Winter Climbing and scrambling in West Coast Scotland with Kendal Mountaineering Services. January 2012.

Welcome to Kendal Mountaineering services first blog post of the 2012 season. Iain is up in Scotland and will be winter climbing and scrambling most of the time as well as running some winter skills courses for various people and organisations including The Cadets. The weather could be better, but there is snow and winter conditions to be had - here's a run down of what Iain has been up to so far.

The first photo shows Ken Applegate, an MIC Trainee from Fort William on Curved Ridge (III), Buchaille Etive Mor. Iain arrived west coast Scotland on Jan 17th and the next day went out with Ken to scout Curved Ridge near Glen Coe. Two reasons - to scout it out as a winter route for use with clients and a way to get hill fit again!

We had a good day out. The weather was initially mild but as we ascended towards Curved ridge the temperature dropped and snow patches began to appear. Photo one sees Ken on the lower part of Curved Ridge, Easy Gully (right) is full of snow with Rannoch Wall looming above. The snow however, was not hard until we reached the top of Curved Ridge and although we didn't use crampons until descending via Coire Na Tulaich, an axe was handy to help us get get to the summit safely. A pleasant but short day, Iain dropped Ken back at his van in Glen Coe at 2pm!!

Photo two was taken on Thursday by Iain in Coire Nam Beithe and boy - was it windy! Iain had met Ken & his mate Scott with the intention of climbing North Buttress on The Buchaille (IV'4) but as there was virtually no fresh snow on it we decided not to bother.

Iain decided to go for a walk into Coire Nam Beithe and solo Summit Gully (II). The weather was looking changeable with cloud around the summits and a North Westerly wind blowing. This turned into a full gale as Iain topped out on Stob Coire Nam Beithe.

Despite the gale & whiteout conditions, Iain continued around the skyline in the photo over Bidean Nam Bian and descended to the bealach in the left of the photo. Getting back down Coire Nam Beithe was interesting with the wind trying to blow Iain back uphill as well as picking up every bit of loose snow available and seemingly throwing it in his face - ow!

All in all, it was an interesting day out.


Photo three shows Scott & Ken (green helmet) after the three of us had climbed North Buttress (IV'4) on Buchaille Etive Mor on Friday.

Both Guys have booked MIC assessments this winter and wanted to get out and practise winter multi-pitch climbing/guiding two clients. Iain was happy to go along and help as well as be guided up five pitches of mixed climbing - rock and snow but not much ice!

Thee was a fair bit of discussion on stances about managing ropework and Iain hopes it was a useful day for the lads - he certainly enjoyed himself. North Buttress is good at it's grade of IV'4. Some of the pitches certainly felt harder and were steep.

Anyway, good climbing, good conditions and thanks Ken & Scott. Best of luck with those MIC assessments guys.



Saturday 21st January was extremely stormy, indeed, Iain was woken in the night by the wind outside the accommodation. Getting up at 07:00 confirmed that this was not to be a safe hill day so Iain settled in at the Ice Factor to catch up online.

He wasn't in there long before an old mate - Ash St John Claire arrived with two friends in tow and Iain was asked to join them on the ice climbing wall. Photo four shows Iain getting some climbing in on the wall - great fun but flippin hard on the forearms!


Ash had plans on Sunday to get out with the girls on Ben Nevis and asked Iain if he would like to join them. The avalanche forecast was considerable for east facing slopes and Iains concern was the strength of the westerly wind that would be encountered at the top of the proposed route - but!

The weather was good the next day, light wind and a little snow, blue skies & views on occasion - just right for tackling Ledge Route (II) on Ben Nevis.

Photo five shows (left to Right) Ash, Sarah & Emily enjoying some exposure on the arete on Ledge Route. Ledge route is a fantastic introduction to winter mountaineering on Ben Nevis - there being opportunities for teaching multi-pitch climbing in the lower part and short roping further up. The route was well banked out with snow throughout and was a truly pleasant climb. Iain & Ash coached the girls in the techniques of winter multi-pitch climbing and then, as he has his MIC Training coming up soon, Ash decided to practise short roping techniques as seen in this photo. Once at the top it was clear that descending via No4 Gully was not an option as the cornice overhung the gully head by ten feet!! So down via the Red Burn and back. A truly memorable day out.


The final photo in this blog post shows Kate Gilliver
who was out for a day with Iain on The Zig Zags - a fine little grade two winter scramble on the east side of Gearr Aonach in Glen Coe.

