With the Easter holiday drawing to a close, it seemed like a good idea to get the kids out and about again before they head back in to the classroom for a new term. This time I decided to take them rock climbing on an outdoor crag and thought it would be nice to take them somewhere new. We often go over to Trevor Quarry, near Llangollen, but opted for Llanymynech this time. There are a lot routes at Llanymynech, although most of it is bolted and at a grade which is beyond my kids – for the time being anyway! However, there is a great area called Cul-de-sac Quarry which offers some more straight forward climbing with a variety of stakes at the top for setting up.

I only set up 2 climbs, but by the time each of the kids had had a couple of goes on each, it was amazing how quickly the time disappeared. Charlie grew in confidence as the afternoon wore on. At the beginning, he was rather nervous about being lowered off the climbs but, by the end, he was much more comfortable to climb to the top and put his trust in the rope on the way down. Alfie has always been very confident in the rope (sometimes too much so!), giving him freedom to move about the rock efficiently. His main challenge today seemed to be speed. Kerrie hasn’t climbed as much as the boys before, but I was impressed to see her thoughtful exploration for effective holds, and each climb saw her going further and with greater confidence.