Welcome to 2013 with Kendal Mountaineering Services - the Lake Districts premier provider of outdoor activity sessions and skills training sessions in The Lake District, Wales and Scotland.

It's been a while since we posted anything on our blog - so where have we been? Well, both at home and then abroad in South America, but that wasn't until the later part of January. Iain did some work here before we went away and this was in the Yorkshire Dales National Park - home to some of the best caving in the UK.

Photo one shows Eleanor Good with boyfriend Matt underground in Long Churns - one of the areas best caving systems for one of our introductory caving sessions. Eleanor & Matt had a good ferret around both this system and Borrins Moor Caves with Iain. All of the photos from this introductory caving session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park can be viewed here. Prices start at £45 per person for a half day caving session and includes the provison of all specialist equipment & protective clothing necessary to make your session safe & enjoyable. Eleanor & Matt enjoyed their session so much that they hope to return to do more caving with Iain in the not too distant future. Contact us here to book your caving session with us soon.

On January 18th, we began the long Journey south via Liverpool, Madrid and on to Santiago in Chile where we transferred to Mendoza in Argentina for the start of our 17 day expedition to Aconcagua 6962m and the highest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas.

The mountain is well known for it's strong winds and freezing temperatures and many underestimate the effect that the altitude can have. To all intents & purposes, climbing the mountain is no more technical than a high altitude hill walk but with everything mentioned above this makes it a serious proposition and despite having good weather for our summit day we were forced to turn back at the point in photo two with only 500m to go to the summit.

However, reaching this point at 6500m was a personal high point for Iain's partner Kirstin and no mountain is worth risking ones life for. We did however succeed in achieving our primary objective of traversing Aconcagua arriving via the Vacas Route and departing via the Horcones Valley. Living in a 2 man tent and working together to achieve what we did in the conditions we experienced only had the effect of bringing us closer together - which is of course, a good thing!

After returning to and enjoying a few days in Mendoza,we flew south via Santiago to Punta Arenas at the southern trip of Patagonia and then made our way north via Puerto Natales to Paine National Park spending 3 days here before bussing north again to arrive utimately at Chalten and Parc National Los Glaciares where photo three was taken.

This shows Cerro Fitzroy beyond Laguna Capri nestling in Southern Beech forest, the mountains themselves clothed in glaciers that are part of the South Patagonian Icecap just beyond. Put simply, if like us you are outdoor enthusisasts then South America and Chile are places you must go to before you die!

We finished our South America Trip by heading further north in Chile to Osorno & the Lake District briefly before a visit to Easter Island 4500km west of Chile. We arrived back in the UK on March 7th.

Being out of the country  for 7 weeks has meant that Iain has missed a large portion of the Scottish Winter Season when normally he would have been in Scotland providing Winter Skills Courses and Winter Climbing Sessions. However, returning client Mark Quinn booked Iains services well in advance of our South America Trip to assist with his forthcoming objectives on Gasherbrum I & II this coming summer. Mark had previously attended one of our annual Cairngorms based Winter Skills weeks.

So, within four days of arriving back in the UK, Iain headed north collecting Mark en route for Fort William and three days of Mountain training for Mark. Bearing in mind his objectives, Iain considered that long winter mountain routes were what was needed and so the plan was made to climb Daim Buttress on Aonach Mor - a 500m grade III climb followed by Tower Ridge - 600m of grade IV'3 and one of the best winter climbs of it's grade anywhere in the UK. Days one & two went well and to plan - in photo four Mark approaches Iain on the Eastern Traverse under Great Tower, high on Ben Nevis.

For our final day out together we chose an easier outing, again on Ben Nevis, this time Ledge Route (II) described as the best route of its grade on the mountain. Mark leaves the course with increased confidence with which to prepare for his climbs on Gasherbrums I & II where he will be attempting to raise money for charity. For anyone wishing to know more about Mark and his worthy cause please visit his facebook page here. Photographs from our three days working together can be viewed here.

