Category: Guided Climbing - Mountain Journeys - Guided Walks

Dow Crag, Coniston

20/6/2022

#guided-rock-climbing-dow-crag-lake-district

On the final groove pitch of Arete, Chimney and Crack

I'd been hankering after a day on Pillar or Scafell, but Kate wasn't feeling quite so keen for a massive day out. So we settled for Dow crag. This is a magnificent place to climb and offers a huge variety of styles and grades, from the old school traditional thrutches through to modern test-pieces. Today I had a minor link-up in mind and we started with a route neither of us had climbed before.

Giants Corner - 30m - Severe 3c:
Don't know how or why I've overlooked this route for so long, but today we put things right and climbed it. Only a single pitch on such a big cliff could easily feel a bit of a waste, but don't be put off by the shortness of this climb, it makes up for this with some tremendous positions that are so unlikely to be found on a Severe.
Starting towards the left end of Lower B Buttress and just to the right of the descent gully a wall leads steeply up to the corner to the start of a slab. The slab is very easy but pleasant and leads up to a huge roof which does feel a little intimidating. Once under the roof the jugs start flying at you so grab away. Follow these leftwards in ever wonderful positions before a final pull reaches easy ground. A poor belay can be found here, but far better to continue up the slab above for about 8m to reach an excellent belay ledge with good anchors.
The descent gully is easily reached from here and it's only 5 mins back to base.

After this we climbed the full length of A Buttress via the 3 star Arete, Chimney and Crack. This requires a variety of climbing techniques as there are such a range of features en-route. It feels like a tour of the buttress, weaving and wandering to generally take a line of least resistance up this rather steep and imposing piece of rock. In order to fully savour the mountain day, we split the climb into around 6 pitches and finished with scrambling to top out on the summit plateau and glorious views into the Duddon valley and over to the Scafell range.

As we had carried our bags up the route we could now enjoy an easy walk along the ridge-line to reach the Walna Scar track and onwards back to Coniston.

A top day out in the sunshine.

If you're planning a visit to the Lake District and interested to try out some rock climbing or other outdoor activities, please do get in touch and we'll do our very best to help make your stay even more fantastic.

Thanks for reading.

Mark

#giants-corner-dow-crag-lake-district

Topo for Giants Corner - this is a really nice route on great rock

#arete-chimney-and-crack-dow-crag-lake-district-climbing

The traverse pitch

#mountaineering-days-lake-district

View from the top of the route and looking towards the walkers on our descent route to Walna Scar

Rock climbing refresher weekend

13/5/2022

#corvus-hand-traverse-raven-crag-lake-district

The classic 'hand traverse' pitch on Corvus

There has been so much going on here and so many activities, I'm quite behind with blogging.
This one is all about last weekend, when I was helping out my friend Iain of Lakes Outdoor Experience, a Kendal based Outdoor activity provider. Whilst he is taking a well earned holiday, I ran a 2 day refresher climbing course on his behalf. With a father and son team with a long and colourful climbing history. After some time away from the crags, this weekend was all about re-familiarisation with the rock, all whilst enjoying some easy classics.

We started with Corvus on Raven crag, Borrowdale. The rock was a little damp making it more challenging than expected, but all good fun. The route had a few other teams on it making all the belay ledges social times, chewing the fat with fellow climbers. This also meant we took a little extra time on the route, allowing us to enjoy the positions and views even more.

Day two and we moved south to Langdale. Middlefell Buttress was our starter route. The rock was completely dry here and a delight to climb. After lunch Mark needed to head home, so me & Dan moved over to the main crag and climbed Evening Wall and Original Route.

At each belay, we discussed the anchor choices and stance management, all areas that will be useful when these guys are back on the Pembrokeshire sea cliffs they call home. Equalising anchors and abseil set ups were other areas we touched upon and as well as a great two days of climbing, some new skills have been passed on, ace :-)

Thanks to Iain at Lakes Outdoor Experience for the work, much appreciated.

If planning a visit to the Lakes and wanting to sample some of the amazing activities on offer here, please do get in touch, we'd be very happy to help.

