Back to the Office....

Just returned to the Office after a week in Scotland working the the Diploma of Mountain Medicine group. although the snow is going rapidly from the lower levels there is still plenty high up. weatherwise it was pretty good with wet starts to the first three days but drying up as the morning progressed on each occasion. Thursday was a little grim but that didn't really matter as we were only assesssing navigation that day. Friday was the Avalanche Scenario day and that was really wild so we had to be a little inventive as to where we went and the debris left behind below the railway line just above Tyndrum were just about perfect. A great week and nice to be out of the office for a few days mixing with a really great group of BMG's and MIC's.

Mal

Climbing Wall Leading Award launch

Today we launched the Climbing Wall Leading Award to a group representing several of our stakeholder organisations, timed to coincide with an induction workshop for prospective providers. The launch event was held at Leicester leisure centre "The Towers" Climbing Wall, a fitting venue for the event.

Western Gully, Black Ladders (VI,6)

Last Thursday, Gareth and I walked in to the Black Ladders in the Carneddau range of Snowdonia.
The walk in was pretty warm to say the least and a few keen teams were making good progress to the crag. We headed for Western Gully (grade VI,6) - I had seconded this route about 8 years ago so was keen to lead some of it this time.

We had one team ahead of us, and we swung the leads with Gareth doing a sterling job of the icicle and slab pitch and me doing the rest. The route was in good condition, but getting pretty thin on the crux slab high on the route.



We topped out knackered and blessed with a cloudless sky and warm spring like sunshine, and made the walk back to the car, feeling very happy with the day.

Bryn

A busy week

I've been trying to complete the Board minutes from a series of Board meetings on 5-6th March before blogging again. However it's been such a roller-coaster lately that there are still one set of minutes incomplete, so this is just a short "holding" piece. The meetings were held at Glenmore Lodge and I will be posting up news about some of the exciting developments in the near future.

Today Rachael and I met Mick Ryan from the UKclimbing (UKC) website to look at potential advertising opportunities. It's been hard trying to promote the brand of Mountain Leader Training when we have so many different and somewhat disconnected websites, but we now have a much more coherent and shared vision, so I think it will become progressively easier to get the message across about our qualifications. We have a pretty simple underlying message really:

ML Training is run by mountaineers for mountaineers, in order to train people to lead and teach safely in the places where they love to be.

Sounds good to me!

MLT Board meeting

Last week I was attending a Mountain Leader Training (MLT) Board meeting at Glenmore Lodge in Aviemore.
Following the meetings (2 days worth!) I had booked some play time and was pleased to get a good forecast and plenty of snow, in fact I was hoping to climb but there was too much snow for that so the skis were the best choice.


On the Sunday Rob and I got to the Ciste car park as the top was full (by 8.30am). We put climbing skins on the skis and started the plod up hill to Cairngorm. From the summit we skied across to the top of Cairn Lochan. The plan was to head over to Ben Macdui but the overnight frost had left the plateau snow with a hard icy layer on top making for challenging ski conditions.


We dropped down to Miadan Creag an Leth-choin, and skied back to the upper car park on great snow and in about ten min. It was then a short skin up from the car pack and then the final descent into Coire na Ciste and back to the car.
On Monday I was up early and drove to the top car park and put climbing skins again and headed up Fiacaill Choire Chais to point 1141m. The snow was hard and icy, under a cloudless sky. I then dropped down from here to Coire an Sneachda, which was a good angle but very icy, and back out to the car, and off to the Lake District.

A great few days and incredible amounts of snow around, so its looking good for late season climbing or touring.

Bryn

MLTA goes to LLAMFF

This weekend saw MLTA exhibiting at the now annual Llanberis Mountain Film Festival. This is really just posh speak for standing in a cold and draughty marquee for the weekend! However, it was a great chance to chat to old and new friends and MLTA members and there will now be lots of children using MLTA pens in school this morning!

There seemed to be a lot of people enjoying the opportunity to indulge in some mountain culture, inspite of the beautiful weather which now seems to coincide with the Festival every year!I even managed to escape for a few fascinating hours spent at one of Dave MacLeod's Climbing Masterclasses.

Our thank to Mountain Equipment, the main Festival sponsors for providing the display space.

MLTA workshops

If you're looking to brush up your climbing and navigation skills, you may be interested in a couple of workshops running later this month. Turbo SPA and Lumps, Bumps and Overused Needles ( aka Coaching Navigation) will be running on 20th and 21st March in the Peak District.
For more info and booking, check out the MLTA website www.mlta.co.uk/further-training.php
Workshops are also open to non members.
Cheers, Rachael