The winter season continues as we write this and Iain is available to provide your winter skills training or assist with your climbing aspirations so if you are keen to climb a classic Scottish Winter Route or learn how to use your new ice axe & crampons then contact us here.

 

So, what is on the horizon for us here at Kendal Mountaineering Services? Well, we have four stag events booked for the coming months where people are keen to have a go at our popular Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions in The Lake District (photo five). We have advertised five weekend dates for Mountain Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District although currently only our April course is looking viable with six persons currently booked.

Our Cuillin Ridge Traverse Trip taking place between May 11th & 18th currently has two persons booked but we need two more for it to happen - so if you are interested or know of anyone else who might be then please contact us. The course includes four days guiding on the Cuillin Ridge and seven nights self catering accommodation and really is an absolute scoop at only £425 per person.

Other than that,we are ready & waiting to take your call or email to arrange your outdoor activity session or skills training course in The Lake District. Easter weekend is fast approaching so why not take a look at the fantastic options we offer on our website and book that special session for you and your family.

We look forward to working with you.

Mountain Navigation Skills Training courses in The Lake District. December 1st & 2nd 2012 and beyond.

At the beginning of December, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services ran another bespoke Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in the same fashion as the course the previous month.

Despite offering our courses out at the bargain price of £80 per person for a weekend Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District, we failed to meet the minimum group size of four persons. This is puzzling indeed, but once again, we had one person keen to secure Iains services to run the Navigation Skills training course for themselves.

Adam Murfitt travelled up from Lancashire to attend this course with Iain. Photo one was taken during day one late in the afternoon on Green Quarter Fell. Despite a poor start to the day in which rain hitting frozen ground had made driving to the venue a real hazard - it went on to become a lovely still, dry and sunny afternoon - even if temperatures in the shade did not rise above freezing!

Adams bespoke Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District took the usual format with Iain assessing the candidates initial ability and developing their navigation techniques in a progressive style from there on. Adam was a fast learner so it was not too long before were were using the compass more & more to find our way from point to point and to identify what we were looking at.

In photo two taken on day two, we had moved on to Shipman Knotts - part of the Kentmere Horseshoe and here Adam is comparing the amount of information available on a 1:50,000 scale map in his left hand as opposed to that available on a 1:25,000 scale map (in his right hand!) - basically covering half the distance but offering twice the information of the 1:50 map.

What was more important was that Adam had been asked to identify the white building visible in the top left hand distance which was off the 1:25k map but on the 1:50. Adam successfully located his position on the 1:50 map and, using his compass, was able to identify the building in the distance - no easy task, well done Adam.

Photo three was taken on The Knowe - a shoulder on the ridge between Kentmere Pike & Harter Fell. Here we had great views across to High Street - the highest mountain in the area.

To get to this point Adam had "handrailed" a number of linear features including a track and a boundary wall - successfully identifying and locating "tick off features" along the way. Also, we had included a couple of legs which involved walking on a bearing and pacing and at this point Iain had introduced Adam to Naithsmiths rule for timing as well.

Mr Naismith devised a formula in which he reckoned the average hillwalker could cover ground at the rate of 3 kilometres per hour (Iain reckons it's nearer five for most people) and that one should add 1 minute for every 10 metre contour crossed en route. So, on that basis - say you had to walk one kilometer and had a hieght gain of 100m over this distance then the time for distance shoud be 60 minutes/3 kilometres = 20 minutes + 100metres hieght gain/1minute per 10m contour = 10 minutes............20+10= half an hour. When you have to break it down to 375m distance - covering ground at the rate of 5 kilometres per hour it gets a lot harder! Can you work it out?

Having reached the top of Harter Fell and enjoyed the views in what was very much a winter environment, Iain asked Adam to take him to the head of Drygrove Gill - a conspicuous ravine on the western flank of Harter Fell. Adams choice was to pace & "handrail" the boundary fence to an attack point - in this case an obvious change of direction of the fence that put him a mere 150m from his destination to pace & walk on a bearing.

