Outdoor Courses for Scrambling, Climbing, Kayaking & Mountain Activities

Lake District based Mountain Navigation Skills Training Weekend Course. March 31st/April 1st 2012.

2012-02-23T14:08:00.009Z

Kendal Mountaineering Services is offering a Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course to members of the general public during the weekend of March 31st April 1st 2012.

This Navigation skills training course is ideal for anyone wishing to improve their map reading & navigation skills to allow them to venture into mountainous regions of the UK with confidence.

The cost for the two day Mountain Navigation Skills training course is only £80 per person for the weekend. The price includes the provision of laminated maps for the areas to be covered in both 1:25 and 1:50,000 scales. You will need to provide your own compass for the course and we would recommend the Silva Type 4 Expedition compass for this Navigation Skills training Course.

Some previous experience of map reading & navigation techniques is useful but not essential- so if you lack experience do not worry!

Kendal Mountaineering Services run their Mountain Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District National Park usually in the Kentmere Area to the south.

The itinery requires us to meet on both days at 09:00 at Wilf's Cafe at Staveley Mill Yard in Staveley (LA8 9LR for those of you with Satnav). On day one we will travel to the nearby area of Green Quarter Fell to introduce basic map reading & navigation techniques providing a progression throughout the day for everyone - no matter what level of expertise you have.

Day two will see us travel further up the Kentmere Valley to walk part of the Kentmere Horseshoe. The emphasis will not be to cover miles of ground but build upon & consolidate navigation skills learned on day one - albeit on a slightly different and higher location.

The emphasis throughout the course will be to give you as many opportunities as possible to progress to a high standard of mountain navigational capability. We run all of our Navigation Skills Training courses to Mountain Leader Training (MLTE) Standard.

The following aspects of navigation skills will be covered during the course:-
Orientation of the map,
Grid references,
Measuring distance on the map & on the ground by pacing.
Tick off features,
Naismiths rule (timings c/w distance & contours),
Taking & walking on a bearing using a map, ie grid to mag,
Identifying from ground to map (Mag to grid),
Walking on a bearing/back bearings,
"Handrailing" using Linear features (eg streams/footpaths),
Aiming off,
Attack points,
Resections,
"Boxing" around an obstacle.

The syllabus of this course is ideal -not just for someone wishing to improve their navigational ability for their own use but also for aspiring Summer Mountain Walking Leaders wishing to attend an ML Navigation Refresher course as part of their preparation for Mountainwalking Leader Assessment or for ML Navigation re-Assessment.

Candidates are welcome to book on to this Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course - or you can book your own personal Mountainwalking Leader Navigation Refresher day with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services at any time.

If you would like more information about this Lake District Based Mountain Navigation Skills training Course or would like to book please contact us here. You can view details of a few of our past courses on the Kendal Mountaineering Services Blog here and here.

We look forward to working with you.

Scottish Winter mountaineering courses. February 12th - 17th, 2012.

2012-02-22T14:41:00.017Z

After the end of Iain's 12 day Scottish Winter Climbing Skills Training course with Benn Berkeley, he had but a days rest before starting working again, this time with (Left to right in photo one) Andy, Lucy, Martin & Dave who were all attending a Winter Leader Progression Course with The Cadet Centre for Adventurous Training (CCAT) based from the Joint Services Mountain Training Centre at Tulloch in Glen Spean near to Fort William.

CCAT run all manner of outdoor skills training courses to anyone involved with the cadets. Andy, Martin & Dave are all from the same school in Essex and regularly work with cadets at the school. So as leaders - having already attended the CCAT Winter Foundation Course (essentially a winter skills training course) previously and all looking to attain their Winter Mountainwalking Leader Award, they had booked on to this years Winter Leader Progression Course run by Iain on behalf of CCAT. Lucy is a student currently studying on an Outdoor Leaders Course in Cheshire.

Our first day out (Sunday) proved to be a long hard day as the other instructor Iain was co-running the course with appeared to be bent on providing his group with a mission - in this case a 20km hike over the Grey Corries - a ridge containing many Munros near Spean Bridge. Anyway, Iain (and his team) decided this was a bit much for a first day out but we still walked a long way from near Coirechoille up on to Stob Coire Easain and then east to Stob Coire Claurigh before returning to Coirechoille. The mild conditions from the previous week had remained and it was a damp walk up almost on to the spine of the ridge before we encountered what could be described as decent winter conditions as seen in photo one near to Stob Coire Claurigh. The day was cloudy for the most part but as can be seen here, we were close to breaking out above the cloud in to the sunlight.

Monday saw Iain, Lucy, Andy & Dave head up into a little known corrie to the south of Coire Adair near to Creag Meagaidh with a view to looking at some winter skills. The forescast for the day was for strong westerly winds so we wanted to try & find some shelter and Iain thought this little corrie might do the trick (he had had a look into it on his return with Benn from climbing Staghorn Gully the previous week).

In photo two Lucy, Andy & Dave are enjoying a lunch break having just finished practising all variants of Ice Axe Arrest technique. Creag Meagaidhs Great Buttress can be seen in the background and there were lot of climbers around on this day. Conditions were thinner than the previous week - indeed, Iain watched as a party backed off the initial ice pitch of Staghorn Gully and took an easier line up to the right.

After lunch Iain went through more winter skills looking at winter belays, bucket seats and snow belays before we all packed up and climbed up out of the corrie and descending via Sron A Ghoire back to the minibus at Aberarder. A useful day out.

Tuesday found Iain & his team heading for a fantastic Grade II winter Mountaineering route - the East Ridge of Beinn A Chaorainn(photo three). This great little 300m scrambling route leads on to the North top of Beinn A Chaorainn via series of rocky steps which makes for interesting route finding.

Once on the top, most people return via the south top to Glen Spean - a plan which has often led to the demise of not so careful navigators! Between the north & south summits the rim of the eastern corrie bites deeply into the ridge and anyone taking a bearing straight between the two tops is likely to fall through the cornice in poor visibility - straight to their death. Iain is experienced in dealing with Beinn A Chaorainn in such conditions using a technique known as "boxing" the corrie - if you want to learn more about navigation techniques then come on one of our mountain navigation skills training courses - the next one is running during March 31st & April 1st 2012 and is only £80 per person for the weekend course.

Once arriving at the summit of Beinn A Chaorainn we traversed to the south top - marvelling at the massive overhanging cornice on our left before descending south via a series of connecting snowpatches and snow filled gullies which went a long way towards easing our descent off the south side of the mountain. At one point, we found a gully with an overhanging snow bank and as Lucy really wanted to dig a snowhole we let her set to and Andy joined in as well.

Eventually the pair "holed through" into each others snowholes and as we were all big kids really (apart from Lucy) a bit of fun ensued. In photo four Dave had entered via the rh snowhole and then exited via the lh entrance on what can only be described as a toboggan run. Clearly, Lucy found the whole thing hilarious as Dave slid down the bank face first, what a laugh.

It was a pleasant afternoon and we finished the day by walking back to JSMTC - arriving early, for a change.

On Wednesday, more strong westerlies and wet, mild conditions were forecast. The other instructor decided to set off early and go as far west as possible to traverse An Teallach - a strange choice given the conditions!

Iain and his team chose to stay local and decided to have a navigation skills training day in Ardverikie Forest (photo five) Forest is hardly a fitting term for the area - it is bare apart from some recent Forestry Commision plantations - however the evidence of previous forestation is evident everywhere with tangles of ancient tree roots in every peat hag gully.

Anyway, we practised map orientation, walking on a bearing between grid references, back bearings, pacing, timings and any other aspect of navigation techniques that Iain could think of before we had to get back to our dropoff point. We later heard that the other party had turned back from An Teallach - no surprise there!

Thursday saw us dropped off again at the same point for our Mountain Navigation Skills Training Day the previous day.

However, this time we were carrying much heaver packs in preparation for our expediton which basically involved hiking about 12km east via Ardverikie and Ben Alder Forests to Culra bothy.

The weather was again, mild & wet with a westerly blowing again as we climbed to cross a bealach at 750m in thick cloud. However as we descended east, the cloud disappeared and the sun came out and after managing to cross a rather swollen river without getting wet feet, we arrivied at Culra at 13:45 having left our dropoff point at 09:15. Photo six shows Culra Bothy in the distance beyond the surging Allt A Chaoil Reidhe. Ben Alder, with its famous Long & Short Leachas ridges lies beyond.

The final photo shows Dave, Lucy & Andy as we departed Culra the next morning. An ascent of Ben Alder via one of the ridges would have been great but time did not allow this on either day as we had to be back at our dropoff point in Glen Spean for around 13:00 today.

Iain had a walk up towards the head of the Allt A Chaoil Reidhe the previous evening on a path that eventaully leads to Loch Ossian. It was clear in the time he had that a round trip to the summit of Ben Alder from Culra would have taken around six hours, so it was as well that we hadn't attempted it.

This post quite probably ends Iains winter season in Scotland this year. For the short time he was up he ran some great winter courses for people. Hopefully the mild, wet spell will end soon as climbing conditions must be getting desperate even high up. To check out conditions go to the MWIS forecast for climbing conditions in any of the UKs main climbing areas and be sure to check out the avalanche forecast before going anywhere. Happy climbing!

Our next posts will be about upcoming courses and activity options with Kendal Mountaineering Services as Iain now looks to what he hopes won't be a too distant Spring. Bookings are already coming in - to book an activity for your family or a skills training course for the Spring you can contact us here. We look forward to working with you.

Winter climbing skills training courses in The Cairngorms with Kendal Mountaineering Services. February 7th - 10th 2012.

2012-02-10T17:46:00.016Z

On Tuesday Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services entered the final phase of his Scottish winter climbing skills training course with Benn Berkeley.

After the previous week's days out around Ben Nevis, both Iain & Benn moved to the Aviemore area as part of Iain's plan to introduce Benn to at least four of Scotlands main winter climbing areas.

The first day of our final phase of Benn's winter climbing course saw us all get a very early start and drive back the way we had come to go into Creag Meagaidh. Despite the long walk-in Meagaidh is a fantastic winter climbing venue and is remowned for its ice routes on the Post Face in particular.

We weren't looking to do anything too hard and Iain thought that Staghorn Gully would be a fitting intro for Benn to Meagaidh as it is a 3 star grade III. Here, in photo one, Benn looks on with the entry pitch of Staghorn Gully behind - it proved to be steep! Benn thought it harder than our previous day ice climbing on Green Gully on The Ben at IV'3. Anyway, Meagaidh proved to be a long (the route is 400m) but immensely rewarding day out. Cold, clear, great!

On the wednesday, we knew the weather was changing, warming up and probably wild on The Cairngorms. Nevertheless, we headed in to Coire An T Sneachda for a look - battling into a not uncommon Sneachda head wind as we did so. The MWIS forecast said considerable buffetting and they were not wrong. Sneachda was a maelstrom of whirling snow and Iain decided that playing around on ice (the original plan) was too dangerous a proposition and anything else would be at the least, most unpleasant - so we were on our way back out by 10:30 passing MIC's heading in with clients, groups from Glenmore Lodge and others who felt they had to be there regardless of the weather.

Iain, however, knew another place where we could go and practise ropework skills on a sheltered crag on a valley bottom not too far away -he's not letting on where it is either! Anyway, Iain & Benn spent the afternoon there looking at various climbing techniques such as anchor placements, abseil retreat as seen here in photo two; and self lining as these were all things that Benn wanted to look at. It wasn't an ideal day, but at least we managed to salvage something out of it.

Thursdays MWIS forecast was for a thaw to have set in over the Wednesday night and for temps at 900m to be 1 - 4 degrees.

The weather was uncannilly calm on the Thursday as we walked in to Sneachda - as compared with the previous day; and it was clear there had been a big thaw. The buttresses were black, the coire floor grassy and the air alive with the sound of stressed Ptarmigan trying to find cover as they flew around like airborne snowballs in a largely snowless backdrop - poor buggers!

