Indoor Climbing

A day spent doing Outdoor Education lesson observations in the Beacon Climbing Wall during daylight hours, followed by an evening of bouldering at Indy Climbing Wall. I was packing up and about to head home, from the days work when a visiting friend from Switzerland arrived out of the blue and convinced me to go for a boulder at the different climbing wall. We'd not seen each other since being in the Alps this summer, so it was good to catch up in an active way as although I'd been in the wall all day, I'd personally hardly left the ground! Left the evening session with satisfyingly pumped forearms and having caught up on each others news.

Canoe and Camp Skills

I wasn't firing on all cylinders, but decided that I was well enough to help lead a group on a 'paddlesport weekend' on Anglesey. Friday night involved a night walk through the arches of Menai Bridge, to see where we'd be canoeing the next day.

It was a murky start from the slipway, but the tide and wind allowed us to paddle through Menai Bridge and down to Britannia, with some rafted canoes all loaded up with camp food and provisions.

We moored up on the 'secret' island and set about making camp for the day. It was tough work getting a fire going in the clearing of the wet woods, but perseverance paid off and we were able to brew teas, cook sausages on sticks and even flame grill some burgers. To return on the tide and get back to the mainland before dark involved a hurried pack up as time had flown by. The journey back through the Swellies was an exciting one, with big rapids and whirlpools to negotiate. We had a big seal pop up and say hi on the journey out, but we were moving way too fast on the return leg for seals. A huge flock of Oyster Catchers and Canadian Geese did a great low flyby though.

On Sunday, we swapped canoes for Paddleboards as it was a perfect morning for it. The lake was quiet, calm and as smooth as glass.

We soon made some ripples and paddled up to the end, via a hot drink at Pete's Eats in the village. I'm still honing my skills on this new craft, so it was good that conditions were easy! They are great fun to use and we all enjoyed mucking about at the end - it was a real hoot to jump onto other boards and try to evict the owner without taking a very cold dunk! 

Lying Low...

There's been a forced period of inactivity this week, due to illness, so I've not much to report or record. I've not been able to stray too far from The Cottage, but at least I've been able to soak up a few moments of health-inducing sunshine from the local vistas. There's been a brief spell of winter up on the mountain tops and some fabulous autumn colours in the trees. 

The hour before sunset has been magical on more than one occasion this week.

A wintry ascent of Tryfan

There wasn't much to see for much of the day today. The clouds and mist hung low, without a wind to move them on. Tryfan was our mountain of choice today. Cold, damp and slippery conditions meant that another peak would have been a more sensible objective, but if the aim of the day is to climb Tryfan, then a nearby mountain won't quite do.

Half way up from Ogwen Cottage, we got a glimpse of the valley. Rather than follow the path, we spiced the ascent up by forging our own route up the rocky west face of the mountain.

There was snow from about 800m, made snowballs easy, but the climbing hard.

Having started quite fast, the final hundred meters took a really long time, partly due to negotiating slippery rocks while at the same time dodging incoming snowballs. Finally, the summit came into view and it looked for a moment that we might end up above the clouds. I managed to get a quick photo before the view closed in and it gently started to drizzle with cold, wet sleet.

We descended slowly down the west face gully to the A5. I went on ahead to get the minibus and we were all safely off the mountain before dark.

Indoor Training

Our next big climbing trip is only a month away, so decided that a little endurance training might be in order. Cold and wet outside, but was warm, dry and with good tunes at Indy Climbing Wall...

A brief visit to Scotland

Life on the road! What a whirlwind of a few days, with so many miles travelled and so much to take in. On Wednesday I travelled to Largs on the west coast of Scotland to take part in the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres annual conference. Thankfully, I didn't have to do the driving, as I was sharing a lift with some others from North Wales. We arrived to find stellar mountaineering conditions, with fresh snow on the hills, blue skies and a hard frost. Sadly, we'd be indoors for it all! We were staying at the National Sports Centre, which had fabulous views from our room and eight foot long beds to accommodate the national basket ball teams that trained there!

It's a shame that I'm no whisky drinker as the nearby Isle of Arran had donated endless samples for the influx of travelling delegates to quench their thirst on arrival.

The conference ran over two days and I took part in several different workshops, debates and presentations. I particularly liked this slide from one of the safety seminars!

The keynote speaker after dinner on Thursday was Alistair Humphries, who gave a really good presentation on how to inspire and encourage people to take part in adventures within their everyday life. One of his most famous 'expeditions' was a winter circumnavigation of the M25. Ha ha!

On Friday morning, Phil and I hiked up above the centre to get some fresh air and soak up the views before the first lecture. Arran in the distance, looked incredible with the peaks all snow covered. I was somewhat gutted to not be able to make use of the conditions.

And if that wasn't enough learning for one day, once the conference closed, we sped back down the M6 and just made it to the avalanche training keynote lecture at Plas y Brenin at 19:30. The event had been on all day, but we were allowed in to listen to the latest in avalanche research from a visiting French mountain guide called Alan Dubois, who is generally acknowledged as 'the knowledge' on such things. A full day of learning and my brain was tired by the time I arrived back at The Cottage at 22:30, hungry and exhausted....

