One of my sons has started to express an interest in hill waking. I suspect that it has more to do with a fascination with winter mountaineering and the thought of spending a night in a snow hole but, when I offered to take him out into Snowdonia, he jumped at the chance. So, relieved to see the fine weather was still holding, we headed … Read More »
Category Archives: Featured
Gold DofE Training Week
At the end of March, I spent a weekend working with some 6th Form pupils from Oswestry School who were starting their training towards their Gold DofE expedition. On that occasion, there were some preparing to do their expedition by canoe, others by sea kayak and others on foot and the training covered was generic for all 3 modes of travel. This time I was … Read More »
Winter ML Assessment Success
The last 5 days have been spent on my Winter Mountain Leader assessment. These five days have been to focus of all the hill walking I have done over the last few months. Looking back, I see that I started my build up back in October with Summer mountain days before the snow arrived. Since New Year, I've been yo-yoing up and down to Scotland … Read More »
Snow Hole in the Cairngorms
With a sled dog race meeting taking place in Aviemore this weekend, all accommodation was booked, so it seemed appropriate to take the opportunity to go on an expedition. This gave the chance to practice some snow hole skills and allow me to get deeper into the Cairngorms than is realistic on a day trip. Having picked up a few supplies from town, I drove round … Read More »
Gullies in Snowdonia
Ten days into the big freeze, today was my first opportunity to get into the mountains for a personal day in the snow. Not living right next to the North Wales mountains can make it awkward in predicting exactly what the conditions are going to be like. The weather forecast is certainly a help, in terms of how things will develop during the day, but … Read More »
Hill Walking in the Snow
I've spent the last two days with Vince doing a hill walking course, although this was far from normal. Vince originally contacted me back in September asking about potential dates for a 2 day hill walking course and we agreed on a mutually convenient time. Although I then advertised these dates, no one else expressed an interest - perhaps they knew something we didn't at … Read More »
5 Day Rock Climbing Course in North Wales
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) out of Capel Curig Training Camp in North Wales. As well … Read More »
Harper Adams at the Adventure Rope Course
The last two days have seen over 100 students from Harper Adams University College come through the gates at the Adventure Rope Course. With a large number of foreign students joining them for the third year of their studies, the staff have brought them to the Rope Course near the beginning of the academic year as a way of encouraging the students to mix and … Read More »
Paddlesport Coaching
This weekend has been a real treat for me. I have spent the last two days doing paddlesport coaching one to one in Snowdonia in the sunshine - awesome! Back in March, Oswestry School CCF started running Adventure Education weekends for their cadets. On that trip, I jointly led a couple of days' hill walking with the cadets. This weekend, two members of the Oswestry School … Read More »
Wrigleys at the Adventure Rope Course
This morning saw me arriving at the Adventure Rope Course at 7.30am to set up for a visit from a regional sales team from Wrigleys. They'd booked themselves into the Albrighton Hall Hotel to enjoy some time together and take a bit of time out from selling chewing gum! Although the four hour session had been billed as 'team building', the emphasis was very much … Read More »
