Lake District Ghyll Scrambling Courses. Stickle Ghyll, Langdale. Monday 31st March 2014.

After finishing our first Navigation Skills Training Course of 2014, Iain was back out the next day to meet father & son Pete & Joseph Burbage along with Josephs support person John for a Ghyll Scrambling Session the The Lake District.

Pete was a returning client - having visited the area the previous year to attend one of our great half day Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions at Church Beck with his Daughter Kiera. You can read about that session by going to this post - it was fun!

Today was all about making sure that Joseph got a special session as part of a weekend away from the residential home where he lives in East Yorkshire.

Joseph suffers from a fairly severe form of Autism, but really enjoys swimming. Pete was keen to see if he would take to ghyll scrambling.

Pete had asked Iain to provide an easy session for Joseph that would not included the use of harnesses or any form of ropework. Iain therefore chose to meet the trio at the Stickebarn Tavern next to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Langdale and use Stickle Ghyll as the venue for Josephs session.

Stickle Ghyll is one of the most popular venues for Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District with easy access and lots of small waterfalls and shallow pools where people & children can get wet without getting out of their depth. There are, of course, a few pools where you can enjoy swimming  if you are a child - and almost if you are an adult! The pool in photo two is the deepest in the ghyll and a popular jumping in point with most people who visit.

Initially. Joseph, who is partially sighted, showed a reluctance to enter the water although he seemed very adept at scrambling up the sides. He was certainly not keen to get too close to any waterfalls or steep sections within the water or enter any deep pools.

However, with support & encouragement from Pete, John & Iain. his confidence increased and provided he was given a helping hand where he required it, he became more enthusiastic about getting stuck into the challenge of being in moving water where he could not necessarily see the bed of the stream.

Photo three sees Joseph making more of his own unsupported progress in the upper part of Stickle Ghyll as we progressed through his Ghyll Scrambling session.

Our final photo of this blog post sees John, Joseph & Pete as we headed towards the final section of waterfalls in Stickle Ghyll.

Usually, we offer the option to most groups to climb the final waterfall behind this trio; although this was going to be beyond Josephs ability today.

Despite that, he had done extremely well and Iain was told it was clear that Joseph had thoroughly enjoyed the session. As Pete put it "I think we can say that today was a success!"

For Iain, it was great news to hear this. At Kendal Mountaineering Services we are not just about running a session and taking the money - if we can surpass your expectations, give you a great experience and see your confidence improve along the way, then we have achieved a satisfactory session! We are here to help in any way we can during any of our activity sessions or Skills Training Courses.

If you would like to experience one of our fantastic Ghyll Scrambling Sessions in The Lake District then contact us here. Our sessions are fun and we do our best to make sure you remain comfortable & safe throughout through the provision of wetsuits, walking boots, cagoules, buoyancy Aids, helmets & harnesses and the use of experienced & qualified instructors who will do their best to make sure you'll have a superb session you'll never forget. For all this our prices start at a mere £45 per person.We look forward to working with you!