Caving Sessions in The Yorkshire Dales National Park. 25th August 2013.

Last Sunday saw Iain doing two half day introductory caving Sessions in The Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Originally, Iain had only one half day caving session in the afternoon but our friends at Live For Today Adventures in Yorkshire had a pair who wanted to go underground and asked Iain if he could provide them with an introductory caving session - which of course he could in the morning!

So, Iain met Christian & Phil at Inglesport at 09:00 and then off we went to Long Churns for our caving session (photo one).

This photo shows Phil (left) & Christian in the main streamway in Middle Long Churns as we made our way down to Lower Long Churns and the famous Cheese Press.

Photo two shows some of the marvellous things to be seen on an Introductory Caving Session. Some very strange things can be seen and we ask on all of our sessions that people don't touch but ask about anything instead.

What you are looking at in photo two are called Speleothems or cave formations. The Limestone rock in which all of the caves are formed is soluble in rainwater which is slightly acidic due to Carbon Dioxide Gas that gets dissolved in the rainwater.

Rain hitting the surface of the ground percolates down through the limestone and picks up a load of dissolved limestone (known as Calcite) which then gets redeposited within the caves leading to flowstone formations where the water runs down the walls of the cave ( the pale brown & cream formation in photo two) and stalactites (top of photo) where the water drips off the ceiling. All of the formations are fragile and certainly stalactites take 50 years to grow a centimeter - they are so easily destroyed by inquisitive fingers and this is why we ask you not to touch!

After Phil & Christians morning Introductory Caving Session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Iain nipped back to Ingleton to collect Darran Greene who had been underground in Long Churns many years before. Darran wanted to introduce Robbie & Ben to the delights of caving whilst they were on holiday in the area.

Photo three sees (left to right Ben, Darran & Robbie) on our walk in to Long Churns. Behind the three can be seen a small wood which rings the 80 metre deep shaft of Alum Pot which is connected to the Long Churns Cave system. What a lovely afternoon it was!

Photo four sees Ben & Robbie exploring a short Fossil Passageway off the main streamway in Middle Long Churns. Many school children get introduced to the delights of caving if they are fortunate enough to attend a "residential" at one of the Lake District's Outdoor Education Centres, it is an experience that remains in the memory of many people forever.

So what is limestone and where is it formed? Well, the answer is on the bed of a tropical ocean from the remains of marine plants & animals - in effect, this rock is the remains of an ancient coral reef such as the Great Barrier Reef to be found off the east coast of Australia. In the Yorkshire Dales National Park the Limestone layer is up to 200m or 660 feet thick and actually consists of many layers or "beds" stacked one on top of the other each between 1 & 6 - 8 feet thick.

Imagine that each successive layer consists of interlocking pieces like a jigsaw puzzle and you can imagine what the Limestone layers are like! At the end of the last ice age 15'000 years ago glacial melt water flooded down the gaps in the layers and between layers to form the caves seen to day.

Of course many of these caves are now largely dry (the fossil passageways) due to the fact that as the glacier receded water levels dropped - although today some of these passages can still fill up in times of very wet weather and Long Churns is notorious for trapping unwary novices.

The final photo in this blog post sees Robbie & Ben next to the "entrance waterfall" in Middle Long Churns in the main streamway. This fall is only six feet high and here, was not carrying a lot of water, but it's ominous sound rumbles & reverberates throughout the cave system for quite a distance!

Both Christian & Phil and Darran, Ben & Robbie thoroughly enjoyed their Introductory Caving Half Day Sessions in the Yorkshire Dales National park with Iain who hopes they all return again to explore and enjoy this great environment. Caving is fun and everyone should try it!

To book your half day (or full day) caving session with Iain - an experienced & knowlegable Caver Leader, contact us here. Prices for a half day (four hour) caving session start at £45 per person with all of the equipment you see people wearing provided as part of the fee.

Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Half Day Sessions in The Lake District. 23rd August 2013.

Friday last week saw Iain spending the day at Church Beck, Coniston getting wet along with clients who had booked on to our popular Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Sessions in The Lake District.

First thing, Iain was joined by Andy Burrows and his girlfriend Melissa Harbourne who had booked the previous day and had travelled up that morning from Liverpool for the session. Melissa joined the session with some trepidation thinking that she was attending a canoeing session, however, Iain told her that she would enjoy herself and to be fair, he hasn't seen someone laugh so much in quite a while - great stuff!

We did the usual Ghyll Scrambling ascent of Church Beck (photo one) with it's swims, climbs and jumps. The pair were enthusiastic and were thoroughly soaked in a very short time!

Photo two sees Melissa about to do the slide at the end of the Canyoning descent part of the session. On the ghyll scrambling (also known as Gorge Walking) ascent - this is the point at which we get out of the gorge and head up to the very top to begin our canyoning descent.

