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22-26th July 2013 Peak District ...with Katherine and James McHaffie Improve your climbing For climbers aged 12-17 £540
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***4 places remaining***
Click here for booking (a £50 deposit is required to secure your place)
If you would like more information email Katherine
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"The Rock Action week is very unique. It is the only course offered in England which give under 18s performance climbing skills. These are covered in a fantastic setting on the cliffs of the peak district, which are ideal for learning the ropes on. The calibre of some of the people on the course the past few years was amazing. They showed the instructors how it's done! Thornbridge and its grounds gives a great place to rest on an evening between the very active days. It has always been a great week to work on" James McHaffie, Rock Action coach |
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Rock Action is a well established outdoor residential climbing course for young people having run for 3 years. 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 ratios will be anything from 1: 4 (for bouldering and sport climbing to 1:2 for trad leading. 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. Katherine and all the instructors and coaches working on Rock Action all hold the Mountain Instructor Award, the highest qualification for outdoor rock climbing. The course will be run in partnership with Thornbridge Outdoors, a local authority 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
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Rock Action has an excellent team of instructors and coaches and Katherine is pleased that James and Jules will be joining the course again this year. During the week we'll also be joined by another instructor who'll work on a 1:2 ratio for the trad leading part.
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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. In 2011 he also made the long awaiting second ascent of the Big Bang 9a. 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. |
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Jules Barrett has worked on Rock Action since the beginning and is a crucial member of the team. 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. You may also find Jules exploring far deep into the ground. He is also one of the UK's top cavers. |
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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.
We strongly 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/
Bookings will be taken with Love to Climb, who will be responsible for organising the course programme, food, logistics etc. and have overall responsibility for the course. The safety management of the rock climbing activities will be the responsibility of Thornbridge Outdoors, who hold the Adventure Activity Licensing Authority (AALA) Licence number L10520/R0740.