Orienteering with a view

Part two in a sequence of Orienteering lessons today, saw me hanging out at Parc Padarn on the edge of the Llanberis Pass. It's a beautiful spot and tourists were arriving by the coach load all day, to shuffle around the Slate Museum and Railway. The best views though require only five minutes of walking up to this point:

From the vantage point, not only were the views good, but I could also keep tabs on my group who were running around hiding and searching for these orienteering markers!

And in the other direction, to the north, the vista was equally as promising. It would have been hard to have not had a nice day really!

Canoeing in the Wind

Despite the ever present threat of rain from up in the Llanberis Pass (at the end of the Lake in the photo below), we stayed dry for our day of Canoeing on Llyn Padarn. There was however, a very strong wind (bordering on a gale), blowing down the lake towards us. We tucked into the various lagoons for shelter during the morning, then in the afternoon inched our way up into the wind. 

As instructor for the group, I was paddling solo and had to trim my boat by sitting right on the front to make any progress without being turned by the wind. To maintain forward progress, in the end we had to make raft by tieing two boats together to harness the power of three people, but despite our best efforts, mother nature won the battle as we were left treading water in the wind, then eventually pushed backwards! We made the most of the return journey by hoisting a sail and zoomed back with the wind behind us!

Met up with some friends at the Coffee Shop afterwards; the calm and chilled-ness of which was a good antidote to the franticness of the day.

We finished with a walk along the pier at Bangor, where we got great views of the sunset on the mountains.

Surfing and Sunsets

The rains finally cleared this afternoon and with a drop in the wind predicted, we drove over to the beach to catch a wave. It was pretty messy and still quite windy, but we all got some good rides. Sometimes it just feels great to get in the water, and today was one of those days. The fact that we got a surf, enjoyed the wierd cloud formations and watched Osyter Catchers fly by, simply added to the buzz. Loads more fun than just going to a gym! And sociable as well.

On the drive home, the skies started to turn bright orange with the sunset, so we pulled over into Menai Bridge to check out the show. 

Picked up a free coffee and a reduced price pain au chocolate from Waitrose, and strolled down to the waters edge for maximum viewing effect. What a stunner. 

Between the Showers

It's been a dark and damp day across North Wales today, which in many ways was a bit of a blessing as I've had a real backlog of office jobs and paperwork to get sorted! There was a brief respite during the afternoon, so we raced over to the slate quarries to try and go climbing, but a big squall blew in on the drive over, which turned us back!

It eased off enough for a walk on the side of Moel y Ci and later I went out for a run along the Ogwen to get some fresh air which felt good and maintained office productivity afterwards! Somedays it's ok just to be indoors!

Duke of Edinburgh's Award Assessing

I've been assessing a Bronze Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition this weekend. I'm a big fan of the scheme, and having personally completed all three awards, can really feel for the teams that I assess. Assessing an unaccompanied group in the mountains has its challenges, but generally, if the training has been successful, they are good fun. Until they don't show up at a check point; then things start to get interesting. Luckily for me, I had some good navigatiors within the teams this weekend, who were also all fit, able and willing to take on the challenges of expedition life. The teams started over near Llyn Crafnant. It's a really nice, remote area, up a steep winding road, which I have since found out is barely suitable for a long wheel base minibus!

All was well as they navigated over to Capel Curig and then along the Owgen Valley to Gwern Gof Isaf Farm, where the 'weather' arrived! The rain was torrential and the wind was strong enough to blow pots and pans off the stoves! 

Thankfully, they'd got their tents up just before the worst downpours, but they really had to work had to stay motivated to cook dinner sheltering under the trees. As soon as darkness fell, everyone retreated to their tents to get into dry clothes and sit the storm out. As I left them to struggle out of sopping jackets and into very damp tents, I did feel a little bit bad, dressed in the new Rab kit that I've been given to test! I was super toasty and bone dry - the water literally ran off the materials! But not too bad.... I've been in their (wet) boots years ago and it's all good learning! 

The storm passed through during the night and in the morning we had good views of the mountains....

Until a big shower passed by! The rainbow was a real beauty though. 

Things soon brightened back up and it was a good afternoon for the guys to be hiking. Nice and warm, with a breeze at their backs. Between checkpoints, I went to have a look at work that has started on a hydro scheme on the Ogwen River.