This was a very good plan and in the final photo of the day Adam can be seen walking towards the head of Drygrove Gill (not visible at this point) with a cold looking Kentmere Reservoir nestling under a snowy Ill Bell in the distance. Adam was bang on with his bearing - having used a feature on the opposite side of the valley as a line of sight. We finished off by continuing to the Ull Stone before heading back to the car.

Adam performed well during his bespoke Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District and whilst this was the final course for 2012, dates for our 2013 courses are now up on the website here and bookings are already coming in. If you would like to learn how to map read and navigate in the mountains with confidence - then have a look at the dates and contact us to make your reservation. £80 for a two day course is a bargain price and we look forward to your joining us on the hill in 2013. Further photos taken during this weekend Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District can be viewed here.

Kendal Film Festival 2012. November 15th - 18th.

The Kendal Mountain Festival has become something of an annual ritual for us at Kendal Mountaineering Services - just as it has for scores of climbers, hillwalkers, paddlers, expeditioners and other enthusiastic outdoor folks.

Undoubtedly the best of its kind in the UK, the KMF is an ideal opportunity to see some of the best known speakers and adventurers at the top of their game present some truly inspirational lectures, talks and films as well as just generally meeting likeminded people.

It is also a great opportunity to come together and socialise and that is exactly what we did again this year. Since 2009 we have been joined by past clients of ours - Chris Upton & Adam Dawson, descending on us from opposite ends of the country. Unfortunately this year Adam couldn't make it, but instead we were joined by Dave Mycroft from Myoutdoors who was covering the festival from a journalistic point of view. Dave has been involved with Kendal Mountaineering Services from its beginnings in 2005.

During previous Mountain Festivals, we have made it an interesting mix of both hillwalking and attending various KMF events and this year was no exception. Chris (orange jacket in photo two) was, as always, keen to bag a few wainwrights, so we took a walk on Thursday around the Coniston fells (photo one) taking in Wetherlam, Swirl How and the Old Man. As you can see, it was a truly atmospheric, but pleasant day out.

By contrast, Friday was nowhere near as nice. Photo two is taken near to Red Tarn as we attempted to traverse Crinkle Crags and Bowfell from Oxendale with the cloudbase at around 200m and it was to remain at this level all day.

Chris had bought his bright orange Arcteryx jacket the previous evening at the Planet Fear sale in the Basecamp tent at the Brewery Arts Centre. Iain, on the other hand was wearing the new Berghaus Ilam hydrodown jacket - on test via Myoutdoors. The latter part of the day was miserably damp but this down jacket performed really well - largely keeping Iain dry, but more importantly - comfortably warm despite the conditions. Iain reckons Berghaus are on to a winner with this product and looks forward to testing it out as a belay jacket in Scotland in the new year. You can read his test report on the Ilam jacket here.

Thursday evening found us at Kendal Town Hall for the Boardman Tasker 30th Anniversary Commemorative Event (photo three) To celebrate this event were well known authors of mountain literature such as Doug Scott, Chris Bonnington, Andy Cave, Roger Hubank & Stephen Venables who talked about their experiences and achievements over the last 30 years and for us it was an excellent start to the KMF.

As already mentioned, Friday was a rather wet day out on the hill. Friday evening found us all in the Malt Room at The Brewery Arts Centre for the Mountain Equipment pub Quiz hosted by Andy Kirkpatrick. Well, with Andy doing it - it was bound to be fun and it was. Our team won second prize and for that we each got an ME T shirt and a DVD of Dave Macleod and Andy Turners ascent of the Long Hope on the Island of Hoy last year. The long hope was featured at the KMF 2011where it received the peoples choice award. We saw it then - an excellent film indeed!

So that was Friday. Saturday morning found us in Screen One,The Brewery, for Andy Caves Alpine Extremes Lecture in which he told us of his inspiring journey of climbing exploration - from Bridlington to Pakistan, from Shetland to China in which he relived some of his greatest climbs & travels. There was also some great film footage of a hard new route he recently climbed in the Alps with Twid Turner who, along with fellow British Mountain Guides Owain Jones & Andy Nelson was also presenting at the film festival.