Anyway, after being led on all of the various winter climbs over the previous two blocks, Iain was confident that Benn was ready to lead his first winter climb and here he is in photo three at the top of pitch four on a fine little grade II buttress route between Central Gully (II) and the Runnel (II) in Coire An T Sneachda. Due to the heavy thaw and lack of cornice debris Iain wanted to keep out the gullies, so this seemed a good choice of route.

A chap on MIC assessment seemed to agree too as he followed us up our route and suddenly Iain found himself surrounded by familiar faces - he felt like he was back on assessment himself!

Anyway, Benn led his first five pitch winter climbing route in fine style, climbing well, placing good running belays and building solid stances. Once finished on the climb we descended back into Coire An T Sneachda to practise crevasse rescue at a handy little icy spot Iain knows; and take a look at an Albolakov Thread too. All in all, another excellent day.

Finally, today, we started early again to get ahead of the crowds and by 09:30 Benn was leading off on the first pitch of Goat Track Gully (II) as seen here in photo four.

We had looked at this route yesterday
and as Benn had expressed a desire to do some lead climbing on ice Iain felt this would be appropriate for his ability. The second pitch was also a fine little ice pitch as it often is and then the following two pitches were easier with lots of opportunities for placing anchors in rock.

We topped out on Goat Track Gully shortly after 12 midday and were back at the car by 2. We have had a fantastic, progressive 12 days of winter skills, winter mountaineering and winter climbing in four of Scotlands main winter climbing areas with Benn having gone from following Iain to being able to confidently lead pitches of up to grade III and walk on any slope - whether it be snow or ice, with confidence.

Finally, one of our last photos from Coire An T Sneachda today taken from the moraines popularly used as a snowholing venue. We are looking back at a cloud cap hanging over the Coire An T Sneachda face with the triangle of Fiacaille Buttress poking through the cloud just right of centre. Blue Sky above and the sun trying to get through. Just awesome!

Iain has been coming to this place now for over 40 years and it is still one of his favourite places. Thank you to my parents, particularly my Dad for introducing me to the mountains - I have never looked back.

If you would like to book your own bespoke winter skills course, winter mountaineering course or winter climbing course with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services you can contact him here. We look forward to working with you.

Winter climbing on Ben Nevis with Kendal Mountaineering services. February 2012.

2012-02-04T16:59:00.009Z

Wednesday February 1st saw Benn start the second phase of his Scottish winter climbing skills training course with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services.

Iain had arranged that this would take place around the Ben Nevis, Aonach Mor or Creag Meaghaidh areas as appropriate. As happened, the weather became gloriously settled - still, cold and although snow cover on The Ben was thin conditions were good enough that we didn't need to go anywhere else!

Photo one shows Benn short roping on Ledge Route - a long grade II winter scramble - the best of its grade on Ben Nevis. After a few pitches of roped climbing, Iain allowed Benn to take over and use the rest of the route to be coached on and consolidate his understanding of short roping - a technique commonly used by competent climbers and instructors on either scrambling routes or on the approach to steeper climbs.

In photo one, Benns stance is braced away from Iain. His axe is planted in the snow in his uphill hand ready for "self belay" and he has a reservoir of hand coils in his downhill hand locked off but ready to be deployed if necessary. Note how his arm is bent - ready to absorb any shock load should Iain slip - thus prevent Benn being pulled off balance.

Once at the top of Ledge Route, we ascended to the summit of Ben Nevis via the crest of the North Face where Iain was able to point out the names of all of the gullies and classic winter climbs this fantastic mountain has to offer. The weather was truly great and the first of three such good calm settled days.

This particular block of days was a fairly steep learning curve for Benn. Grade II on Wednesday and grade III on Thursday. As it is Benn's aspiration to be able to climb grade III winter routes, Iain decided to introduce him to a Ben Nevis grade III classic - Number Three Gully Buttress.

The climb takes a route up a steep and poorly protected snow couloir before trending right to cross other classic lines such as Quickstep (V'5) and Two Step Corner (V'5) ascending a ramp and finishing as an exposed traverse above Gargoyle Wall.

Photo two sees Benn belaying Iain from across part of the traverse, he climbed the route with ease and thoroughly enjoyed it. Three parties were involved climbing Two Step Corner which looked entertaining indeed whilst another pair climbed a grade VIII on Sioux Wall and another team - Gargoyle Wall. Everyone, it seemed, were out enjoying the good conditions.

Once at the top, we descended in to Number Three Gully by way of a snow bollard and walked out, tired but happy.

Checking the MWIS forecast on the Thursday night suggested that Friday might be another good day for climbing so Iain decided to "notch up" the climbing grade again and guided Benn on Green Gully IV'3 - yet another "Ben Classic".

Green Gully ascends to the right of The Comb in Coire Na Ciste and is a fantastic introduction to grade IV winter climbing - with four; or five great little ice pitches depending on which exit you decide to take at the top.

The route was "thin" ie lacking in the large quantities of ice ususally found there, but there was plenty to climb on and it was the usual "friendly ice" which accepts ice axe placements without shattering and makes ice climbing a pleasant and secure experience rather than a tenuous proposition.

In photo three, Benn can be seen approaching Iain at his stance at the top of pitch two. Benn had climbed ice before but learned on this day not to bash too hard with his axes - he already knew the effects of kicking too hard with his feet from a previous trip - bruised toes - ow! Anyway he thoroughly enjoyed Green Gully. So far this week, Iain had exceeded all of his expectations of what he thought the course would provide; and that's great news.

Sadly, this run of great, cold hard weather ended during Friday night with the approach of a frontal system bringing mild conditions and much rain today (Saturday).

Both Benn & Iain were rather pooped after three great days of winter climbing on Ben Nevis and as conditions today weren't going to be favourable, Benn was happy to look at Improvised Rescue Techniques - ie how to get out of tricky situations when climbing goes wrong.

We went to Polldubh in Glen Nevis where with the help of a few trees for belays, Iain was able to get Benn problem solving. In photo four Benn has "escaped the system" in a scenario where Iain, as the second" has fallen off, injured; and Benn needs to go and get help. We looked at a number of scenarios of increasing difficulty until rain and strengthening winds stopped play in the early afternoon.

We now each have two days off before our final phase of Benns winter climbing skills training course with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services - watch the blog for a final report.

If you would like to book your own winter skills or winter climbing training course with Iain, contact us here.

Scottish Winter Skills & winter climbing courses with Kendal Mountaineering Services. Jan/Feb 2012.

2012-02-04T15:39:00.009Z

Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services is busy up in Scotland at the moment running various winter courses for people. His particular client at the moment - Benn Berkeley, wanted to learn everything about winter climbing from putting on crampons and using axes for the first time to being able to lead grade three winter climbs by the end of his twelve day bespoke winter climbing course.

This sounded like an exciting challenge indeed. Iain suggested that Benn first undertook one of our basic winter skills courses. Part of these courses entails using an ice axe to arrest a slide and on day one of Benns course, Iain took him into Coire An Lochan in Glen Coe to teach him basic step kicking & cutting plus ice axe arrest techniques as Benn demonstrates here in photo one. It was a cold and windy day but we had a good time and Iain got Benn to consolidate what he had learnt by taking a walk around the corrie afterwards practising all we had covered - a good start to the course.

Day two found us back in Coire an Lochan we where we looked at avalanche prediction & snowpack analysis followed by all of the various types of snow belay and the techniques required for ascending or descending easy grade one or two climbing routes.

Having practised all of the ropework skills, both Iain & Benn alternately lead a few pitches up a long snow slope using bucket seats backed up with various snow anchors. In photo two Benn belays Iain from a bucket seat using a buried axe belay.

We also looked at dynamically arresting a fall when belaying from a bucket seat where a falling climber is gradually slowed down rather than being suddenly stopped - often resulting in the failure of the belayers bucket seat & anchor.

The weather was good on this day and we managed to cover almost every aspect of one of our basic winter skills courses over the two days.

Day three saw the next progression on from basic winter climbing skills. Iain decided to introduce Benn to winter mountaineering techniques otherwise known as winter scrambling. The Zig Zags on Gearr Aonach in Glen Coe proved as always, to be a useful route for practising these techniques.

We ascended The Zig Zags with Iain demonstrating appropriate belay techniques from basic direct belays through to techniques more associated with rock climbing and short roping on easier ground - Benn even got to practise short roping Iain on the easier upper section of the route - both up and down.

In photo three Benn is anchored to a rock spike that Iain has just used as a direct belay to protect Benn on a short climbing section of the route. Iain has left Benn secured to this spike - simply by wrapping the rope around it a number of times whilst he moves on to an easier piece of ground to commence some more short roping (a scrambling technique).

Having reached the top of Gearr Aonach, we then reversed the route to look at techniques used for abseiling and lowering people on the more exposed & steep sections to be found on scrambling routes. Great weather and for Benn another very useful day.

On the final day of our first four day block, Iain decided to introduce Benn to his first winter climbing route.

Dorsal Arete (II) in Coire An Lochan fitted the bill perfectly as it often does for our introduction to winter climbing courses. A nice easy angled route with lots of good belays and opportunities to learn rock climbing techniques and how to climb with two axes and use crampon techniques appropriate to steeper winter climbing routes.

Dorsal Arete's arete is a nice ( or not so nice) sting in the tail to this seemingly easy winter climb. After climbing a pleasant easy angled broad buttress, the ridge narrows and rears up to a knife edge crest (the crux) - easy to protect but challenging for a winter climbing newbie with its feeling of exposure. One has to first surmount the arete - no easy task; and then walk along its crest for 30 feet with a seemingly bottomless void on the right into Y Gully and a fair drop on the left in to Broad Gully. Only a short distance remains from here to the top of the route. Photo four shows Benn at the belay below the arete, Iain has taken the photo from the top and you can see the queue of people mounting behind us!

Dorsal Arete is a well known and very popular first winter climb. As a result, it is wise to get away as early as possible in the morning to avoid being "stuck in the queue" at the foot of the crux. Be away from the car park in Glen Coe before eight am, be fit and fast and first!. We made sure were were.

For more information about our range of winter courses - contact Iain at Kendal Mountaineering services here.

Winter Climbing and scrambling in West Coast Scotland with Kendal Mountaineering Services. January 2012.

2012-01-24T14:38:00.022Z

Welcome to Kendal Mountaineering services first blog post of the 2012 season. Iain is up in Scotland and will be winter climbing and scrambling most of the time as well as running some winter skills courses for various people and organisations including The Cadets. The weather could be better, but there is snow and winter conditions to be had - here's a run down of what Iain has been up to so far.

The first photo shows Ken Applegate, an MIC Trainee from Fort William on Curved Ridge (III), Buchaille Etive Mor. Iain arrived west coast Scotland on Jan 17th and the next day went out with Ken to scout Curved Ridge near Glen Coe. Two reasons - to scout it out as a winter route for use with clients and a way to get hill fit again!

We had a good day out. The weather was initially mild but as we ascended towards Curved ridge the temperature dropped and snow patches began to appear. Photo one sees Ken on the lower part of Curved Ridge, Easy Gully (right) is full of snow with Rannoch Wall looming above. The snow however, was not hard until we reached the top of Curved Ridge and although we didn't use crampons until descending via Coire Na Tulaich, an axe was handy to help us get get to the summit safely. A pleasant but short day, Iain dropped Ken back at his van in Glen Coe at 2pm!!

Photo two was taken on Thursday by Iain in Coire Nam Beithe and boy - was it windy! Iain had met Ken & his mate Scott with the intention of climbing North Buttress on The Buchaille (IV'4) but as there was virtually no fresh snow on it we decided not to bother.

Iain decided to go for a walk into Coire Nam Beithe and solo Summit Gully (II). The weather was looking changeable with cloud around the summits and a North Westerly wind blowing. This turned into a full gale as Iain topped out on Stob Coire Nam Beithe.

Despite the gale & whiteout conditions, Iain continued around the skyline in the photo over Bidean Nam Bian and descended to the bealach in the left of the photo. Getting back down Coire Nam Beithe was interesting with the wind trying to blow Iain back uphill as well as picking up every bit of loose snow available and seemingly throwing it in his face - ow!

