Why does it seem that whenever I run a multi day rock climbing course, the weather plays havoc with the week’s program?! However, at the end of the day there aren’t many people that get to enjoy working outdoors in such stunning places. I’ve spent this week working for CCAT (Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training) [...]

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 [...]

Today was the fourth day out of the last eight that I have spent working on the climbing wall at Concord College in south Shropshire. It was the last day of activities designed to get their sixth form students (new and old) working together and building friendships. Having run through the program on three previous [...]

With no paid work in the diary for the day, it was a great opportunity to spend some time on some personal development. I’d invited my technical advisor over for the day to have a look at a few things together. Huw Gilbert is an MIC (Mountain Instructor Certificate) which qualifies him pretty much to [...]

Today was the second day of Concord College’s activity sessions designed at getting their sixth form students (both new and old) interacting and building relationships outside of the classroom. Although the day’s program was set to run all day, I was only available for the morning due to a previous work commitment, which was a shame [...]

I seem to be working with Concord College a fair amount at the moment, but generally it is with the 6th form students. This afternoon I got to spend a few hours with some of the lower school pupils who have an activities afternoon on a Wednesday. Some were certainly a little apprehensive once they [...]

One of the things I like about working in the outdoors is the fact that I get to meet so many new people, and often get to visit new places. Today I got both, as I spent the day at Concord College for the first time. Like almost all schools that have A level provision, [...]

Dave MacLeod and Tim Emmett successfully managed to climb a route called ‘The Usual Suspects’ on the Isle of Harris at the weekend. Graded at E9 7a, this is 5 pitches of serious climbing by two of the top traditional climbers in the world. Thankfully for the rest of us mere mortals, the BBC were [...]

Today saw the start of the second week of Ellesmere College’s Adventure Plus activity program of the Summer. With a different bunch of young people enrolled on the course, we’ve had the freedom to repeat a few of the activities we did a couple of weeks ago, along side a few new ones to give [...]

After an introduction to rock climbing at Trevor Quarry yesterday, where the climbs were relatively short, I took the groups from the Ellesmere College Adventure Plus program to Llanymynech.  The venue offers a lot of climbing, but most of the routes are bolted sports climbs and not appropriate for group use. Cul-de-Sac Quarry is the [...]