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.