All in all, it was an interesting day out.

Photo three shows Scott & Ken (green helmet) after the three of us had climbed North Buttress (IV'4) on Buchaille Etive Mor on Friday.

Both Guys have booked MIC assessments this winter and wanted to get out and practise winter multi-pitch climbing/guiding two clients. Iain was happy to go along and help as well as be guided up five pitches of mixed climbing - rock and snow but not much ice!

Thee was a fair bit of discussion on stances about managing ropework and Iain hopes it was a useful day for the lads - he certainly enjoyed himself. North Buttress is good at it's grade of IV'4. Some of the pitches certainly felt harder and were steep.

Anyway, good climbing, good conditions and thanks Ken & Scott. Best of luck with those MIC assessments guys.

Saturday 21st January was extremely stormy, indeed, Iain was woken in the night by the wind outside the accommodation. Getting up at 07:00 confirmed that this was not to be a safe hill day so Iain settled in at the Ice Factor to catch up online.

He wasn't in there long before an old mate - Ash St John Claire arrived with two friends in tow and Iain was asked to join them on the ice climbing wall. Photo four shows Iain getting some climbing in on the wall - great fun but flippin hard on the forearms!

Ash had plans on Sunday to get out with the girls on Ben Nevis and asked Iain if he would like to join them. The avalanche forecast was considerable for east facing slopes and Iains concern was the strength of the westerly wind that would be encountered at the top of the proposed route - but!

The weather was good the next day, light wind and a little snow, blue skies & views on occasion - just right for tackling Ledge Route (II) on Ben Nevis.

Photo five shows (left to Right) Ash, Sarah & Emily enjoying some exposure on the arete on Ledge Route. Ledge route is a fantastic introduction to winter mountaineering on Ben Nevis - there being opportunities for teaching multi-pitch climbing in the lower part and short roping further up. The route was well banked out with snow throughout and was a truly pleasant climb. Iain & Ash coached the girls in the techniques of winter multi-pitch climbing and then, as he has his MIC Training coming up soon, Ash decided to practise short roping techniques as seen in this photo. Once at the top it was clear that descending via No4 Gully was not an option as the cornice overhung the gully head by ten feet!! So down via the Red Burn and back. A truly memorable day out.

The final photo in this blog post shows Kate Gilliver
who was out for a day with Iain on The Zig Zags - a fine little grade two winter scramble on the east side of Gearr Aonach in Glen Coe.

Kate has been a client of Iains on a number of occasions - having previously attended two of our Cairngorms based Winter Skills courses and a Navigation and snowholing course again, on The Cairngorms.

We ascended The Zig Zags only encountering snow on the upper half. On the way up we looked at basic scrambling techniques and pitched a few steeper sections. This photo was taken at the first steep step when turning back south from the initial ledge ascent. At the top Kate decided that she wanted to revisit techniques used for an abseil descent and so back down we went. Kate thoroughly enjoyed her day out with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services and learned a great deal of new techniques.

The weather was kind to us and Iain looks forward to seeing Kate again in March when a whole crowd of us head over to Knoydart for a weeks holiday.

So that's it for the mo folks. Iain will be back in action again on Thursday with Benn. Probably Coire An Lochan first up for some winter skills. Iain will try to keep all of you interested people updated when he can. Next blog post probably 30th January.

Mountain Navigation Skills Training courses in The Lake District. November 5th & 6th 2011.

2011-11-08T12:01:00.011Z

During the weekend of November 5th
& 6th 2011, four people came together to join Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services on one of our renowned Mountain Navigation Skills training courses in The Lake District.

From left to right in photo on we have John, Sarah & Alan and Skip who had come along for the weekend hoping to improve their map reading &
navigation skills.

These four people had come to us via a number of sources. John - simply by Googling navigation skills training courses had found the KMS website, Sarah & Alan came to us via the online outdoor enthusiasts site MyOutdoors and Skip had come to us via Outdoorsmagic.

Our Mountain Navigation Skills Training courses are all about taking you from where you are and improving your skills to confidently go into the UK's mountains using a map & compass. Our courses will help you work out where you are, plan a route and know where you are going by being able to identify what is around you simply by using a map & compass.

In photo two, Alan takes a compass bearing for what was to be our first leg taking; and walking on a bearing
and using pacing to arrive at a predetermined grid reference on the map.

We had started the session on the first day by firstly orientating the map and discussing the significance of grid references. We then had walked from our vehicles to the point in this photo "handrailing" a linear feature - in this case a bridleway - moving between grid references and using a combination of pacing and tick off features to help us identify exactly where we were along our route in relation to where we wanted to get to.

From the place where photo two was taken, we then switched to more advanced map reading techniques for the remainder of the day in so much that rather than following linear features such as a path/track, wall or stream, we located specific (although not necessarily obvious) features on the
map such as re-entrants or ring
contours and made our way to them using a combination of bearings and pacing the measured distance.

Saturday was a lovely sunny day - visibility was great, too good really for a Mountain Navigation Skills Training course but when you consider the cold & wet conditions we could have had at this time of year - we weren't complaining!

Photo three shows our team at Skeggles Water on Green Quarter Fell towards the end of the afternoon. The sun was starting to set and a cold north easterly breeze had set in, but it had been a great and worthwhile day for everyone with everyone learning a lot of new navigational skills from Iain.

Unfortunately, Sarah & Alan were unable to join us on the Sunday, so Iain set off with Skip and John to carry on with day two of our Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District.

This time we drove further up the Kentmere Valley and set off up Shipman Knotts with the intention of consolidation the navigation skills learned the previous day, putting them into use today and having a mountain journey on a well known ridge as well.

In photo four, taken from Shipman Knotts, we have a great view across to the hills on the western side of the Kentmere Horseshoe - Yoke, Ill Bell & Froswick. Today we had no breeze, wall to wall blue sky and stunning views in all directions.

We continued on our way looking at more advanced navigational
techniques such as using the compass the identify a ground feature on the map. We also discussed timings and Naithsmiths Rule.

We eventually reached Harter Fell before heading back to the parked car picking up the head of Drygrove Gill and the Ull Stone en route.

As these are both on a slope and had to be located using pacing and bearings Skip & John did week to find them, but both had come along well on our weekend Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District.

Iain wishes all four attendees the best of luck with their forays into the mountains with their new & improved map reading skills.

Other photographs from this Mountain Navigation Skills Training course in The Lake District can be viewed here.

Our next Mountain Navigation Skills Training course in The Lake District will be running during the weekend of March 31st & April 1st 2012. If you would like to attend then contact us via the Kendal Mountaineering Services Website here. The cost is £80 per person for the two day course and maps are provided by us.

We look forward to working with you.

An all day caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Kendal Mountaineering Services. October 28th, 2011.

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Andrea Ubhi booked a half day introductory caving session and a half day rock climbing session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park for herself and her three children with Kendal Mountaineering services - to take place during the Autumn half term holiday.

Iain met the family at the Inglesport Cafe & Shop in Ingleton - gateway to The Yorkshire Dales National Park, before we all headed to Ribblehead to go underground.

In the first photo - left to right are Matt, Ellie, Andrea & Nick, dressed up ready to go caving. Some people may recognise the view in the background (Alum Pot), the venue was Long Churns near to Ribblehead - one of the areas best places for introductory caving sessions in The Yorkshire Dales National Park.

In photo two, we had already been underground to do some pretty meaty caving. None of the family had caved before so Iain felt it only appropriate to take them into the easy Middle Entrance at Long Churns and we then headed downstream into Lower Long Churns.

Nick & Matt proved themselves to be very keen & capable by getting through The Cheese Press whilst Iain lowered Andrea & Ellie down the pitch into Cathedral Cavern. They had been told to wait until Iain got to the other side of the Cheese Press to see them through - boys will be boys!

After that, we had a quick visit to the Dolly Tubs so the family could see the light streaming in from Alum pot before exiting via Diccan Entrance which is where photo two was taken.

We went back into Middle Entrance on our introductory caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park and Iain let the family lead on upstream in the roomy & safe passage of Upper Long Churns having told them to stop when they got to a large pool and waterfall (Dr Bannisters Washbasin).

Photo three shows Andrea climbing up this waterfall by way of an assisted handline. Ellie had come up first and Andrea took her out to daylight where she could warm up. The plan had been that Ellie would leave us at lunchtime, she had done very well for a first time underground and had thoroughly enjoyed her introduction to caving with Iain. The two boys followed after this photo was taken - both on assisted handlines of course

Iain changed the afternoon plan for a number of reasons. We had initially intended to do an introductory rock climbing session at Twistleton Scars but whilst the day was fine & dry, there was a cold wind that would have made a rock climbing session untenable in the conditions; and apart from that everyone had enjoyed the morning caving session so much that they wanted to do more in the afternoon.

Iain had come prepared for this eventuality and so offered the trio a slightly harder trip - that being a level two caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park. In photo four Matt, Andrea & Nick are coached in the use of cows tails on traverse lines in preparation for the next caving trip .

A level two caving session with Kendal Mountaineering Services differs from a level one trip in so much as it is a more technical type of caving trip. A level one caving trip is essentially a walk in & out trip which may contain vertical drops and climbs of up to six feet - Long Churns is a fine example of such a caving trip.

Photo five shows Matt being lowered down a pitch which is considerably more than six feet - more like forty five! Level two cave leaders can take novice cavers on trips with vertical drops of up to 18m or 60 feet. These trips involve more rope, more technical equipment for lowering and belaying climbers using ladders to climb pitches and the skills to use cowstails on traverse lines such as had been set up to get Matt to the pitch head from where this photograph is taken.

The cave Iain chose to take the party to was the Calf Holes/Browgill system near Birkwith in The Yorkshire Dales National Park - pretty much directly opposite Long Churns in the Ribblehead area.

To get to this point, Matt had traversed 30 feet on his own using cowstails and a traverse line above the 45 foot drop where Browgill Beck plunges down the Calf Holes shaft. Well done Matt!

Having lowered Matt, Andrea & Nick in to Calf Holes, we all set off downstream in the active streamway passage. After about 500m the stream sinks in to the floor on the left and the way on gets lower & lower until one has to crawl through a small hole in the left of the passage - Hainsworths Passage. This is a quite challenging crawl through a small, tight passageway.

Hainsworths Passage is the connection with the lower part of Browgill cave and the way on past the waterfall and rift passage that leads out to daylight. In photo six Andrea emerges in the lower part of the cave having just crawled through The Slot in Hainsworths Passage with the two boys having followed Iain through first.

We followed the stream on to the head of the waterfall and a had a look down that before taking the descent route down to the foot of the fall and the rift passage.

Eventually, we arrived at daylight, but the plan Iain had offered the trio was to turn around and return underground to Calf Holes so they could experience climbing out by caving ladder.

Back at Hainsworths Passage, Iain took the family through via a different route - The Letterbox; and in photo seven Matt has just followed Iain through the tightest bit - smiling as he did throughout the day.

The final photograph from this day sees Andrea reaching the pitch head at Calf Holes after a strenuous climb up a caving ladder. Matt had climbed out first and made his way along the traverse line to safe ground and Nick was the last to climb out of Calf Holes into the sunlight.

Calf Holes is a great introduction to level two caving sessions in The Yorkshire Dales National Park and bearing in mind how readily the family had taken to caving in the morning session Iain had felt confident about their ability to succeed in Calf Holes in the afternoon.

The family had a fantastic experience caving with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services and they did extremely well.

We base all of our caving sessions around your ability and aspirations and know many appropriate venues where we can go and have a great exprience in this exciting & challenging environment. All of the pictures from Andrea, Nick, Matt & Ellis caving day can be viewed here.

To book your half or full day caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Kendal Mountaineering Services contact us here, Prices start from £45 per person for a half day caving session. All of the equipment worn in these photos by Andrea & her family are provided as part of your fee.

Iain's next post will be about the upcoming Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District National Park this coming weekend. Lots of fun in the mountains learning how to use a map & compass. Read about it all on the Kendal Mountaineering Services Blog!

