Dartmoor

A sunny day at the Dewerstone with Mat and Che Ming by the end of the day Mat had brushed up his leading skills and lead Mucky Gully and Colnels Arete.

Swanage

Back to Swanage again this week with Paul. Once again it was sunny and we were the only climbers at Gillemott ledge. Another great day.

Swanage

Even though much of the country had some snow on Sunday Swanage was sunny as usual on Monday. Met up with Jon and went to Guillemot and Cormorant Ledges and did 3 routes; Oran (S), Ledgend (HS) and Batt Crack (VS). Great climbing and a great location.

Tim Emmett Lecture at Court Fields Community School, Somerset

If you live in Devon or Somerset you may want to come and see Tim Emmett, the well known climber and base jumper. Tim is doing a lecture at my school on the evening of 24/1/08, the lecture is open to the public and starts at 7.30pm

Tickets are available from the school office. Tel no: 01823 664201

http://www.timemmett.com/

Tickets costs
Adult £5
Child £2.50
Family ticket £10

North Devon Sea Cliff climbing

Met up with Steve and Chris for an ascent of Wreckers Slab in North Devon - 400ft of slabby climbing. We were lucky with the weather, even though it was November the weather was dry. Hard to believe that Steve had a birthday this weekend and he had just qualified for his bus pass!

Leading course

A beautiful Autumn day at the Dewerstone on Saturday, Jeanine and Chris where learning about multi-pitch climbing.

Chudleigh Clear up 27th Oct

On Saturday 27/10 a group of local climbers will be attempting to clear some of the Ivy and undergrowth at Chudleigh. Remember to bring a helmet and some gardening tools if you come to help. Ask for Ben Hall when you arrive at the crag.

Hay Tor

A very busy day at Hay Tor. Mark, Tom and Debbie had their first taste of climbing and abseiling.

Dewerstone

After a wet forecast I went to the Dewerstone to meet Steve and his 2 sons Ollie and Dan. After climbing one wet route the weather cleared up and we did Needle Arete and Fly on the Wall which was completed just before the showers returned in the late afternoon.

Gold DofE

Spent the weekend working with my friend Paul from Dynamic Adventures with a gold D of E group on Dartmoor. Nice weather and great students. I

SPA Assessmet 8/9 Sept

Next week we are running an SPA assessment course in Devon. We also have another one planned for October. If you are looking for a place get in touch with me or Simon.

Baggy Point

John came down for his 4th visit to the south west and we went to Baggy Point. Excellent weather and some great climbing. John climbed 3 great routes and has become a very competent leader. The weather was great a the crag was quiet except for a few friends from the Mill climbing wall.

John on the main slab at Baggy Point

Commando Ridge Julia Bradbury

BBC TV

I expect everyone saw the BBC programme last Friday where Julia Bradbury climbed Commando ridge, Crackstone Rib and the Old Man of Stoer with Tim Emmett - well I have had loads of enquiries since then. If anyone wants to do this climb in October/November or even make a booking for Easter then get in touch. Unfortunately most of September is already booked.

Bosigran

Alan and Mat came down for a days climbing. Both were very keen as they are intending to go to the Alps later in the summer. Did plenty of climbing and finished off on 'Ding' a great route with plenty of interesting moves.

Bosigran

Climbing at Bosigran on Friday and Saturday.


On Friday I met up with Paul and Becky for their first taste of climbing, it was unusual to meet people who had never climbed before even on an indoor wall but they made great progress. Routes climbed Alisons Rib (D), Big Top (VD) and a combination of Black Slab and Red Slab. The weather was excellent and Bosigran is the perfect location.

Photo 1 At the top of Black slab
Photo 2 Paul exiting the v-groove of Red slab

Hay Tor

A quick trip out to Hay Tor with Rob. Routes climbed included Raven Wing (VS) Very sunny afternoon followed by a cream tea!

Chudleigh

A hot sunny afternoon at Chudleigh with Duncan.

Berry Head

Deep water soloing and traversing around the cliff at Swashbuckler buttress with Rob.

Dewerstone

Another great day at the Dewerstone in the sunshine. Jo and David came down from London having climbed indoors but not outside. Both made great progress and Jo remained very calm on the top pitch of needle arete even though it was a little difficult. The picture shows David belaying from the top of needle arete.







I bumped into old friend Barry Donovan who was also working at the crag - good to see you Baz.
Photo show climbers on Route B

Sheeps Tor

Laura and Alan teamed up for a day at Sheepstor. Alan was preparing for a trip to the Alps and Laura an instructors course. The weather was kind up until the end of the afternoon when the rain returned so we were pretty lucky!

Leading course Dartmoor

Tim and Sophie came down for a leading course on Saturday. After all the rain we have had recently we were very lucky and had a warm dry day (is this the start of the summer?) By the end of the day both were confidently leading easy routes and building their own belays.

A wet summer and teambuilding

The weather over most of the UK has been very wet and as a result I have had to reshedule many rock climbing clients so that we can climb in dryer (hopefully) weather.

During the week Jason brought down 8 work colleagues from Ernst and Young and they had a great time coasteering ( a great actvity for wet weather) and another day on Dartmoor, everyone had a good time .

Chudleigh and Hay Tor

A very hot day on Saturday climbing with Jolyon. In the morning we sampled the limestone of Chudleigh but in the afternoon we went to Hay Tor and Low Man for some more grippy granite.

SPA training

A busy weekend working with Mike Timson in South Wales on an SPA taining course.
Day 1 - was personal climbing and gear placements at Symonds Yat followed by an evening visit to a climbing wall.
Day 2 - setting up bottom roping and top roping systems and group abseils.
As always Mike organised a packed course which kept everyone busy. An excellent weekend.