Kate has been a client of Iains on a number of occasions - having previously attended two of our Cairngorms based Winter Skills courses and a Navigation and snowholing course again, on The Cairngorms.

We ascended The Zig Zags only encountering snow on the upper half. On the way up we looked at basic scrambling techniques and pitched a few steeper sections. This photo was taken at the first steep step when turning back south from the initial ledge ascent. At the top Kate decided that she wanted to revisit techniques used for an abseil descent and so back down we went. Kate thoroughly enjoyed her day out with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services and learned a great deal of new techniques.

The weather was kind to us and Iain looks forward to seeing Kate again in March when a whole crowd of us head over to Knoydart for a weeks holiday.

So that's it for the mo folks. Iain will be back in action again on Thursday with Benn. Probably Coire An Lochan first up for some winter skills. Iain will try to keep all of you interested people updated when he can. Next blog post probably 30th January.

Mountain Navigation Skills Training courses in The Lake District. November 5th & 6th 2011.

During the weekend of November 5th
& 6th 2011, four people came together to join Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services on one of our renowned Mountain Navigation Skills training courses in The Lake District.

From left to right in photo on we have John, Sarah & Alan and Skip who had come along for the weekend hoping to improve their map reading &
navigation skills.

These four people had come to us via a number of sources. John - simply by Googling navigation skills training courses had found the KMS website, Sarah & Alan came to us via the online outdoor enthusiasts site MyOutdoors and Skip had come to us via Outdoorsmagic.

Our Mountain Navigation Skills Training courses are all about taking you from where you are and improving your skills to confidently go into the UK's mountains using a map & compass. Our courses will help you work out where you are, plan a route and know where you are going by being able to identify what is around you simply by using a map & compass.

In photo two, Alan takes a compass bearing for what was to be our first leg taking; and walking on a bearing
and using pacing to arrive at a predetermined grid reference on the map.

We had started the session on the first day by firstly orientating the map and discussing the significance of grid references. We then had walked from our vehicles to the point in this photo "handrailing" a linear feature - in this case a bridleway - moving between grid references and using a combination of pacing and tick off features to help us identify exactly where we were along our route in relation to where we wanted to get to.




From the place where photo two was taken, we then switched to more advanced map reading techniques for the remainder of the day in so much that rather than following linear features such as a path/track, wall or stream, we located specific (although not necessarily obvious) features on the
map such as re-entrants or ring
contours and made our way to them using a combination of bearings and pacing the measured distance.

Saturday was a lovely sunny day - visibility was great, too good really for a Mountain Navigation Skills Training course but when you consider the cold & wet conditions we could have had at this time of year - we weren't complaining!

Photo three shows our team at Skeggles Water on Green Quarter Fell towards the end of the afternoon. The sun was starting to set and a cold north easterly breeze had set in, but it had been a great and worthwhile day for everyone with everyone learning a lot of new navigational skills from Iain.


Unfortunately, Sarah & Alan were unable to join us on the Sunday, so Iain set off with Skip and John to carry on with day two of our Mountain Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District.

This time we drove further up the Kentmere Valley and set off up Shipman Knotts with the intention of consolidation the navigation skills learned the previous day, putting them into use today and having a mountain journey on a well known ridge as well.

In photo four, taken from Shipman Knotts, we have a great view across to the hills on the western side of the Kentmere Horseshoe - Yoke, Ill Bell & Froswick. Today we had no breeze, wall to wall blue sky and stunning views in all directions.


We continued on our way looking at more advanced navigational
techniques such as using the compass the identify a ground feature on the map. We also discussed timings and Naithsmiths Rule.

We eventually reached Harter Fell before heading back to the parked car picking up the head of Drygrove Gill and the Ull Stone en route.

As these are both on a slope and had to be located using pacing and bearings Skip & John did week to find them, but both had come along well on our weekend Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District.

Iain wishes all four attendees the best of luck with their forays into the mountains with their new & improved map reading skills.

Other photographs from this Mountain Navigation Skills Training course in The Lake District can be viewed here.

Our next Mountain Navigation Skills Training course in The Lake District will be running during the weekend of March 31st & April 1st 2012. If you would like to attend then contact us via the Kendal Mountaineering Services Website here. The cost is £80 per person for the two day course and maps are provided by us.

We look forward to working with you.

An all day caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Kendal Mountaineering Services. October 28th, 2011.

