Sam gets her Mountain Leader (ML) Award

Remember Sam who came out with me over in the Lakes for a 'ML Refresher'?????  Well I'm pleased to report she is now the proud owner of a Pass sticker :-).....After initial assessment nerves on the course she went on to pass with flying colours on Friday last week!!

Well done Sam....and if anyone asks it was all down to the expert coaching offered by Roxcool ;-) hahaha

CWLA (Cimbing Wall Leading Award) - Assessment - Sunderland Wall

Congratulations to Paul who passed his CWLA today with flying colours.

This was a new course for myself and for Roxcool....This course is aimed at those instructors already holding either a CWA or a SPA but who would like to teach Lead climbing indoors.

The four 'Willing' candidates (Nathan, Richard, Robin and Rebecca) all seem to learn a great deal and went away happy.

WARNING to All Using a 'Backed Up Abseil'

THIS JUST IN!!!!!!

Safety alert on abseiling with prussik on leg loops


Safety alert on abseiling with prussik back up on leg loops

This came to me from Pat Littlejohn in the British Mountain Guides newsletter and makes interesting reading:

Summary - Using a prussik loop back up on your leg loop can open the buckles which are 'cinched' tight (by pulling), now increasingly found on modern harnesses, with dangerous results.

" Last summer on a Technical Alpinism course I taught clients how to protect an abseil with a French prusik clipped into the harness leg loop, a standard technique used almost universally. While using this later abseiling from a gendarme, one client allowed the prussik to bite whereupon the harness leg loop opened and he was left dangling from his waist belt with the prussik jammed against his belay plate. Luckily he was nearly at the end of the abseil and other clients helped him to unweight and free himself.

Wanting to see how this had happened I tried it using his harness and the leg loop undid every time. We then tried other harnesses in the team (which were not identical but similar construction) and again this happened.

All were new harnesses which had leg loops with buckles which 'cinched' tight (by pulling) rather than being back-threaded in the old style (as the leg loop buckles on the harness I was wearing). What happens is that the karabiner of the prussik lodges at the buckle, which then opens because it is being pulled at an angle which 'cinching' buckles won't take, i.e. a force from behind the buckle. This is much easier to demonstrate than to explain!

So many modern harnesses now use 'cinching' buckles on the leg loops, or are in the “Bod” style, that we may have to revert to the method of protecting an abseil with a prussik by clipping the prussik into the belay loop of the harness (usually with a quickdraw or cow’s tail to extend either the prussik or the belay plate), I have always thought this was a safer method anyway, but a bit less convenient and involving more gear.

What worries me is the number of people out there who have been taught to abseil with a French prussik clipped into leg loops with 'cinching' buckles - a lot of people I suspect. "

I've tried to get this to happen on a new Wild Country harness without success - see pictures below. Climbers and instructors should, however, be aware of this possibility.

Give me a shout if you need me to explain this!!!

CWA Training

Another successful course over the last weekend for 8 lucky candidates who joined the Roxcool team at Sunderland Wall (Saturday) and Macmillan Academy (Sunday). 

I was assissted on this course by Andy Reeve from over in the Lakes....a dedicated if not obsessed climber who always brings valuable alternative points of view and his acting skills are second to none!!! :-)

The course covered all the required syllabus set by the MLTE including belaying (bottom roping), movement skills, teaching, problem solving, leading/lead belaying, coaching and games.  There never seems to be enough time on these courses to fit everything in and you always feel like you are chasing your tail.

Suprisingly, this group were very good with their basic belaying skills and I missed out on saying 'WINDMILL' over and over....perhaps the word is getting out that belaying must be of a good standard ;-).

If you are interested in becoming a climbing instructor have a look at this link which will give you all the information you require and the dates of the future courses.  Next training course is not till August as I'm away for the whole of July :-).
http://www.roxcool.co.uk/course_detail.asp?CourseID=3

Ciao for now People :-) and Happy adventures

Cliff

Mountain Leader Refresher!

It was scorching hot, gorgeous sunshine, bright blue skies and a slight breeze over the hills of St John in the Vale, and the mountain Glamara, Seathwaite in the Lake District. Here I was spending two days over the May half term doing an ML refresher course with Cliff from Roxcool before my assessment in June.





