Hello and welcome to the Mountain-Trips blog. I hope you will find the information within this blog useful and interesting.

I will be using this blog to inform people of new pages, tips and training advice as well as trip reports and photos from my climbing courses.

The photos from recent trips can be seen by clicking on the small folders on the right hand side of the screen, older reports can be viewed by clicking on the 'trip reports' folder.

The tips and advice folder shows information from other websites and reports from the climbing world.

I have been moving around New Zealand for the past couple of weeks spending my time bouldering, hill walking and visiting my brother. On a pitifully wet day we headed down to an indoor climbing wall and discovered that they do things differently over here. New Zealand walls are currently following Australian guidelines, this means that a rope cannot be attached to the climber with a single krab. The method used was to tie in using a figure of eight but then have this backed up by a krab on the same rope.

I thought this system worked well in this indoor climbing wall and would have its uses (in certain situations) in the UK. There are advantages such as backing up the figure of eight knot (there as been a number of incidents where people have not tied in properly at indoor walls), Krabs are easy to clipped so even beginners are able to attach safely (even if they are not proficient in tying knots). Stopper knots are not needed so this is quicker to teach and tie.

The disadvantages are that people become lazy when tying the figure of eight knot when it is backed up by a krab. This is also an unusual system in the UK so people may forget to clip the krab, as they are not used to it.

I thought this is a system that is worth considering at some indoor walls or even group situations. More details can be found at the Aussie health and safety site http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au

DMM have a number of good articles on their site. I thought this one was a good explanation of how to extend a nut so the krab is not running over the edge of the rock.

The information in this article is useful for both Trad climbing and for Bottom roping on Southern Sandstone. There are many times when people will extend a krab over the edge using a grith hitch, I have never been a fan of this as it is a weak knot. This article shows how weak the girth hitch is.

Click here for the DMM article

This table shows the results of the DMM testing.



As you can see the grith hitch broke at an average of 7kn. This is the equivalent of a large sport climbing fall, although a factor one fall on a static rope can create a force greater than 7kn. Whilst climbing on sandstone we will take a fall from above the krab on a static rope, although some of the force will be absorbed by the belayer and the knots, this type of fall will create a force greater than a normal sport climbing fall.

Knowing that a grith hitch is a not that could break under a force of 7kn and a typical sandstone fall can create forces greater than a normal sport climbing fall , I think a better knot than a girth hitch should be used.

A climbing course at Bowles Rocks with great winter weather.

October 22, 2011 - South East course

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All members of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI) are required to keep their skills updated. One method of doing this is to attend a training course. These courses are designed so AMI members can share their experiences and knowledge. The weekend was spent scrambling in the Lake District in rather damp conditions.

Some of the photos are now up from this course. This was a group of people all of whom with previous climbing experience. Many of the group sent the two days climbing on bottom rope whilst some of the more experienced people has a go at leading their first climb.



Click here for more photos.

The first day was spent at Stanage and the second day we all went to Gardoms as none of us had been there before. The photo below shows how I taught lead climbing, I stayed next to the leader so I can check the gear and make sure the ropes are set up correctly at the top.




More photos can be seen here

Click here for more.

Some of the photos are now up from this course. Many came out with rain drops on, so these are some of the better ones.

Here is a list of all the instructional videos from UKC. There is some great stuff in here.

Abseiling past a knot from Steve Long on Vimeo.

This is a video by the MTLA show how to pass a knot when abseiling

Roped soloing is popular in the South East and many people have asked me for my opinion. Roped soloing is more dangerous than pair belaying but this method seems to be the best I have seen.



More information can be found at Petzls website

Most sport quickdraws come with a rubber retainer to help keep the snap link in place. This video shows a problem with this as it is possible for the snap link to come off of the sling and only be held in place by the rubber band

click here for more info

This article highlights some very important points about the use of slings for rock climbing. Click here.

The photos from the weekend course on August the 13th and 14th are available here. This course was designed for two people who have done some winter climbing, seconding and indoor climbing.

Petzl are recalling all GriGri2's with a serial number less than 11137.

Please see the Lyon equipment website and follow the links for more details.

The photos are now up from the Peak District rock climbing course on the 18th of June. Click here.

The photos are now up from this course. Click here

This month saw a bolt fail at Harrisons rocks. It is now thought to have happened during a normal climbing setup and the climber was not at fault. This has lead me to think about how I will be recommending my clients to set up thier ropes in the future. I have made a new web page with my advice at www.mountain-trips.co.uk/safe_method_for_sandstone_climbs.html, I hope you will find this useful.

The photos from this course are now up. This was a course for a group of people wanting to learn how to set up on Southern Sandstone. Click here for the photos.

The photos fro the Peak District leading course have now been posted. Click here.

Photos of the course and the climbing Easter egg hunt are now uploaded

A hot day (it never rains - until we have finished) showing the ropes to a couple of climbing wanting to make the transition from indoors to real rock.

To day I have had the pleasure of being taught some fire lighting skills with the aim of using these on my courses for Bowles outdoor centre. This course was run by Philip Brown from Badger Bushcraft. This was an excellent day out and we have hopfully learnt how to deliver an educational and fun bushcraft session. Some of the photos can be seen in the bushcraft folder on the left.

The photos are now up (the top left). This course was designed to teach a family how to climb safely without instruction. They learnt skills such as belaying, knot tying, placing protection and setting up the ropes at the top of the climb. The weather held (just) and the bananas where found too.

A line that has been tried for a while. I a bit wet at the moment but a good project for the summer   more »

DMM have had to recall some of its new Dragon Cams. Size 4 and 5 cams have been recalled due to a small defect in the axel boss. The problem is simular to the issue with the size 6 cam on the 22nd of July 2010. If you have any of these cams it is important for you to find out if you have an affected model and send them back to DMM.

More details can be found at http://www.dmmclimbing.com/dragonrecall45.asp?l=en. Here you will be able to fill in a form and your cams will have the faulty parts replaced.

If you are lucky enough to be walking in the mountain of Snowdonia, keep your eyes peeled for ...   more »

The first of a new set of articles is now available at www.mountain-trips.co.uk/temptation.html. This will provide tips and advice on how to climb this route.