 | 26th - 30th July 2010 Peak District ...with Katherine, James MacHaffie and Jules Barrett Improve your climbing For climbers aged 12-17 £450 |
8 places available
***SOLD OUT***
Registration of interest only
Click here for booking (a £50 deposit is required to secure your place)
If you would like more information email Katherine
If you can't make the above week there may be opportunity to put on another one, please contact Katherine to register your interest.
Following the great success of Rock Action 09, Katherine is running another week long course in the 2010 Summer holidays for young people. If you already have climbing experience, either indoors or outdoors (or a bit of both) but want to learn new stuff, climb lots on rock and be up for a great time this is the week for you. This is a great opportunity as this is the only improver course outdoors for young people in the Peak District. The ratio for all trad leading will be 1:2 and this year more instructors will be joining us to make the course even better. We will ensure that all coaching and instruction is geared to the level you are climbing at, hence the small ratios. Katherine has lots of experience coaching young people including the junior competition climbing team. She also runs BMC Fundamentals courses teaching the basic principles of climbing movement - a vital part of the development of a young climber. The course will be run in partnership with Thornbridge Outdoors, an outdoor centre in the heart of the Peak District.
Prior experience: climbing Fr 5 routes indoors/out, bouldering Font 5, severe climbing outdoors | What's included Itinerary
|
A change in circumstances has meant that I will be joined by James MacHaffie as well as Jules Barrett. Jules worked on the 2009 course and is excited about this year's course too. Katherine will actually be over 7 months pregnant at the time of the course. This means that she will have to take more of a backseat role in the course but of course I'll be there throughout. Here you can read about James and Jules. However during the week we'll also be joined by two other instructors who'll work on a 1:2 ratio for the trad leading part.
James MacHaffie is simply one of the best trad climbers in the country and boasts more E7 onsights to his name than probably anyone else. His understated approach means he's not always making the headlines, but give him a piece of rock and he'll climb it. Here you can see him onsighting Masters Edge (E7) in the Peak District. James is also a very experienced climbing instructor and he holds the MIA (Mountain Instructor Award). He's worked for Plas-y-brenin in Wales for a number of years and spends half the year in North Wales and half the year in the Peak - and the rest on holiday somewhere! He will certainly be a great inspiration for anyone who comes on the course and he's really excited to be a part of it. |  | |
Jules Barrett jumped at the chance to work on the course again this year after the success of the 2009 course. Like James he holds the MIA, but his local stomping ground is the Peak. Jules is really into any kind of outdoor adventure and regularly instructs in far flug places like the Isle of Skye and on the Old Man of Stoer. Like James, Jules has an unassuming manner and does a great job of passing on his huge amount of experience and passion for the sport. |  |
Whatever your current experience, you will definitely learn something new. The course will take different abilities into account depending on your experiences so far and during the course of the week you will go:
- Bouldering
- Trad climbing
- Sport climbing
Within these areas of climbing expect some the following:
- Climbing technique outside – learn to trust your feet and use your balance on the rounded gritstone edges – a totally different experience to indoors
- Develop your route reading skills outside
- Bouldering in a group – using mats and spotters
- Learn to use guidebooks
- Getting to grips with knots, rope and trad equipment
- Setting up belays
- Seconding and top roping traditional climbs
- Abseiling
- Lead trad climbing for some (depending on experience so far)
- Climbing on limestone using bolt protection, a different rock and a different style
- Climbing indoors
As well as all this there will be activities in the evening too: more climbing, slideshows, bar-b-q’s, climbing DVDs, zip wire, ropes courses... You won’t be bored!
The above price includes all
- food
- transport
- accommodation
- equipment hire
(entry to walls in Sheffield extra)
| Monday | arrive at 9.30 bouldering: technique and movement obstacle course/team activities |
| Tuesday | trad climbing - learning about gear and belays, leading for some high ropes course, climbing DVDs |
| Wednesday | trad climbing - your first leads or developing existing skills |
| Thursday | trad climbing - building on your new trad leading bbq |
| Friday | sport climbing, pick up at 3.30pm |
The exact order of activities will depend on the weather. We may focus more on some areas than others If it does rain we will visit one of the excellent climbing walls in Sheffield. Even if we do end up indoors, it's a great environment for more coaching input!
Thornbridge Outdoor Centre is just a couple of miles north of Bakewell and is perfectly positioned to access many of the Peak’s best crags and sits on the edge of the dark and white peak, effectively the divide between gritstone and limestone areas.
The centre is well set up for groups offering accommodation and many onsite activities including a climbing wall and high ropes course.
Thornbridge Outdoors’ insurance covers all the activities we will be running. However accidents to happen and we suggest that all participants on the course get personal insurance for the week. By becoming a BMC member (£17) you automatically get civil liability insurance and personal accident insurance. For an extra £12 you would be insured against baggage, cancellation of the course and extra personal accident insurance. Visit the BMC http://www.thebmc.co.uk/