all the plum pitches, so an easy ride for me :-)
The easier pitches are no less worthwhile though, in fact, I'd say they're every bit as good as the cruxes. Every pitch, every move really is brilliant. But for me, it's the higher pitches that are the best, the exposure is felt far more and a feeling that a VS really shouldn't be cruising through such wild terrain.

The FRCC guidebook description sums things up rather well: 'One of England's great routes; cunningly conceived, of absorbing interest and with a superb atmosphere'.

There are plenty more routes on Dow crag, from Diff up to the high E grades, with some single pitch routes and lots of long multi-pitch offerings. Many are 3 star classics, so well worth the walk up and the extra clothes required for a high and East facing mountain crag. Views over to Old Man of Coniston and down to Goat's Water are wonderful too. Oh, and then there's the top out. Depending on which route you choose, you may top out to more mind blowing views, this time it's into the Duddon valley and over to the Scafell range. 

​Top day, cheers Sam.

Great crag, great atmosphere, great climbing. Want some but not sure where to start. Give us a call and let's make a plan. 

Mark

​Thanks to Mila for help with the photos :-)

#guided-rock-climbing-lake-district
Gunning for the top and sunshine
#mountain-activities-lake-district
Scrambling to the top
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Guided rock climbing in the Lake District

23/4/2019

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#climbing-course-lake-district
Mikka about to tackle the steep section of 'Slab Climb' at Castle Rock
The Lake District, like much of the UK has been enjoying some amazing early season sunshine and warmth over the Easter break. This has brought out lots of people, all enjoying the splendid scenery and environment of the Lake District, always great to see.

It's been a very busy time for us too, no doubt partly helped by the great weather.

For the last 4 days we've been showing Mikka (originally from Finland but now residing in London) some of the brilliant climbing the Lake District has to offer. Having already climbed in Snowdonia, the Southwest of England, and Southern Spain, oh and the Alps, the Lakes had it's work cut out.

Our brief was to give lots of mileage on rock.

We started at Raven crag in Langdale, climbing: Evening Wall; Original Route; and Revelation.
For day 2 Sam took Mikka to climb the Borrowdale classic 'Troutdale Pinnacle' and they finished with Brown Slabs Arete at Shepherds crag.
Day 3 we headed for the Duddon valley and Wallowbarrow crag. Climbing Wall & Corner; Trinity Slabs; and Thomas.
Day 4 and our final day with Mikka was to be shorter as a train needed to be met for the return journey to London. Castle Rock provided the easy access we needed. We climbed Gangway; Slab climb; Yew tree climb; and Via Media.

Somewhere around 32 pitches of climbing over 3 and a half days, mostly at 'Severe' grade. I think it's fair to say we gave Mikka the mileage he was looking for.

​If you're looking for something similar, please get in touch and let's make a plan.

When the sun shines, there really isn't anywhere better to be than right here in the Lake District. And preferably on a crag. 

Thanks for reading, hope to see you soon

Mark


#guided-climbing-lake-district
Enjoying the minor classic of 'Thomas' at Wallowbarrow crag
#rock-climbing-langdale
Local climbers enjoying a sunny day at Raven crag, Langdale
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A couple of days honing our technical and teaching skills

14/4/2019

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#rock-climbing-course-ambleside
Considering when to get the rope out whilst scrambling whilst enjoying sublime conditions in Langdale
We spend a lot of time passing on new skills to our clients, this could be anything from how to read a map to leading a trad rock climbing route. This covers a lot of skills and information, so we need to also be keeping on top of this and always want to be learning new things so we can pass on new skills and latest developments to you.

This last couple of days we have attended two different courses, both focused on teaching mountain based skills.

Firstly a 'Teaching scrambling' day. For this we used White Ghyll Edge and Tarn crag in ascent and descent. As a group of 5 we talked through movement skills and coaching, when and where spotting can be appropriate, route choice and route finding skills. We later considered when would be appropriate to deploy a rope and how best to use it / show it's uses in an easy to remember format. This was an incredibly useful day, with lots of ideas shared. A real take-home improvement for me is the introduction of a clove hitch when taking coils. This brings a great improvement in stability when attached to anchors.