After the group had finished and cleared up, and as it was now a beautiful hot afternoon, I was hoping to spend the evening rock climbing, but another weather front moved in faster than I could get home, and by the time I'd got to The Cottage to get my kit, it was pouring down again, April showers style! Got inside and got the fire lit instead! 

Intro to climbing

Had a young team of students today for some beginners rock climbing at Lion Rock. It's a brilliant little outcrop for 'learning the ropes' and makes for a good venue when combined with a bit of weasling around the nearby boulders. 

But best of all are the views of Llyn Padarn and Snowdon. Super windy today, which made it all the more exciting, fixing the ropes at the top of the crag!

Climbing on Tryfan Bach

After a glorious afternoon on the north coast, looking over at the Little Orme, we made it into Ogwen for a quick evening route.

Beautiful evening and tranquil solitude. No one else in the entire valley. Not even a midgy! Perfect for a quick therapeutic blast up the slabs at Tryfan Bach. 

There was a few light showers that blew up the valley, but I was snug and warm in my Rab Vapour-Rise Guide Jacket. The rain didn't amount to much and the sun made some good colour as it dipped below Y Garn at the end of the valley.

Tryfan Bach:

- Crack 3, Diff.

Kayaking on Llyn Brenig

A change of scene for me today - kayaking on one of the highest reservoirs in Wales! After a few logistical problems at the start of the day, my group and I managed to get a lift upto Llyn Brenig for a days kayaking. 

It's high up on the Denbigh Moors and exposed to the wind (which I guess is why it's a popular sailing place), but luckily, the winds were light and the weather pretty good. After a skills session and a lunch outside the sailing clubhouse, we went on a journey to the island. 

We hugged the coast to stay more sheltered, but when we got to the island, things looked a bit different to my last visit years ago! The 'hide and seek' woods had all been harvested!!

We got out to have a look, but the new landscape wasn't quite the same for hide and seek! Still, we were supposed to be kayaking, so it was good not to get too sidetracked. We set off back, into the wind to the club house for some capsize drills, which proved just as fun!

Transformation Leadership

"Continuing Professional Development" (CPD), is the term given to the process of keeping upto date and current within a job or industry. As a member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors I spent the day at the National Mountain Centre attending a workshop on 'Transformational Leadership' for Mountain Leaders. The idea behind CPD is to ensure that Leaders are aware on current best practice and not just using antiquated methods within their industry.

I must admit, I wasn't that excited about spending a day in a classroom when the mountains were looking so good, but the title of the workshop (Transformation Leadership) got me intrigued to hear about the current research regarding this. The room turned out to be full other Mountain Leaders, Instructors and Guides; some of whom I'd not seen in ages, so it was good to catch up as well as keeping up to date.

The presentation itself was good and started some interesting discussions and gave us all a bit to think about in terms of our leadership styles. Plenty to mull over, experiment with and trial with my groups that I work with outdoors. 

Last Tango on Trango, VS (4c)

There aren't many routes in the Llanberis Slate Quarries at our preferred grade that we've not climbed, so I was excited to return to the Trango Tower and try the new route that I'd noticed while working there on Saturday. It was beautifully peaceful up there today, with plenty of sunshine and only a slight breeze.

The route follows a diagonal crack line, in a kind of long hand traverse. It was only first climbed a month ago, so the slate is still razor sharp! There was still a bit of loose rock too to clean off along the way, but with a bit more traffic, it will be a great route.

The crux is just below the bolted lower-off and required some balance moves to get up to the good ledge. Great stuff! Couldn't believe I'd not spotted the line previously!

After that, we did the mini-route that Clare did the first ascent of a few years ago, which has some good moves but is all over too quickly!

I'm still using the Lowe Alpine 'Alpine Attack' Rucsack, which (at 35L) is the perfect size for my climbing kit for the day. Made it back to The Cottage, after a quick stop in Llanberis, in time for coffee and the remains of my birthday cake in the gardens. Mmmm....

Trangia Towers Area, Llanberis Slate:

- Last Tango On Trango, VS (4c)**

- 1981, VS (5a)

Rab testing on Cader Idris

The morning started as a total blue sky stunner and on the drive over to Cader Idris, I was concern that we didn't have enough water with us. But, the fickle mountain weather actually had us shivering on the summit rather than sweating!! After a wonderful early morning drive across Snowdonia, from about half way up the Pony Path, we had this as our view!

