16/05/2023
Absolutely great weather (mostly) this weekend for our first Rock Climber Development course of the year with father/daughter combo Chris and Helena.
This is my most popular course, and Im glad as I love running them. We have lots of time (4 days) to really focus on practising the essential skills and learning new ones.
Chris, who was already pretty experienced, really wanted to learn how to become more efficient on multipitch climbs. Helena, who's done lots of seconding with her dad, wanted to get on the sharp end of the rope and lead her first route.
On day 1, with the help of Trainee MCI, Paul, we began by going over the fundamentals of belaying, equipment and knots. While we didn't do a lot of climbing, this is time well-spent as it provides opportunity to introduce efficiency and iron out some bad habits.
Day 2 we went to holyhead Mountain to apply day one's lessons while doing some climbing, gradually increasing the difficulty to allow Helena discover her limits with the safety of a top-rop before finishing off on an easy 2 pitch route.
Day 3 was a quick hit at Temadog getting Helena placing lots of protection and her dad could practise belay transitions before dodging the rain for the comfort of the Beacon Climbing Centre to revise abseiling and some more belaying. on the final day, we put all of it together at Tryfan Bach where Helena lead her first climb in what I would call sub-optimal conditions - cold northly wind gusting 40. an outstanding effort all round.
If you want to take your climbing to a Higher level, get in touch for availability. website is on the About section.
Association of Mountaineering Instructors