Lake District Scrambling Courses. 5th & 6th April 2016.

After his weekend on the Kentmere Fells running a Navigation Skills Training Course for Richard, Andy & Joe, Iain was back out the next day to meet Owen Higgs in Langdale for his Scrambling Skills Training Course.

Owen had originally booked this course almost two years ago and was to have attended with a friend who had a tragic accident just a few days beforehand. Owen asked Iain if he could postpone until another time? Absolutely no problem - what else  could anyone have possibly  said!

Anyway, Owen got in touch early in the New Year to reschedule his scrambling course for April and we were happy to oblige.

Photo one sees Owen at Tarn Crag in Langdale where we spent the first day of his training course. We started off looking at "spotting" where scramblers help each other using hands and a braced stance to ascend an easy scramble where use of a rope is unnecessary and would only slow things down.

Photo two sees Owen getting to grips with short roping techniques.

Short roping is used on ground where a slip could turn into something more serious, but where the ground is a mixture of easy & harder terrain - in most likelihood a grade II buttress with steps of no more than a metre or two requiring a tensioned rope to stop a less capable second from slipping.

Most of the rope is not required so therefore the lead scrambler takes chest coils and then locks these off to prevent getting throttled if the second falls. The leader will have a reservoir of coils in their uphill hand that should be of sufficient length to allow the leader to ascend any easy pitch whilst leaving the second stood still in a safe place. The leader will always be above the second acting as an anchor at all times and using a braced stance to prevent them from being dislodged (pulled) over and that is also the reason that Owen is holding the rope with a bent arm - to prevent being pulled over!

Sometimes however, scrambling ground can get so serious that merely short roping and belaying someone with your body & hands will not be sufficient to safeguard either them or you; and it is important that safety comes first at all times when scrambling. This is when using direct belays comes into place.

In photo three, Owen is using a direct belay to lower Iain down a steeper part of a gully where he would have trouble holding Iain otherwise were he to slip. In this case, the direct belay is merely a spike of rock around which the rope is run and the friction of rope against rock is sufficient to provide a safeguard.  This sort of belay can be used in ascent as well as descent and is a very quick means of providing a safeguard. However, it is essential that any such rocky protuberance is checked thoroughly to ensure that it is a solid part of the surrounding rock  and not likely to break off in use - with potentially fatal consequences!

As well as looking at spotting, Short Roping and Direct belays using rope over rock, we also looked at pacing artificial anchors such as this one in photo four.

The metal wedge on a swage of metal wire is known by a number of terms - "wires", "nuts", all are branded products such as DMM''s Wallnuts or Wild Country's Rocks for example; and they come in a range of sizes. For placements where nuts or wires are too small, one can use chocks such as Hexcentrics or Torque Nuts.

All of these anchors have one thing in common - they are designed to be inserted into tapered cracks where they will only jam in tighter  if they receive a shock-load.

Iain gave Owen the chance to insert these into appropriate cracks  and then use them as a direct belay by attaching an HMS (pear shaped) karabiner used in conjunction with a rolling hitch (Italian hitch) to safeguard someone up or down serious ground. You can use a tape (Dyneema) sling around a rock spike in conjunction with the same karabiner/rolling hitch combination as well.

By the time we had covered all of these techniques with Iain demonstrating and then allowing Owen to practice, the day was almost over. We had had a later than planned start after Owen had turned up thinking that a pair of approach shoes would be appropriate for the day, but Iain persuaded him to get the best footwear for the job; and we nipped back into Ambleside so that he could purchase a pair. It was just as well we did, as not long into our Scrambling Skills Training Course, the rain started  and didn't let up for the rest of the day. Owen was glad that Iain had persuaded him to buy something appropriate for the task in hand, otherwise, it is likely that his first day would have had to be cut very short!

Day two found us back at Tarn Crag in the morning (photo five) where  Iain guided Owen up his first grade II Scramble.

This was done in order that Owen could get to see the different the different belaying techniques that Iain would use where appropriate to safeguard him on such a scrambling route.

The intention had been that Iain  would guide Owen up this route and then that we would return to put Owen on the "sharp end" so that he could try the techniques for himself and have his application of these appraised by Iain.