Harnesses are donned so that Iain can attach you to the safety rope for the lower down the top and Miners Bridge waterfalls and also the top fall in the section just above where photo two is taken.

Between the top fall and the chockstone slide there is a "middle fall" with a rock in the bottom so one needs to be absolutely confident in their ability to jump out far enough to avoid this and land where Iains finger is pointing. Andy tried this challenge successfully and both enjoyed the exhilaration of the final slide. Iain has suggested that next time both Andy & Melissa try one of our Esk Gorge Trips and looks forward to taking them on this ultimate Lake District Ghyll Scrambling adventure.

After a quick turnaround and some lunch, Iain had an afternoon session in Church Beck with Andrew Dool and three of his long time School mates who were up enjoying what The Lake District has to offer during an extended Bank Holiday break.

The guys were staying locally in some handy family owned accommodation having travelled up from the south East of England the previous day. They were looking forward to doing some Mountain Biking on Saturday as well as other outdoor activities over the weekend. We hope they had a great time and at least the weather was good for getting out of doors on this August Bank Holiday weekend.

Photo three shows the guys next to the first big fall on our Ghyll Scrambling ascent of Church Beck.

The final photo in this blog post sees the guys below the top waterfall in Church Beck that is upstream of Miners Bridge. There is a section here that adds an extra 200m or so to the Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning Session that we offer - that many of our competitors choose to avoid!

We start off off our Canyoning descent of Church Beck by lowering clients down the waterfall behind the group in the photo and then just below, there is a jump in to a deep pool. Whilst it is not a big jump it is worth doing as is the waterfall in this photo.

In all of our sessions we aim to offer you everything that can be done at any given venue as part of your fee in addition to providing you with the very best level of personal protective equipment to keep you warm & comfortable. We guarantee you a great time so contact us to book your session. Prices for a half day of Ghyll Scrambling & canyoning in The Lake District with us start at £45 per person, less if you bring more people!

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.

Rock Climbing Courses in The Lake District. Saturday 10th August 2013.

When Adam Mitcheson booked a Rock Climbing Course in The Lake District with Kendal Mountaineering Services, he had previously done some rock & slab climbing as well as some mountaineering some years previously in The Alps as part of an Introductory Alpine Skills Training Course.

As he is intending to return to The Alps next year, Adam felt that a decent level of climbing experience was what he was looking for and in discussion with him on our initial meeting, Iain felt that some multi-pitch Rock Climbing Skills Training would help Adam along nicely.

Adam came along on his own to this Lake District based Rock Climbing Session. However, we were able to provide a willing second in the shape of Iain's partner Kirstin. The good thing was that this meant that Adam was able to get on to the "sharp end" of the rope and Iain was able to "coach" him. This was really the ideal scenario if Adam was to gain much from his rock climbing day.

So right from the start, Adam was able to climb, learning about anchor placements and being able to put things into practice under Iain's guidance. In photo one he is about to place his third running belay (runner) on the route we were climbing.

In photo two, Adam has set off up the second pitch of the rock climbing  route we were using. Prior to this, he had climbed, belayed by Kirstin, and had arranged several good runners on his way to the first stance.

At the first stance, Iain had demonstrated how to build a multi-anchor attachment and bring it to a central attachment point. Iain had then explained to Adam how to attach to this central attachment point (made with a sling) and then how to "belay" Kirstin with his belay plate correctly attached to the rope tie in loop and correctly orientated for a downward pull.

On Kirstin's arrival at the stance, Adam was then shown how to immediately attach her to the anchors thus safeguarding her before (as he was continuing to lead throughout) re-flaking the climbing rope so that his end came off the top of the pile. After collecting the "runners" stripped out by Kirstin as she climbed, Adam then set off climbing up pitch two.

Photo three sees Adam at the second stance on the climb. Once again, we had constructed a multi-anchor system and brought the anchors together to a central attachment point with a sling.

Best practice can be seen in action in this photo - Adam's attachment to the anchors can be seen behind his right arm where he is clove hitched in to the central attachment point. He is belaying Kirstin from the bottom of his rope tie in loop and his belay plate is orientated to take a downward pull. With his right hand locking off the dead rope any load from Kirstin below is transferred straight through the locked off belay plate and Adams rope tie in loop - directly to the anchors. Good stuff!

Our final photo of the day shows Kirstin retreating from our second rock climb using a "Stacked Abseil" system. Adam is actually holding the dead rope below Kirstin's right hand just in case she lets go. As well as teaching a person to climb
rock, we also consider it essential to show them what to do if they need to retreat off a climbing route as well!

Prior to abseiling from pitch two of the second climb, Iain had, at the top of the first route, shown Adam the correct procedure for tying into anchors using the rope - the system he ought to use when leading alternate pitches when climbing as part of a competent pair. Adam had asked for a one day Climbing Course in The Lake District, so today was a very steep learning curve for him.

