Wednesday 21 August 2013

Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions in The Lake District, August 14th 2013.



Merijn Van Den Berg contacted Iain at Kendal Mountaineering Services whilst on holiday in the area with his girlfriend Hester.

The pair were staying near Santon Bridge in West Cumbria and Googled Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions in The Lake District and.....up we came!

The pair travelled over on Wednesday morning and met Iain at Coniston where we got kitted out in wetsuits, walking boots, cagoules, bouyancy aids and helmets before heading off into the start of the gorge where photo one was taken.


Our Lake District ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions consist of walking upstream - swimming through pools or jumping into them and climbing up small waterfalls with maybe the odd little other challenge thrown in such as squeezing under the log & up the small fall as in photo two.

Whatever challenge we choose to offer you - you can be assured that it is something we have already tried ourselves to make sure it is safe and, of course - fun!

Certainly, Merijn & Hester seemed to enjoy their ghyll Scrambling ascent of Church Beck with Iain.
Photo Three shows Hester, about to jump in from the side of the pool at an area known as the "top jumps". To get to this point she had done a short roped traverse out to Iain who was securely anchored before he lowered her down to the point where she is standing in the photo.

From here, Hester was told to unclip from the rope and jump in leftwards to the centre of the pool and then swim out to where Merijn is already waiting. Prior to this, we had already done two roped lowers down waterfalls and one jump into a pool on our Canyoning Descent part of Merijn & Hester's session with Iain.

The alternative to the method we used at this point is to jump in from the top of the waterfall to the very narrow slot which can be seen to the right of Hester, but we don't think this is a safe option. All of our sessions are based on the foundations of safety first, comfort second and enjoyment third!

The final photo from Merijn & Hester's Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Session in The Lake District sees the pair at the foot of the final descent challenge - the chockstone pitch or coffin slide as it sometimes gets known.

Between here and the last photo there is one other fall between the top fall and the chockstone pitch - we will allow you to jump, but you must be confident that you can jump far enough out to avoid the rock in the base of the fall; and land where Iain is pointing!!

Merijn did the jump and Hester climbed down before they both swam the pool below. We did the slide down the chockstone pitch and that was the end of their session.

Merijn & Hester paid only £45 each for this half day (4 hour) Lake District Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Session with us. In truth it didn't take the three of us four hours to do it it, but they did get to do everything there was to be done at the venue and Iain was happy to work with two of them. One of our competitors had apparently quoted them £250 for the session and that is slightly more than what we would charge six persons for the same session! It is certainly worth shopping around we think!

To find out more about our Lake District Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions contact us here. We look forward to working with you.

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