At some point during Saturday we were once again in the basecamp tent looking for bargains. Dave Mycroft snapped Iain trying out the new Petzl Sirocco helmet - made from expanded polypropelene. You can have it in any colour - so long as it's orange!

The Afternoon saw us back in the Town Hall where Will Gadd presented his lecture Survival Strategies for high risk situations and talked about his adventures, achievements and tools for survival in the mountains & life that he has learned "both the fun & the hard way".

After a short pause we were back at the Brewery for Karen Darkes presentation in the Theatre. A runner, climber & allround outdoor addict Karen was paralysed from the chest down following a climbing accident at age 21 but this hasn't stopped her from continuing to have great adventures in the outdoors. Pictured in photo five talking to Iain's partner Kirstin - she is a hugely motivated and inspirational person and her lecture was just great!

The rest of the evening was spent not at the Rab Party but upstairs in The Vats Bar in The Brewery where we enjoyed pizza, beer and a good crack and catch up with the many people around that we knew.

After a liesurely start on Sunday Iain & Chris returned to The Brewery Arts Centre to watch the Climbing 2 film presentations in Screen 2. Here we saw six films by people such as Nick Bullock who turned from being a prison officer to a leading mountaineer, A documentary about Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team, The Gimp Monkeys - a film about the first all disabled ascent of El Capitan, Dave Macleod on a recent bouldering project in Switzerland, a film about three climbers trip to Namibya for a true climbing adventure and finally a film by Alex Honnold - recently described as the boldest soloist of his generation which finished with his solo climb of Mount Watkins, El Capitan and Half Dome - all done one after the other in under 19 hours and some of it in the dark by headtorch. Truly gripping stuff!

And after that.......that was it for us. Another Mountain Festival over. Chris departed for Scotland and Iain retired to the Vats Bar for another pizza & pint before heading home, well satisfied with another fantastic Kendal Mountain Festival.

The next Kendal Film Festival is taking place during  November 14th - 17th 2013 We hope to be there again and maybe you'll join us. Maybe we ought to get more involved? Kendal Mountain Festival, Kendal Mountaineering services.......there is definitely a connection, in fact - there are lots!

Winter Skills, Winter Scrambling & Winter climbing courses 2012/13.

The winter season continues here in the uk with many people getting some great climbs done on Scottish winter routes or enjoying winter walking both here in The Lake District and in Scotland.

Kendal Mountaineering Services is here to help you make the most of winter in the mountains. For budding newbies to winter in the mountains - why not try one of our Winter Skills Courses (photo one). Here you can learn how to use an ice axe & crampons under the supervision of one of our instructors and be taught how to interpret snow conditions as well as building an emergency shelter or snowhole for a night out in the mountains. We are offering our winter courses in The Lake District as well as Scotland and you can join a basic 2 day winter skills course for only £110 per person. You can read about about a previous Scottish based course here.

Not everyone wants to join a group to learn winter skills, winter scrambling or winter climbing - indeed our winter scrambling & winter climbing courses are run on the ratio of one instructor to no more than two clients. However, on occasion people want to learn skills on a one to one basis where you can pick as many or as few days as you like with one of our qualified staff. Of course the answer is yes and instruction doesn't come any better than this!

Do contact us if you wish to to enquire about our bespoke winter mountaineering or climbing experiences. Benn Berkeley did (photo two) and in early 2012 enjoyed a great 12 day course learning all of the skills required to be able to lead winter routes up grade II in standard having started from a fairly basic background. During his course we visited many of the main winter climbing areas including Glen Coe, Ben Nevis, Creag Meagaidh and the northern corries of The Cairngorms. You can read all of the reports from Benns great winter mountaineering & climbing experience by refering to our blog here.

We have recently run a bespoke winter mountain Training course in the Ben Nevis area for Everest Summiteer Paul Quinn from High Altitude Ireland. Paul plans to ascend Gasherbrum I & II in the Summer to raise money for charity and you can visit his website here.