Sunny day on Dartmoor

A sunny Easter weekend. Spent bank holiday Monday climbing at the Dewerstone with Barry. He was climbing really well for someone who has never climbed before. The Dewerstone was busy with people climbing in shorts and T-shirts - and its only April!

SPA Jersey

Simon went back to Jersey this weekend to do an SPA assessment. Weather was better than the training course he ran.

Look at the web site for other SPA training and assessment dates on Dartmoor.

Baby

No paddling for me this weekend because our son Edward was born this weekend. Both are doing well.

Walkham/Tavy

After some heavy rain we did the Lower Walkham and Tavy a good grade 3- run which was as good as the Dart Loop.

Kayaking

Plenty of rain this week so the rivers have been full, did trips on the Dart loop, Teign and Tavy all within 20 mins drive from home - great!

Looking forward to some (hopefully) drier weather over Easter so that I can get out rock climbing again.

SPA in Jersey 10/11 Feb

Simon went over to Jersey to run an SPA training course for the local climbing club. The course went well but the weather was terrible, a really change from the sun of last weekend.

We are taking bookings for more SPA training and Assessments over the summer. Only 3 places left for May5/6.

Scotland

A very wet and windy weekend in Scotland. After a good soaking on Saturday we retreated to the ice factor in Kinlochleven on Sunday and did eight pitches of hard ice climbing! Members of our party had been to Cogne and La Grave this year and found no ice. Perhaps global warming has made ice climbing and indoor sport?

Scotland

Hopefully the Bristol Airport runway saga will be resolved by Friday, because I am off to Scotland. Just hoping for some cold weather to consolidated all that wet snow.

Kayaking

A wet November and December has produced plenty of good water for kayaking trips on the Exe and Dart have been done in variety of water conditions.

Baggy Point

Took Chris and Steve to Baggy Point and after a cold start it turned into a warm sunny day. We took advantage of the low tide and did Kinky Boots starting right from the beach (Cirus Minor) followed by some routes on the slab. Steve even did his first lead.

Dewerstone

Another great day at the Dewerstone with Richard. Hope this sunny weather continues!

Dewerstone

A great autumn day at the Dewerstone. Chris and Steve had got the climbing bug on an alpine climbing course and wanted to try it again. They both progressed well and seconded some multi-pitch routes.

Kayaking

Its October and the rivers are open again. Took Garry on his first white water trip on the River Exe a great introductory trip and he only fell in once!

SPA training

Last weekend Simon ran an SPA training course for the Adventures club.

Baggy Point

A lovely sunny day on Saturday, Baggy Point was crowded perhaps becuase the surf was non-existent! The tide was low enabling us to do Kinky Boots VS right from the beach, later Simon did his first lead (Marion) on the slab.

Alps

Paul on the approach to the Covercle Refuge.

A mixed week in the Alps lots of rain at the start of the work produced lots of fresh snow making routes like Mont Blanc de Tacul hard work.

Alps

Off to the Alps tomorrow, its a busy life!

Cornwall

After a few days on holiday near Sennen I met up with John for a few days at Bosigran. This is the third year in a row that I have worked with John and in that time he has gone from a begineer to being a very competent second on multi-pitch routes and now also being able to lead many of the pitches. Its great to see someone of 50 developing these skills and getting very fit!

Routes included Big Top (VD), Ledge Route, (VD), Doorway (S) and Ding (HS). The picture shows John on the top pitch of Doorway at Bosigran.

Court Fields School

Three days of activites for the students at my oown school started with a trip to Dartmoor. Temperatures reached 90F for our session at Bone Hill rocks. This year I have been assisted by Baz Donovan a highly experienced instructor from Bristol.

A day at the coast on Thursday was a welcome relief from the heat. The students really enjoyed the coasteering, especially the jumping in! They all want to have another go so we be running this activity again!














Another trip to Dartmoor for some climbing and abseiling at Hay Tor finished off the week. The weather was perfect and the students were all up for the challenge. Thanks to Sue for delivering them every day by mini bus.

SPA Assessment

Spent the weekend working with Simon on an SPA assessment course. We used Sheeps Tor, Hay Tor and Chudleigh. The weather was hot (too hot!). Contact me for more course dates. We have a training course planned for the Autumn and an assessment in Jersey in October.

Lead climbing course

Working with the Jackob family again developing their leading skills. The lads have made great progress since last year. Over the weekend they climbed routes at the Dewerstone (Mucky Gully, Needle Arete and Fly on the Wall), Hound Tor and Hay Tor (Wobbling Wall and Raven Gully)

SPA training

A busy day at Hay Tor, Simon was running another SPA training course. We have an assessment on July 15/16. Please call if you need a place

Hay Tor Hen Party

A busy day working with Karen and all her friends doing an abseiling day for her Hen Party. The weather was excellent. I hope the girls had a great time in the evening!

Kayaking

Have been doing Kayaking trips on the River Avon (S Devon) the last two weekends. A nice scenic estuary paddle that ends up at the beautiful beach at Bantham.

Summer at last

After a wet start to the week the summer has arrived. This week I have been climbing at The Cheesewring Quarry on Bodmin Moor, Wreckers Slab on the North Devon coast (400ft VS) and Baggy Point. Its nice to pack the sun tan lotion after a cold and wet start to May.

Sheeps Tor

A wet day at Sheeps Tor on 27 May with Daniel and Chris. Did lots of gear placement and belay building practice to help make them independent climbers. Hope the summer arrives soon!