Not all who wander are lost…fun solo on W Face Aonach Mor

Finally a full day off to get out in the white stuff! Unfortunately the usual suspects were all working / strapping long bits of wood to their feet before going for a long walk followed by hurling themselves down a hill (some people have issues…). So a solo mission… debated on Ben N but felt like a change so cycled up to the dam and headed in to W Face of Aonach Mor.
Soon I was sweating in just a thermal but enjoying some great light, wading through deep snow and heather with no real path, passing deer scrapes still fresh with the tangy musk of the recent inhabitants.
I was going to go to Western Rib but the first defined ridge looked like it would be fresh ground to me… and was a lot closer!!
The approach was classic W Face of AM stuff- innocuous steps turning into slabby thinly iced granite, good looking turf turning out to be airy moss or juniper, but I persevered picking the most interesting line to the base of the ridge (via a couple of waist deep wades through the snow). This turned out to be a low but well defined series of rocky steps… very escapable but possible at II (think Dorsal Arete but longer and with no crowds…) and, more importantly, by taking each of the steps directly I got a couple of hundred metres of Grade III climbing of surprisingly good quality but in 10-15ft chunks so never too serious. From the off there were great hooks and torques, frozen turf and even a little usable rime ice at the top. Great gear for those wanting a change too- just follow your nose and take lots of slings for chockstones. The ridge peters out just short of the shoulder marking the edge of the ski area but a short traverse right gave me another 100m of the same on a shallow rocky spine ending in a broader well rimed buttress.
I'd had a bit of wade on the way up and there was more of the same back to the bike but I was in time to catch up Jane and the kids as they walked home from school.

…I do like mixed climbing… :-)

 The ridge line above

First stick of the winter!

 Fun from the off

 not serious but involving and the Glen floor is now far below

 That chockstone was a hook of justice!

 Bobbly rime and frozen vegetation

 A change in weather over Ben Nevis

 My season has begun!

'Must try harder…'

Today I was directing an MCofS FUNdamentals of Climbing 2 at Glasgow Climbing Centre. I was working to a new syllabus and I'm sitting reflecting on the train looking back over the day using my notes and some feedback I elicited from those on the course.
I'm trying to practise what I preach- I wasn't happy about the course but that's not a bad thing right? It just means I've got to reflect, learn and improve for next time. I won't go into specifics and there was plenty of positive feedback too… and I know that if I'm fostering a 'growth mindset' then a less than perfect performance is not a bad thing, just an opportunity…
…but I still hate it when I come away from a course feeling it was anything less than great!!

 Surface, features and techniques

 Blez going for a supremely stable base of support as a platform for using his tablet to gather data

 Feedback for Rob

 Matt talks through the other Rob's bridging demo

 Gettng Christie to twist

 Christie takes it steeper

 Rob mirroring Blez (nice attempt Rob ;-)

The ever unpopular cardboard box arms… do they have a place (other than the bin Jeans)

Another CWA Training

I've been in Glasgow working based at Ibrox running a CWA Training for nine candidates assisted by Karen (soon to head for PYB's AI scheme - have fun mate). Yesterday we were at GCC and today we returned there but not before a morning at the wall at Braehead. A fun 2 days working through the syllabus with a nice group of folk.

 Keeping it in the family; Jenny in her mum's EBs

 Jingle bell boots

 Down at the (auto belay) farm

 Karen explaining the rules of the game

 Silent deadly ninja beanbag assassins at the ready

 Hey! That's cheating!

 Sticky feet flexibility

 Coming down

 Sit down, stand up and centre of gravity

 Stacking the beanbags

 Pendulum rules

The abseil module

End of Staff training but more wall work

I returned yesterday from another day and a half of Staff Training at Glenmore Lodge (special thanks to Giles for his session making us think hard about how we assess and Mark for the chat on the work of the SAIS (first reports of the season on the new look website today). Then just a half day of prep to shrug off a cold and start a CWA Training for UHI West Highland College ACOLs  .

 Scott talks knots

 The 'perfect' knot… or not?

 Scott helping himself to Lou's flapjack (that's your entire recommended calorie intake for today then)

 A dynamic warmup but could it be improved?

Exploring different ways of belaying

Staff Training at Glenmore Lodge

For the first few days this week I'm attending winter staff Training at Glenmore Lodge. I'm sometimes asked what I get out of working at 'The Lodge' (I could make more money working for myself) but days like today never fail to leave me with admiration for my colleagues in terms of their experience, knowledge and the passion for excellence they bring to their work. Today we were looking at issues around Avalanche education including an update on the Lodge research on the use of transceiver, shovel and probe in the Scottish winter, new courses they are offering and a great afternoon session (set up by Doug) making us think about how we design the learning of some of the skills and techniques involved and how we create good decision makers when it comes to avalanche avoidance.

The day finished with a great little update on all things Petzl from Roger and Martin from Lyon equipment. More training please!!

 Coffee time and winter outside

 The transceiver park (note the footprints following the flux line into the buried transceiver)

 Doug's whiteboard

No closeups… what followed was highly classified!

Foundation Coach Training

Great to be running another Mountain Training Foundation Coach Training at the Ice Factor today. 8 students with a wide range of backgrounds and experience bases but all were keen to get stuck in and learn. The F Coach is still quite new but I finally feel like I'm getting to grips with the syllabus and delivery.

What does a good coach look like?

 Observation

 Observation of climbing

 Progressions

 Going a little further

 a different session

 Bridging

Lots going on!

FUNdas 1 at The Ice Factor

After yesterday's flying vista to Sheffield today I was putting it into practise running an MCofS FUNdas 1 at The Ice Factor. Despite a lack of slabs and the presence of a Christmas Fayre and Santa (bah… humbug…) we got through the learning outcomes well for my mixed bag of students associated with UHIMC.

 Scott and Ken exploring warmups

 Dave A and Dave B… if you enjoy it and it doesn't harm anyone else guys...

 Centre of Mass and Centre of Gravity...

 Learning to stand on one leg...

 Ken is the blind slab climber assassin

 Corks...

 Precision… accuracy… or both?

 Scott's feet...

Hand hold (s)

 Name that hold in one!