Thanks for reading.
Mark

#guided-rock-climbing-ambleside-lake-district

Evening Wall on a busy Raven Crag

#rock-climbing-course-ambleside-lake-district

Middlefell Buttress

#guided-rock-climbing-corvus-lake-district

View from the top of Corvus

Via Gene - Cabezon d'Oro

19/1/2020

#climbing-course-costa-blanca

Kate on the first pitch of Via Gene

This week is starting to feel quite intense, what with a 100km ride over the mountains on the bike, then a big climb up to the summit of Puig Campana, and today a 7 pitch mountain VS on Cabezon d’Oro. Muscles are most definitely starting to have a little grumble!!

But hey, it’s absolutely fantastic and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

It has been a few years since I first climbed on Cabezon d’Oro, leading 2 friends up the classic line of ‘Via Gene’ a 7 pitch VS going all the way up to the summit ridge. But Kate was yet to climb this route and rather keen, so today we set off south in search of 7 pitch mountain routes.

An easy approach walk is always a good start, especially so after Puig Campana yesterday! 30 minutes on good tracks to reach the start, sweet. And no need to remember where the route starts, the name is scratched onto the rock, just gotta love Spain for these fine touches. As a back up I did have a route description with me, but once on the route I recognised it all. The pitch lengths in the Rockfax guide are incorrect and in brief are much closer to:
30m; 35m; 40m; 40m; 35m; 35m; 40m
And the abseils off the back: 35m & 25m

I actually made the effort to measure most of these with a degree of accuracy, but they won’t be 100% so if doing this route have either a 70m single of 50m half ropes as an absolute minimum.

For the first 3 pitches we were in the shade and with a strong wind blowing were freezing! This wasn’t a good start and not how we imagined the day to pan out. Thankfully, during pitch 4 I climbed into the sun and wow did that made a world of difference, probably doubling the temperature. This was perfect timing as at the next belay ledge we meet all the other climbers on the crag (2 more parties and 5 more climbers in total). This led to a backlog and quite a wait for us. In the warm sun this was no hardship, just gave us time for a food and drink stop and some rest whilst we watched the others on their chosen routes above.
Our route veered abruptly leftwards taking us well out of the way of the other climbers as we traversed into a prominent groove which proved a delight to climb. Another pitch above gave some fantastic exposure whilst following an arête up to big ledges just below the summit ridge. An easy pitch to finish where we found a newly installed abseil station, always a nice sight.

As we were climbing on 50m half ropes we just needed 2 abseils to reach the scree gully, so all easy peasy. The descent down the scree is not so pleasing, it is very steep and very loose so great care is needed and still falling over is almost certain! Once beyond the horror show scree it’s back to nice tracks and an easy stroll back to the road.

What’s good about this route?
It is a long mountain trad route with only a few bolts at belay stations and a few old pegs to mark the way, so traditional leader placed protection is required. This instantly makes for a more interesting and memorable day out.
Any route of this length is committing and requires forward planning as well as route finding skills, all of which add to the adventure.
An abseil descent always leaves a little uncertainty right to the very end and what is an adventure if not a little uncertain. Will the ropes behave or will they decide to become one with a tree/rock/bush? Thankfully our ropes were kind to us and there were no dramas.
Walking out from the climb at the end of a great day out, we get to look back up and pick out the line of the route. This is something I really love doing, to remember where we were and playback the feelings in my head.

Cabezon d’Oro, thank you for a great day out and thanks too to Kate for her good company and much rope sorting and flaking during the day.

We offer guiding and instruction in the Lake District and Costa Blanca. If you have a route in mind or want to develop your climbing and mountain skills, get in touch and let’s make a plan.

Thanks for reading.

Mark

#mountain-skills-course-lake-district

Ropes flaked and ready to go

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

Kate nearing the top of pitch 5

#cabezon-d-oro-spain

The huge southwest face of Cabezon d'Oro

Autumnal climbing days - Lake District

19/9/2019

#rock-climbing-ambleside

Gimmer crag - high above Langdale

This week has seen a dramatic turn in the weather, and so much for the better! Cool autumnal nights, clear mornings, and warm, sunny days. The mountains and valleys are changing colour, the autumn coat is going on, meaning much orange on the fells. September really is a fantastic time to be in the Lake District.

So what have we been up to? Lots of getting out in the mountains and by that I mean lots of rock climbing.

Back on Monday this was with Joe who was looking to get some mileage in on the rock and simply have a good day of climbing. Wallowbarrow certainly delivered that, with 3 routes and 8 pitches up to VS 4c. For most of the time we had the crag to ourselves, we just noticed another pair of climbers enjoying the classic Severe of 'Thomas'. With wonderful views, a serene ambience, easy access, and great rock, there's always good reason to pay this place a visit.