Andrea Ubhi booked a half day introductory caving session and a half day rock climbing session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park for herself and her three children with Kendal Mountaineering services - to take place during the Autumn half term holiday.

Iain met the family at the Inglesport Cafe & Shop in Ingleton - gateway to The Yorkshire Dales National Park, before we all headed to Ribblehead to go underground.

In the first photo - left to right are Matt, Ellie, Andrea & Nick, dressed up ready to go caving. Some people may recognise the view in the background (Alum Pot), the venue was Long Churns near to Ribblehead - one of the areas best places for introductory caving sessions in The Yorkshire Dales National Park.


In photo two, we had already been underground to do some pretty meaty caving. None of the family had caved before so Iain felt it only appropriate to take them into the easy Middle Entrance at Long Churns and we then headed downstream into Lower Long Churns.

Nick & Matt proved themselves to be very keen & capable by getting through The Cheese Press whilst Iain lowered Andrea & Ellie down the pitch into Cathedral Cavern. They had been told to wait until Iain got to the other side of the Cheese Press to see them through - boys will be boys!

After that, we had a quick visit to the Dolly Tubs so the family could see the light streaming in from Alum pot before exiting via Diccan Entrance which is where photo two was taken.



We went back into Middle Entrance on our introductory caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park and Iain let the family lead on upstream in the roomy & safe passage of Upper Long Churns having told them to stop when they got to a large pool and waterfall (Dr Bannisters Washbasin).

Photo three shows Andrea climbing up this waterfall by way of an assisted handline. Ellie had come up first and Andrea took her out to daylight where she could warm up. The plan had been that Ellie would leave us at lunchtime, she had done very well for a first time underground and had thoroughly enjoyed her introduction to caving with Iain. The two boys followed after this photo was taken - both on assisted handlines of course






Iain changed the afternoon plan for a number of reasons. We had initially intended to do an introductory rock climbing session at Twistleton Scars but whilst the day was fine & dry, there was a cold wind that would have made a rock climbing session untenable in the conditions; and apart from that everyone had enjoyed the morning caving session so much that they wanted to do more in the afternoon.

Iain had come prepared for this eventuality and so offered the trio a slightly harder trip - that being a level two caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park. In photo four Matt, Andrea & Nick are coached in the use of cows tails on traverse lines in preparation for the next caving trip .

A level two caving session with Kendal Mountaineering Services differs from a level one trip in so much as it is a more technical type of caving trip. A level one caving trip is essentially a walk in & out trip which may contain vertical drops and climbs of up to six feet - Long Churns is a fine example of such a caving trip.


Photo five shows Matt being lowered down a pitch which is considerably more than six feet - more like forty five! Level two cave leaders can take novice cavers on trips with vertical drops of up to 18m or 60 feet. These trips involve more rope, more technical equipment for lowering and belaying climbers using ladders to climb pitches and the skills to use cowstails on traverse lines such as had been set up to get Matt to the pitch head from where this photograph is taken.

The cave Iain chose to take the party to was the Calf Holes/Browgill system near Birkwith in The Yorkshire Dales National Park - pretty much directly opposite Long Churns in the Ribblehead area.

To get to this point, Matt had traversed 30 feet on his own using cowstails and a traverse line above the 45 foot drop where Browgill Beck plunges down the Calf Holes shaft. Well done Matt!

Having lowered Matt, Andrea & Nick in to Calf Holes, we all set off downstream in the active streamway passage. After about 500m the stream sinks in to the floor on the left and the way on gets lower & lower until one has to crawl through a small hole in the left of the passage - Hainsworths Passage. This is a quite challenging crawl through a small, tight passageway.

Hainsworths Passage is the connection with the lower part of Browgill cave and the way on past the waterfall and rift passage that leads out to daylight. In photo six Andrea emerges in the lower part of the cave having just crawled through The Slot in Hainsworths Passage with the two boys having followed Iain through first.

We followed the stream on to the head of the waterfall and a had a look down that before taking the descent route down to the foot of the fall and the rift passage.

Eventually, we arrived at daylight, but the plan Iain had offered the trio was to turn around and return underground to Calf Holes so they could experience climbing out by caving ladder.

Back at Hainsworths Passage, Iain took the family through via a different route - The Letterbox; and in photo seven Matt has just followed Iain through the tightest bit - smiling as he did throughout the day.