However, that morning was also pretty vile - cold and wet making the Lake District  rock very slippery indeed and forcing Iain to employ rock climbing tactics at one point - beyond the level at which he was teaching Owen today. It was decided to change plan, with Iain guiding Owen for the rest of the day - something that Owen was quite ok with!!

So, having finished the Spur (grade II) on Tarn Crag and having then had some lunch, we headed up over the summit and around Stickle Tarn to scramble up Jack's Rake (the diagonal ramp  ascending the cliff behind Owen in photo six) on Pavey Ark .

Jacks Rake is one of The Lake Districts  most popular scrambling routes and only graded I.  For this reason it gets a lot of ascents by people who think it is merely a steep walk up the cliff. That - it most certainly is not!

The first part of this route follows a seemingly friendly gully which gets steeper as you climb until it peters out forcing you to climb an exposed, polished & often wet groove to get to the Rowan tree at its top. Many people neither equipped to; nor experienced in dealing with such terrain have found themselves "in extremis" here and the place has been the scene of a number of fatalities in recent years. Above this point, the ramp angle eases and apart from one other serious step above the junction with Crescent Climb; and some easier steps towards the exit pinnacle, this is a most pleasant and rewarding scramble.

And today it was a most rewarding route to be on. The nature of the scramble, the feeling of exposure and the  views that opened out as we climbed higher & higher made it feel like the special place that it truly is.

An improvement in the weather only added to our feeling of exhilaration and it was with a great feeling of satisfaction that we arrived at the pinnacle (right  of Owen in photo seven), unroped and enjoyed some more lunch. What a fantastic route!

We were finished on Jack's Rake a little after 2 pm, so there was still time to fit in another scrambling route and Iain decided that we should take a look at the nearby "Pavey Far East". This is another grade II scrambling route listed in the Cicerone guide Lake District Scrambles South also on Pavey Ark.

Iain had been here once before with a pair on a  scrambling Skills Training Course who decided that they wanted to give up at the first buttress - they must have had a premonition!

We continued beyond the first buttress following a line above a cliff. The line wasn't great as it traversed along sloping rock and grass and it was difficult to provide any protection for Owen at the best of times and although he was quite happy - Iain wasn't! When our route took us down an unprotectable groove with a large drop beyond, Iain decided enough was enough, so we bailed off the route and scrambled up to better ground (photo eight) Neither of us felt it was any great loss! This route is one for bone dry weather only! Iain's view is that Brian Evans must have been getting desperate for something to fill the final pages of the guide when he picked this line.

That was the end of Owen's 2 day Scrambling Skills Training Course in The Lake District and he was absolutely delighted with what we had achieved. He plans to return, hopefully in June with his daughters for whom he had come on this course in order that he could take them scrambling in the hills. We look forward to working with him again then.

Owen paid just  £160 per day for his Scrambling Skills Training Course in The Lake District with Iain and that price is for one or two persons. Helmets & harnesses are provided as well as enthusiastic instruction and coaching from an experienced Mountaineering Instructor. If you would like to learn scrambling Skills for yourself, then contact us - we look forward to working with you!

Navigation Skills Training Weekends in The Lake District. Saturday & Sunday 3rd & 4th April 2016.

Last weekend saw Iain running a Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District for Richard McEvoy and his friends Andy & Joe.

All come from the Keighley Area of West Yorkshire where they spend their spare time running bush-craft courses for a local young persons club. The three wished to learn Navigation Skills Training in order to increase the breadth of what they can offer the club by possibly taking the lads hill walking.

Due to the weather, we changed from the original plan of meeting at Staveley to go to the Kentmere Valley and instead met in Kendal to go into Longsleddale.

Photo one sees us climbing out of Longsleddale on what was  a very wet start to their Navigation Skills Training Weekend!

As usual with our courses, we started off by discussion the differences between the two map scales we would be using and then outlining the important of orientating the map. We then measured distance on the map and learnt how to pace out 100 metres on the ground.

After this, we set out on our days journey which would take us up on to the area of fell between the Longsleddale & Kentmere Valleys measuring distance and pacing between "tick off features". As our route was quite steep up out of the valley, we were able to compare our pacings per 100 metres on different slope angles which was most useful.

