Two days of cragging (25/26th April)

I can't believe this weather! It's been sunny and warm for what seems like months. I managed to get 2 more days of climbing down in West Penwith with various friends. Firstly a day out with fellow Climbers Club member Andy March. Initial plans of climbing in Freedom Zawn near Bottallack had to be abandoned due to quite a strong swell that was swamping the ledges at the bottom of the zawn, even at low tide! We decided to head east and climb on the cliffs at Zennor, which are above the sea. Here the rock is killas, rather than granite and is very angular, producing sharp incut holds. We did several routes, including the classic Rosebud in June, on which we were joined by the first ascentionist, Toni Carver, who had popped down from St Ives for the day. It was nearly 38 years to the day Toni first led the route and to have this local legend on the end of my rope was a great moment for me.

The following day I met up with friends Michele and Vic who were down here on holiday. Michele graciously agreed to let Vic off the leash for the day and we shot off to Carn Barra before she changed her mind! Here the climbs are short and steep, but start well above the sea. Most are of excellent quality and we very quickly got up 3 routes, before deciding that the tide was low enough to venture onto Fox Promontory. Here, the North Face catches the late afternoon/evening sun and is a great venue for the middle grade climber, as there are several quality VS/HVS climbs. The best of the bunch is The Curtain Raiser. Graded VS, its more like HVS as the climbing is sustained, absorbing and protection hard to find. I must admit it was good to see Vic going for it on the routes he led, especially as he doesn't get out much these days.

Playground of the Ancients

Finally some climbing! With the winds going northerly and "onshore" on the North coast, making for poor surf conditions, I headed down to West Penwith with my friend Jez, to climb Rosemergy Ridge. Hidden away to the west of Bosigran, this tiny esoteric outing was first climbed in 1906 by Arthur Andrews and his younger sister, Elsie, during their discovery and development of West Penwith as a climbers playground. Although short, it has lots of character, including some good, old fashioned chimneying and a small abseil/lower. On the front of the ridge is the steep Monolith Slab which as a handful of harder, but enjoyable pitches. The crag faces west and catches the late afternoon/evening sun and is a delightful place to climb, away from the crowds at Bosigran, a mere stones throw away. I'm sure I will be visiting it again in the future.

Surf, Surf, Surf.......

Well, it's been an incredible run of surf down here in the South West and it's been accompanied by sunny skies and very warm temperatures. I've been in for at least 3 hours every day. My arms are like jelly and need a break, but hey, guess what? Yeap, it's good waves and sun again today so I guess I'll be needing an arm transplant over the weekend.

Surfing again

Just got out of the sea at Watergate Bay after the second disappointing surf of the day :-( The charts and the internet were promising epic conditions today, but it didn't work out that way. A morning session at Tolcarne Bay, Newquay started well with clean conditions and head high waves but it then went flat for ages and the sets that did come through were backing off then closing out. After lunch I went round to a cross-shore and lumpy Watergate Bay. Paddleout a mission. Wave count poor. Oh well, at least it was better than being stuck in an office or fixing helicopters!

Back in the Water

It's been nearly 2 months since I was in the surfing so I didn't expect much from this afternoon's session. The winds were light onshores, but there was still size and shape to the waves. The sun and blue skies made up for the less than perfect conditions and it felt good to be back in the water.

Sunny Rock for Simon 06-10 April

This week I've been working with Simon from Bath, who was wanting to get back into climbing and sample some Cornish classics as well as work on his technique and gear placement, belays etc. Blessed with fab weather and good tides, we ventured onto cliffs such as Bosigran, Carn Barra, Chair Ladder and Trewavas Head, climbing routes, such as Peel Crack, William's Chimney and the Classic Rock routes Terrier's Tooth, Bosigran Ridge and, what must be the best Hard Severe in the country, Doorpost. All was going well until we ventured onto Hella Point. Here the sharp crystals in the rock proved too sharp for Simon's skin and, with blood pouring from a slice in his hand, we had to nip into Penzance A&E to get it stitched (but only after we climbed Helluva Slab). I also had a nice evening's soloing at Goldsworthy Buttress at Trewellard. This little crag is situated in the mining heartland and is surrounded by the detritus of hundreds of years of tin and copper mining, which is definitely worth exploring.

Winter Mountain Leader Training 27 March - 02 April

A bit of Continued Professional Development for me this week. I'm up at Glenmore Lodge doing a ML Winter training course, something I should have done years ago. This winter season has been a long one, with plenty of snow early on but the temperature is rising and the snow is melting fast! Fortunately the snowpack is well-bonded and there's plenty of opportunity to practise ice axe arresting, cramponing techniques and snowholing! I even managed to get some bouldering/climbing in at Cummingston (up on the Moray Firth coast) before I headed back south. Now need to get up North more often to be ready for assessment.

Duchy AITP Climbing in the Peak 14-18 March

For the students, it 5 days of concentrated climbing in preparation for SPA training and, for some, SPA Assessment. Having been 'let loose' on crags, such as Stanage, Burbage North, Birchens and Froggatt, the guys were on it! Ok, so the weather wasn't always good (sometimes damp and misty, sometimes beautiful), but the routes fell thick and fast! I made sure that they were safe and gave suggestions as to which routes they might attempt, then nipped round the corner to solo a few routes! Life is good.

Bamford Edge, Peak District 13 March

A day on the grit. It's been a while since I climbed in the Peak. Climbing on gritstone is like climbing on sandpaper. The rock is very rough and, given the right conditions, the friction is excellent. The crags are subject to erosion from the wind and rain, and this produces a lot of rounded and sloping holds, making the climbing precarious. Technique and confidence will pay dividends for those wanting to succeed on their chosen route. Bamford Edge is somewhere I have never climbed before, as there has been access problems but since the CRoW Act, access has been guaranteed for the future. It's a beautiful crag, made up of a number of buttresses and there are routes of great quality. The sun was shining and being situated high above the valley, it was a delight to be cruising the Grit!

Sharp Edge, Blencathra, Lake District 08 March

The Duchy AITP roadtrip rolls into the Lake District to take advantage of some great scrambles, ridges and mountain biking. On one of the days, a small group of us ventured onto the classic Sharp Edge ridge on Blencathra. Not a particularly long ridge, but knife edge, with big drops on both sides! You have to be careful though, as the rock is slate and when wet it's incredibly slippery - the accident statistics aren't great reading and it's rumoured that the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team know exactly where unfortunate souls end up in the corrie below. Luckily for us, conditions were good.

Climbing at Gogarth 04 March

A chance to climb on, what was, my local crag, Craig Gogarth with a couple of 'young hotshots' from the RAF Mountain Rescue Service. It was great to be back on home turf. I even managed to climb a route I hadn't done before (I've climbed over 200 routes at Gogarth and South Stack) and lead an E2!

Duchy AITP Mountain Leader Summer Training 26 Feb- 03 Mar

6 days (and one night!) of training for the students, under the directorship of Rick Abbott and Andy Newton (both MICs), with assistance from myself and other staff from the college. Fortunately the weather and conditions were kind to us and it meant that the guys and girls could concentrate on learning the skills and techniques required to become Mountain Leaders. This includes mountain navigation (day and night), security on steep ground, the mountain environment (incl. weather, flora and forna), mountain hazards, river crossings, emergency procedures and camp craft. They also learnt that when one is getting 'burnt off' by younger, fitter mountaineers, it's a good idea to find something interesting to talk about ("hey, have you seen this interesting plant....") so you can get your breath back!