Climbing at Dartrock

Today we only had half a day to do an activity with the FdSc students before returning to Bridgwater. As the weather was forecast to be inclement Gwilym and I opted to take the students to Dartrock for some indoor climbing.

I delivered a bouldering and movement skills session for half the group while Gwilym took the other half on the main wall for some roped climbing. We swopped groups half way through. 

During the break between groups we enjoyed a nice coffee and took advantage of the 2 for 1 friday cake deal with home-made carrot cake being the choice!

I will be back down on Dartmoor next Wednesday to Friday with the same group for the remainder of the Hill Skills course and climbing assessments.   

Hill Skills Day 1 on Dartmoor

It was a stunning day on Dartmoor to be delivering the first day of a Mountain Training Hill Skills course for the FdSc students from Bridgwater College. I took 8 students and Gwilym the other 8 around the Cramber Tor area to work on various parts of the syllabus. 

During the day we covered:

Collecting and Catching Features

Hand-railing

Contour recognition

Aiming Off

Grid and Magnetic Bearings

Pacing and Timing

Measuring Distance

Equipment 

Moorland Environment

The day started overcast but quickly cleared to a blue sky day, great for teaching map to ground navigation but not ideal for teaching bearings. 

Climbing at Sheeps Tor

Walking up to Sheeps Tor

Gwilym teaching anchor construction

Beth on Dandelion (S4a)

Charlotte on Sheltered Crack (VD)

Ola on Dandelion (S4a) and Harriet on Barking Crack

Today I travelled to Dartmoor National Park with the FdSc PES students from Bridgwater College to work alongside Gwilym Starks to deliver 3 days of climbing and hill walking.

After getting three days worth of food from the supermarket, traveling to Dartmoor and settling the students into their accommodation at Whiteworks we made our way over to Sheeps Tor. 

It was a stunning day but a little windy so we started the sessions by teaching the students about anchors and set up and let them have a go on ground based anchors.

Gwilym and I then set up four climbs for the students to test themselves on and put their previous experience into practice. Three of the climbs were graded V Diff and the other Severe. After all had been on the four routes the students helped to coil the ropes and carry the kit back to the bus.