After an our of doing this, we found ourselves at the top of the slope above Longsleddale and it was time to move on to the next stage of the lads Navigation Training ie learning about grid references  - except we were stuck out in the cold and rain. Fortunately, Iain knows of a bothy which contains benches and a table and here we were able to get under cover, sit down and have a classroom type lesson about grid references  and taking compass bearings (photo two).

Really, it was just as well were were able to get under cover for that part of the course as outside, the weather had, if anything, gotten worse.  We spent the rest of the day "bog hopping" and looking for features such as stream junctions (photo three), pools of water, ruins and bridges as well as identifying some contour features along the way.

The lads picked up the Navigation skills provided by Iain very well despite the weather, good stuff!

Photo four was taken at almost the same place as the first photo of this Navigation Skills Training Course as we made our way back down to the vehicles at around 4pm.

As you can see, the weather was starting to dry up as was forecast,  however, the whole area  had received a thorough soaking as had we. The original plan had been to wild camp at the head of the Kentmere Valley, but by coming to Longsleddale, we had given ourselves another option for our overnight stay in the mountains.

Photo five sees Andy & Joe loaded up in the back of Iain's Land Rover after we had all driven up Longsleddale as far as you can go in a car.

What lay ahead of us now was a three mile drive up a challenging bridleway to a point high up where we would been able to walk a short distance to a peaceful & secluded wild camping area; or, if things were too wet, have the option to "overnight" in one of the Lake District's few bothies. We had already decided to take the bothy option!

Photo six sees us all outside of the bothy the next morning after a good, dry, night's sleep.

The  walk here from the Land Rover had taken about an hour and after we had settled in and eaten, we went out to do some night navigation.

"Night Nav" is difficult and relies solely on an individuals ability to accurately pace and walk on a bearing as well as "time" how long each leg between grid references will take. Richard, Andy & Joe performed well throughout the session and it was almost midnight before we arrived back at the bothy. No-one was particularly keen to get going early the next morning and it was after 10am before we left this place.

We headed straight up the slope to the north through the nearby quarries to find a summit, pacing, timing and walking on a bearing to get us there.

The weather on day two of this Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District was bright and sunny - but consequently, a lot colder! We continued west on to the summit of Branstree (photo seven) passing some large snow patches along the way. Everyone was surprised by the amount of snow lingering on the fells, but prior to Easter, the weather had been dry & bright for weeks  and it would have been cold up here with frosts every night.

We descended west from Branstree to Gatesgarth Pass (photo eight) and then made our way down to  Brownhowe Bottom (in the middle distance) where the Land Rover was parked. Richard had asked to be back there by 2 pm so that the lads could get a good  start on their way back home as all were back at work the next day. Iain would be too!

Richard, Andy & Joe each paid £120 for this two day Navigation Skills Training  Weekend in The Lake District with a qualified & experienced practitioner who had the forethought to build some flexibility into the programme due to the weather forecast. You can join one of our Weekend Navigation Skills Training Courses for just £80 for the two days. 

The next one of these courses is running two weeks time during April 23rd & 24th. Our Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District will give you the skills you need to head into the mountains in unfamiliar terrain with confidence and are ideal for anyone preparing for a Mountain Walking Leader Assessment as a Navigation Refresher Course. Contact Iain here to book your place. We look forward to working with you.

Canadian Canoeing River Journeying Skills Training Course in The Lake District. March 29th & 30th 2016.

After our brilliant first day of River Journeying on the River Eamont, Iain met up with the Wright Family once again for their second day of journeying on moving water.

This time, the plan was to travel a section of the River Lune - the largest river in the south of the county which flows from the Howgill Fells to empty into Morecambe Bay beyond  Lancaster.

Allegedly, it is the River Lune that gives it's name not only to the city of Lancaster, but also the county of Lancashire!

Photo one sees Helen pinpointing our location on the map. Map reading & navigation is an essential skill forming part of any river journey. Ideally, you should know where you are at all times - just in case of accidents as it will help the emergency services to locate you quickly. Also, knowledge of your river journey may stop you from overshooting your destination as well as helping you to identify where potential hazards may lie ahead on the river!

Today, Iain had given Helen & Ian the task of leading himself and James down the River Lune. Today's journey was a longer Canadian Canoe Journey on a bigger volume river than that paddled the previous day.

Because of the amount of water in the Lune, Iain chose for the party not to put on at Killington Bridge; or at the Rawthey Confluence due potential access issues across land at that point.

