Category: Rock Climbing Course - Mountain Journeys - Guided Walks

Guided rock climbing in the Lake District

23/4/2019

#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

Transition to trad - Rock climbing in the Lake District

13/5/2018

#guidedrockclimbinglakedistrict

Enjoying the wonderful rock on Upper Scout crag, Langdale

This weekend we've had the pleasure of introducing Rachel & Naz to the amazing crags of the Langdale valley. When the sun shines this is by far my favourite place anywhere, simply gorgeous.
And the sun certainly shone this weekend :-)

We started at Upper Scout crags and climbed routes 1 & 2 - both being really fun, but Route 1 being particularly brilliant. If you're in the area we can highly recommend it. The crag was busy with folk making the most of the warm sunshine. But there was a distinct 'chilled out' feel to the place and people which was lovely. Everyone simply out to have fun, enjoy a few climbs and good company whilst drooling over the magnificence of the Langdale valley (or was that just me)!

Today we moved along the valley to Raven crag. Starting with the ultra classic 'Middlefell Buttress'. This was busy but very sociable. We even saw Lakes legend Dave Birkett 'run' up the route on his way to Gimmer! We took our time, enjoying the spacious belay ledges and going through belay and anchor skills whilst enjoying the climb.

Later we moved on to 'Original Route' and enjoyed 3 pitches of fine climbing, with more skills looked at along the way.

Back to London now for the girls, but we hope to see you both again soon :-)

Mark

#rockclimbingcourselakedistrict

Route 2 at Upper Scout crag

#rockclimbingcourseambleside

Smiles is always were it's at. The best climber is the one having the most fun :-)

Lake District rock climbing....Magnificent trad!

18/2/2018

#rockclimbinginstructorlakedistrict

Wallow barrow crag in the Duddon valley

With spring only just around the corner, it'll soon be time to dust off the trad climbing gear and start heading back out onto the wonderful rock faces of the Lake District.
With some much to choose from and spread all over the National Park, there really is a climb to suit everyone, from complete novice to experienced pro.

Our knowledge of the area and its crags is extensive. As well as all the well known spots, we've visited many of the more esoteric venues, made a few 1st ascents, and even had our hand in the Eskdale section of Lake District Rock (FRCC) guide.

The photos give a quick visual tour and go like this:
Wallow barrow crag - in the glorious Duddon valley, this secluded gem is perfect for those looking to gain mileage on top quality routes from V'diff - VS standard and most climbs are multi-pitch. A sheltered and sunny setting with an easy approach walk and far reaching views over the wooded valley.

Black crag, Borrowdale - set in another wooded valley, this time with Derwent Water in the middle too. This crag offers classic routes of the highest quality from Severe - Extreme. If I remember correctly, the photo is whilst on Troutdale Pinnacle Superdirect - Kate climbing.

Gowder crag, Borrowdale - this is more adventure climbing, this route pictured is a 3 star VS but is sadly overgrown on the lower pitches and the upper pitches contain too much suspect rock for it to be a worthy route. The main traverse pitch is however excellent.

Black crag, Langdale - set high above the Langdale valley on the slopes of Pike O'Blisco. The nuts and bolts of rock climbing, placing protection. Here we are slotting a nut into a crack and 'seating' it so it won't pull out of its own accord. A crucial skill for the trad climber.

Scout crags, Langdale - our local crag and an area we use extensively for work and play. There are 3 crags here set one above the next and all offering different climbing. Lower Scout is a good introductory venue. Middle Scout is very steep and hard! Upper Scout (pictured) is pleasant multi-pitch offering wonderful view along the valley in both directions.

Tremadog, North Wales!! Yes this one is definitely outside of the Lake District boundary. We like to visit other climbing areas around the UK and North Wales is a fairly popular one for us. Here we are climbing the steep corner of a VS. The slippery nature of the crux meant we both slipped on this climb, thankfully neither of us actually fell off.

Whether you're a complete novice thinking about having a go at climbing for the first, a regular indoor climbing wanting to progress to outdoors and 'real rock', or a seasoned outdoor climber wanting to learn more advanced skills and techniques. We can tailor days / courses to suit your individual requirements. Our extensive knowledge of Lakeland rock benefit you during any course as we are able to pick the best venues for your aspirations.

Want to talk more, get in touch anytime and let us put together a plan to get you climbing higher and better.

