Yesterday I was out at Lower Scout Crag with Tracy and her colleagues for a morning of Rock Climbing. The sun was out and the weather perfect.
The crag was a little busier than usual, but this time it worked to our advantage as the other instructors were happy to share ropes meaning less time spent setting things up all round. Thanks to Morecambe college for that.
We rattled through a few routes until muscles began to tire. Then a retreat made to the coffee shops of Ambleside.
A lovely morning out and with no less than 5 hounds in tow too!
Me & Kate had another trip into Langdale in the evening for a CPD session of our own. Always good to keep fresh, practice skills and develop new ideas.
Today was into Langdale again, this time with Danielle & Nathaniel - 2 instructors from Scotland come to get some Lakeland sunshine!
This was work for our friends at Lakeland Ascents, thanks to Si, much appreciated.
The theme for the day was to refresh the skills required of a Climbing Instructor and gain a few new tricks along the way.
Starting at Scout Crags we looked at:
Anchor selection; personal safety at the crag; equalising 2 and 3 anchors; setting up a group Abseil; problem avoidance; problem solving.
The weather deteriorated faster than had been forecast, so we headed back to the cars for lunch before spending the afternoon at Copt Howe, which was thankfully much more sheltered.
During the afternoon we looked:
Top & bottom rope systems; problem avoidance; advanced problem solving; hoisting techniques; auto-blocking belay devices.
Lots of skills consolidated and a few new rope tricks introduced.
Thanks everyone for more great days at the crag.
Mark
Photos:
Equalising 3 anchors at Scout crag;
Rescue helicopter coming in to land at the New Dungeon Ghyll;
Unassisted hoist - Copt Howe;
Counter-balance abseil rescue - Copt Howe