We did get on about 500 beyond the Rawthey Confluence and found that the increased volume of water actually benefited us in as much that some rapids were less technical and more friendly such as this one in photo two. Right about this point, Iain & Kirstin had capsized when hitting a rock some three weeks previously. Today, we saw no sign of any rocks!

Two hours and some 5 kilometres later, we decided to stop for lunch - having inspected if necessary; and run, a number of easy rapids with Helen and Ian doing a great job of finding the best line down the river.

At this point in photo three, we found a convenient shingle bank on which to stop where we were in sight and sound of no-one else.

It was a very peaceful place to stop for lunch and we all enjoyed the tranquility of the setting. We were also  enjoying journeying the river which despite being higher than when Iain last paddled it, was proving to be very easy indeed.

Shortly after lunch , we passed under Rigmaden Bridge which was the "one third" marker of today's Canadian Canoe River Journey. (Photo four)

From this point, we had a further ten kilometres to travel downstream to our get-out point at Devil's Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale.

Currently, access issues exist along this stretch of the river, with a permit being required to access the river from this bridge. As were were already on the water, one might say that this issue didn't apply to us, but Iain had already briefed the family on what to do should we meet any fishermen or gamekeepers.

As it happened, we didn't see anyone. However, if you do meet anyone fishing then our advice would be to get out, well upstream of them and go and ask them "Hello, can we paddle past you? Or would you like us to portage around you?".

A polite and considerate approach can make all the difference between a good day out where other river users actually appreciate your consideration; or one where someone goes out of their way to spoil your day. Don't let it happen, particularly here- as this section of the Lune is arguably the best section for canoeists.

In photo five, James & Iain are about to descend one of the rivers bigger rapids - Helen & Ian's canoe can be seen in the distance. On the biggest waves here, James actually got some "airtime" right under his seat!!

Below this point, on it's way past Underley Hall, The Lune runs in a gorge with a number of rapids and two sharp right hand turns in the flow.

There was acute evidence all along the Lune of last Decembers flood and in many places, flood debris could be seem 15 to 20 feet above our heads. In the gorge, a section of  slope had been undercut and here there were many conifers on the point of toppling into the river. Some already had!

Photo six sees  us emerge from the gorge into bright sunlight; and rain showers - the theme of our second day of Canadian Canoe River Journeying. The town of Kirkby Lonsdale can now be seen ahead in the distance. Not far to go then!

As we approached Kirkby Lonsdale, the flow of the River Lune divided around yet another island. We all agreed that the flow to river right looked like the cleanest line with no obstructions. Following this downstream, the river takes another sharp right hand turn amid rocks to then broaden out and flow over a rocky shelf interspersed with boulders. A wise move is to slow ones-self down by reverse paddling in the current to allow you to select the best line through the rapid  & rocks below.

Helen & Ian made the bend, but then got stuck on a rock. Iain & James had to get out and throw the pair a throw-line which was attached to the front of their canoe. A good sharp tug from Iain had them off the rock without incident and they then  carried on to the get-out just below - seen here in photo seven with Devil's Bridge and the newer A65 bridge just beyond. Another day of experiences and learning, but no mishaps - that's the way we like it!

Our final photo from our second post about two days of Canadian Canoe River Journeying in The Lake District sees a very happy Helen, Ian & James now feeling much more confident about approaching river journeying for themselves. Iain has been informed though, that they will probably be back for more coaching; and with a second canoe to bring the rest of the family in. We can't wait!

Again, this family paid £175 for a full day of river journeying with us covering 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) over the course of an eight hour day - excellent value for money for what they did, but you can try Canadian Canoeing with us from as little as £45 per person for a four hour session!

Contact us here if you would like to try Canadian Canoeing. We look forward to working with you.

Canadian Canoeing River Journeying Skills Training Course in The Lake District. March 29th & 30th 2016.

Once again it's been a while since we've posted, Iain is not very good at doing a days work and then blogging about it straightaway that evening.

You could say that it's good news as if he is not blogging then he must be busy working!! Well, yes - let us say that since the Easter Weekend, he has been quite busy running some great sessions.

Photo one shows the mixed conditions we had over Easter and indeed since. This evening, in fact (April 9th) we've had rain & sleet/wet snow here in Kendal. Unbelievable!

