I've been involved with Oswestry School's Adventure Education weekends for several years now. More recently, I've found myself working with paddling groups, so it was a pleasant change to be asked to run a mountain walking group. Tryfan - Scrambling We opted for an ascent of Tryfan, via the north ridge, on Saturday. It soon became clear that this was a popular choice as the mountain was … Read More »
Category Archives: Hill Walking
Concord College DofE Practice Expedition
This was the first chance I've had to get involved with the Concord College DofE programme. I've been asked for several years now, but always been committed to other work, so I was pleased to see a gap in my diary when they asked me again this year. I met the staff and students at the college first thing this morning to check kit and agree … Read More »
Welsh 3000s with Ellesmere College
Last year, Ellesmere College resurrected their traditional attempt at the Welsh 3000s (or 15 Peaks). It's a challenge that involves standing on all 15 of Wales' 3000ft mountains within a 24 hour period and, due to the geography of it all, it's all done on your own two feet. This year's group was made up of two boys that had been in the College team last … Read More »
Hill Walking on Snowdon
I travelled over to Capel Curig last night with a group of 17 students, and another instructor, in preparation for hill walking on Snowdon today. Staying the night meant that we were there for a reasonably early start in the morning. So it was breakfast at 7am, ready to jump in the vehicles by 8am. Being fairly early, there was still space in the Pen … Read More »
National 3 Peaks Preparation
Several months ago I was approached for some advice about an attempt at the National 3 Peaks Challenge. This has become very popular for charity events over the last 10 years and involves walking to the top of the highest mountain peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Snowdon) within 24 hours. In this case, it was a local church group looking … Read More »
A Harsh Day on Stac Pollaidh
After completing 5 days of quite big outings into the Scottish mountains, I thought we'd end the week with a slightly different sort of day. A short day on an iconic hill that would involve more rope work, giving more of a climbing feel to the day. With this in mind, we headed north, through Ullapool, to Stac Pollaidh on a clear morning. Stac Pollaidh can … Read More »
A Gentle Start on Cul Beag
Having travelled up to the Scottish Highlands from Shropshire yesterday with 11 students from Ellesmere College, today was our first day out on the hill. Consequently, we opted for a relatively gentle day, and headed into the Drumrunie Forest, north of Ullapoll. Two groups, including mine, ear marked Cul Beag, while the third group went for Cul Mor. The route was always going to be relatively … Read More »
A Level Glaciation in Cwm Idwal
For the last few years, Ellesmere College Geography department have used me for an A level glaciation field trip for their Lower Sixth form students. Having looked around for venues within realistic striking distance from Shropshire, none have matched up to what Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia has to offer. With many glacial features on obvious display, and within a relatively short walking distance from the … Read More »
Alfie’s Welsh 3000s Mountain Challenge
Up until now now, I've always written my own blog entries. However, sharing this attempt at the Welsh 3000s (or 15 Peaks) with Alfie, my son, was both unusual and special. So I'm going to let you hear about our experience from his perspective: I don't know what you already know about the fifteen peaks (or think you know) but believe me when I say, "it's … Read More »
Ellesmere College 15 Peaks Challenge
Many years ago, Ellesmere College would run an annual attempt at the '15 Peaks' for those older pupils that were daft enough to try it. The official challenge (also known as the '14 Peaks' before an extra was added, or the 'Welsh 3000s') involves standing on the top of all of Wales' 3000 foot mountains within the space of 24 hours. The 'National 3 Peaks' … Read More »
