Hill Skills course - Day 2 on the Quantock Hills

Back out with the six volunteer rangers from the Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills AONB services today delivering day 2 of their 'Hill Skills' course for Wet and High Adventures. 

We headed to the Quantock Hills today for a full day practical session which started and finished from Triscombe on the western side of the hills.

Todays route covered 18km taking in Wills Neck (highest point on the Quantocks), the managed forests of Cockercombe and Ramscombe and the northern commons around Black Hill.

The weather continued with blue skies and great visibility but once again struggled to get above freezing. This gave us the opportunity to look at appropriate clothing and the benefits of layering, especially during the 'movement on steep ground' part of the day.

Over the course of the day we covered the rest of the hill skills syllabus and continued to work on the basic navigation techniques. 

The day finished with well earned refreshments in the Blue Ball pub in Triscombe.  

Hill Skills course- Day 1 on the Mendip Hills

Today I was working for Wet and High Adventures delivering Day 1 of the Mountain Training 'Hill Skills' course. The candidates are six volunteer rangers from the Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills AONB services who are training to lead walks as part of their role.

We chose to deliver day 1 on the Mendip Hills using Charterhouse Outdoor Centre as our base. The day was broken down into a six hour practical session on the hill followed by 2.5 hours in the classroom covering all of the theory.

The practical session covered basic navigation skills, affects of weather in the hills, the hill and moorland environment and walking pace management. This was delivered while taking in a 16km route over Black Down, around Rowberrow Warren and through Velvet Bottom. 

The classroom session consisted of; a weather lecture, appropriate clothing, footwear and equipment for hill walkers and the use of guidebooks and the internet for researching good days out on the hill.

Although the temperature struggled to get above freezing we were blessed with a beautiful blue sky day with views as far as the Gower and the snow capped Brecon Beacons. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year

To all my clients, colleagues, friends and followers.

I wish you all a very merry christmas and a prosperous new year.

May 2016 be full of adventure.

RYA VHF Radio Operators course

Today I have been at the club house of Watchet Sea Scouts to attend the RYA short range radio operators course delivered by Doug and Simon. 

We spent the day covering the syllabus and using the radios with Doug before being assessed by Simon at the end of the day. 

The venue, resources and trainers were great and there was plenty of tea and biscuits available to keep us going. 

The main reasons for doing this course are for safety communications during coasteering sessions and as part of my British Canoe Union 4* Sea Kayak assessment. 

High Ropes and Drive back south

This morning we were up early to pack and load the trailer before breakfast. After breakfast the students had time for a quick high ropes session delivered by the centre staff to give Gwilym and I a break before the long drive back from Snowdonia to Somerset. 

Overall the week was a great success and it was good to be back working with the Bridgwater College level three outdoor education students. 

Raft Building, Overnight Expedition and Climbing

Over the last two days I have been delivering raft building, Rock Climbing and assessing the students overnight expedition for their BTEC expedition skills unit.

Raft Building: On Wednesday morning the students were set a task to design and build a raft to transport them from one side of the bay back to the boat house. They got to choose their launch location, design and teams. After transporting their raft parts to the other side of the bay by canoe, the canoes were towed back and the students left to build their raft and paddle it back. The results were very opposite with one team succeeding and the other having a shocker!

Overnight Expedition: Following some previous training back at college and the completion of the mountain skills course over the last two days the students were tasked to plan a route from Wenallt back to the centre via the Aran Ridge. After being bused out to Wenallt both groups ascended Aran Fawddwy before dropping down to their chosen camp sites on the east side of the ridge. The following morning they made their way back to the centre in time for lunch.

Rock Climbing: Once the students had freshened up after their overnight Camp we headed to Barmouth Slabs for a spot of climbing in the afternoon sun. I took some of the students for some top roping on the lower tier, Gwilym took two students for a session on lead climbing and Rhys took the rest for some bottom roping on the upper tier. Rhys and I swopped our groups half way through the session. 

It was a great couple of days with the students really showing the skills they've learned over the past 13 months. All finished off with an ice cream in Barmouth before heading back to the centre. 

Navigation training in Llanberis Pass, DMM and Mountain Rescue visits.

Busy day today! Day three of the Bridgwater College level three outdoor education residential. 

The majority of the day was spent looking at mountain navigation and emergency procedures in the pass of Llanberis. We used some mountainous terrain under Dinas Mot due to its varied range of small features to test the students. During this session we also covered what to do in the event of an emergency, pacing, boxing and human impact on the mountain environment. Gwilym covered the same aspects of the mountain skills course with the other half of the students.

Late afternoon we headed over to Llanberis mountain rescue to meet some of the team. While at the mountain rescue base the students attended three presentations including: Rescue equipment, the callout process and vehicles. 

A good day covering different aspects of the use of mountainous terrain.