Happy climbing

Mark

#guidedrockclimbinglakedistrict

Black crag, Borrowdale

#guidedclimbingnearkeswick

Enjoying the superb rock of Borrowdale valley

#rockclimbingimproverscourselakedistrict

Practicing placing 'trad' protection

#leadclimbingcourselakedistrict

Lead rock climbing course, Langdale valley

#rockclimbingcourselakedistrict

Tremadog - On a recent visit to North Wales

Rock climbing courses and more - Lake District

27/6/2017

#trad_climbing_course_lake_district

A climber cruising 'Needle Arete' E3 at Black crag, Wrynose

All in all it's been another busy week here and thankfully mostly good weather to be out enjoying the great outdoors.
A hot day sent us up to Black crag, Wrynose in search of a breeze. Conditions were perfect up there and we enjoyed a few top quality climbs on its rough,. pocketed rock. Whilst there, a climber was cruising 'Needle arete', so we paused to enjoy the show. At E3 it's a serious route even though only quite short. We then fought our way up a nearby HVS, 'The Prow'.

The following couple of days were filled with enhancing our rescue skills and techniques on crags in the Langdale and Borrowdale valleys. We also managed to climb circa 10 routes whilst going through these scenarios. Keeping all this fresh and practiced is important whether working on the crags or out climbing with friends. Problems can and do arise, knowing how to help is the key to continued enjoyment.
A few of the skills we covered:
Ascending / descending a rope;
Escaping from the belay system;
Assisted and unassisted hoists;
Releasing jammed abseil devices;
Stacked abseil;
Counter-balance abseil;
Traverse rescue / assistance systems.

All lots of fun too.

By Thursday it was time for a walk in the mountains. Helping our friends at Highpoint Mountain Guides, we led a group of lawyers over the Langdale Pikes. Perfect conditions, great views, and good company. Finished with drinks and cake back at the Stickle Barn tavern, lovely.

For the weekend, it was back onto the crags for a 2 day climbing course. Allan & Kim had climbed a fair amount already and were keen to progress so they go safely set up top and bottom ropes using anchors they build. So the focus was all about placing 'bomber' protection at a variety of venues. Plenty climbing was on the cards too of course.
We started at Middlefell Buttress and I led this whilst placing lots of protection and building multi-anchor belays at regular intervals. We then descending via a stacked abseil.
Using the 1st pitch of this route, Allan & Kim then set up a number of bottom ropes and climbed these too.
Other crags visited during Sunday included: Stickle Barn and Lower Scout crags. Around 7 climbs were set up on those crags and this all done by Allan & Kim, so they had lots of practice of placing gear and equalising anchors suitable for top/bottom roping.

Thanks everyone for making this another fab week :-)

Mark & Kate

#rock_climbing_courses_lake_district

Setting up and equalising anchors for top / bottom rope applications

#climbing_instructor_near_ambleside

The Pillar, E2 at Stickle Barn crag, Langdale

#self_rescue_for_climbers

Scenarios. What to do when things don't go to plan! The makings of a traverse rescue

#guided_walks_lake_district

Kate enjoying a day of work in Langdale

Rock climbing refresher day - Langdale

3/10/2016

Rock-climbing-in-Langdale-Ambleside

Steep climbing on 'Oh heck Direct' MVS at Lower Scout Crag

Today we've been running a climbing refresher day for Charles from Northern Ireland. Having climbed a few times over the years Charles was well familiar with most of the knots and quite a few skills and techniques, so this was more of a 'brush up' skills day whilst enjoying some rather nice climbing too.

We used Scout Crags in the Langdale valley and had the place to ourselves the whole time. Surprising, given the fantastic weather conditions. Skills covered included: Basic knots for climbing; placing and removing trad gear; building anchors; belaying; abseiling; top & bottom rope systems.

A grand day out in the sun, perfect temperature and conditions for rock climbing. With a good forecast for the rest of the week, if you have any free time, now's the time to get up to the Lakes and enjoy the great outdoors :-)

Mark

Autumnal-colours-in-Langdale-rock-climbing

Autumnal colours in Langdale

Learning to lead - Rock climbing course, Lake District

1/9/2016

lead rock climbing course, Lake District

Lead climbing on Raven crag, Langdale

The date has just popped up as I started to write this blog, wow can't believe September is here already! Good news is, September usually turns out to be a great month for rock climbing here in the Lake District, let's hope this one is too.