Introductory Moving water Kayak Skills Training courses in The Lake District. Middle Derwent. October 15th 2011.

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Teresa Middleton booked a introductory moving water kayak skills training course with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services for herself and her partner Gareth.

Both are keen outdoor enthusiasts and had previously been rafting at Canolfan Tryweryn in North Wales. Having seen many kayakers there enjoying running the Afon Tryweryn, both Teresa & Gareth decided that it was something they would like to try out for themselves.

Teresa had googled "kayaking courses Lake District" and had found the Kendal Mountaineering Services website. On contacting Iain, Teresa liked what we had to offer (basically one of our bespoke packages built around Teresas needs & concerns) and subsequently booked a single day course with him. Photo one shows Teresa & Gareth on Derwentwater - lovely weather and a great day for doing a river trip for the first time.

Before we ventured on to the River Derwent, Iain spent some time coaching the pair in the basics of Kayak handling including reverse paddling before we headed to the outflow of Derwentwater and the start of the Middle Derwent - flowing between Derwentwater & Bassenthwaite Lake.

Once on the River Derwent, the pair were able to use the skills Iain had already provided them with to good effect - particularly the reverse paddling.

The Derwent leaves the lake as a narrow and deep channel overhung by trees growing just above or indeed in the river. These are known as strainers and are very dangerous indeed to kayakers or open canoeists who can be tipped out of their craft by these or pinned against them by flowing water.

Reverse paddling on a river allows you to slow down your forward momentum and "set" your position on moving water to avoid such hazards. We had to start doing this pretty much immediately upon leaving Derwentwater.

A little further on we arrived at the confluence of the River Greta which flows in to the Derwent from Keswick - it is virtually stationary as it joins the larger Derwent. Here, we could start to look at the concept of eddies (areas of stationary or relatively stationary water) that we could use as stepping stones or gathering points for our little party as we made our way down river. Iain taught Teresa & Gareth how to break into and out of eddies using the flow of water to help them make turns in to and out of the current. Probably one of the most important things they heard Iain say all day was "lean downstream!"

Eddy hopping and reading the river took up most of the next few hours as we made our way from the Greta Confluence down under Portinscale footbridge (photo two) and onwards under the A66 road bridge.

We encountered only one fisherman on our kayak descent of the Middle Derwent and he politly let us through without comment.

For most of our introductory moving water Kayak skills training course our views were dominated by the massive bulk of Skiddaw rising to our north and looking great in the afternoon sunshine.

The latter part of our introductory moving water kayak skills training course in The Lake District involved going with the flow, practising a bit of forward & reverse ferry gliding and staying out of the way of strainers whilst enjoying the view of Skiddaw and Dodd Wood near to our getout, rising to the north.

We had to exit the river at Low Stock Bridge only a matter of a few hundred metres from the Middle Derwents confuence with the National Park reserve at the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake. In the final photo Teresa & Gareth empty out their kayaks at Low Stock Bridge before beginning the 500m portage to the road and Iains car.

The pair enjoyed their introductory moving water kayak skills training course with Iain. It had been a challenging day for them and the Middle Derwent had been an appropriate trip although both agreed that it was just enough. The Middle derwent is great for introductory open canoeing sessions too! Iain hopes that they enjoyed the rest of their weekend break here in The Lake District and make the move to do further kayaking trips themselves. Best of luck!

If you would like to book an introductory Kayaking or open canoeing session in The Lake District on either flat or moving water, contact Iain at Kendal Mountaineering services here.

Further photos from Teresa & Gareths day out with Iain can be viewed here

Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District. Stickle Ghyll, Langdale Saturday 8th October 2011.

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On October 8th, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services was out ghyll scrambling again for another business - back once again in Stickle Gill in Langdale here in The Lake District.

It was another fine day and there was less water in Stickle Gill this time than when Iain was last here with groups of undergraduates from Cambridge University.

This time Ian was here again with undergarduates and international students too, but this time from Grantham in Lincolnshire.

There was only one group of five in the morning but we had 24 students to deal with in the afternoon, so Iain was joined by two other instructors then. Photo one shows Iains team at the first climb in Stickle Ghyll.

With such a small team, Iain was able to crack on up the ghyll and reach his usual high point in photo two in a relatively short space of time.

Here, the instructor generally climbs the rock rib behind the group between the two waterfalls and rigs up a belay at the top before bringing the group up one by one.

Occasionally we manage to do the next roped climb above here, but the party had got well & truly stuck in to the experience of ghyll scrambling (otherwise known as gorge walking) and were wet through. They were happy to call time on the session once atop the waterfall.

Photo three shows Iain's much larger afternoon ghyll scrambling group about half way up Stickle Gill. Stickle ghyll along with Church Beck is one of the most regularly used venues for ghyll scrambling & gorge walking sessions in The Lake District although unlike Church Beck, Stickle Gill is not suitable as a canyoning venue.

Stickle gill has a smaller catchment area than Church Beck and so is generally a smaller stream making it suitable for use with groups of children and so it gets a lot of traffic from outdoor centres - there were five other groups in the ghyll with us in the afternoon.

Our fouth & final photo from this ghyll scrambling post. Eight happy clients at the top of the large upper waterfall climb in Stickle Gill and the end of another moist day for Iain.

It is getting rather late in the year now for ghyll scrambling, gorge walking or Canyoning half day sessions here in the Lake District, but if you want - we can still do it!

Everyone on our sessions gets provided with a full wetsuit, a cagoule, a bouyancy aid, helmets, harnesses and walking boots as part of your fee making us one of the best Lake District based outdoor pursuits companies to try this sport with.

If you would like to try Ghyll Scrambling or canyoning just as a fun thing to do or as part of a corporate event or Stag or Hen Event then contact us at Kendal Mountaineering Services and we'll be happy to arrange it for you. More photos from this ghyll scrambling day can be viewed here.

Corporate Team Building events in the Lake District. Tuesday October 4th 2011.

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On Tuesday October 4th, Kendal Mountaineering Services ran a corporate team building event for clients from GEN II Training Ltd.

GEN II work in partnership with a number of UK industries to recruit and train apprentices for those industries. Kendal Mountaineering Services has already been involved with the induction programmes for the Nucleargraduates Scheme run by GEN II and pretty much everyone in photo one has attended one of our ghyll scrambling & canyoning session as part of their induction.

We were asked by GEN II to put together a one day corporate event to focus on teamwork, leadership and communication skills where there would be three separate teams with an element of competition between those teams. Iain put together a proposal which involved a lake cluefind session on Derwentwater (the client had specified a water activity as part of the proposal), standalones, rock climbing and the building of a Tyrolean traverse. Each team would be required to complete all four tasks during the course of the day starting with the lake canoe cluefind.

So, starting at 10am, the teams headed out on to Derwentwater to commence the first task - basically a water based orienteering event. Each team consisted of a pair of rafted canadian canoes carrying 12 people. Each group had a map showing locations of clues which they then had to find and bring back a pair of letters located at each point to gain points. Penalties were incurred for clues not found and for being late back - we were on a tight schedule!

After lunch at 12 each team set off on the afternoon "round robin" of team tasks that had been set out for them on the area. Photo two shows one team engaged with problem solving at the standalones. There were five tasks set up here for each team to choose three from these. Each task involved a brief outlining what was to be achieved and what equipment was available. There were constraints and penalties for failure to comply with the brief and failure to keep to time.

These tasks were designed to get people working together as part of a team, to actively partake in discussions intended to arrive at a shared understanding of what was to be achieved at each task with individuals understanding their part in achieving success. At the end of each task there was a short review from which indiviuals were intended to "take way" learning points from that task in order that they could be applied to the next task and within their workplace. Each task was expected to take no more than 20 minutes (an hour for three) and points gained from here were added towards each groups final total.

Photo three shows one of the teams at the site of the Tyrolean Traverse over Watendlath Beck. The Tyrolean had been part rigged by the attendant technician who was in charge of safety during this task. With the aid of a diagram, each team was expected to tension the tyrolean ropes to a stage where all team members could be successfully transported across the gorge which the Tyrolean spanned.

In this photo, a team member crosses the gorge suspended from the Tyrolean whilst the rest of the team look on. Points were gained for each team member successfully completing a crossing. As well as having to work together to rig the Tyrolean there was certainly an element of reacting to challenge here as the ropeway spanned a precipitous secion of the gorge with a large waterfall crashing down a drop directly below.

Photo four shows one delegate attached to the Tyrolean rig prior to crossing the gorge and the photo was taken to show the complexity of the rigging and equipment required to make it all work.

The chap in the picture has joined the GEN II Nucleargraduate programme and so has already reached a high standard in their education. At the end of the two year apprenticeship with GEN II all apprentices will be taking up posts within the UK nuclear industry and may well find themselves in situations where they are presented with instructions and a range of unfamiliar equipment - and then be expected to build something or make something work.

This task involved the use of pulleys, Jumars and various other bits of equipment and systems that would be unfamilair to most of these graduate apprentices. However, with minimal assistance from the technician, each team managed to rig and run a successful Tyrolean session. Well done!

The fourth photograph from the GEN II Corporate teambuilding event shows a team at Upper Shepherds crag not far from the location of the Tyrolean venue.

Here, each team member was required to attempt rock climbing in order to gain further points for their team and the higher they climbed, the more points they earned. Other team members were expected to support, encourage and maintain the safety of those climbing whilst learning the new ropework skill of belaying.

For the rock climbing, each team of twelve was subdivided into teams of four - one person climbing, one person belaying and two people tailing ie holding on to the dead rope whilst the climber climbed.

Climbing was very challenging for some members of each team and being lowered back down in the abseiling position by their colleagues more challenging still!

At the end of the afternoon all teams reconvened at our venue - the Lodore Falls Hotel where they were expected to give a five minute presentation with regards to what they had learned during the day with respect to teamwork, leadership, communication, trust and support.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their teambuilding event with us. It had been a physically demanding day and undoubtedly challenging for every team member at some point throughout the day, However, everyone will go away with a better understanding of the value of efficient team work and how communication and good planning can go together to make for the successful completion of a task within or outwith the workplace.

We would like to thank GEN II for the opportunity to organise and run this corporate event for them. Also worthy of a mention are John & Sarah of Platty+ who provided the canoes & safety cover for the lake cluefind and the Lodore Falls Hotel for providing an excellent venue on Borrowdale in The Lake District from where we were able to run this event.

If you are looking for a teambuilding event or an event with a difference then we at Kendal Mountaineering services can organise this for you. As well as the many outdoor activities and skills training courses we offer we are more than happy to put together a corporate package if you would like a well organised and challenging day out for your clients or staff that will be fun but may have an educational or teambuilding theme. Contact us to arrange your bespoke event.

Other photographs from the GEN II Teambuilding Event can be viewed here.

Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District with Kendal Mountaineering services. Monday 26th September 2011.

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As well as running our own outdoor activity sessions & skills training courses here at Kendal Mountaineering services, sometimes we also assist others with the delivery of their outdoor programmes and in turn they assist us with the delivery of ours. It is all part of a very healthy system of teamwork between individual outdoor activity providers here in The Lake District.

On this occasion, Iain was contracted in to provide ghyll scrambling sessions for another provider and spent the day in Stickle ghyll at Langdale in The Lake District National Park with some very pleasant international undergraduates from Cambridge University.

These young people were on a week long visit to the Lake District and as well as ghyll scrambling, they were also rock climbing, hill walking and kayaking as part of their week away.

The first photo shows Iain's morning group at the foot of the first climb in Stickle Ghyll - they really were a a fab bunch!

Photo two shows the group making their way up the ghyll. There was a fair amount of water on this day and it was quite chilly - just prior to that warm spell that returned at the end of September. Anyway, the group made up for the lack of warmth and sheer volume of water with loads of enthusiasm right throughout the session as we made our way upstream on our ghyll scrambling adventure.

Just in front of the nearest person in photo two, Iain had the experience of seeing a trout jump as it tried to make it's way upstream - presumably to eventually spawn somewhere upstream. So, we weren't the only ones ghyll scrambling on this day - but did the fish realise just what a journey it had ahead of itself? Obviously not! However, at some time in the past fish have made it up Stickle Ghyll as the tarn feeding the stream is full of Brown Trout and Minnows - how they got there remains a mystery.

