After a good breakfast at the Outside Cafe we all headed over to Stanage End for our second day. We did several routes some easy solo's and several harder highball problems. The main event for us was Chip Shop Brawl (E5 6c/V8). Dave sent it after only a hand full of ascent but Tim, John and I were unable to get to the top. A super high and scary problem, not to mention it is super hard!

This weekend John, Dave, Tim and I all headed over to the Peak district for a spot of bouldering and sending some routes. We arrived at Ramshaw first and soloed several routes to get warmed up. Loaf and Cheese (VS 4c), Wall and Groove (VD), The Arete (S 4a) and Leeds Crack (D). We then went down to the main event. Everyone wanted to try Tierdrop (E5 6b). Its a classic mirco route which is usually climbed with pads and spotters which is exactly what we did. Quite a high ball problem but safe with a big team. Andy joined us as well with his big pad too. After a good session on this we went and tried Be Calmed (E2 6c/Font 6b+) and Force Nice (E4 6c/Font 7a). We then went and had a play on Night of Lust (E4 6b/V5) and a few other problems. After the sun had gone round we jumped in the car and nipped round to the Nth Cloud and everyone had a shot on the very bold The Pillar of Judgement (E4 5c). After John and Dave didn't want to commit to a massive rock over I didn't feel I should give it a go. We then went and did a few boulder problems just to finish our fingers off! A great day, cant believe I havent been here before!

Today I was out with another team of outdoor equipment stores from around the country. The group of 8 all have some hill walking experience but they all wanted something a little more hands on but with no use of ropes. We opted for the North Ridge of Tryfan which stretched the group in different ways. The weather was particularly grim and not a great day for hanging around but great to test out the new gore-tex jackets and the warm down jackets. As always the conclusions were that Mountain Equipment clothing works very well!

Over the last two days I have been working on a Walking Group Leader Assessment. I was assessing 7 candidates with Helen over 3 day, I worked on the first two. The group were demonstrating their ability to navigate groups around the upland environment, keep the group interested with their knowledge of the environment and also how to deal with emergency scenarios. We also went out night navigating so the group could show me that they can navigate in poor visibility and darkness. Well done to the 4 that passed.

Today I was with Emma and Beth who work for Gaynor Sports in Cumbria. They had come down on a meet with Mountain Equipment to test out some of the latest gear. So we headed down to Tremadog for a spot of rock climbing in the sun. Neither of the girls had rock climbed outside so I led them both up Boo Boo (VD) and then Oberon (S). After realising that they both climb well and keen to learn more Emma lowered Beth into the top of Merlin Direct (HVS 5a) for a little bit of a challenge.

Today Matt and I decided to jump on the 'winter training' band wagon and headed over to Clywd to a dry tooling venue. We warmed up on Apples (M7***) and then And Pears (M7***), Matt had been here before but I manage to on site them both. Both vertical route and quite spooky flat holds. We then went over too White Goods area and climbed Jaz (M8***). I didn't get this 1st got but sent it on my 3rd go then did it again as soon as I got back to the ground. We had a go on another M8, we got to the top but had to have a couple of rests. Great little training venue. Cant feel my arms now though!

Today I was out with a group of 6 who were after some preparation before the winter months kick in. The group have all walked and navigated in the summer environment but have very little experience in the snow. We firstly went over the basics of navigation and go over any grey areas before we got into more winter navigation techniques. We discussed the hazards and problems that can occur in the winter mountains and how it can affect us navigating and most importantly how we can deal with it. After revising the basic skills we went through several winter navigation strategies and what we can do in poor visibility situations. We spent quite alot of time looking at contour features and slope aspect as this was a week area for all the group as well as relocation. On the top of Pen y Ole Wen we looked at techniques for protecting near a corniced edge using a rope. Unfortunately the weather was very summery, I have never taught winter navigation/skills in a t-shirt and sun hat!!

This axe has been up most of the winter and alpine routes I have done! Its a good axe!