It’s been a little while since I’ve been out on my bike, but it seemed the ideal way to work off some that Christmas excess. Chris Hughes and I decided to head for the Long Mynd area of the Shropshire Hills to explore some new trails. Although everything looked good as we started our drive [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve been out climbing with Ranjit. He was actually responsible for introducing me to the world of climbing a number of years ago now, but we don’t often find the opportunity to get out together these days. However, with things still a bit quiet after the Christmas holidays, today was [...]

This afternoon, I had the great pleasure of joining Tara to celebrate her 13th birthday at the Adventure Rope Course. With a group of friends in tow, we’d arranged to spend a couple of hours having some fun on a variety of activities where the girls could work together. Due to the recent strong winds [...]

Climbing equipment is hi-tech stuff these days. It’s designed to extremely high specifications due to the potential consequences of equipment failure. However, as with most things, the huge safety margins built into the equipment can soon be compromised by improper use. Here’s a video clip from the DMM website demonstrating the importance of consistent use [...]

I often get asked for advice on all sorts of issues related to outdoor activities. From how to pack a rucksack to which shaped canoe hull should someone buy, the variety is staggering. There is a wealth of information and advice on the internet about virtually anything. Sometimes, however, it’s not that easy to find [...]

I was invited to spend this weekend working with a group of pupils from Oswestry School. Several times a year, the Adventure Education department organises a weekend trip to North Wales, taking advantage of the fact that they have such a fantastic area just an hour and a half away. These weekends are aimed at [...]

I was running a NNAS (National Navigation Award Scheme) Bronze Award course last week, but one of the participants had to pull out a few days before. A job interview understandably took priority, so we arranged to repeat the course a week later. Due to the short notice, there wasn’t really any additional interest when [...]

Today was the forth and last activity session that I will be doing with Concord College this term. We have a number of other sessions booked for 2012, but we’ll wait for the weather and daylight to improve so that we can make the most of it. This afternoon, we headed for the indoor climbing wall [...]

I always enjoy working in the outdoors, but there is something a bit special about working on courses that are designed to develop skills and teach new techniques to those that really want to learn. It’s a great privilege to be involved in people’s development and watch them grow in confidence and understanding. I’ve spent that [...]

In the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of running several sessions for a group of pupils from Concord College. As part of their Mountain Sports club, we spent time rock climbing and canoeing before half term. Today we met at Nesscliffe Hill Country Park for an afternoon of abseiling and orienteering. Nesscliffe [...]