It was an exceptionally enjoyable two days practising my navigation skills; from finding those knarly ring contours and tarns to learning valuable tracking skills, bearings, pacings and timings. It was a fantastic opportunity to reinforce what I have learnt as well as a great confidence boost. Just want to say a very big thanks to Cliff, it really helped!

What also really made the course was navigating the way to Blackmoss Pot, a little gorge in the Langstrath valley, and going for a refreshing swim after walking in the heat of the day over Glamara. The water was so clear and warm, and there was a waterfall, that when we swam into it, it felt like a Jacuzzi!

To top it off we finished the course having a wonderful home made fruit pie with ice-cream and cream in Shepherd’s café. I would highly recommend a visit!

Thank you

 Sammi House

 

Rock Monkey's hit Great Wanney Crag - Northumberland

On Sunday 29^th May a group of rock monkeys from Sunderland Wall went out climbing to Great Wanney, a crag near Hexham. Cliff (from Roxcool), Tom and Richy (two instructors from Sunderland Wall) took us climbing. It was raining in the morning and very windy but the rain soon stopped. It stayed very windy throughout the whole day though but at least it dried off the crag.

When we arrived we walked through the forest and towards the crag. It took about 20 minutes and we had to scramble up to the bottom of the crag. Tom and Richy set up the ropes while Cliff took us through all the rocks and plants next to the crag on what can only be described as 'an adventure'. There were quite a few holes – I think everyone fell in at least one!

We then went up to the crag to start climbing the routes. The first two routes that were climbed were “Great Chimney” VD and “Boundary Corner” VD. Later Bethany, Danielle and I attempted “Great Wall (Direct Finish)” E5 6A. “Great Wall has the same start but goes around the corner which is HVS 5B but we tried the direct finish.

 It was very hard but all got very close to the top.

As well as the girls I've mentioned we also had the two Joshua's and Alex keeping us company.

Everyone climbed “Main Wall” MS, “Squeezy Bill” D and “Jacob’s Ladder” VD.  Everybody climbed very well. At the end of the day we did a little bit of bouldering and then drove back to Sunderland Wall.

It was a great day out climbing and everyone enjoyed themselves. I can’t wait for the next day in June. Thank you to the Roxcool team.

Carmel Moran.....Roxcool Sponsored Athlete!!!! 

Leading the way to new heights!

After completing the ‘Learn to Climb’ course with Cliff and Roxcool in October, I, and 3 other liked-minded individuals, decided it was time to take our climbing to new heights (excuse the pun) by learning to lead climb. The aptly named course, ‘Learn to Lead’, was run by Cliff himself and was to take place over 2 days. A truly international contingent of climbers was to be had, each of us from a different corner of the world including Singapore, Sweden, the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland.

Day 1 began with an introduction into the range of equipment available to climbers. After becoming familiar with all the names, varieties and safety checks it was time to learn the ins and outs of lead climbing. Cliff, very expertly, demonstrated the techniques of tying in using a bowline knot and the clipping in of the rope. Once we got to ‘grips’ with the theory, it was time to put what we just learned into practice (easier for some more so than others, i.e. me!). After much practice it was time to do some lead traversing, allowing us to practice our clipping without having to contend with the height of the wall. Something we discovered at this point and which Cliff failed to mention - much to his amusement - was how much harder lead climbing was compared to top roping! By the end of day 1 we were leading routes and practicing our clipping with the ever comforting safety of the top ropes.

Day 2 began with Cliff showing us examples of damaged ropes and what to look out for along with the range of belay devices that are on offer. We then got straight into some lead traversing after the traditional warm-up – spotty dogs included!! Following this, it was time to learn dynamic belaying. This part worried me but thanks to Cliff’s guidance we took to it like ducks to water – well, sort of! By the end of the day, we were all confident in our ability to keep our partners alive on the wall - a skill I think all climbers should probably have!!

The grand finale was ‘the big fall’ as Cliff thought it a good idea for all of us to experience this, however, a great deal of encouragement was needed for some of us to let go! For me, this was probably the most memorable/frightening/exhilarating part of the course! Pumped with adrenaline after ‘the big fall’ we were let loose on the routes by ourselves to practice a bit more. The day ended with 4 very happy but tired climbers who couldn’t wait to put their new found climbing skills into practice - but only after our arms stopped hurting! Thank you Cliff for making this such an enjoyable course.

Kathy McConnell – Northumbria University (Student)