Earlier this week I was running a climbing course on behalf of Highpoint Mountain Guides. Guy, who is a keen sport and indoor climbing, has been seconding trad climbing routes for a while now and was ready to begin the transition to lead climbing, a big step.

We began at Long Scar on Pike O'Blisco. This wonderful crag has loads of routes throughout the grade range and an emphasis on easier routes under 20m long, so an ideal place to start. Guy led 4 routes today, with Anna seconding, thanks Anna. We finished the day with a slightly more difficult route, then headed for home, making plans for tomorrow.

Tuesday morning brought with it light drizzle, we had been spoilt by yesterdays glorious sunshine! Undeterred, we headed into Langdale and to Raven crags. A light breeze was helping keep the rock dry-ish as we set off up Middlefell Buttress which Guy & Anna took alternate leads on throughout the 5 pitches. Once on the huge ledge at the top, we discussed our options for descent before setting up an abseil. As Guy hadn't done this before, we took time to go through the process so Guy could set this up himself. About 26m lower down we arrived in the bed of the gully, retrieved our ropes and continued down to the base of the climb. Lunch time had most definitely arrived!

To finish the day, Guy took the lead once more for an ascent of Original Route on the main crag. This is more difficult and certainly made Guy more cautious with his moves. Anna led us off the crag via an easy escape route and back to base once more. The day ended much brighter and drier, thankfully.

Over the 2 days we covered a lot, including:
Placing traditional climbing protection;
Anchor selection;
Equalising 2 & 3 anchors;
Belay stance management;
Setting up an abseil;
Guidebook interpretation;
The leaders rack;
And lots of rock climbing

Big thanks to Anna for helping us out with this. And to Joe at Highpoint for the work :-)

Mark

Lead climbing course, Lake District

Placing protection at Long Scar

Rock climbing anchors

3 equalised anchors

Equalising belay anchors at Raven crag, Langdale

Equalising 3 anchors

Lake District rock climbing course

Long scar, Pike O'Blisco

Setting up an abseil, Middlefell Buttress, Langdale

Setting up our abseil from Middlefell Buttress, Langdale

Rock climbing course, Lake District

19/8/2016

Rock climbing course, Lake District

Jo on the 3rd pitch of Original route, Raven crag

It's been another busy week here in the Lakes, and the sun has been showing itself which has made being outdoors and on rock even more pleasant.
We have been joined by Jo Bradshaw, for a 'trad' rock climbing course, and where better to do this than right here in the Lake District.
Already an accomplished high altitude mountaineer, with numerous very big summits ticked, Jo was keen to develop her rock climbing skills. To find out more about the impressive things Jo gets up to, check out her website: www.29029feet.co.uk
We began on the crags of Pike O'Blisco: Long scar & Black crag. These crags offer impeccable rock that is a pleasure to climb on. During the course of the day we climbed 5 routes, set up an abseil, and spent time selecting anchors & building belays using a variety of systems.

The following day we stayed in the Langdale valley and climbed routes 1 & 2 at Upper scout crag and Original Route on Raven crag. During lunchtime, we helped out a fellow instructor (thanks Si) to set up a bottom rope system ready for their clients to climb. This gave Jo the opportunity to set up a rope under some time pressure, she actually managed to set up two, good effort!

Today the weather broke and heavy rain descended! Thankfully this didn't have much impact on our day as the plan was to have a more technically intense day anyway. Hodge Close quarry was the venue for this, sheltering under the big trees whilst going through many scenarios including those mentioned below.
Top & bottom rope systems; releasable / non-releasable abseils; in / out of reach anchors; stance management; belay methods; escaping from a belay system; abseiling to a stuck / injured climber, and problem avoidance whilst climbing.

Thanks very much Jo, it's been a pleasure and so good to meet you & Daisy.

Mark

SPA refresher, rock climbing course

Equalising 3 anchors using the rope

Trad rock climbing course, Lake District

Placing passive protection

Lake District rock climbing course

Going for the arete on Route 1 - Upper Scout crag

SPA refresher course, Lake District

Setting up a bottom rope system at Lower Scout crag, Langdale

Lead rock climbing course

7/8/2016

Lead rock climbing course, Shepherds crag, Lake District

Top of Brown Slabs, Shepherds crag, Borrowdale

Out on the Borrowdale crags with a couple of local friends today. We had in mind to climb a few classics with me leading, but this changed after a chat on the journey North. Erja would get back on the sharp end of the rope and take the lead whilst I helped out as and when needed by being on a fixed rope nearby.

