I’ve been very privileged to spend the last week working with a group of 6 Canadian Cadets on a rock climbing course in North Wales. They are part of a larger group of cadets that have been selected to come over to the UK for several weeks as part of an exchange. This week, they were based at Capel Curig Training Camp (not far from Betws-y-Coed) on an Adventurous Training week. While I was involved with the rock climbing course, others were doing canoeing, kayaking and sea kayaking. Given that my course was the only one that shouldn’t have involved water, there was an amazing amount of it around!. We spent most of the week doing our best to dodge the rain, and actually managed to do pretty well considering the conditions.
With each course running for 5 days, there is plenty of time to develop skills and deepen knowledge and understanding over the week. Trying to work around the weather meant that we didn’t always manage to cover things in the order that I would have preferred, but we were able to get most things done one way or another.
Monday ‘s weather forecast was atrocious and forced us indoors on the first day. Definitely not the way I like to start a course, but there was no point making everyone miserable. We opted for the indoor wall at Indefatigable on Anglesey. The wall was, and still is to some degree, part of the JSMTC (Joint Service Mountain Training Centre) but is now open to the public as a commercial wall. After a briefing on the different types of climbing available on the wall, and highlighting safety considerations, we set about about some bouldering. This was very low key to start with, as we were using it as a warm up, but developed into more strenuous problems over the course of the morning. It was a great opportunity for me to see the group moving on the wall and identify techniques that they could try out. During the afternoon, we donned our harnesses and started to tackle a variety of bottom roped routes while also getting used to the British grading system.
I took an educated gamble with the weather on Tuesday, and decided to head west to the coast in the hope that the rain wouldn’t start falling until it got a bit further inland. Holyhead Mountain seemed like a good option, providing the cadets with the chance to see the South Stack lighthouse as well. As we arrived, it seemed that my gamble had only half paid off. Holyhead itself was enjoying the sunshine, but Holyhead Mountain was covered in cloud. We eventually managed to find the crags through the cloud, but interpreting the guidebook was far from straight forward when you could see so little. However, having selected the area we wanted to use, the cloud lifted and were left to enjoy a glorious day of sunshine, great climbing and fantastic views – not a bad combination. My main aim for the day was to get the group climbing on rock, after being stuck on an indoor wall on Monday. We seemed to manage that pretty well and it was again interesting to observe the individuals. This time it was mental approaches and determination that stood out, but all in their different ways. Several other climbers that were climbing ‘traditional’ routes turned up later in the day, which was interesting for the cadets to watch and see how it all worked – a real bonus from my point of view.
Wednesday’s weather forecast was far from great and I would have been tempted to go indoors again if it hadn’t been for the fact that Thursday’s outlook was even worse! This time I chose a crag at Clogwyn Cyrrau, just to the north and overlooking Betws-y-Coed from high up the hillside. This time we were a bit fortunate not to get wet. During the day we watched a number of very heavy looking rain clouds pass us by as we watched them drop their loads everywhere but on us. The training objectives for the day were to look at how to set climbs up at the top of the crag in order to keep the climbing safe. We’d already had a bit of practice back at Capel Curig Training Camp using fence posts as anchors, but they now got the chance to try again in a more realistic environment. They started off with setting up a bottom rope system for a over a 4 foot drop – nice and safe. They were then given the task of looking for a climb they wanted to give a go, and getting everything set up for it before getting chance to climb. This is always a great exercise as they feel a sense of ownership of the climb as they select it, prepare it and climb it with little input from me. I was really impressed at how well they did this, and was very pleased to see how careful they were to make ensure their own safety at the top of the crag. After such a solid performance on this, I gave them the task of repeating the exercise, but setting up a top rope system instead. Again, they did very well and enjoyed being able to sit in the sun at the top of the crag overlooking Betws-y-Coed below.
Thursday’s rain arrived as expected and forced us back indoors. This time we headed for the Beacon Climbing Centre near Llanberis which provided us with lots of interest. My main aim for the day was to give the cadets an opportunity to attempt an indoor lead if they wanted to, but with a bottom rope also attached. This gave them the chance to see how the leading process works and how to clip the rope correctly and safely, whilst still having the security offered by the bottom rope. In the end, they were all up for it and did very well. Some took a little while to get their head around which way to clip the rope, but they all got there in the end. Again, they got see something that wasn’t planned but was a perfect demonstration of the added dangers of leading. Whilst in the process of clipping his last ‘runner’ a climber (that was nothing to do with us) ran out of strength and took a fall. With all the spare rope in his hand and the rope stretch, he must have fallen about 20 foot, stopping 8 foot from the ground. The perfect way to highlight the dangers of lead climbing.
Friday was a day for abseiling. We spent time out in the sunshine, looking at setting up group abseils, as well as touching on alternative ways that climbers might abseil and their pros and cons. The cadets also had a go at setting up a couple of mock abseils, before actually having a go themselves. We tried a couple of different methods which was a great way to finish a fantastic week.
The cadets were great company all week. I hope they enjoy the rest of their stay in the UK, and get out climbing back in Canada soon!