If you would prefer to be guided on some winter climbs or winter scrambles then contact us to discuss your requirements.

There are currently great winter climbs and scrambles to be done both in The Lake District and in Scotland. If you are interested in trying a classic winter climb in The Lake District then contact us to discuss your requirements. If you are interested in climbing or scrambling in Scotland then Glen Coe, Ben Nevis, Aonach Mor, Creag Meagaidh and the Cairngorms are areas where many great routes are to be found. These include routes such as The Zig Zags, the Aonach Eagach or Sron Na Lairig in Glen Coe, Ledge Route or Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis or Daim Buttress on Aonach Mor to name a few if you fancy trying a classic winter climb.

Photo three shows two of our clients about to top out on Green Gully - a great introduction to grade IV ice on Ben Nevis where of course there are many other fantastic winter climbs of all grades. Let us know your climbing aspirations both in terms of grade and location and we will choose a route to suit your ability.

By checking out our blog you can read about all of our winter courses from 2009 until the present time by browsing from January through to March each year - enjoy reading! Prices for our winter courses are listed here on the website. If you have any specific questions or bespoke requirements then please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to working with you.

Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District. November 10th & 11th 2012.

During the weekend of November 10th & 11th 2012, Iain Gallagher of Kendal Mountaineering services ran a bespoke one on one course for Grant Geddes (photo one) who was the only person booked on to that particular weekend Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District.

During this Autumn, we have offered 1 weekend Navigation Skills Training Course per month although not all have run due to a lack of interest. This is surprising when you consider that our offer provides the opportunity to gain life saving skills for going walking in the mountains for only £40 per day from a qualified & experienced Mountaineering Instructor.

Being able to accurately navigate in the mountains is a really important skill to have. A lack of navigational ability can result in the inconvenience of getting lost in the mountains and ending up miles away from where you wanted to be, being benighted, having the embarrassment of having to call out Mountain Rescue or worse still - a combination of all of the above ending in something much more serious.

By contrast, good navigational skills allow you to venture into the UKs mountains with more confidence - knowing where you are going, identifying what you will see along your route and the satisfaction of being able to accurately pinpoint your location from map to ground.

It is also reassuring to have the knowledge to be able to use a compass when the cloud comes down, to be able to identify an unknown feature from a known location or have confidence in measuring the distance you have walked as well being able to estimate how long a route will take you - enabling you to arrive back at your vehicle, bunkhouse or pub on time, well satisfied after a great day out in the mountains!

Grant was very pleased with his two day bespoke Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District with Iain. As we got stuck into the first day of his course it became apparent to Iain that Grant knew many of the techniques required not just for basic map reading but also more advanced techniques such as using a compass to identify an unknown feature from a known location (photo two). So, for Iain, it was just a case of polishing up Grants navigational techniques and helping him gain confidence in using them.

Day one saw us working on those skills on the Green Quarter Fell area of Kentmere and as per Grants request, we spent several hours practising night navigation. Night nav is an advanced navigational technique. You have to walk on a bearing whilst concentrating on pacing & timing - all done whilst being able to see only by headtorch. By the end of day one, Grants ability & confidence had come on in leaps & bounds - good effort!

Photos three & four are both from day two of Grants bespoke Navigation Skills Training course. On this day, we drove further up the Kentmere Valley and walked up on to the east side of the Kentmere Horseshoe eventually arriving at Harter Fell via Kentmere Pike.

In photo three, Grant had navigated to the head of Drygrove Gill - an obvious gully on the west side of Harter Fell from the summit using several navigation techniques. Our final photo is looking down on the Ull Stone - a relic of the last ice age having been dumped at its location by glacial ice. Grant again navigated accurately to this point - in the previous photo he is working out a bearing & distance to walk directly to the Ull Stone and as you can see - he found it! More photos from this two day course can be viewed here.

Our Mountain Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District are fun and really good value for money. Our next course is running during December 1st & 2nd - another weekend date. Contact us to book your place. You can read about some of our previous 2012 Mountain Navigation Skills Training courses here & here. We look forward to working with you.

