Tag: Learning

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Peak District Trad Leading Course

It has been really enjoyable to get back to the Peak District and onto the gritstone this weekend. It was also great to meet two new and friendly clients! Colm and Lisa drove up from London and I drove down from the Lake District. We aimed for the Peak District as the weather forecast for the Lakes was looking so wet.

Stanage was rather damp on Saturday so we went to Froggatt and enjoyed 4 good leads on Trapeze Direct, Sickle Buttress Direct, Diamond Crack and Sunset Crack. Colm and Lisa have plenty of sport climbing experience so they were well set to jump in at the deep end and tackle the Very Severe grade for their first leads on grit.

Lisa belaying Colm as he tackles the crux of Trapeze Direct.
Lisa belaying Colm as he grapples with the crux of Trapeze Direct.
Colm pulling smoothly through the crux.
Colm smoothly pulling through the crux.

Sunday brought more sunshine so we went to Stanage for a wild and windy morning on Heather Wall and Black Hawk Traverse. Plenty of learning was had by Colm on Heather Wall in the pumpy first few metres, where it’s necessary to hang on the arms a little whilst arranging protection. Hanging on the gear for a rest was good for building confidence in the trad placements.

After some chilly hands and two very windy belays at the top of the crag, we retreated back to its base and spent some time practising different belay set ups: two, three and four anchors in reach, two and three anchors out of reach, linking two and three anchors with a sling, tying in with a clove hitch and tying in with a figure of 8.

A full rainbow over a wild and windy Stanage.
A full rainbow over a wild and windy Stanage.

Since it was trad leading course on gritstone, here are some examples of good gear placements on grit:

Horizontal Nut.
Horizontal Nut.
Vertical Hex.
Vertical Hex.
Horizontal Cam.
Horizontal Cam.

Cheers to Colm and Lisa for two very enjoyable days at work!

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Growth

Four and a half months have passed since I last wrote in this blog. Work, injury, friends, family, festivals, parties, illness and learning have all played a big part during that time. I would like to write more often and I have learned that to write regularly, I need a broader scope than before. I have also learned that the biggest reasons why I want to work with Mountain Magic are love, peace, nature, adventure, freedom, growth, health and happiness. They should provide a rather wide scope! No excuses there then.

I would love to catch up on the past 4.5 months but I am also learning, again and again, that I can’t do everything all at once. Growth has found its way into my top eight values for Mountain Magic and learning is right at its heart. Learning should feature quite regularly in this blog and I hope it does just that. Exploring new ideas and new territory are also fundamental to growth and I am wondering about the different perspectives from which I could be writing this blog. Mountaineering instructor is just one of them.

There are so many aspects and faces out there and I would rather explore them all. The past few months have reminded me that there is so much more to life than climbing and that being the director of Mountain Magic is so much more than a mountaineering instructor or climbing coach. Being a climber is wonderful and working with it is a joy. Directing Mountain Magic is a challenge that makes me feel like a complete beginner time and time again. Battery is running low and it’s time to go. Until tomorrow…