Photo one shows the conditions on the Lake District Fells on March 29th. That is Helvellyn in the background - with a fresh coating of snow put down over the Easter weekend.

It was not too surprising therefore that the weather didn't bring tourists out in droves to try the many fantastic Outdoor activity packages that we offer. The truth was, it was just too cold!

Tuesday March 29th was looking like a better & drier day than the previous  few. Iain's concern was that rivers levels might have risen significantly - just in time for his River Journeying Skills Training Course with Helen & Ian who were accompanied once again, by son James.

You can read a post about the last time we worked with this family here. Having had an introductory Canoeing Session in The Lake District with Iain, the pair had gone on to buy their own Canadian Canoe and had spent the interim period mainly on the sea exploring south coast estuaries and west coast Scottish sea lochs. They returned to Iain to learn about river running and photo two sees us all on the River Eamont - about half a mile downstream from where it flows out of Ullswater. Once again, to his delight James found himself in the front of Iain's Novacraft Prospector.

For anyone wishing to learn the techniques of "River running", the Eamont is a good venue offering ten kilometres of water of no more than grade two in standard. It is a fairly fast flowing river quite hemmed in by its banks and it comes with four weirs to be negotiated.

The first is a rather nasty man made affair that should be portaged. The second, near to Dalemain house is little more than a rapid these days. The third, by Sockbridge Mill should again be portaged as there is a nasty weir made of boulders plus low trees overhanging the flow on river left and river right is a fast channel leading into more overhanging trees - "Strainers" as we call them for reasons that you might be able to appreciate!

Photo two sees Helen & Iain enjoying negotiating a shallow rapid near to Pooley Mill in their Old Town Penobscot Canoe made of the same composite material as Iain's Novacraft - Royalex, now out of production sadly - sadly as this material was one of the best ever products to be used for making lightweight Canadian Canoes!

Earlier, we mentioned portaging around weirs.What this basically means is getting your boat out of the river and carrying it past an obstacle perceived to be dangerous such as a weir, a serious rapid; or a waterfall.

If there is a likelihood of your boat capsizing with serious consequences for you should you end up in the water, then a portage should be undertaken.

Here in photo four, we were bypassing the Sockbridge Mill Weir and it was easy for Iain to drag his boat across the wet muddy grass of the field - easier than our carrying it anyway! James did his best to provide a helpful push!

Shortly after Sockbridge Mill Weir, we got off briefly at a place where  there was a nice low bank at a slower moving part of the river (photo five). By this time, we had been on the river for around three hours and had travelled about six out of the ten kilometres we had to go.

Today, Iain was acting as river guide leading Helen & Ian on the first moving water journey.  The aim of the day was to give Helen & Ian the skills to be able to go on their own river journeys with their young family. So far the day had gone very well without incident; and now the sun had come out to warm us all!

Photo six was taken about an hour later and about two & a half kilometres further down river.

In this photo James & Iain are sat in an eddy below Southwaite Green Mill Weir having just run the weir.

Iain & James had taken a line just left of river centre (that is to say taken when looking downstream) but of course we had gotten out to inspect the weir first. Iain  reckoned that the line (just right of Jame's head) would be possible without our hitting any rocks (always a hazard on a river) or getting caught in a stopper (a recirculating wave at the base of a drop).

The weir looked & sounded intimidating and it was, without doubt, the biggest challenge of the day. Helen was a little nervous about giving it a go. Moments after this photo was taken, Iain got out to go & give the pair some encouragement - they ran the weir with success - Bravo! A great achievement.

This left us with only about a kilmetres & a half to go to our get-out point at Eamont Bridge - now reopened after being damaged in last  December's floods caused by storm Desmond.

Photo seven sees us approaching Eamont Bridge where, on passing under the left hand arch, there is a convenient get-out and parking area for vehicles.

We arrived  here about 16:45 and after pulling the boats up the bank, Iain & Ian set off to retrieve the latter's Transporter van from our get-on point on Ullswater near Waterfoot Park. We returned to Eamont Bridge, loaded canoes and then departed aiming to meet at a pre-arranged place the next morning for the second day of river journeying - what excitement!