Photo three is a fine view up Stickle Ghyll to the distant buttress of Tarn Crag. Tarn Crag is a place where Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services frequently runs his popular scrambling skills training courses. Our last scrambling skills training course ran in August and you can read about it here.

So what is ghyll scrambling? Well - basically, the pastime of walking up a mountain stream - climbing up waterfalls, swimming through pools, getting thoroughly wet in the process, but having an exhilarating and refreshing experience. Ghyll scrambling is also known as gorge walking and there are a number of venues where we can provide this for you in the Lake District.

The sport of Canyoning is one where you actually descend a mountain stream - abseiling down waterfalls or jumping into pools from above and again, we have a number of places where we can do this for you - Church Beck being our most popular venue.

Ghyll scrambling is undoubtedly one of our best sellers here at Kendal Mountaineering Services as you'll see by reading our blog over the last few years. It may also be because of the kit we provide as part of your fee - wetsuits, walking boots, cagoules, bouyancy aids, helmets & harnesses are all included in our half day session fee of £45 per person. What this means for you is that you get the best possible equipment to protect you and keep you comfortable in this demanding environment - very much better than some of our competitors who are happy to let you undertake a ghyll scrambling session in shorts and training shoes!

Photo four shows Megan Sim, one of our group climbing the final waterfall on the Stickle Ghyll Ghyll Scrambling session - roped for safety. Her expression is typical of someone attending a ghyll scrambling session with us and as regular attendee on this week away from University, she frequently asks for; and recommends Iain to her colleagues attending these annual ghyll scrambling sessions for the first time.

If you would like to book your ghyll scrambling & canyoning session with us then contact us here. Further photos taken during this day can be viewed here.

Caving half day session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park with Kendal Mountaineering Services. September 27th 2011.

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September 2011 did not get off to a good start here in The Lake District. From the end of August until the last week of September it really felt like Autumn had set in with a vengance, it was cold and wet - until the last week, that is!

Ruth O'Brien booked a half day beginner's caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services. The first photograph shows the pair on the limestone pavement at Long Churns with Penyghent in the background on what was a beautiful hot sunny day - hardly a day to be caving underground!

The pair had travelled up from the south coast for a week long holiday in The Lake District National Park,had done some hillwalking amongst other things but wanted to try something new & exciting and a beginners caving session can be just that!

Iain took the pair to the Long Churns cave system near Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and in photo two Steve pops out of the well known "Cheese Press" a bedding plane crawl through the tightest part of the Longs Churns beginners cave session.

As there were a number of large groups in Long Churns Lane when we arrived, Iain chose to take the pair in to the cave system via the Diccan entrance and quickly down to the Cheese Press and Cathedral Cavern. Here, at the pools known as the Dolly Tubs, Iain got the pair to switch out their lights and we could make out daylight entering from the massive Alum Pot.

Making our way upstream via middle Churns, Plank & Double Shuffle Pools we popped out at the Surface at Middle Entrance having climbed the entrance waterfall before heading up Baptistry Crawl with its fine formations & "Font" before reappearing in the main streamway upstream from Middle Entrance.

Photo Three shows Ruth and Steve in Diccan Entrance - having just undertaken the first crawl through from Alum Pot Beck to a point where they can once again stand up.

On arriving at the upper end of Babtistry Crawl, we quickly linked back to Middle Entrance before heading upstream on our beginners caving session towards Doctor Bannister's Washbasin and our final roped climb up the waterfall there and back out of the cave to daylight.

Long Churns is a fantastic Level One introductory caving trip and the venue sees lots of people going underground to be introduced to caving for the first time.

There are tight passages such as the Cheese Press, big ones such as the main streamway, wet passages, dry ones and climbs such as the one here (photo four) from Cathedral Chamber back into the Cheese Press Chamber. Caving is a great activity for people of all ages, a chance to have a real adventure and challenge yourself. Prices with Kendal Mountaineering Services for a beginners caving session start at £45 per person for a half day session and you get all of the equipment you see Ruth & Steve wearing as part of your fee.

Caving is a great activity to do during the autumn weekends where you can have fun underground sheltered from any inclement weather and no matter how wet it may have been Iain knows plenty of caving venues that are still suitable even when water levels are up.

The rest of the photographs from Ruth & Steves introductory caving session in the Yorkshire Dales National park can be viewed here.

To arrange your Autumn caving session underground with Kendal Mountaineering Services contact us. We look forward to working with you.

Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning courses in The Lake District, half day session. 17th September 2011.

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Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services was at work yesterday with returning clients Chris Senior and Oliver Bush who had used us last year for a ghyll scrambling & canyoning half day session at Church Beck, near Coniston, in The Lake District.

The lads had enjoyed the session they had done with us during April 2010 so much that they booked another one and brought along four other mates. They had travelled over from Leeds for a weekend of fun but with low pressure swirling across the country bringing with it almost continuous rain, it wasn't great weather - unless of course you like getting wet!

Photo one shows the lads at the get in at the start of the Church Beck ghyll scramble (also known as gorge walking) trip and by this time (10:30am) it was massive! Overnight in the Lake District, we had a fair amount of rain, but on Iain's drive to the ghyll scrambling & canyoning venue, all indications were that whilst the beck would be "up", it would still be ok to use. Iain has arrived here in the past at this time of year and had to use an alternative venue because the ghyll has been too full to run a safe session.

Straightaway, we realised that it was going to be a full on session but it was still fun.

We had to skirt around certain sections of the ghyll such as the bit just upstream of photo two. It would have been impossible for anyone to keep their footing with the sheer volume of water now surging down Church Beck.

Many of the pools were so aerated that it was just like being in a giant jacuzzi!

The only problem with very aerated water is that is does not support much as weight as non aerated water - ie things will sink further into it.

This can pose a problem when ghyll scrambling in high water levels and because of this; and the volume of water now surging down the ghyll, Iain decided it would be totally unsafe to do the lower 3 jumps that generally make up a great finale to the canyoning descent of Church Beck as well as the upper section that we generally descend above Miner's Bridge.

Photo three shows the lads at the waterfall just below where we normally get out to commence the canyoning descent. They each had two jumps in to the pool from the ledge just above pool level at the lower l/h side of the fall and they loved it!

Doing the top lower was out of the question but we had fun heading upstream from Miner's Bridge until the falls ahead barred our way.

Back at the Miners Bridge Fall (normally the scene of our second lower on the canyoning descent) Iain rigged a lower down the r/h side of the fall and here, Oli gets lowered.

Despite the high water levels and the fact that there was much in Church Beck that we were unable to attempt safely on this occasion, the lads thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are, apparently, still talking about it! Other photos taken during this ghyll scrambling & canyoning session in The Lake District can be viewed here.

September, here in the region, has not got off to a good start weather-wise with it being more like the end of October and not the end of Summer.

However, there are still a lot of options for booking outdoor activity full & half day sessions in The Lake District with Kendal Mountaineering Services. What do we do? Just wrap up more warmly. The weather is still fine for wet stuff such as ghyll scrambling or canyoning sessions and don't forget canoeing & kayaking both of which can be a little more exciting if you fancy booking a river trip with us. Caving also deserves a mention as this is great fun and Iain can provide you with an appropriate or advanced level caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park - again, with all necessary personal protective equipment included in the price. All our half day sessions start at £45 per person and full outdoor activity days from £60 each. Contact us to book your session.

Also, check out our upcoming courses page to find details of our fantastic navigation skills training weekends based here in The Lake District. These start at £80 per person for a two day navigation skills training course and there are four separate weekend courses advertised for October and November 2011. We look forward to hearing from you.

Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning courses in The Lake District. Church Beck, Coniston. September 5th 2011

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Laura Fogarty booked a half day of ghyll scrambling & canyoning with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services for herself and her friend Isabelle whilst on a short break to The Lake District.

The pair had travelled some distance to visit the Lake District in what was unfortunately rather inclement weather conditions. Indeed the conditions here in the Lakes have been constantly wet for some weeks now!

Autumn is definitely well and truly upon us now or so it seems. There is still plenty of outdoor activity sessions that we can still do however. Rock Climbing & scrambling courses are out of the picture until things dry up a bit but ghyll scrambling & canyoning sessions can still be done or howabout going underground for a caving trip with us?

Anyway, the first photo of this post shows Isabelle (front) and Laura as we entered Church beck last Monday afternoon. The building behind houses the hydro-electric turbine which was working and indeed - had the hydro plant not been drawing a third of the flow from the Church Beck gorge then things might have been borderline!

So, there was more than enough water for the pairs Ghyll Scrambling & canyoning session and in photo two the pair enjoyed a natural jacuzzi in the second deep pool to be encountered on our upward ghyll scrambling ascent of Church Beck.

The volume of water coming down the ghyll posed quite a challenge for the pair and progress up the stream was quite slow but what could one expect in anything up to 15 inches of fast flowing water!

Eventually, we reached the get out just below the bottom jump and made our way up to Miners Bridge. Iains decision was to avoid the upper section of the ghyll as the volume of water would have made the top waterfall a trickly proposition for a lower. So we got in below the bridge and did the lower down the right hand side of the big waterfall.

Wherever possible we use the left hand part of the fall which takes most of the flow but today there was too much water. The right hand side of the fall was just right for the pair and in photo three Laura is lowered whilst Isabelle looks on from below.

The final shot was taken by Iain looking down on Isabelle and Laura from the top of the final jump just before he slid down the rock in the foreground in to the pool below to join them.

As can be seen, there was a lot of water about and really, the ghyll was at the limit of what should be attempted with novice ghyll scramblers.

You will note the colour of the water - ie white! This is due to the air bubbles in the water and the more water going down an waterfall - the higher the air content of the water in the pool below. What this means for us non aquatic humans is that the water will support less wieght ie you will sink further in to it and take longer to come up! Challenging stuff indeed!

However, we all survived the final drop unscathed and Iain had to admit that both Laura and Isabelle did extremely well today. As they are both nurses - had Iain injured himself, he would have been in good hands. Well done both!

To see further photos from this session click here. To book your autumn outdoor activity session with kendal Mountaineering services contact us here. We'll make sure you are wrapped up warmly so you can still enjoy yourselves. Check out our up and coming Autumn outdoor activity and skills training courses courses here. We look forward to working with you.

Caving in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Kendal Mountaineering Services. August 23rd & 24th 2011.

2011-08-26T13:55:00.015+01:00

After a weekend with http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/ members at the North York Moors Meet, Iain found himself underground in Yorkshire with Andy Bushell, Bob & Richard Wilden.

Andy stays regularly in Ingleton and had been caving a number of times before. He had decided to introduce Bob and Richard to the sport, but had been unable to find an available cave leader or Instructor.

However, the guys at Inglesport had recommended Kendal Mountaineering Services to them as a business who regularly organises caving courses in The Yorkshire Dales National Park for members of the general Public.

At Kendal Mountaineering Services we are well placed to provide underground caving sessions for anyone interested - whether you be novice or experienced. Iain is a qualified BCA Level 2 Cave Leader with a wealth of experience working in the caves of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and we are happy to organise caving trips at any time - regardless of the weather or your ability - there will be somewhere we can take you for a great caving experience.

Photo one shows left to right, Andy, Richard & Bob kitted up ready to go underground with Iain. The caving suits, wellingtons, belts and helmets/lights are all always provided by Kendal Mountaineering Services as part of the fee per person - currently £45 per person for a half day or £70 for a full eight hour caving experience. Contact us to book your caving trip!

As this was a first trip for Bob & Richard, Iain chose to take the trio to Long Churns near Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

There are roughly four kilometres of underground passageway that can be explored here with large, small, wet and dry passageways to be experienced. There are some fantastic speleothems (limestone formations) to be seen and an active streamway to splash about in where you may even see the occasional trout - washed in from upstream in Alum Pot Beck.

Photo two shows Richard, Bob & Andy in the active streamway as we made our way deep underground in the direction of Lower Long Churns and the famous "Cheese Press".

