Showing posts with label james thacker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label james thacker. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Monday, 8 February 2010
Glen Coe Mixed....
Ive just returned from a fantstic weekend up in the highlands, well more specifically, Glen Coe.
Dan and I ventured up to get a taste for some harder mixed climbing with the help of James Thacker.
Dan and I have been getting a fair bit done recently and have started to cruise through the grades, climbing upto V,5, but pushing it into tecnical 6 or 7 teritory is a different ball game and James gave us a good insight as to what is needed to pull of these more techical routes.
Saturday we opted to head into Stob Coire nan Lochan, where we climbed Twisting Grooves, IV,5 and Scabbard Chimney V,6. Both fantastic routes, with great climbing. Conditions wise, the freezing level was higher than expected resulting in a slighly warmer day than forcasted, but the climbing was good with well frozen turf and neve.
Sunday we opted for Church Door Buttress on Bidean nam Bian. As we approached, it was clear that the crag was in stonking nick, well iced and well rimed. The approach to the base of the buttress, up the steeper slopes from the lower boulders held a fair ammount of slab, although this wasnt too poorley bonded, care was needed to avoid any slides.
With our aim being, Flake route right hand, V,7, we sorted the ropes and James got underway on the initial crux pitch. A series of tough, sustained hooks and torques up a corner crack with the slightest footholds, opened up this fantastic route (nice work from James!). The rest of the route felt like a real adventure, (with excellent climbing of upto tech 6) meandering around corners, squeezing through tunnels, climbing up a series of small chockstones and traversing over a hanging rock bridge!
A brilliant couple of days out out, for more info visit James Thackers blog here: http://www.jamesthacker.co.uk/reports/reports.html
Dan and I ventured up to get a taste for some harder mixed climbing with the help of James Thacker.
Dan and I have been getting a fair bit done recently and have started to cruise through the grades, climbing upto V,5, but pushing it into tecnical 6 or 7 teritory is a different ball game and James gave us a good insight as to what is needed to pull of these more techical routes.
Saturday we opted to head into Stob Coire nan Lochan, where we climbed Twisting Grooves, IV,5 and Scabbard Chimney V,6. Both fantastic routes, with great climbing. Conditions wise, the freezing level was higher than expected resulting in a slighly warmer day than forcasted, but the climbing was good with well frozen turf and neve.
Sunday we opted for Church Door Buttress on Bidean nam Bian. As we approached, it was clear that the crag was in stonking nick, well iced and well rimed. The approach to the base of the buttress, up the steeper slopes from the lower boulders held a fair ammount of slab, although this wasnt too poorley bonded, care was needed to avoid any slides.
With our aim being, Flake route right hand, V,7, we sorted the ropes and James got underway on the initial crux pitch. A series of tough, sustained hooks and torques up a corner crack with the slightest footholds, opened up this fantastic route (nice work from James!). The rest of the route felt like a real adventure, (with excellent climbing of upto tech 6) meandering around corners, squeezing through tunnels, climbing up a series of small chockstones and traversing over a hanging rock bridge!
A brilliant couple of days out out, for more info visit James Thackers blog here: http://www.jamesthacker.co.uk/reports/reports.html
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Improvised Rescue and Problem Solving
Yesterday me and Dan headed out with James thacker http://www.jamesthacker.co.uk/ to have a look at some improvised ropework and problem solving. Milestone Buttress on Tryfan made an ideal venue to practice some rope trickery including learning how to escape the system, lower and abseil past a knot, counter balance rescues, assisted abseils and more.
The day went really well as the weather held off and we managed to pack a fair ammount of advanced techniques into the day. James proved to be a wealth of knowledge, and a good laugh, showing us a couple of little tricks that could come in very handy along the way, like the rope bomb!!
Cheers for a great day James!
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