On Tuesday I was meeting my good friend Tony, who is always rather partial to an adventure of some kind! This time it would be involving the magnificent Gimmer crag, perched high above the Langdale valley. Our sights were set on a tougher than normal route (for me anyway) going by the name of 'Whit's End Direct' at E1+
Tony took the lead for this long single pitcher. Taking care to place plenty of protection and make use of all the small ledges for a little rest and shake out. He cruised the route in style, keeping cool and going forth with confidence and composure. I'd become pretty cold whilst belaying in the chilly wind, but still, the rock was warm so hands didn't suffer too much and allowed me to thoroughly enjoy the climbing and the sublime situation.
Time had run away with us, so with a couple of abseils we made it back to the base of the crag and bid our farewells for this time.

Today was to be another climbing day, Joe was back for more. This time we headed for Castle Rock near the Thirlmere reservoir. A footpath diversion led us to an interesting approach walk via the North crag. Here we picked a way through the jumble of massive boulders that had fallen last year, these were quite a sight!

As promised, the South crag was warm and sunny, just how we like it. We climbed 5 routes from VD - HS and included some very long pitches, so got plenty of mileage in. Due to the descent route being so short and friendly we had rattled through all these and enjoyed a few rest stops all by mid-afternoon. Joe was pleasantly tired, as was I, so we called it a day. We had been the only people at the crag, the only others nearby were a couple of forestry workers cutting back the Larch woodland on the hillside below.

3 top class climbing days in the same week is pretty good going, it's been a lot of fun. Thanks to Joe and Tony :-)

Mark

#guided-rock-climbing-lake-district

Enjoying the super grippy rock at Castle Rock

#rock-climbing-lake-district

Cruising to the overlap on 'Whit's End Direct' at Gimmer

#how-to-set-up-a-trad-climbing-anchor

Anchor set up at the top of Castle Rock. 3 pieces of protection all equalised using a Dyneema sling so that 'guide mode' can be deployed with the belay device

#outdoor-activities-lake-district

End of a great day of climbing at Wallowbarrow crag in the Duddon valley

Eliminate 'A' - Dow Crag

25/4/2019

#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

Puig Campana - again - oh yeah!

22/1/2019

#puig-campana-climbing

Evening sun lighting up the mighty Puig Campana

It was this time last week we'd been climbing the massive Espolon Central on Puig Campana. That was a big day! And today we're back on this magnificent mountain again, for an equally impressive route that goes at a similar grade.

Aristotles - HS/VS 4b and about 365m gives 6 pitches of good, but wandering climbing in its lower half. These pitches are well worth doing, but it's the upper section that gives this climb its character. Once above the half way ledges a pitch of about VS leads up and across a delicate slab, this provides great climbing throughout the pitch. Above this the route joins an arete, the climbing becomes a little easier again, but the exposure is phenomenal and it is these final pitches that make the route brilliant and memorable.
The climb terminates on top of a huge pinnacle with massive drops on all sides! A number of abseils brings us safely down off the higher ground, but there's plenty of entertaining scrambling before we're off the mountain, and this all adds to the fun of a day on Puig Campana.

This was the first time Joe has climbed on Puig Campana, so it was worth savouring the experience and we took our time, having a leisurely ascent. With perfect conditions, great rock and a great route, with nobody else on the route or even on that part of the mountain, I think it's fair to say Joe was pretty happy with his experience of Puig Campana.

We waiting a while once off the climb in order to enjoy the glorious sunset too. Even if not climbing on this mountain, it is worth the walk up to the base to enjoy the early evening light on the rock.

We climbed 13 pitches and made 3 abseils. The route is doable in 9 or 10 pitches, but rope drag would be more of a problem. It is also possible to make only 2 abseils to reach the scrambling terrain, but 2x60m ropes would be needed for this and we only had 2x50m.

Another brilliant day on the Puig Campana, thanks Joe for joining me on this adventure.

Mark

#puig-campana-trad-is-rad

Selfie from very high on the route

Espolon Central - Puig Campana

15/1/2019

#espolon-central-puig-campana

The massive Puig Campana

It's fair to say I'm feeling a bit tired today, most likely a rest day in fact.
Why? Well, yesterday I joined a couple of friends, George and Rachel, to climb a big route on Puig Campana. This is the massive and iconic mountain passed as you drive along the coast road from Alicante to Calpe and is just inland from Benidorm. It's unmissable and unmistakable. I've climbed on this crag maybe half a dozen times, so not loads, but enough to feel I know my way around reasonable well. For Rachel and George, it was a day for them to familiarise themselves with the mountain and terrain and get a feel for the place. They have even bigger projects in mind!