And photo three shows Bob emerging from the Cheese Press after a slow & rather tight crawl.

The Cheese Press is a ten inch high crawl through a widened bedding plane (a horizontal layer of softer material between two layers of limestone rock) over a distance of about 12 feet.

The cheese press crawl is a real challenge for many people who may be slightly claustrophobic (a fear of small spaces or being enclosed). Of course, as with all other activities offered by Kendal Mountaineering Services, it is a case of challenge by choice and there is an easier way around this part of the system. However, all three were happy to give it a go
- good effort!

After everyone had tackled the Cheese Press Iain took them all to the head of the Dolly Tubs Pitch - a 15m drop in to the Alum Pot chamber. Here, we all switched off our caving lamps to that we could see daylight entering from the surface above.

However, as this was a level one caving trip we did not do the descent in to Alum Pot as this is classed as a level two caving trip. However, this level two trip in to Alum Pot is something that can be organised by Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services. If you fancy a level two caving trip in the Yorkshire Dales to get you deeper & further underground again, get in touch with us.

Photo three shows Richard climbing a typical pitch to be found in a level one caving trip. Pitches/climbs should not exceed 2m in height whereas on a level two trip - you may be lowered or have to ascend pitches up to 18m/60 feet in height on a ladder. Our instructors will, at all times, have a safety rope on you to protect you against a slip; and on this pitch, Iain employed an assisted hoist on Richard and hauled him up with ease.

Having entered Long Churns via Middle Entrance, Iain took the party to the Cheese Press and Dolly Tubs and then back out to Daylight at Diccan Entrance.

To get here, you leave the main Lower Long Churns passageway and, by way of a link passage, crawl through another bedding plane crawl (photo four) to emerge in the active streamway just downstream of Diccan Entrance.

Once at Diccan entrance, we followed the streamway upstream back in to Middle Long Churns and then took the fossil passageway of Babtistry Crawl to emerge once again in the active streamway upstream of Middle Entrance.

After a quick trip down to Middle Entrance, we retraced our steps, collected the caving bag and headed up to Doctor Bannister's Washbasin (photo five).

Here, Alum Pot Beck enters the long Churns system by plunging 2m down a waterslide in to a 10m diameter pool (the washbasin) and in this photo Andy is the last to climb the waterslide before we all exited the cave system.

Finally, we all emerged in to bright Sunshine and a fab view across to Penyghent - one of the Yorkshire Dales 3 peaks (photo six).

All three had thoroughly enjoyed their caving trip in the Yorkshire Dales National Park with Iain and have said they will be back again!

The rest of the photos taken during Andy, Bob & Richards underground session with Iain can be viewed here.

Iain was back again at Long Churns the following morning with a family of three who moved so fast that in the half day caving session, we not only covered all of Long Churns but most of the Borrin's Moor Cave System too and again, they loved it!

Caving has gained something of an unsavoury reputation in recent years as being dangerous. Indeed, only two weeks beforehand, the local Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) had to extract a party of cavers from Long Churns who had been trapped by floodwater. Long Churns can, after a period of wet weather, followed by torrential rain, fill to within a few feet of the roof in places.

However, it is not that the cave is dangerous, it is due to inexperienced cavers going underground when qualified cave leaders with extensive local knowledge
would be saying "stay out of that cave system in these conditions!" The best advice Iain can give is that if you want to have a good, safe and positive experience underground - then go with a local cave leader with good local knowledge and an understanding of the hydrology of the cave system you are contemplating entering.

Even in wet conditions, we at Kendal Mountaineering Services can still find appropriate caves down which to take you.

For most of our caving trips, we will meet you in the village of Ingleton at the Inglesport Outdoor Shop & cafe - undoubtedly the best place to start and end your underground caving experience with us.

A half day caving trip in the Yorkshire Dales National Park can also be combined with an introductory half day rock climbing course if you want to combine two activities into a full day out. We ran such a day for two people recently - read about it here.

Mountain scrambling skills training course in The Lake District. Langdale, August 15th & 19th 2011.

2011-08-17T09:21:00.015+01:00

Next on the list of August work for Iain after his Open Canoe Foundation Course was a scrambling skills training course in The lake District for deputy headmaster Chris Owen who lives near Manchester.

Chris has been getting out on a number of grade one scrambles recently with a couple of mates. However, he felt that things were getting to the point where to progress; and keep each other safe, it was time to get some proper tuition in the techniques of scrambling ropework.

Chris found our website when browsing scrambling courses in The Lake District and liked what he saw. He contacted Iain expressing an interest in booking on to a scrambling skills training course with us.

Unfortunately, Chris could only attend the course on his own as non of his scrambling mates were able to join him, so Iain arranged a bespoke one on one scrambling skills training course for Chris which was just what he wanted.

During day one, we started off looking at the technique of "spotting" ie helping each other up & down easy scrambling ground by the means of holding feet in place on insecure foot placements or just by giving each other a push up or holding on to folks as they climb down a steep bit. Basic stuff - but new to Chris. We then followed this by getting the rope out and tying on/taking chest coils (photo one) and the technique of short roping ie moving together on easy scrambling ground.

The easy scrambling ground we used was the lower left hand rib of Tarn Crag in Langdale - just above stickle (Mill) Gill. This is a great place to learn scrambling techniques on what is only a bit of grade one scrambling ground.

If it all goes wrong, you won't slip far on here, but there are enough rocky bits to look at all aspsects of basic scrambling including spotting, short roping and basic anchors and belays.

In photo two Chris heads up an easy rock step before looking for; and finding a place to securely belay Iain up to him. The ground was such that Iain could follow Chris without concern and then evaluate which ever method Chris had chosen to belay him with. It was a good way for Chris to learn what belay techniques were appropriate and what were inappropriate for the various situations we found ourselves in.

Iain showed Chris the three main methods of belaying ie protecting your second with a tight rope whilst they climb something where it would be deemed that " the consequences of a slip could turn into something more serious".

In photo three Chris employs a direct belay - using the rope around a solid rock spike in such a way that the friction of the rope on rock provides the protection. The twist in the rope in Chris's hand also provides improved grip on the "dead rope" side of the belay. This method can be used either for belaying a scrambler up or lowering back down; and whilst on the lower part of Tarn Crag, we looked at methods for both ascent and descent.

We also looked at indirect or body belays - where you bring a person up (or down) a slope merely by wrapping the rope around your body and bracing with your feet. This technique must only be used for belaying people on easy parts of a scramble! Later, whilst on some grade two ground, we would look at the technique of semi-direct belays ie tying in to the anchor and belaying from the rope tie in loop on your harness with a belay plate. Does this all sound complicated? The pictures from this day are annotated with explanations as to what can be seen and why the particular technique is being used - have a look!

Anyway, after our morning learning techniques on easy ground, Iain took Chris up The Spur (grade two) on Tarn Crag to demonstrate how one would look after seconds on this sort of ground. He then allowed Chris lead the same route and gave Chris feedback on the techniques he used during his ascent of the route as the leader.

We were meant to use the next day (Tuesday) as a consolidation day with an intention to move across the valley to Piked Howe - a fine little grade two scramble. However, heavy rain the next morning made scrambling anywhere an unsavoury and unsafe proposition, so we rearranged the day for later in the week when the weather was better.

In photo four, Chris gets to grips with anchor placements on the first buttress of Piked Howe. Iain allowed Chris to lead the entire route and during this time Chris's confidence on rock improved greatly as did his belaying skills and his selection of appropriate belays for the scrambling ground we were on

On Friday, we put a scrambling ascent of Piked Howe behind us by 1pm so we had time to nip back over to Tarn Crag to have a go at East Rib - another fine grade two scramble; and photo five shows Chris leading off up the first pitch.

Chris led the three harder pitches of The East Rib with confidence and efficiency - placing running belays where appropriate and using good belaying techniques to look after his second.

Iain feels that Chris now has the skills to progress on to grade two scrambling terrain with confidence and hopes that he doesn't hang around doing so. Our scrambling skills training courses in the Lake District make for great and safe learning experiences and you'll get a lot from a course with us - however, with regards to what you learn on the course, if you don't get out and practise soon after - you'll quickly lose those skills!

To discuss your requirements for a scrambling skills training course contact Iain at Kendal Mountaineering Services here. We are one of the Lake Districts premier providers of Scrambling Skills Training courses, Rock Climbing Skills Training courses and Navigation Skills training courses and we also offer winter skills and winter climbing courses too. We pride ourselves on teaching you the right techniques to go off in to the mountains and do things for yourselves, or if you fancy being guided up that classic Lake District scramble or rock route or even up a winter climb, give us a call!

We also run two annual guided trips to the Isle of Skye to do the Cuillin Ridge traverse. One in May and one in September each year. These include seven nights self catering accommodation and four days of guided scrambling on the famous Cuillin Ridge. These packages represent fantastic value for money and are a must for competent scramblers. The next one is May 2012 and will be running between the 19th & 26th. Cost £425 for the week.

5 day Open Canoe skills training course in The Lake District August 8th - 12th 2011.

2011-08-17T09:00:00.008+01:00

During August 8th - 12th, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services worked for the Cadet Centre for adventurous training (CCAT) running an Open Canoe Foundation course in The Lake District.

The CCAT Open Canoe Foundation Course (OFC) is designed to give young people the basic skills required to handle these craft on open water ie lakes. Depending on how well people progress during one of these OFC courses, they may well be entitled to gain their BCU 1 or 2 star awards.

The first photo shows Iain's team of four on day two on Coniston Water - looking somewhat wet, but rightly pleased with themselves as having capsized both craft in the picture and all gone in themselves they had just successfully completed an "all in rescue". In this, they had to empty out first one canoe and get two people back in - and then empty out the other canoe and get its paddlers back in. This was done fairly rapidly - well done team!

We had a total of five days together during our Canadian Canoeing course in The Lake District. We spent Monday at Waterhead on Windermere looking firstly at flat and then moving water skills.

Tuesday was on Coniston Water looking at more advanced skills and Wednesday (photo two) we headed to Derwentwater to join up with the three star group intending a paddle down Derwentwater followed by a descent of the middle Derwent.

The plan on day three would have been fine had we chosen not to paddle Derwentwater first. As we got to our access point, a strong wind started to blow NE. The weather was already poor with low cloud and sheets of rain drifting across the lake and having set off for the north end of Derwentwater. We soon found ourselves being blown before a strong wind. Canadian canoes have a great deal of their surface area above water and so are badly affected by wind. It was difficult, if not virtually impossible to paddle on Derwentwater, so we had to leave the lake and portage the canoes to a suitable place where they could be collected with a canoe trailer - did we get to the river? Not on this day!

On Thursday, the winds had dropped. We still had low cloud and a chance of rain, but it was looking more settled, so Iain chose to return to Derwentwater once again - this time to look at moving water skills on the upper Derwent which flows from Borrowdale in to Derwentwater.

This was possible because three of Iain's party were already very competent paddlers - having already undertaken their Kayak Foundation Course (KFC) with CCAT some time previously and they had, on Monday, spent some time solo paddling their canadian canoes.

So, on the Thursday, we looked again at solo and tandem paddling in Canadian canoes and also moving water techniques such as breaking in to and out of eddies, ferry gliding, poling, reading the river and arranging ourselves to take the best line down easy rapids. The upper Derwent was a safe and friendly place to do this.

Photo three was taken on the upper Derwent and shows Alex getting the hang of forward ferry gliding - leaning the boat slightly downstream, having the correct angle of boat across the current and paddling on the downstream side using as few strokes as possible - great job!

The final photo is a view along the upper Derwent looking south in to Borrowdale as we returned downriver to Derwentwater. Adam, nearest in his canadian canoe, is paddling solo and was busy practising the Indian Stroke which is an advanced technique.

All of the cadets on this OFC thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learnt a great deal from Iain during the week.

Whilst the Open Canoe Foundation Course is a fairly advanced level course, you too can arrange your own open canoe skills training courses with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services. Open Canoeing is a great session for families, groups or individuals and can be either a half day taster session or a full day or multi-day activity here on the Lake Districts many lakes & rivers. It is also great as part of a teambuilding course and is popular with stag & hen parties visiting the area and looking for something different to do.

