However, recently, the Summer weather has been unseasonable to say the least. It is a great shame as The Lake District is such a beautiful place and there is so much do do when the weather is good.
However, June 2012 has seen some serious flooding around the UK and whilst so far, we have escaped the sort of flooding seen on the south coast and more recently - in West Yorkshire, the Lake District has certainly had more than it's fair share of wet weather.
Unfortunately because of this, Roz's planned swim was cancelled and for many local outdoor activity providers the weather will also have caused problems. For Iain, it meant that taking the three into Church Beck as planned was once again, out of the question.
He offered the three our alternative ghyll scrambling session by way of compromise and it turned out to be a good choice on this day.
Photo one shows Andy followed by Roz & Alexis making their way up Redacre Gill in sporting but acceptable conditions.
Mind you - Iain had been here exactly a week previously with a stag party and if you look at the ghyll scrambling photos from that session there is no way you would have found that party attempting the short waterfall our three can be seen attempting here in photo two.
The lower part of Redacre Gill consists of a scramble up a bouldery stream bed which can be escaped at any point. Continuing upstream, the channel narrows, the flow becomes more concentrated and the level of challenge increases.
Eventually, we leave the main stream to follow a fantastic little tributary which offers a fine series of challenges throughout it's length and lots of variation.
Shortly after joining this, we enter a gorge containing small waterfalls and pools all of which offer a fair level of challenge when water levels are high.
One such fun part is crawling through a cave under a boulder from a pool in the stream.
In photo three, Roz appears from under the boulder to the amusement of her sister & partner. All three were liberally covered in mud from the crawl but it was soon washed off again when we got back into the stream.
Above the cave, the gorge narrows and steepens amongst trees and thee are several cascades that really require the use of a rope for clients.
In photo four Andy climbs one of these falls whilst belayed by Iain with a rope to protect him should he slip.
Ghyll scrambling can be described as walking up a mountain stream swimming through pools, climbing up waterfalls and having a lot of fun in the process. We try to make sure that any session we run at Kendal Mountaineering Services is fun but of course your safety and comfort comes first & foremost.
People attending our ghyll scrambling or canyoning sessions can expect to receive a high standard of equipment provision which includes wetsuits, cagoules, bouyancy aids, helmets, harneses and walking boots for your feet. All of this equipment goes to improve your comfort and safety when undertaking any wet session with us.
Photo five shows Alexis, Andy & Roz at the get out point of our alternative ghyll scrambling session in The Lake District. Despite the session not being as originally planned the three had a great experience with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services and it was probably with some relief for Roz that something else that she had organised for her weekend away with family had not been cancelled due to the weather. We will always try to provide you with an alternative if, for whatever reason we are unable to provide the activity session requested. Each of the trio had paid £45 for their half day session with us which is excellent value for the equipment & service that we provide and we are happy to provide sessions for groups as small as two people. To book your ghyll scrambling or canyoning session with Kendal Mountaineering Services contact us here and remember these sessions are great fun as activities in their own right or when booked as part of a stag or hen event or corporate team building session.
The rest of the photos from this session can be viewed here.
2 comments:
This is a great description of the time we had with Iain scrambling in the Lake District! We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and although the weather was unpredictable Iain made sure we could still go scrambling in safe water. The organisation of the trip was brilliant - we knew where to go, Iain brought all of the equipment and sizes we needed to participate and even had tea and coffee to warm us up afterwards! If you're thinking of doing some outdoor activities whilst in the Lakes with an experienced company who will look after you and will ensure you have fun - look no further!
Thanks Alexis - we do our best! Thanks for using our services, regards, Iain.
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