Our route was to be the super classic 'Espolon Central' a Hard Severe / 4+ of about 440 metres and taking the most striking line on the mountain. Espolon Central translates to 'Central Arete' and that's exactly what this is. Follow the huge arete in the centre of the South face. So you may think route finding will be easy. Not really. Just reaching the arete requires about 100m of climbing. Once on the arete you realise it is actually huge, so a line needs to be chosen, ideally the correct line. George was leading the route today and thankfully his route finding skills are first class, we didn't put a foot wrong anytime.
Me and Rachel we able to simple enjoy seconding the route, enjoying sitting around on the big belay ledges, and chatting away, all whilst George did all the hard work, thanks George. This was a huge help to me as I'm currently doing some research on the route and the mountain.

We climbed the route swiftly, about 5 hours of climbing landed us at the top of the route. So far we had enjoyed continuously interesting climbing on good rock in increasingly spectacular positions. The climbing is never hard, but it is run-out and the length of the route means it's very tiring, exhausting in fact. So not to be under-estimated.

After a nice rest and mini-explore at the top, we began our descent. Once you've done this and know the way, it's pretty straightforward, but first time, it can be daunting and confusing, especially when tired. We discussed what this would be like on a misty day, or worse, in the dark! It doesn't bear thinking about. Thankfully we had bright sunshine, t-shirt weather even at the top of the climb.
Red paint mark the way and there are occasional fixed cables to help protect the trickier sections. The exposure here is similar to that experienced during the climb, so care is required. We soon reached the edge of the huge gully and made our way down into it, from here it's a steep scree run back to base.

A couple of climbers from Madrid followed us up the climb, and we noticed at the top they continued to scramble upwards for maybe 100m. We thought maybe they are continuing all the way to the summit. But then noticed they too began to traverse leftwards as if making a descent to the big gully, only higher up. Still not sure what their plan was or if they found a good way down. But would be interesting to know. The terrain didn't look too friendly. They certainly seemed to know what they were doing though.

8 hours out on the mountain for us yesterday and almost every minute of that we are on the go (George much more so), so all pretty knackered now. Back to bed maybe!!

Thanks to Rachel and George for a fab day out.

Mark

#rock-climbing-costa-blanca

Rachel cruising up the groove on pitch 7

#guided-climbing-costa-blanca

George leading up pitch 9

#rock-climbing-costa-blanca

Big views towards the coast from high on the route

#espolon-central-descent-route

More amazing scenery during our descent. This is taken after the traverse with fixed cables, we are about to enter the big gully

More amazing weather here in the Lakes :-)

11/7/2018

#eskgorgelakedistrict

Photos will never do justice to the beauty of Esk gorge. Come and experience it, it's the only way

The blog has been a bit slow of late, mostly due to the incredible weather at the moment, meaning we're out almost constantly, so no time to write!
A major highlight of recent weeks has been a visit to the Esk gorge with friends. We had originally planned a day of climbing on Engineers Slabs, Great Gable. But I heard some friends were heading to the cool waters of the Esk and couldn't resist.
Definitely the right decision. All the pools were warm and clear. Much swimming and jumping into the pools was enjoyed, as well as some scrambling. On a hot day in the Lakes, there is no better place to be. On a hot day in the Lakes, there's no place in the world i'd rather be, that's for sure.

There's been lots of other activity happening too. Abseils, scrambles, gorge scrambles and more.

Also lots of rock climbing on the higher mountain crags. A couple of notable days being Dow and Gimmer:

Along with Kate & Leanne, I headed up to Dow crag in the blazing sun. Every time this crag comes into view my heart rate begins to race and my pace quickens, it's simply magnificent and I love it.
We planned on ticking a couple of routes and started with the super classic 'Murray's Direct'. This gave good value climbing the whole way. Sadly, the wind soon whipped up and it became quite cold (we only had minimal clothing with us). So we bailed out for the day and retreated to the warm shores of Goats Water and a picnic.