The family paid just £175:00 for their day out river journeying with Iain acting as a guide & coach. If you would like to get to try river running then book on to one of our all day Canadian Canoeing Sessions in The Lake District. We run these on Derwent-Water where  you'll learn the skills to propel a Canadian Canoe on flat water before undertaking and easy river journey on the middle Derwent- six kilometres of easy moving water. This day costs £160 or £80 per person with all technical equipment supplied as part of your fee. Contact us here to book your Canadian  Canoeing Session in The Lake District. We look forward to working with you!

Easter Holiday Outdoor Activity Sessions in The lake District - a special offer for Families from Kendal Mountaineering Services.

The Easter Holidays are about to begin. Have you have decided to visit The Lake District with your family? Wondering what to do? There are a great many different activities you can do here - but where do you start?

Why not start by booking your Easter Family Adventures with us! This Easter, we are offering children under 15 the opportunity to try out our activity sessions for just £10 per child for a half day or just £20 each for a full day of activities. This offer is open to family groups only!

This makes our activity packages exceptionally good value for families this Easter Holiday!

So what sort of adventures could you have with us during this holiday? Read on to get the full picture!

The areas is famous for its Hill Walking, Rock Climbing, Lakes and Rivers and with Kendal Mountaineering Services, you and your family can enjoy adventures in all of these places.

Take Hill Walking and scrambling for example - like the people in the photo who are tackling one one the Lake Districts famous scrambles - Sharp Edge en route to the summit of Blencathra which is one of The Lake Districts best known mountains.

We know the best routes up all of the Lake District Mountains so if you fancy being guided up the mountain of your choice such as Scafell Pike, Helvellyn, Skiddaw or Great Gable contact us to arrange your guided hill walking adventure. Prices start at just £75.00 each for two persons with your own Hill Walking guide for a full (eight hour) day out in the mountains. Children under 15 can do this for £20 each!

Fancy trying a wet activity this Easter Holiday? Do you like the thought of seeing the great views from one of the areas many lakes rather than just looking from the shore? Then how about spending a half day or even a full day out with us in a Canadian Canoe or in your very own Kayak?

Canadian Canoeing - pictured right, is great fun for all the family and you can all have just as much much as these children were having seen here in photo two - warmly kitted out in wet suits and buoyancy aids to keep you afloat if you want to jump into the Lake!

In one of our Lake District Kayaking Sessions - you'll get your very own boat to paddle if you don't want to share with someone else, so that you can have that freedom to go where you want - provided you stay in sight & sound our our instructors for safety!

Kayaks are great fun on rivers where they are more manoeuvrable and if you've proved yourself capable of handling one of these on flat water then we'll take you on an easy section of moving water just to gain the experience!

Prices for Kayaking or Open Canoeing sessions in The Lake District start at £45 per person for a four hour half day session, children under 15 can do this for £10 each. These sessions include the provision of wets suits, buoyancy aids, cagoules, Canoes or Kayaks and paddles.

Perhaps you fancy the idea of Ghyll Scrambling or Canyoning in The Lake District on your visit this Easter? There are loads of fantastic mountain streams that you can get in and walk up whilst being guided by our instructors.

We provide you with wet suits, cagoules, walking boots, helmets & harnesses for your Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions with us to keep you comfortable as you make your way upstream swimming through pools and climbing up waterfalls - roped if necessary to keep you safe. These sessions are great family fun for children & adults alike and if you fancy something more adventurous and challenging then try one of our canyoning descents where we descend a gorge - abseiling or jumping down waterfalls into the deep pools below.

Our half day (four hour) Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions start at £45 per person (children under 15 - £10) and are a great way  to spend part of a day during your Easter Holiday visit to The Lake District.

If you fancy trying something different this Easter - then let us take you Caving in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. If you are staying in The Lake District then it's closer than you think - being a mere half hour drive from Kendal or 40 minutes from Windermere.

We will provide you with caving oversuits, wellington boots and helmets with caving lamps - all you need is old clothing, some thick socks and a change of underwear and towels - just in case you get wet!

We will introduce you to the delights of Caving underground in places such as Long Churns with it's famous (or infamous) squeeze called The Cheese Press and Babtistry Crawl with its fantastic Limestone formations. You can try out climbing the waterfall at Doctor Bannister's Washbasin and if you don't like small spaces then there are always bigger passageways around the tight sections.