However, Adam thoroughly enjoyed his rock climbing course with Iain & Kirstin and we hope he goes on to achieve success in his Alpine ambitions - and maybe before then, Iain will see him on a Winter Climbing Course in Scotland?

Photographs from this Rock Climbing Course in The Lake District complete with annotations can be viewed here. To book your bespoke Rock Climbing Course contact us here. We look forward to working with you.

Introductory half day Caving Sessions in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Thursday 8th August 2013.

Having returned to the Lake District from his day at Brimham Rocks and Howstean Gorge, Iain returned to Yorkshire the very next day to run an Introductory Caving Session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park  for Duncan Shrimpton and his children Patrick and Alex. (photo one)

Duncan and his family were on holiday for a week from the South East of England. Many years ago, Duncan had been on his first ever caving trip in Long Churns and wanted to revisit the experience with his children. When asked how he had found Kendal Mountaineering Services, Duncan replied that we had come up on a Google search for caving in the area and that he had liked the factual nature of our website and that the fact that the really important bit - the price, was clearly available in the site information - as of course it should be!

Iain met the family at Inglesport as he always does. Inglesport has a fantastic cafe and is a well stocked outdoor shop and is a favourite meeting point for cavers from all around the country.

From there, we drove to Selside in Ribblesdale, got changed into caving oversuits and wellingtons and headed underground in to Long Churns where Iain took this photo of Patrick as he wriggled through The Cheese Press with ease.

We made a point of entering the system via Diccan Entrance as we had Army recruits hot on our heels and we didn't want to be stuck waiting in a queue in the the lower part of Long Churns. It was a good plan, we had gotten The Cheese Press, The Slot and Plank Pool out of the way before we met them again.

As we had entered via Diccan Entrance, Iain took the party upstream to Middle Entrance and then on to the upstream entrance into Cross Passage (Babtistry Crawl) and then downstream in Babtistry to emerge again in Lower Long Churns.

This time on our return upstream, we climbed the Entrance Waterfall  before continuing upstream  on our Introductory Caving Session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Photo three shows Patrick & Alex who by this time were becoming proper little cavers "bridging" the main streamway to avoid getting a soaking as we headed in to Upper Long Churns in the direction of Doctor Bannisters Washbasin.

On arriving at Doctor Bannister Washbasin, the children did a quick lap of the very large pool there before climbing the waterfall with assistance from Iain & their Dad.

We emerged at the upstream entrance in Long Churns with Iain offering to guide the trio around part of the Borrins Moor System. However, Alex had decided that she had had enough of caving for one day and quite fancied the idea of returning to Inglesport for further sustainance. Good choice!

Our final photo from this Introductory Half Day Caving Session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park shows the family on the limestone pavement, Penyghent in the background. After that we packed up and all returned to Inglesport - another great caving session done & dusted!

To book your Introductory Caving Session with us contact us here. Half day sessions start at £45 per person for a four hour caving session with caving oversuit, wellington boots, a caving belt and helmet with light all supplied as part of the fee. Caving is great fun and we look forward to showing you & your family the delights of what is to be seen underground.

Introductory Rock climbing and Gorge Walking Sessions in Yorkshire. 7th August 2013.

After Iains  session in The Esk Gorge with Richard Farmer & Kirsty, he was straight off to Yorkshire to prepare for the next day which consisted of an Introductory Rock Climbing and Bouldering Session at Brimham Rocks followed by and abseiling & Gorge Walking Session at Howstean Gorge in Nidderdale.

Photo one shows Iains group on this occasion during our Bouldering Session at Brimham. The children were on vacation with Village Camps and came from a diverse mix of countries including France, Spain, Lebanon and Ukraine.

During our Bouldering Session at Brimham Rocks (photo one) we climbed up, over, around and down some of the many gritstone outcrops to be found at this site for over an hour before it was time to swap with some of the other groups and have a go at an Introductory Rock Climbing Session.

In an Introductory Rock Climbing Session, we generally employ a rope system in which the climbing rope is anchored at the top of the climb at the mid point and either end hangs down to the bottom of the climb.

The climber will be attached to one end whilst several other group members will be responsible for pulling in the rope at the other end - keeping it tight to prevent the the climber falling if they slip.

As well as being an easy and safe way to climb, top rope/bottom belaying as it is known is a great way to get people working together and focusing on the skills of communication and teamwork. This was particularly important for this group of young people who didn't know each other that well and amongst other things - they were expected to converse in English throughout their time in the UK.

In photo two, the young person seen in the white tee shirt has climbed the rock face and is now being lowered down by his peers. This involves considerable trust on the part of the climbing person.