A fine day on Gimmer was also enjoyed with Andrew from Dubai. Having climbed at many Lakeland crags but never on Gimmer, Andrew was keen to check the place out and see what all the fuss is about. We climbed 'Ash Tree Slabs', 'Oliverson's crawl and Lyon's variation', and finished with 'Main wall climb' to give a trio of brilliant routes. I say brilliant routes, we could have picked any 3 routes on Gimmer and they would almost certainly be brilliant.

I also enjoyed a day introducing Ed & Becky to trad climbing at Shepherds crag in Borrowdale. We climbed most of the routes on Brown Slabs and finished with Donkey's Ears. Another grand day.

Thanks all. Hope to see you again soon

Mark

#guidedclimbinglakedistrict

Kate cruising up Murray's Direct on Dow crag. Leanne showing that even on Dow crag shorts are a goer

#guidedrockclimbinglakedistrict

Andrew enjoying a long awaited visit to Gimmer crag, Langdale

#guidedclimbingnearkeswick

An introduction to trad climbing at Shepherds crag, Borrowdale

Guided rock climbing - Borrowdale & Langdale

2/6/2018

#guidedclimbinglakedistrict

The magnificent top pitch of Ardus at Shepherds crag

It's been yet another week of fine weather and business here in the Lake District.
Although towards the end of the week and during the weekend, thunderstorms had been predicted, nothing much came of it, just a splash of rain.

We've been busy in the Gorges, on Rock scrambles, Abseils, Guided walks, and Rock climbing days. These have been mostly in the South Lakes area, Langdale, Coniston, and Yewdale valleys.
Monday being an 'Introduction to scrambling' session with Jo & Michelle from Brighton. I think they've gone away wanting more...
Tuesday was more scrambling followed by Gorge scrambling, this time with the Beeden family. It was wonderful to be playing in the cool waters of Stickle Ghyll, Langdale. On such a hot day I can't think of anything better. After all of this, I was out again in the evening, to take a couple of local hoteliers from Rothay Manor for their rock climbing fix. Both seasoned sport climbers, but fairly new to trad. We climbed at Upper Scout crags as the sun came down over the valley, all pretty nice :-)

Wednesday saw a change from technical activities to guided walking. Scafell Pike from Wasdale with the Orchard family. Yet more amazing conditions on the mountain for this one.

We've also had a trip to Borrowdale for a rock climbing day with Steve. Here we climbed 12 pitches at Shepherds crag. That's plenty enough for most folk, and even Steve was ready to call it a day after such a plethora of fine routes.
The following day I was out with the Martin family, enjoying Abseiling at Hodge Close quarry and a Scramble at the nearby Raven crag. The kids certainly seemed to take to the scrambling very well and there were plenty smiles after abseiling too. Meanwhile, our associate instructor Jim, was out with Steve and on another mission to pack a load of top quality climbing into the day. Raven crag in Langdale ticked the boxes and another 4 long routes (with many pitches) were enjoyed. They arrived down at the pub just as the rain hit!!

Back into the Langdale valley today. This time with a grey sky, for a change!! We climbed at Scout crags and had the place to ourselves. Enjoying a few routes and some bouldering. Leaving just in time for the afternoon rain to give us a little shower.

Breakfast duty for us both in the morning at our little B&B in Ambleside, then a couple of days off.

Thanks all

Mark

#rockclimbingborrowdalelakedistrict

A shot of me at Shepherds crag

Guided climbing - dry rock through the showers

4/8/2017

#guided_rock_climbs_lake_district

Shafts of sunlight in Langdale

The grey skies of this week have not dampened our spirits, we've been out enjoying some fine days with lovely people. Firstly with the Kimber family from Dorset on a Family Adventure Day in the Langdale and Little Langdale valleys. Despite it being a pretty damp afternoon, we enjoyed plenty rock climbing in the morning before retreating into the Cathedral caverns of Little Langdale, this is such a fun place to explore, yes we still love walking through the tunnels too.

And today with returning client Stig from Norway, here to sample the historic climbing of the Lake District. On Raven crag we climbed: Middlefell Buttress; Evening Wall; Original Route; and Revelation. The morning was showery but the rock dried quickly in the wind, during the afternoon we enjoyed increasing amounts of blue sky and sunshine, Langdale showing off again ;-)

Thanks everyone for a fab week, we hope to see you all again soon.

Mark

#rock_climbing-instructor_lake_district

Climber on Revelation

#guided_rock_climbing_lake_district

Stig on Evening Wall (Severe)