Mountaincraft day in The Lake District. November 9th 2012.

A few days after working with Ian Durrant & Anna Lenartowska during their caving & climbing day, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services was outdoors in Langdale running a Mountaincraft Day for returning client Andrew Tranter.

Andrew has featured on our Blog before having attended a Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District at the end of March. Back in The Lake District on a short notice break from work, he fancied learning some more skills to be self sufficient in the mountains and in particular, was interested in looking at aspects of mountaincraft in the form of river crossing techniques and security on steep ground.

Photo one shows Andrew in a rising Langdale Beck where he was using a ski pole to brace on as he moved sideways across the considerable flow of water.

We looked at the various methods that one or two persons would use to cross a fast flowing stream or river with or without a ski pole. You can always fashion a branch if you have no pole. Iain would recommend avoiding river crossings where possible although it is not always unavoidable - in which case it is useful to know the techniques.

After getting changed and getting as dry as we could on what was a foul weather day next Iain asked Andrew to navigate to an area of steep ground so that we could look at basic ropework.

Often, people who are lacking confidence in moving on steeper terrain can be helped merely by the use of a confidence rope and in photo two Andrew is using a confidence rope on Iain as he leads him up the shallow gully that is the descent route for climbs on Upper Scout Crag. As only a short length of rope is required one flakes out the rope in the top of their rucksack and attaches a simple figure of eight knot on the bight to the person requiring the confidence rope.

Having done this the only thing that needs to be done is to keep the rope tensioned to provide the person some support. The person administering the confidence rope will often have an overhand knot on the bight on the rope to improve their grip, will be braced away from and always uphill of the person requiring the confidence rope and will have their controlling forearm bent towards them to provide some "shock absorption" should the other person slip.

Andrew mastered this technique well on an ascent & descent of the gully before we moved on to slightly more complex belaying systems.

In photo three we are looking at further techniques of security on steep ground ie what to do when one has found ones-self in a situation where a rope must be used to prevent a slip becoming something more serious. On some occasions a body belay (indirect belay) may well suffice for preventing a fall during a climb up or lower down steep ground.

Body belays involve the belayer running the rope around their back and using a technique very similar to taking in the rope through a belay plate when belaying. The belayer will be seated well down with legs braced with heels dug into the ground or pressing against a solid rock.

As well as looking at the basical body belay we also looked at how to attach to a solid anchor such as a rock spike, thread or tree using when the security offered by a basic braced stance is unavailable or unsuitable. In either case one would attach the rope to one of the above anchors using a loop secured with an overhand, figure of eight or Bowline knot and using the same to secure themselves to the anchor. Interesting techniques which Andrew demonstrated well.

Having completed security on steep ground techniques Andrew was keen to use the remaining few hours to further practise skills learnt during his Navigation Skills Training Course in March.

Iain set Andrew the task of locating a ring contour (hill top) some distance away from our steep ground venue at Scout Crags. There were two distinct options - to walk on a bearing through extremely difficult terrain or "handrail" using nearby White Gill to an attack point at its source before taking a bearing and pacing a much shorter distance over much less difficult terrain to find the feature.

Photo four shows Andrew nearing the head of White Gill which is in spate. You can see how wet it was today, the blurring is water droplets on the camera lense and water droplets can be seen reflecting the camera flash. A truly grim day and as you might imagine - there were no people climbing on White Gill Crag!




After locating the hill top we were looking for Andrew decided he was happy with what had been covered during the day, so we decided to descend under Tarn Crag (one of our favourite scrambling skills training course venues) and out via Stickle Ghyll.

At this point (photo five) the tops cleared briefly and we were able to look up to the summit of Harrison Stickle - one of the Langdale Pikes.

As can be seen, Stickle Ghyll was approaching full spate and a river crossing at our earlier venue on the valley floor would have now been impossible without being swept away. Andrew enjoyed his Mountaincraft day out with Iain and leaves with more skills in his toolbox which we hope will help him have many more safe adventures in the mountains. See more photos from this day here.