Prices start at £45 for a half day (4 hour) caving session with us or £75 for a full eight hour day underground. Again on this occasion, Children under 15 can enjoy their half day session for £10 or £20 for a full day of caving.

And finally, The Lake District is famous for its crags making it a great place to get out rock climbing this Easter. Not tried it before? then come along to one of ourIntroductory Climbing Sessions where you will be kitted up with a helmet & harness and attached to a climbing rope before starting to climb on real rock.

All of these sessions are 100% safe - you cannot fall and our instructors will be on hand to make sure that you are kept safe throughout a climbing session where you will be able to challenge your fear of heights and gain new skills and confidence - great for children & adults alike! Our half day introductory climbing sessions start at a mere £45 per person for a full four hours climbing (children under 15 - £10) and with all of our Adventure Activities in The Lake District this Easter, the more of you come, the cheaper it will be.

Contact us at Kendal Mountaineering Services to arrange your Adventure Activities in The Lake District this Easter - we look forward to working with you.

Checking out the River Lune in readiness for our next bit of work. Saturday 19th March 2016.

What many of our customers don't realise is the amount of work that goes into running your activity sessions or Skills Training Courses. People turn up for a session; and leave at the end of it and often that's all they see. But what about the setup time? packing equipment, organizing staff and then cleaning everything up, drying it out and putting it all away afterwards!

Also, if you do a skills training course with us (or indeed - an activity) then we will never take you to somewhere that we haven't been and checked out ourselves first!

And that's exactly the theme of this post.

Photo one sees Iain's daft partner posing for a photo as we set off to reconnoitre a section of the River Lune between Killington Bridge (here in photo one) and  Rigmaden Bridge - some five miles downstream. We'll be reporting on a few days with Helen Wright & her family early next week when they join us once again wishing to do some river journeying as part of developing their skills set for paddling rivers.

The River Lune is a great place for journeying and we have taken a number of people down it over the years, but the Killington to Rigmaden Bridge stretch is new to us.

Shortly after setting off, we found ourselves at a nasty weir (a vertical head dam) that needed to be portaged (avoided by carrying the canoes past it) and then a little further on, we came to the weir in photo two, which  again, had to be portaged.

Below this weir the river flow was funneled into a narrow channel becoming quite fast. We could see this being a tricky place for novices as in medium water when this section would certainly be grade three. Over this coming weekend, it is supposed to rain, so we may avoid this part of the river and get on at the Rawthey Confluence instead!

What is the Rawthey Confluence? The answer is the place in photo three! After travelling around a mile down this rather "interesting" section of the Lune, we arrived at the place where the River Rawthey - running in from the direction of Sedbergh, joins our river. In photo three, the Rawthey joins from the right of the photo and the River Lune runs in from just right of centre. We felt that here was a good place to stop for lunch and you can see Iain's partner - Kirstin; and our friend Simon who joined us for the day enjoying lunch on the shingle bank beyond our canoes. As the weather was fine, this was a lovely place to stop.

Continuing on from the Rawthey Confluence, we found no rapids of significant difficulty as the river meandered on an only gently sloping course through farmland towards Rigmaden Bridge.

All in all, we had a pleasant paddling trip done in low water conditions which meant that even after the additional flow of the Rawthey  joined us,it was still a "bump & a scrape" in places and on a few occasions, the river was so shallow that we had to get out and push.

We saw quite a lot of wildlife, Dippers, Oyster-catchers and on the banks - many of what we believed were Otter prints though we never actually saw any. Photo four was taken only about 5 minutes before we sighted Rigmaden Bridge.  By now, we were a tad damp after briefly falling in on a rapid some way back!

Photo five sees Simon getting out just below Rigmaden Bridge at the end of our Canadian Canoe "recce" trip. Iain is satisfied that the section between there & Killington Bridge will, largely, be suitable for Helen and her family next week; although if the forecast rains bring the river level up then we might well avoid that first mile or so and get in at the Rawthey Confluence.

We may also continue along the section below Rigmaden Bridge on to Kirkby Lonsdale  as this is arguably the finest section on the River Lune for running in a Canadian Canoe - with more of areas of interest than the section that we ran today.

If you would like to try Canadian Canoeing, then try one of our half day taster sessions at only £45 per person or book our combined introduction to Canadian Canoeing and easy river journeying based on Derwent-Water and the "middle" River Derwent near Keswick for only £80 per person for a full day out; and a great one at that! Contact us here to book your Canadian Canoeing experience, we look forward to working with you!