After our morning session at Brimham Rocks, the whole group plus instructional staff moved the six or so miles to Howstean Gorge in Nidderdale where tents were set up so that the group could camp overnight. Then, everyone was kitted out in wetsuits, cagoules, bouyancy aids,wellington boots and helmets so that they could go Gorge Walking (photo three).

At Howstean this involves abseiling off the bridge across the gorge 50 feet down into a deep narrow Limestone gorge where harnesses are removed before setting off upstream swimming and wading through pools and climbing up small waterfalls.

Along the way there is the possibility of visiting a limestone cave where a tributary to Howstean Beck joins the main flow.

Beyond Howstean Cave, the gorge gets narrower and deeper, the pools get deeper and the waterfalls bigger.

The edge of the gorge is surrounded by woodland and with dense foliage and an overcast sky overhead it can seem quite dark down below.

Certainly in photo four, it looks more like Iain's group are caving than Gorge Walking!

The children enjoyed their day of Introductory Rock Climbing, Bouldering, Gorge Walking & Caving and we hope they enjoyed the rest of their 3 week stay in the UK. Families wishing to try any of the activities mentioned in this post can do so with us here in The Lake District. Prices start at £45 per person for a half day (four hour) session or £70 per person for a full 8 hour day out encompassing at least two activities. Contact us to book your session here. We look forward to working with you.

The Esk Gorge. The Lake Districts ultimate Ghyll Scrambling Session. August 6th 2013.

Richard Farmer & his girlfriend Kirsty booked on to one of our all day Esk Gorge trips whilst having a weeks adventure holiday in the area.

The Esk Gorge is the best Ghyll Scrambling trip of it's type anywhere in The Lake District and is longer and more challenging than anything else in the area being some 3km long and having over 200m of height gain over it's length - meaning a lot of waterfalls and some very deep pools indeed.

Photo one shows the pair kitted up and ready to go and they were certainly up for anything Iain was to throw at them!

The Esk Gorge trip is a real adventure involving a 3km/1 hour walk in from the foot of Hardknott Pass at the head of Eskdale.

As well as the usual provision of wetsuits, cagoules, bouyancy aids, helmets & harnesses, we also provide you with rucksacs for the walk in and bin bags to keep your dry stuff dry - this is essential as unless the weather is warm you will be ready to get changed back into dry clothing after four hours of immersion in the River Esk. We recommend that you bring a flask of hot drink for that very reason!

On arrival at the foot of the gorge, we have some food & drink and then get changed at the sheepfold before getting in to the gorge. Straightaway- you'll be swimming and then climbing up the first waterfall before arriving at the first really big deep pool where there are two jumps. Following that, we climb up the fall at the back of this pool and, if as in this case there was too much water to climb the next bit you'll be roped out on to the side as is happening to Kirsty in photo two. However, we can pretty much get straight back in again!

After another 150m of swimming and picking the best route up the next cataracts we arrive at the next deep pool where there is a jump off the right hand bank (photo three) as well as one off the left as well.

Upstream of this there is a rather unexciting and slippery walk up a relatively level section of the river that we avoid by walking up the bank before jumping in at the next pool set in a tree lined ampitheatre below the highest jump at over 30 feet high.

We tend to avoid this jump (known as Lemmings Leap) the reason being that Iain tried it once and despite not hitting the bed of the pool ( you do land in a very deep pool) hitting the water from such a height hurt like hell! and there are many other less painful jumps that can be done.

Above Lemmings Leap we get to the highest falls in the gorge which we first swim under before roping up the rock to their right. Then, we are straight back in to another deep pool with a roped climb up a chimney followed by a big jump off the top of the rock back into the pool below - pure adrenalin!

Now we are at a point pretty much half way up the gorge. After briefly opening out, the gorge closes in again with more pools to swim and more falls to climb.

Further on we find ourselves in a narrow slot with a waterfall to climb after a swim. On this occasion, we couldn't get near the foot of the fall due to the volume of water ( you have to swim to the foot of the fall) so, Iain roped the pair up the side and then we immediately jumped into the next deep pool upstream - trying it from both banks!

The next section was unclimbable again due to the volume of water, so we walked up to the next jump where Richard & Kirsty jumped together (photo four) before we called time on the session.

Above here the gorge levels off after a small canyon and a walk eventually finishes at another waterfall and climb. A further 500m brings you to another deep pool and waterfall above which one arrives at the final deep pool and the point where the river meanders in from Upper Eskdale.

The Esk Gorge trip is a sustained adventure and a fantastic day out in good weather. It has to be highly recommended to adrenalin seekers looking for a real "out there" adventure. Kendal Mountaineering Services charge £75 per person for a minimum of two persons to experience this full day out with an experienced ghyll Scrambling guide. Contact us to book your session. To get a real flavour of what the Esk Gorge is all about view the  photos from this latest session here.