Foel Ganol

Went for an explore along the northern edge of the Carneddau today with my grou pof students. We didn't have long or great weather, so stayed low by the shelter of thre river to start with. If felt a bit wild-west ish when a trail of wild ponies made a river crossing below us.

We a bit of coaxing, we gained some height on to the top of Foel Ganol as well as the neighbouring peak, where the wind was stronger and the view better.

Loads of puffball and mushrooms too.

Nice along the ridge tops...

Just before getting back to the bus, we had to wait a while, while the farmer and his dogs herded up the sheep. We managed to avoid getting crushed by the stampede...

Hill Skills - The first snows of winter

A fabulous day running one of Mountain Training's 'Hill Skills' courses with some sixth form students. Although there was a good amount of snow up on the tops, we decided to stay low, so save time and maximise on the time we had. From Racub, we navigated our way up to the frosty summit of Gryn.

Conditions could hardly have been better, with barely a breath of wind. 

We were able to cover the required syllabus, while enjoying the hike and soaking up the incredible views that fresh snowfall and blue sky create. With a little perswasion, I convinced the (majority) of the team that we should continue up to the higher peak of Gryn Wigau, which we did. 

It meant we were a little late getting back to the other group, who were waiting for us at the bus, but it was well worth the effort for the close up views of the Carneddau's higher peaks.

Back at base, I had time for a twenty minute power nap, before changing clothes and heading off to Liverpool for a rocking night out....

Backstage with Catfish & the Bottlemen

So after a day in the mountains, it was an evening in the city that followed. Picked up by Clare, with the vicar and wife in the back and a drum kit in the boot, we were soon transported to the city of Liverpool for a VIP evening of rock and roll.

Rob had once again ensured that we got the royal treatment, with parking underneath the M&S Bank Arena at the docks in Liverpool. Security barriers moved aside as we approached and the tour manager was there to greet us, with an onterage of security guys. With appropriate AAA wrist bands attached, we were led through the underground maze towards the 'catering area'...

Rob had his own room with his warm up drum kit, sofas and bathroom, so after some food and drinks, we relaxed in there while the support band took to the stage. As the road crew had already eaten, the chef even came in to see if we'd like anything else 'rustled up'!

Having met the singer and caught up with Rob, when we were ready, we left him to get psyched up and were guided into the arena to some front row seats for the show. It was a funny thing, hanging out and chatting with the guys, who just seemed regular dudes hanging out with their families - in a few minutes, they'd be on stage as international rock stars, with thousands of fans chanting their names and singing their songs. We were just above the madness of the standing area and with great views of the stage. We had been offered 'a box' higher up, but Rob thought (quite rightly it turned out), that although rather comfy, they are a long way from the action! We felt like we we on the edge of the stage.

There were 12,000 screaming fans inside the stadium which was a spectacle in itself. When the band came onstage at 21:00, the cheering was louder than the music!

We were well glad of our safe seated area (although we were all stood dancing), as the main hall erupted once the music started!

It was a great show indeed. And even more surreal to afterwards be back sitting on the dressing room sofa, talking about the show with them. Felt rather lucky.

The road crew had to move the Skoda for us as it was blocking in the lorries that were already half packed up by the time we left. (They knocked and came into the dressing room apologising profusely for disturbing us as if we were the royal family!). What a day... Mountains and music - one for the memory banks.....

Carnedd y Filiast

Another dusting of snow and some clear blue skies meant it was a beautiful day. We had a lot of 'indoor' things to sort out, but managed to get some fresh air in between. In the morning we took a stroll from The Cottage above the woods.

Later in the afternoon, we went up towards Carnedd y Filliast. We split halfway, then I continued upwards on the ebike!

The air clarity was crystal. Out to see I could clearly see the Lake District on the horizon and inland the tops were dusted with snow.

I stayed on top until I started to chill down (not long!).

Once back at the bike, I released the brakes and pretty much rolled downhill all the way to The Cottage! On the non-traffic section, I set a new record of 68.4km. The windchill on my ears was immense!

A busy weeek - Inspection, Observation, Training and Celebrating

I've been a bit too busy to fit in daily blog updates this last week. Estyn (the Welsh version of Ofsted) have been inspecting the Outdoor Education Department that I'm in charge of at St David's College. We've all been on our best behavior and unlike most kinds of inspections, we enjoyed being able to show off the things we do, as without being too modest, we feel that we do them rather well. - We'll get the results in a few weeks....

In-between this, I had a great day out on the lake in canoes, as part of our staff training and lesson observation process. It's a real pleasure and privilage to be able to watch skilled teachers of outdoor activities 'doing their thing'.

On Wednesday evening I had a late-night re-setting the boulding wall ready for a climbing competition. It was cold in the wall, which I think helped me to work fast.

Clare came and helped me after dark and checked the routes to make sure I'd got a good range of grades. Afterwards, we went for dinner in Llandudno to celebrate my 'second birthday' - a big one this year - my 21st Birthday after losing a bit of brain in 1998.

To complete the week of learning, I was on a British Mountaineering Course at the end of the week, learning about current techniques and practices in terms of physical training for climbing. 

The course was run by the GB Climbing team coach and I definitely picked up some good bits of knowledge as well as getting very pumped doing some strength training!