To book your open canoeing course with Kendal Mountaineering services contact us here. To see the rest of the pictures from this five day Open Canoe Foundation Course click here.

Double Ghyll Scrambling & Canyoning session. Church Beck, Coniston. Saturday 6th July 2011.

2011-08-07T19:28:00.014+01:00

Kendal Mountaineering Services has had a busy day in Church Beck at Coniston today.

Two separate groups joined Iain & Scott in the ghyll today. Firstly, GEN II - one of our new corporate clients, brought ten delegates to the ghyll this morning. (Photos 1 & 2)

The ghyll scrambling & canyoning sessions we organise for GEN II are part of an induction weekend where successful applicants to the Nucleargraduates Programme come together for the first time to learn about the two year apprenticeship programme they will be joining.

Our ghyll scrambling & canyoning sessions are seen as being fun and a challenge for these people, however, the session is designed as an icebreaker and an opportunity for the group members to get to know each other.

It is also designed as a whole team activity in so much that all members are expected to work together and help and support each other throughout the session. This will help to set the scene for the next two years where these people will be expected to get along with, work and support each other as they progress through their two year apprenticeship before leaving to join positions in the nuclear industry.

The apprentices enjoyed their ghyll scrambling & canyoning session with us and we wish them well with their apprenticeships. Thank you GEN II coming back to us once more and we look forward to working with you again soon. Further photographs from GEN II's morning session with us can be viewed here.

By contrast, the afternoon ghyll scrambling & canyoning session in Church Beck (photos 3 & 4) were a bunch of mates out for a jolly! Michelle Howarth from South Lakes, booked the session for herself and 14 of her friends from the gym.

The group were staying in Coniston for the weekend, so didn't have far to come to meet us for the one oclock start. They were a real bunch of characters who were looking forward to a fun wet session in the ghyll and Iain & Scott made sure that they got exactly that.

Conditions in the ghyll in the afternoon were busy, with a number of competitors also working with groups. Also, the weather finally broke although it had been overcast all day and considerably cooler than the previous day.

Photography in the ghyll was difficult due to the dark & wet conditions leading to a lack of good shots during the canyoning descent parts of todays sessions in Church Beck, but the wetness was all part of the fun for the group who, of course, got absolutely soaked and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The rest of the photos from their session can be viewed here.

We were only one of a number of local adventure pursuits company that Michelle contacted with her enquiry and we got the business - thank you Michelle, not only for that, but also for being a great group to work with and we hope to see you all again. To book your ghyll scrambling or canyoning session with Kendal Mountaineering services contact us here. We enjoy providing your sessions and skills training courses as much as we hope you enjoy yourselves doing them and we never disappoint.

Ghyll scrambling half day session. Wren Gill, Longsleddale, The Lake District. Saturday July 30th 2011.

2011-08-02T13:56:00.008+01:00

It has been a busy week here at Kendal Mountaineering services. Firstly with regards to running the Giggleswick Summer School outdoor activity programme followed by a multi-pitch climbing teaching day.

Iain rounded off the week with a stag party who had booked a half day ghyll scrambling session as part of their stag event here in The Lake district.

The lads were up for their stag weekend all the way from Birmingham and were staying in the Kendal area. Richard Davies, who had booked the ghyll scrambling session with Iain had been on the ball by booking with us several months ago, so, things were well organised.

Rather than taking the lads all the way over to Church Beck, Iain met the party in Kendal and took them up Longsleddale to go to Wren Gill - as it was more convenient and just as good a time can be had there as at any other ghyll scrambling venue here in the Lake District national park.

The weather all last week was hot and sunny, so hot in fact that after the walk up to the venue from the parking area, we were all very glad to get in to the water and cool off. The first photo shows the group having just gotten in to Wren Gill and the second shows the stag - Fraser, cooling off in a waterfall - respendent in pink bathing cap under his helmet, pink goggles and armbands - the things mates do to each other on a stag event!!

We made our way up the gill to the amusement of other onlookers - who probably wondered what it was all about as an army of wetsuit clad blokes made their way upstream wearing bouyancy aids and helmets - all standard issue kit on a ghyll scrambling session with Kendal Mountaineering services.

Photo three shows the team entering the first really deep pool in Wren Gill. Having swum it, many people went back in a second & third time - having jumped in from the rocks on the left of the pool.

Continuing on from here, eventually, the gorge deepens & narrows before we reach a deep pool with an unclimbable waterfall beyond. Here, we had to exit the gorge and continue several hundred metres up the bank before we could climb down and continue up the bed of the gill to the final waterfall.

The final photo shows the whole group having a power shower under the top fall in Wren Gill.

The Stag party throughly enjoyed their ghyll scrambling session in The Lake District National Park with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services. We would like to wish Fraser all the best for his wedding and in the future also.

Other photographs taken during this session can be viewed here. To book your ghyll scrambling session in The Lake District National Park with Kendal Mountaineering services contact us here and remember -wherever you are staying, we will have a venue for this fab activity near to you!

Multi-pitch Rock Multi-pitch Rock Climbing skills training day. Langdale, July 29th 2011.

2011-08-02T13:37:00.009+01:00

After Iain's four days with the Giggleswick Summer School programme, he was straight back out again the next day, on rock, with private client, Chris Jackson.

Chris is a keen climber - when he has a chance to get away from his position as a lecturer in London! He has previously climbed on the Derbyshire gritstone edges and claimed to be able to climb up to E2.

It was clear that he had good rock climbing ability but he felt that he wanted to improve his knowledge of climbing rope work and in particular, focus on building belays at stances and stance management for multi-pitch climbing.

With this in mind, Iain decided to take him to Upper Scout Crag in Langdale where Routes One & Two would allow us ample opportunity to look at these areas for development. Photo one shows Chris climbing the crux pitch of Route One which is a fine multi-pitch VDiff+ rock climb.

Iain decided that the best way for chris to get some idea of how to rig anchors at stances and build safe and equalised belays would be for Iain to lead the first multi-pitch rock climb and show Chris the various ways of tying in to anchors and stance management.

Photo two shows the method of equalising anchor points to a single attachment point using slings.

Three "wires" have been placed in to cracks in the rock and connected to dyneema slings with screwgate karabiners. The "wire" anchors have been brought to a central attachment point (the karabiner in the foreground) by knotting the slings with simple overhand knots in the appropriate positions allowing all three anchors to be equally loaded in the event of a shock load.

The lead climber will have attached themself to the central attachment point using a clove hitch on the rope attached to them. Having gotten themselves in an appropriate position on the stance, the climber would now shout "safe" to the second who would know to take them off belay.

The above system of equalising anchors and bringing them to a central attachment point, will normally be used when one climber or instructor is guiding another person ie leading all rock climbing pitches and leaving the second at the stance each time

In photo three, Iain demonstrates the method generally used by "trad" climbers when each person is alternately "leading through" on a multi-pitch climb.

The lead climber will, once reaching a stance, set up a minimum of two anchors (three or more if any of the others are considered marginal placements) and then connect to all of them using the climbing rope. The best way to do this is to run the rope through each anchor krab individually and then return it back to the rope tie in loop on the climbers harness. Two methods can be used for tying the rope back to the rope tie in loop - either rethreaded figure of eight knots on the bight (a bight being a loop of rope) or, as Iain has done in this photo, clipping the rope in to a single HMS karabiner using a clove hitch.

This is a simple belay system - useful for setting up quickly and then being easily adjustable for equalisation purposes - particularly where the anchor points are out of reach of the climber. Its main drawback is that one cannot easily escape the system should the leader need to get help or rescue the second. However, if you come on one of our improvised rescue skills courses, we will show you all that you need to know in order to be able to deal with any scenario encountered in a multi-pitch rock climbing situation.

So, with Iain having lead Route one and Chris having observed the different methods of setting up a belay at stances, it was then time for Chris to have a go.

The final photo shows Chris at the third stance on route two having set up an elaborate, but safe belay system with which to protect Iain. Chris is also demonstrating good rope management technique by draping the dead rope over his attachment - this is better than having lying it all over the stance and possibly falling back down the pitch below - leading to all sorts of potential problems.

Chris's ropework techniques improved significantly as a result of his one day multi-pitch climbing workshop with Iain in The Lake district. All he needs to do now is get out and practice the skills learnt. Kendal Mountaineering Services run a number of skills training courses here in the Lake District apart from Rock Climbing Skills Training courses. We also run Navigation Skills Training courses, scrambling skills training courses; and if you join us in Scotland in winter, you can attend one of our Winter Skills courses or our winter climbing courses. Contact us for more information.

Giggleswick Summer school. Outdoor Adventure Programme. July 25th - 28th 2011

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Last week, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services ran a programme of adventurous activities for the Giggleswick School Summer school programme.

Giggleswick School is an independent boarding school based in the Yorkshire Dales National Park near settle and the Summer School programme is run for potential pupils and existing boarders, but is primarily designed to give a taste of what the school has to offer potential clients.

For the Outdoor Adventure programme, Iain and his assistant - Richard, had two groups each day, a morning group consisting of 12 pupils and and afternoon group consisting of ten young people. The first photo shows the morning group on day one whilst on our way up Penyghent - one of the famous Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks, during our hillwalking day.

On the second day, Iain & Richard ran a beginners rock climbing and abseiling session for each group at "Hostel Rocks" a gritstone climbing venue - actually within the school grounds at Giggleswick.

The venue is a single pitch crag no more than 8m high along its 150m length and has many trees growing along the top making it ideal for a simple top rope/bottom belay session. Iain was able to set up four top ropes for the group and everyone had a go at climbing and towards the end, abseiling.

Photo two shows one pupil enjoying a climb whilst another group work together in the background - whilst one pupil climbs, another three belay using the "bellringing" technique involving only an HMS karabiner, an Italian Hitch; and lots of hands on the rope.

This simple technique is ideal for young people trying an introductory rock climbing session and is good for getting everyone working together.

Day three saw us gorge walking at South Barkin Gill at Barbondale near Kirkby Lonsdale. Gorge walking, also known as ghyll scrambling or gorge scrambling is an outdoor activity generally involving walking, climbing and swimming up a wet stream bed. However, at Barkin Gill, the stream bed is limestone and all of the water sinks away making it a generally dry ghyll scrambling trip.

In photo three, Iain's assistant - Richard "spots" one of our party as he climbs up one of the easier pitches in South Barkin Gill. Above this point, the pitches get bigger and steeper necessitating the use of a rope to protect climbers.

There are few venues in the Yorkshire Dales National Park for good ghyll scrambling so, if you really want to do this come to The Lake District where the streams are bigger and the pools are deeper! Check out our blog and website for details of the best venues and our recent ghyll scrambling trips.

Finally, on Iain's last day with the Giggleswick Summer School adventurous activities programe, he & Richard took both groups to the great introductory caving venues of Runscar & Thistle caves at Ribblehead in The Yorkshire Dales National Park. Photo four is taken in Runscar Cave.

These two cave systems are ideal for introductory caving trips and are good even in wet weather. Both caves have larger main passages with a number of entrance & exit points and Thistle Cave has a number of smaller fossil oxbow passages that provide a real caving experience for anyone wishing to take up the challenge of crawling through them.

We had time during each session to take the pupils through both caves and gained the impression that out of the four activities offered over the four days, caving was the one that they enjoyed the most.

To book your outdoor activity session for your family over the Summer holidays here in The Lake District or in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, contact Iain at Kendal Mountaineering Services here.

Guided Cuillin Ridge Traverse. Isle of Skye. September 10th - 17th 2011.

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Kendal Mountaineering Services is offering the opportunity to partake in one of our bi-annual guided Cuillin Ridge traverse trips taking place between Saturday 10th and Saturday 17th September 2011.

The Cuillin Ridge is over 12km long and has twenty two summits along its length of which 11 gain Munro status.