We actually got to the summit in good time, but the view wasn't quite what we'd been hoping for! Made use of the summit shelter, as although it wasn't raining, we were wet from condensation from the thick clouds and mist.

Of course, it did give me the chance to put the new Rab 'Vapour-Rise Guide Jacket' to the test and I'm happy to report it was extremely comfortable! I had just a short sleeve thermal underneath it and was the perfect temperature all day. It has an amazingly soft fleece inside, so feels great against your skin. On the hike down as I began to warm up, so used the pit zips to let in some cooler air, which worked very well. It's a well designed jacket and I'm looking forward to using it more!

As is sometimes the way, as we got near the base of the mountains, the skies began to clear and for a few brief moments the summit was visible!! Nice day out with a great group, regardless of the weather though. 

Plateau Slab, Rock Climbing

Spent a very nice day over in the plateau area of the Llanberis Slate Quarry with a group of students. 

After a bit of a nose around the peppermint tower, we opted for some bolted routes on the slab.

The sun came out and we were enjoying ourselves so much we were almost late finishing! The routes are quite fingery but good. The only shame is that you have to belay from such a steep slope. On the plus side, I noticed just before we left, that someone has put up a new route over the summer. It's graded at my favourite climbing grade - VS (4c) and given two stars, so looking forward to coming back to do it soon. 

After walking out and returning the students, I got given a ticket to a music festival in the grounds of a stately house in the Conwy Valley. Obviously, I took up the offer and had an impromptu brill night, the highlight of which was a fantastic blues/rock band from London called Marcus Bonfanti. Great musicians and they put on a quality show. The trees in the gardens looked amazing, all lit up. 

There were some good DJs playing into the early hours, but I bedded down I the van before it got too late as I had a early start due the next day. Great evening, super sociable and good music. Winner!

Plateau Slab:

- The Arete, 4c

- The Corner, 5b

- Magic Carpet, 5b

Canoeing on Llyn Gwynant

Today was the kind of day where working as an educator in the great outdoors is a pure pleasure. Blue skies, light winds, high temperatures and a psyched group all came together to give a fantastic day of open canoeing on Llyn Gwynant.

It's a bit of a faff getting a trainer of boats down to the lake, but once on the water, in these conditions it was all good, relaxed fun. We explored up the river, out across the lake and finished with some good old fashioned jumping off big rocks into the deep waters. The water even felt wam enough to be pleasantly refreshing rather than the usual freezing. 

Lots of laughter, team work, discussion and enjoyment of such a beautiful place. All the sorts of things that Outdoor Education should encompass. 

Equinox, VS (4c) Bus Stop Quarry

Felt great to get the ropes flaked back out today. Last time I pulled on my harness I was on the other side of the world!

It's been a sweltering 26 degrees today, so some shady slate was the perfect place to re-introduce ourselves to Welsh rock this evening at Bus Stop Quarry.

Having started the day with a cloud inversion along the coast, we had a corker of a day before the hazy mists rolled back in again at sun set to give some good colours.

I'm also testing a new rucksack by 'Lowe Alpine' this month. It was a rather rushed trip to the crag, so was packed dreadfully, but even so, it's very comfortable to wear and at 35L very spacious!

Bus Stop Quarry, Llanberis Slate:

- Equinox, VS (4c)

Birthday Surfday!

Started to feel like a human being again today, ready to re-join the land of the living! My brain is back up to normal, I just need the energy levels to match the psych. Have had a fantastic birthday, that started off in good style with a banana pancake and coffee breakfast session!

We then went out down the track for a walk. Partly to walk off the pancakes, but mostly because I haven't really been out and about locally, since we got back from Australia.

The Rowan trees are all full of red berries, which usually means that we're in for some snow this winter!? (according to the local old wives!)....

Plenty of acorns out too...

After lunch, we headed to the beach for a (now) traditional birthday surf. We had to wait for the tide to change when we got there, so enjoyed an hour of sunbathing up by the dunes first.

Getting into wetsuits seemed a little less spacious without our giant campervan, but at least we had dry wetsuits to get into.

Conditions came good for us once we were in the water and I managed to ride a few great waves. The weather changed while we were in and rain poured down, but we could hardly get any wetter? Didn't stay in too long as energy levels still felt sub-par. Ace to be in though - and no sharks either here!

Went for apres surf tea and cake at the cafe in the dunes, then got back for fireside dining, more cards, messages, pressies and (of course), more cake.

A very happy birthday....