Stag Events in The Lake District. Sam Burnside & Friends. Saturday, March 12th, 2016.

Saturday March 12 found Iain meeting Sam Burnside & friends for Stag - Ollie's Stag Activity day in The Lake District with us.

Sam had booked a half day of Gorge Walking to be followed by a half day of Raft-building - double immersion potentially then; and in early March too! These lads were keen!

On the note of the time of year and the temperature, we threw in some extra warm kit in terms of neoprene gloves, neoprene wet-socks and extra fleeces; and also - an extra large brew kit so that everyone could get a hot drink whenever it was needed! Photo one sees the lads as we set off up the lower part of Stickle Ghyll in Langdale.

Photo two is taken about two hours later after we had clambered up the bed of the ghyll in to the upper ravine. We had walked up the stream bed, wading through pools, helping one another up easy waterfalls, but we had avoided getting wet above our legs tops although a few people fell in - but not intentionally!

March 2016 has been a fantastic month weather-wise, dry and consequently cold, but sunny (and warm in the sun) however, these lads hadn't brought the sun with them today. The Lake District today was cold, clammy, shrouded in mist and it was drizzling too - Urgh!

Still, Sam's party hardly seemed to notice the chill as we had them wrapped up as well as they could be. Admittedly, we could have gone one further and given them dry-suits but unfortunately, that's just a step to far - even for us!

We finished off the session by climbing up the big waterfall at the top of the gorge. As you can see in photo three, we were now in the mist and if anything, it was chillier than before - especially for Iain who was roping everyone up the waterfall. He had to stand in the same place for half an hour and had given up long before in taking a photo of everyone who was climbing. Today, this was not a place to hang around on!

We quickly headed back down to the car park and everyone got changed. We then drove over to Coniston where the lads went for lunch at the Black Bull Inn for an hour before we moved on to the second half of their Stag Day.

After lunch, a short drive found us all on the eastern shore of Coniston Water. As it had stopped drizzling by now, Iain recommended that the lads stay warm & dry in their clothes whilst building the raft.

Initially, Iain produced enough equipment for two rafts (8 barrels, 12 spars and a whole pile of ropes for lashings) but it soon became apparent that enthusiasm had waned for getting on the raft and possibly getting a soaking in a chilly lake! Half the kit went straight back in the van again.

The lads designed & then built a raft (photo four). The extension at the front with the extra barrel was meant to be a gang plank for Ollie whose mates were determined he was "going in". Owing to a duff design (Iain's fault - sorry!) Ollie didn't make it to the end - but he did go for that swim!

Photo five sees this hardcore bunch of lads some time later after they had paddled the raft out & about for a while. Ollie was encouraged to walk the gangplank which promptly swiveled so he toppled in sideways before getting on to the back of the raft.

The rest followed suite - on by one; and then they had a quick paddle about to warm up again before paddling back in to shore. Those who hadn't partaken in this activity promptly stripped the raft down whilst the others went & got dried out. Teamwork had the whole thing packed up, done & dusted in a very short time - thanks lads!

The final shot from this post about a Stag Event Day in The Lake District sees everyone enjoying a well earned hot chocolate. Sam - the Stag Event organiser is in the blue jacket with Ollie in dark blue behind him.

Sam's group were really happy with what we had organised for them and certainly; on their part - in terms of effort & enthusiasm, they had definitely given the day 200%. Well done! All they had to do now was make their way back to Keswick - the long way, around as Dunmail Raise is still closed!

Let us arrange your Stag or Hen Event with a difference for you! Browse our website for ideas about activities and ask us to put something together for you. You can choose from a full eight hour day as Sam's party did or if you want to try out an activity for just a morning or an afternoon - that is absolutely no problem! We'll even organise your catering for the day and will assist with finding your accommodation for your special event. We will also provide transport for your event too- if required!

Prices start at £75 per person for a full eight hour day of activities although Sam's group got a discount to £70 each due to the group size. Half day(four hour) activity sessions start at just £45 per person. All equipment you will need is provided as part of your fee per person as well; although lunch and transport is extra. Please contact us to enquire, we look forward to working with you!