Day two was focused on 'Teaching self rescue skills'. Not something we are asked to do very often and an area many become rusty in, as thankfully these are skills we don't use much.
It was very useful to simply watch someone else explain all the basics, starting with tying off a belay device and attaching a prussic. Setting up an assisted and unassisted hoist, all whilst 'in the system'.
We then went climbing at Upper Scout crags in Langdale and worked through a number of 'scenarios' whilst climbing. Again, it was really useful to share ideas and look at how others approach problem avoidance and problem solving. An important theme that ran through the day was very much 'problem avoidance' as this is so much better than looking for solutions!
We managed a couple of multi-pitch routes before the icy wind chilled us all and we ran back to the valley floor.

Two brilliant days, very well delivered by Nick Canon Jones, thanks Nick.

Mark

#mountaineering-course-lake-district
Easier but still serious terrain near the top of Tarn crag, Langdale
#trad-climbing-course-lake-district
Exploring different methods of releasing a 'guide' style belay device
#self-rescue-for-climbers
A simple and effective assisted hoist set up
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Adventure days in the Lake District

8/4/2019

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#gorge-scrambling-near-keswick
Taking the plunge in House Ghyll, Borrowdale
More busy days, sunny days, and smily faces this week. It really has been full on adventure every day and so much fun.

Rock scrambling, abseiling, and exploring in the Yewdale valley with the Beukel family from Aberdeen was certainly a great start. After a day up on the Scafell mountain range the following day, today we were back out on valley based adventures, this time it was Borrowdale.
We welcomed a large group from Reading for a fun filled day of Gorge Scrambling and Abseiling. Hause Ghyll and Bowderstone quarry provided the venues, both of which turned out to be perfect and so easy to access from todays base at Borrowdale YHA.
Now it's time to sort kit and dry 20+ wetsuits and get prepared for a day at Shepherds crag tomorrow, good times.

Thanks to everyone involved this week and special thanks to Joe and Innes for your hard work and professionalism today, much appreciated.

Mark

#family-adventure-days-lake-district
Rock Scrambling near Coniston
#abseiling-cathedral-quarry-lake-district
Cathedral quarry abseil
#cathedral-quarry-lake-district
Inside Cathedral quarry
#family-activities-near-keswick
Abseiling in Borrowdale
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More early season gorge scrambling here in the Lake District

3/4/2019

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#gorge-walking-keswick
Enjoying some white water in Hause Ghyll, Borrowdale
As well as days spent on the crags and in the fells, we've been lucky enough to spend time in the gorges too. Over the last week we've been in Stickle Ghyll, Church Beck, and Hause Ghyll.

A little apprehensive about a dip in Church Beck due to the chilly days of late, but all was well once in there. Take time to get wet rather than jump straight in and the body acclimatises and the cool waters feel refreshing. We scrambling, bouldered, climbed, jumped, and slide our way through the many challenges in this fantastic gorge.

There's also been two visits to Hause Ghyll in the Borrowdale valley. Not a regular venue for us, but certainly a venue we'll add to our list of Borrowdale activity locations. A perfect gorge for families with kids to entertain.
Our first visit was to get reacquainted with it and we had the experience and knowledge of Iain, another local and highly experienced instructor, to help show me and Hayley all the fun challenges and all the things to watch out for. This was a fun couple of hours and very worthwhile, professional development is so important and we value it highly.

And today it was back in Hause Ghyll, this time working for Iain, with a group of graduate trainees on a team-building session. With us facilitating the group were able to safely help each other and work through the various challenges together, hopefully strengthening their relationships and building new friendships amongst the group. It was a cold day, with snow on the mountains, and this was an additional challenge as we all needed to look out for each other to keep a check on body temperatures. 

Great times, here's looking forward to many more weeks like this.

Thanks to Sarah, Iain, Hayley, and all of todays team.

Mark


#gorge-scrambling-coniston
Church Beck
#teambuilding-lake-district
About to go for a swim!
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