snow, snow everywhere

Snow from Friday night was just clearing when we had another 5 inches during the early hours of Monday morning.  A day of pavement clearing and building snowmen planned for today.  Will be a white Christmas on Exmoor this year.

Dry tooling

Had my first experience of using the new Alp Kit figure 4 indoor training axes today at the Rock and Rapid climbing wall in South Molton, an excellent aid to winter climbing.  Another similar training axe is available from schmoolz.com, both feature wooden shafts and reinforced rubber loops for hooking onto climbing holds -I think I will be investing in a pair! (video from schmoolz.com)

Baggy Point

A glorious sunny day on Monday at Baggy Point.  Tim was making a return to climbing after a 20 year break and had brought along his daughter Charis for the day.  The autumn sun shone and the sea was calm and the climbing was excellent.

Cornwall

Paul at Bosigran

Just returned from a weekend climbing with Paul at Bosigran, the weather was excellent and very hot for mid October. The crag was busy with lots of other climbers taking advantage of the good weather.

Exmoor challenge

This weekend I was working for Norman Vernon from Off Limits Adventures helping him run some corporate training days.  The boys and girls from the accountancy firm had a good time and went to sample the local hostlery in the evening,  If your firm needs a coprporate training day get in touch as Off limits can provide these anywhere in the country.

Dewerstone

A day at the Dewerstone with Sarah and her son Stu.  After a wet start the weather cleared up and we even had some welcome sun.  Stuart climbed really well and had a great head for heights.

Dewerstone

Cornwall

Just returned from a few days in Cornwall at Chair Ladder and Bosigran.
Jon (below) on Flannel Avenue at Chair Ladder

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Deep water soloing

It was a beautiful sunny day on the south coast yesterday so Noel and I decided to do the Magical Mystery Tour on Berry Head.  1100ft of climbing and a swim to finish - excellent fun.

Hound Tor

Today we were supposed to be coasteering but with big waves forecast for the north coast we had to change our plans, so we went to Dartmoor for some abseiling, walking and climbing.  We even managed to avoid the rain until it was time to drive home.

High Ropes

Today we went to the High Ropes course at the Ultimate High near Bideford.  The students really enjoyed the high ropes, zip wire and auto belaying system on the climbing wall.  A great facility, we will be back next year.

Hound Tor

On Wednesday I took 20 students from Court Fields School climbing at Hound Tor.  All the students enjoyed themselves and did plenty of climbing.

Dartmoor

On Saturday I met up with Vanessa and Nicola for a climbing refresher course at the Dewerstone. After brushing up on belay techniques we climbed a few multi-pitch routes in the sunshine and had a very enjoyable day.

Baggy Point

A very hot weekend and a great day on Baggy Point.

SPA Training

We will be running an SPA training course in Devon on July 24 and 25th.

Lundy Sea kayaking

Just returned from a great sea kayaking trip to Lundy with Mike and Steve.  We had excellent weather going over and did Lee Bay to Lundy in four and a half hours and also saw some porpoises near the island.

After climbing the Devils slide and Albion on Thursday we paddled back on Friday arriving at a very sunny Lee Bay at mid-day.  A great trip and an ambition fulfilled.  Thanks to Mike for the organisation and the loan of the sea kayak.


(below The Devils Slide pitch 2)

Dartmoor

On Saturday I met up with Sergei and Chris from Taunton for an intro to climbing course.  We went through everything from fitting a harness and belaying to seconding some multi-pitch routes.  The weather was kind and it was dry all day long.

Sea kayaking

A hot sunny day on the Dorset coast.  Today Simon and I sea kayaked 25Km from Weymouth to Kimmeridge Bay stopping of at Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove on the way.  Conditions were very calm but the April sun was suprisingly hot - an excellent way to travel.

BBC Thrillseeker

Today I met up with 3 local climbers who had booked me as part of the BBC Thrillseeker campaign that was advertised on the Countryfile programme.  We had a day at Hound Tor and did plenty of top roping and single pitch routes.

Intro rock course

Good Friday looked like it was going to be wet but we escaped the rain all day and even had some sun.  Gemma and Jordan were down from London for the weekend for an intro rock course and we had a good day at the Dewerstone.  On Saturday the rain caught up with us and we retreated to Dartrock of an afternoon at the the climbing wall.

Easter climbing

A busy weekend coming up with climbers booked in on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  All we need now is some spring weather!

Snow

Like most parts of the country my corner of Devon had about 5 inches of snow last night, so no school today.