Our chosen route, 'Brown Slabs' is a 'diff' but due to the amount of traffic it's quite worn and a bit slippery, making it feel more difficult than the grade suggests.

The aim of this session was to improve gear placements to help keep the lead climber safe. Erja placed plenty of protection and with a little advice every piece became excellent, as Jen will testify (much of it was difficult to remove)!

With rain imminent we decided against another route, this turned out to be a good call, the heavens opened in a big way soon after leaving the crag!!

Fantastic leading Erja, well done.

And thanks to both Jen & Erja, a grand afternoon.

Mark

Lead climbing course, Lake District

Erja clipping another 'bomber' gear placement at Shepherds crag

Rock climbing skills course - Lake District

1/8/2016

Rock climbing skills - placing trad gear

When one doesn't fit, try two!

Abseiling skills - Italian hitch

Abseiling using an Italian hitch and Prussik

On Wednesday we welcomed back the Pearson family from Cambridgeshire, enjoying an Adventure day on Pike O'Blisco. Rock climbing and scrambling our way to the summit. Views from the top were spectacularly good and the weather perfect.

And for Thursday I was out with friends visiting from Germany. Anthony & Helen had been rock climbing with Kate for 2 days already this week, and for their final day on Lake District rock they were keen to venture onto more difficult routes. Unfortunately the weather had other plans for us! Very heavy rain soaked the entire district. Undeterred and definitely still wanting to try harder climbs, we began at Hodge Close Quarry where we covered a few skills whilst sheltering under the tree canopy. Then onto the routes, Sasquatch is a 40m HVS 5a route and it was soaking! Both were well up for the challenge and both made it to the top of the route, with only a couple of little slips! Well done.
We finished the day at Raven crag in Langdale and yes there were even other climbers out here, good effort. We climbed a few variations on Middlefell Buttress and looked over a few more rock climbing skills before making our retreat to the valley.

Friday brought with it some much needed sunshine, yippee!
I was out with Richie for a rock climbing & scrambling skills day on Pike O'Blisco.
It quickly became clear that Richie knew what he was doing, could place good protection and build high quality anchors for an abseil or climb. For peace of mind Richie was keen for appraisal of these skills, confirmation that what he was doing was correct, which it was, nice one. We introduced a few new skills and methods to widen his reportoire of skills and looked at emergency belay / abseil techniques should a climber forget their belay device (we managed to forget one today so this was very relevant).

Thanks everyone for making this another brilliant week in the mountains.

Mark

Multi-activity adventures

3/10/2015

Troutdale-Pinnacle

It's been another very busy few days here in the Lakes, and the weather has remained amazing throughout. Colours are now turning with autumn well and truly on the way. So the coming few weeks will be the perfect time to visit the area and enjoy the autumnal colours whilst they last.

We've been helping our friends at Highpoint Mountain Guides - guiding Geology students up Jacks Rake on Pavey Ark. This classic scramble is always memorable and can be enjoyed during most weather conditions.

We've been around the Elterwater circuit a couple of times too. Organising guided walks for Canadian couple Monty & Frith, and a couple from Devizes Gemma & Jonathan. This walk never fails to impress, with so many highlights along the way and something of interest around every corner.

The water in the gorges is still rather pleasant. We've been in the Langdale gorges a few times recently, and water levels have been low - moderate meaning all the big obstacles have been successfully tackled by our parties.

Not satisfied with only day work, I was also involved in a 3 Peaks challenge event (working on behalf of Advocate Events) on Scafell Pike. The moon was so bright that head torches were not needed even though we walked between the hours of 11pm and 4am!! I think this is a first for us.

Towards the end of the week it was back out on the rock for an indoor to outdoor climbing transition course with Tom, Alice, and Jack from London. We did this at Church crag in St. John's in the Vale. Catching all the morning sun, this proved a perfect venue for our early session. Views to Blencathra are unsurpassed too.

Then it was onto a Navigation skills course for Renata & Anna. We based this above the village of Elterwater and covered skills ranging from basic map reading, to walking on bearings, pacing, back bearings, and re-location techniques. A full day with loads covered.

Despite being really busy, there's still been time to get out climbing with friends, with visits to Sergeant Crag Slabs in Langstrath, Raven crag in Langdale, and Black crag in Borrowdale for an ascent of the classic Troutdale Pinnacle.

Great times, thanks everyone.
Mark

Here's a few photos of the days