After several recent sessions running the climbing wall at Concord College with their Lower Sixth form pupils, I got to spend the afternoon with a dozen students, mainly from the Upper Sixth. We had originally planned to visit a real crag a fortnight ago, but the weather forecast was so poor that it seemed pointless even trying to go ahead. Today, on the other hand, was a total contrast with clear blue skies and sunshine all afternoon.

A few had climbed on the College wall with me in recent weeks, and most had done some climbing through an outdoor centre they visited last term, so they had a reasonable idea of what they were letting themselves in for. However, there were a few wide eyes during our walk from the minibus to Cul-de-Sac Quarry as they took in the scale of the rock face in front of them.

I had arrived early and set up a total of four climbs for them to have a go at. Working in groups of three, they were very supportive and encouraging and soon got the hang of tying in and belaying. The four climbs were quite close together and, consequently, the two middle routes were quite similar with numerous horizontal cracks and a bit of a roof at about half height. The other two were distinctly different, with one being very blocky and the other having many more vertical cracks and being more difficult to find a way up.

All the students got to have a go at three of the four routes before finishing off with an abseil. The abseil at Llanymynech is quite a daunting proposition to the novice with a very steep start before it becomes overhanging, and not all felt up for the challenge. However, those that did seemed to really enjoy the experience once they’d done the hard bit and got over the edge.