Our mountaincraft courses can give you all of the skills to be a confident & competent hillgoer in both summer and winter conditions. Check out details of our Mountaincraft courses here and our winter skills courses here. We look forward to working with you.

Caving & Climbing days in The Yorkshire Dales National Park. November 6th 2012.

The first part of November has been fairly busy for us here at Kendal Mountaineering Services. Iain had a weekend of activity sessions with a group at the Lakeland Adventure Centre at Water Park in wintry conditions. Amongst other things that weekend, we went open canoeing and incredibly - Ghyll Scrambling in Church Beck.

Two days later Iain was working in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Ian Durrant and his partner Anna Lenartowska. Ian & Anna had travelled all the way from Portsmouth to visit the Lake District for a break.

Ian had contacted Kendal Mountaineering Services to book a two session day, caving for himself and rock climbing for Anna as part of a birthday present for her.

Iain met the pair at Inglesport and then off we went to Long Churns for our caving adventure. Photo one shows Ian being lowered down the pitch to Double Shuffle Pool in Long Churns.

On this particular day, conditions were better underground than on the surface where a cold south westerly wind was blowing accompanied by a heavy drizzle - fine for caving but not great for climbing out of doors. Iain had already forwarned the pair that due to the forecast that it might have to be indoor climbing instead!

Water levels were low in Long Churns so we were able to have a good introductory caving session. We started off by heading downstream from Middle Entrance into Lower Long Churns and eventually arrived at The Cheese Press (photo two) where Anna successfully squeezed through before we all went to check out the daylight entering from nearby Alum Pot.

After visiting out Lower Long Churns, Iain took the pair out via Diccan Entrance (photo three) and then back underground via Middle Entrance to the downstream entrance to Baptistry Crawl which leads to Upper Long Churns.

On arrival at Upper Long Churns, we went downstream to Middle Entrance again and on to climb the Entrance Waterfall in Alum Pot Beck before heading back upstream and on to Doctor Bannisters Washbasin where the pair found the climb up to the upstream exit a sporting challenge. Back out at daylight there was no reason to hang around - the weather had improved none, so indoor climbing it was going to have to be.

Both Ian & Anna had thoroughly enjoyed their introductory caving session in Long Churns with Iain and are now talking about returning for one of our Level Two Caving Sessions in 2013!

Next, after getting changed and finding Anna some warm pants for climbing, it was off to Inglesport Climbing Wall for an introductory climbing session which whilst not done outdoors was done indoors in relative comfort with a much better outcome.

Inglesport run a great climbing wall in Ingleton village where there are artificial climbing routes of all grades in a purpose built building.

There are two climbing areas and a bouldering area and the main lead wall is approximately 15m in hieght. Routes are graded using the french system and there are routes to be found for people of all abilities.

Photo four shows Anna climbing in the main wall area belayed by Ian.

Iain showed the pair how to tie into the rope, attach a belay plate and how belay to protect the leader whilst they are climbing.

Our final photograph from our caving & climbing day shows Ian about to take his turn at climbing on the wall whilst Anna belays - backed up by the equivalent of a ground anchor, in this case a sand filled bag attached via a sling to the belay plate karabiner.

It is not uncommon for a belayer to become airborne whilst lowering a heavier climber and on occasion, this has led to surprise & shock for the belayer who has subsequently let go of the person they are lowering resulting in that person "decking out" and suffering an injury.

The pair enjoyed their session in the Inglesport Climbing Wall but were unused to the strenuous nature of climbing at an indoor climbing gym and were happy to call it a day after a few hours in here. They both thoroughly enjoyed their day with Iain and hope to return in 2013 for more caving and hopefully some outdoor climbing. We look forward to seeing them then.

More photos from Iain & Annas Introductory Caving and Climbing sessions can be viewed here. An ideal package for this time of year - if you would like us to arrange your own caving & climbing day then contact Iain here. We look forward to working with you.