The Cuillin Ridge traverse is one of the finest and longest rock climbing & scrambling routes in Europe with over 4000m (13'000 feet) of ascent & descent. The entire ridge is a scramblers & mountaineers paradise largely being composed of grade one ground, but with some grade two, three & four ground as well as rock climbing to severe standard and a number of abseils to undertake en route.

Iain Gallagher from Kendal Mountaineering services
has been running annual guided Cuillin Ridge Traverses since 2006. He has completed some 12 traverses of the Cuillin Ridge altogether; and has successfully guided seven parties along this supurb mountaineering challenge - the most recent being during May 2011.

For £375 the package we offer you includes 7 nights self catering accommodation in our comfortable cottage near Carbost on the Isle of Skye plus the opportunity of four days of guiding on the Cuillin Ridge Traverse making this an unbeatable opportunity to take part in a traverse of The Ridge.

Iain, a Mountaineering Instructor, has, considerable experience of guiding on the Cuillin Ridge. A successful complete traverse is dependant on good weather conditions and whilst we cannot guarantee your successfully completing the whole traverse, our plan of tackling sections of the ridge over four days out of six means that you will have a great experience and every opportunity of completing a significant part, if not all of the Cuillin Ridge Traverse.

Unlike many packages on offer with regards to the Cuillin Ridge Traverse, Iain prefers to keep the itinery totally flexible. Depending on conditions and wind direction - we may go to opposite ends of the ridge from one day to the next; or if the weather is bad, we will take a rest day when party members can go and check out all that the rest of the Isle of Skye has to offer.

Each day on the ridge will see us aim to depart the cottage by 08:30 or earlier if the weather dictates and arrive back at the cottage by early evening to enjoy a meal cooked by others and a well earned rest in a comfortable bed.

Iain will work with up to six people during our guided Cullin Ridge traverse. As a member of the guided party it is expected that you are already an experienced mountaineer with some experience of scrambling and ropework and comfortable with a degree of exposure which is present on a number of sections of the ridge.

You will also need to be fit and healthy for what is a strenuous and demanding challenge and you must also be prepared to work as part of a team - all working together to help Iain make the possibility of a successful traverse reality.

Whilst at the cottage, everyone attending is expected to provide one communal evening meal for all other members of the team during our stay. Breakfasts and packed lunches are your own responsibility.

Regarding equipment - you will need to bring your own foul weather equipment, a rucksac of at least 45 litres and a stout pair of walking boots with a good cleated (Vibram type) sole and good ankle support. Approach shoes are wholly unacceptable for the ground encountered on the Cuillin Ridge.

Helmets & harnesses can be provided by us for a small fee.

There are many exciting parts to a guided Cuillin Ridge Traverse with Kendal Mountaineering services - The famous Thearlaich Dubh Gap, The Inaccessable Pinnacle, the airey traverse of the summits of Sgurr A Greadaidh and Sgurr A Mhadaidh, the ascent of Am Bastier and the West Ridge of Sguur Nan Gillean. Some or all of the objectives will be achieved as part of your guided Cuillin Ridge Traverse.

Whatever we manage to acheive during the Kendal Mountaineering Services guided Cuillin Ridge traverse, you will have a great experience in this breathtaking environment with a guide who knows the ridge extremely well.

To read reports from previous trips go to the Kendal Mountaineering Services Blog where reports from May 2009, 2010 & 2011 can be found along with a report from our trip in September 2010.

To book your place contact us here or call Iain on 07761 483364

Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District. Wren Gill, Longsleddale, July 11th 2011

2011-07-11T19:52:00.010+01:00

Lindsi & David Missen booked a half day ghyll
scrambling session with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services, whilst on Holiday in the area from Reading.

For a change, Iain decided to take the pair to a different Lake District ghyll scrambling venue - that of Wren Gill at the head of Longsleddale in the south east corner of the Lake district National Park.

Wren Gill is a little known and hence little used venue at the head of the peaceful and unspoilt valley of Longsleddale due north of Kendal. As is often the case here, we saw no other people in the ghyll at all.

The first photo shows the pair cooling off in the first deep pool we encountered - the refreshment was necessary as we had just walked a mile up the Gatesgarth Pass Road from Sadgill on this hot and sunny day!

The rock behind David us an ideal place to jump off in to this deep pool and we were all very keen to have a go!

Heading up Wren Gill beyond the first deep pool, the valley narrows & deepens. More deep pools & small waterfalls follow until one turns a corner in to a narrow slot and the way ahead is blocked by a deep pool beyond which there is an impassable 10m waterfall.

Here, one backtracks to the corner in the ghyll and climbs out above the left hand side of the ravine and walks up for 200m before being able to descend back to the bed of the ghyll and continue the ascent.

Photo two was taken just before we took the left hand bend in the ravine and arrived at the waterfall.

On returning to the bed of Wren Gill, we discovered a rope sling around a block at the top of a waterfall where someone else has clearly been using this part of the ghyll as a canyoning descent. Today, Iain judged the waterfall to be too slippery - indeed, a lot of the rock everywhere in the ghyll was coated in a green slime and care needed to be taken at all times!
A little further on, the water comes down a long narrow slot which can be very hard work in moderate to high water conditions. On all previous trips Iain has always exited on to the Gatesgarth Road just above here.

However, today, we still had plenty of time to continue upstream to a distant waterfall and in the process, check out a new part of the ghyll (well - a new part for Iain anyway!)

Lindsi started out by checking out the first new bit - a small but deceptive pool under a small waterfall - despite being 5' 1" - she went in up to her neck as seen in photo three.

A little futher on, we came to this fine little waterfall (photo four) where Iain roped Lindsi & David up the left hand flow. It was slippery, but both managed fine with the use of a top rope by Iain.

Another 50m upstream found us at the waterfall we had seen from the usual get out lower down. Iain had predicted that it would be unclimbable and it was. However, it was a good place for a high pressure shower - enjoyed by Lindsi & David before we exited up the bank on to the Gatesgarth Road just above.

The pair thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon ghyll scrambling session with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services and for Iain, it was nice to have a break from Church Beck which is the place where we run most of our ghyll scrambling & canyoning sessions in The Lake District .

The rest of the photos from todays ghyll scrambling session can be viewed here. To book your ghyll scrambling or canyoning session with Kendal Mountaineering Services in any corner of The Lake District National Park - contact us here.

Caving and rock climbing activity sessions in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. July 10th 2011.

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Jamie Windows & his girlfriend Katie, booked a Level Two caving session and a Beginners Rock Climbing Session in the Yorkshire Dales National park, with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services.

The pair were over in The Lake District on holiday with family; and had contacted Iain to see if he could put this package together for them - caving for Jamie & climbing for Katie.

Iain has a wealth of knowledge about venues for activities all over the northwest of England. Caving cannot be done in the Lake District National Park and some might think there isn't that much climbing in the Yorkshire Dale National Park either - but there are venues where it is possible to run both a half day caving session and a half day climbing session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Anyway, the pair booked their day out with Iain and another reason for that was that Iain was prepared to work with just the two of them. Apparently, another business had said no to working with the pair as it was "too small a group size". Well, don't forget, at Kendal Mountaineering services we pride ourselves on putting together a bespoke package to fit your requirements - provided you are prepared to pay a little more for the experience!

Iain thinks that the good thing about working with individuals or pairs is the speed with which you can get things done. Caving can be potentially wet and/or cold so you won't want to be hanging around.

Fortunately, last Sunday was a hot & sunny day, so we had no such worries. Iain took the pair to Birkwith to do the Calf Holes/Browgill Cave level Two Caving Trip; and in photo two, Katie is being lowered down the pitch in Calf Holes.

A Level Two Caving Trip differs from a level one trip in so much that one may be required to descend/ascend pitches of up to 18m (60 feet) in height and so harnesses, cows tails and a whole range of other equipment come in to play. Clients can be lowered down pitches using a Petzl Stop as seen here in photo two. A lever two cave leader is skilled in using this sort of equipment as he may have to revert from a lower to a hoist - mid pitch if necessary!

Once Iain had lowered Katie & Jamie down the Calf Holes Pitch, we set about completing the Browgill through trip which is essentially, a level one caving trip. The first part of the trip is a walk along the active stream passage, but then the water sinks away through the floor and the passage lowers to a crawl ending in a squeeze to get in to the lower part of the Browgill system.

The way between is known as Hainsworth's Passage and in some places this is no wider than one's body.

Photo three shows Katie and Jamie who has just entered the lower cave system from Hainsworth's Passage via "The Slot".

After this challenging crawl, the way on rapidly gets higher. In actually fact what really happens is that the stream cuts down rapidly to the top of an 8m high waterfall in to the chamber below. As with the Calf Holes Pitch Head, there are resin bolts here - so one could set up a second lower and climb beside the waterfall. This would have taken quite a bit of time and as we were only on a half day level two caving session, Iain decided to give it a miss although he did take Katie and Jamie to the pitch head.

Instead, to get down to the foot of the waterfall, one climbs back up and over into a series of fossil passages that lead to a climb down with a fixed rope.

In photo four Katie & Jamie are descending that climb which is easy as long as one takes their time - the rocks have been polished smooth by thousands of visiting cavers!

After the down climb, one enters a high & narrow fissure (known in caving terms as a joint) although this one is wider than most due to the fact that it has been enlarged by the erosive action of Browgill Beck which has been flowing through the cave since the end of the last ice age 15,000 years ago.

After a short distance the joint widens dramatically and the floor becomes littered with large blocks of limestone that have fallen out of the roof. The way on finishes with a short "bedding crawl" beside the stream before one exits at the Browgill Cave entrance seen here in photo five behind Jamie & Katie.

Many people are satisfied to call it a day here and walk back over the fields to Calf Holes. Jamie & Katie both wanted to reverse the trip and climb out at Calf Holes - so off we went back in again!

On the return trip, after a quick visit to the foot of the waterfall, we climbed back up and then reached the challenging part of the trip through Hainsworth's passage. There are two ways through this - the slot which we did on the downward descent; and the letterbox which we did on the way back out. Both are fairly tight but Jamie & Katie managed them with out any problems.

In photo six Katie finishes off the crawl through Hainsworth's with Jamie following behind.

The final photograph from this half day level two caving session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park looks down on Jamie & Katie - who is about to climb the caving ladder (also known as an electron ladder) back up the Calf Holes pitch to Iain who is belaying with a safety rope and using a device called a "Pro-traxion" - basically a pully-jammer, also made by Petzl.

Prior to bringing up Jamie & Katie, Iain ascended a single rope using a system of chest and foot jammers (Jumars) to get up to the pitch head
and rig the ladder. The technique of ascending a single rope in this way is known as SRT (Single Rope Technique) and is used by experienced cavers, Level Two Cave Leaders and people holding the Caving Instructors Certificate (CIC).

The afternoon beginners rock climbing session was easy for Iain by comparison.

Iain took the pair to Twistleton Scar in Chapel Le Dale near Ingleton which has a wealth of climbs suitable for the novice climber. The weather was perfect as can be seen in photo eight, dry, hot and sunny - just as well really because this was limestone climbing and it's not great climbing in the wet at all.

Iain rigged up a top rope/bottom belay system for the pair, taught them how to tie in and belay and then coached them on good climbing technique.

In the background is Ingleborough Hill - one of the Yorkshire Dales "Three Peaks". The other two are Penyghent and Whernside.

When we arrived at Twistleton for our beginners rock climbing session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, we were in the company of a group of Army Cadets who soon disappeared and save for a few small groups, we had the place to ourselves and in this final photo, we have moved to a different part of the crag.

Here, Katie belays Jamie up one last climb before we called it a day

To see more photos from this great day out you can view them here.

Did Katie & Jamie enjoy their day out with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services? See their comment left in the "post a comment" section at the foot of this post.

It would be easy to add a "what the customers say" page to the Kendal Mountaineering services website and make up loads of comments about the good standard of service we provide - but one thing we like about our blog is that the comments added are added by real clients - like Jamie & Katie!

So if you want to know real people think about what we offer - check out our blog and see what people really do have to say about us!

To book your caving and rock climbing session in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, contact us here. We look forward to working with you.