The final photograph from this day sees Andrea reaching the pitch head at Calf Holes after a strenuous climb up a caving ladder. Matt had climbed out first and made his way along the traverse line to safe ground and Nick was the last to climb out of Calf Holes into the sunlight.

Calf Holes is a great introduction to level two caving sessions in The Yorkshire Dales National Park and bearing in mind how readily the family had taken to caving in the morning session Iain had felt confident about their ability to succeed in Calf Holes in the afternoon.

The family had a fantastic experience caving with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services and they did extremely well.

We base all of our caving sessions around your ability and aspirations and know many appropriate venues where we can go and have a great exprience in this exciting & challenging environment. All of the pictures from Andrea, Nick, Matt & Ellis caving day can be viewed here.

To book your half or full day caving session in The Yorkshire Dales National Park with Kendal Mountaineering Services contact us here, Prices start from £45 per person for a half day caving session. All of the equipment worn in these photos by Andrea & her family are provided as part of your fee.

Iain's next post will be about the upcoming Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District National Park this coming weekend. Lots of fun in the mountains learning how to use a map & compass. Read about it all on the Kendal Mountaineering Services Blog!

Introductory Moving water Kayak Skills Training courses in The Lake District. Middle Derwent. October 15th 2011.

Teresa Middleton booked a introductory moving water kayak skills training course with Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services for herself and her partner Gareth.

Both are keen outdoor enthusiasts and had previously been rafting at Canolfan Tryweryn in North Wales. Having seen many kayakers there enjoying running the Afon Tryweryn, both Teresa & Gareth decided that it was something they would like to try out for themselves.

Teresa had googled "kayaking courses Lake District" and had found the Kendal Mountaineering Services website. On contacting Iain, Teresa liked what we had to offer (basically one of our bespoke packages built around Teresas needs & concerns) and subsequently booked a single day course with him. Photo one shows Teresa & Gareth on Derwentwater - lovely weather and a great day for doing a river trip for the first time.

Before we ventured on to the River Derwent, Iain spent some time coaching the pair in the basics of Kayak handling including reverse paddling before we headed to the outflow of Derwentwater and the start of the Middle Derwent - flowing between Derwentwater & Bassenthwaite Lake.

Once on the River Derwent, the pair were able to use the skills Iain had already provided them with to good effect - particularly the reverse paddling.

The Derwent leaves the lake as a narrow and deep channel overhung by trees growing just above or indeed in the river. These are known as strainers and are very dangerous indeed to kayakers or open canoeists who can be tipped out of their craft by these or pinned against them by flowing water.

Reverse paddling on a river allows you to slow down your forward momentum and "set" your position on moving water to avoid such hazards. We had to start doing this pretty much immediately upon leaving Derwentwater.

A little further on we arrived at the confluence of the River Greta which flows in to the Derwent from Keswick - it is virtually stationary as it joins the larger Derwent. Here, we could start to look at the concept of eddies (areas of stationary or relatively stationary water) that we could use as stepping stones or gathering points for our little party as we made our way down river. Iain taught Teresa & Gareth how to break into and out of eddies using the flow of water to help them make turns in to and out of the current. Probably one of the most important things they heard Iain say all day was "lean downstream!"


Eddy hopping and reading the river took up most of the next few hours as we made our way from the Greta Confluence down under Portinscale footbridge (photo two) and onwards under the A66 road bridge.

We encountered only one fisherman on our kayak descent of the Middle Derwent and he politly let us through without comment.

For most of our introductory moving water Kayak skills training course our views were dominated by the massive bulk of Skiddaw rising to our north and looking great in the afternoon sunshine.

The latter part of our introductory moving water kayak skills training course in The Lake District involved going with the flow, practising a bit of forward & reverse ferry gliding and staying out of the way of strainers whilst enjoying the view of Skiddaw and Dodd Wood near to our getout, rising to the north.

We had to exit the river at Low Stock Bridge only a matter of a few hundred metres from the Middle Derwents confuence with the National Park reserve at the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake. In the final photo Teresa & Gareth empty out their kayaks at Low Stock Bridge before beginning the 500m portage to the road and Iains car.

The pair enjoyed their introductory moving water kayak skills training course with Iain. It had been a challenging day for them and the Middle Derwent had been an appropriate trip although both agreed that it was just enough. The Middle derwent is great for introductory open canoeing sessions too! Iain hopes that they enjoyed the rest of their weekend break here in The Lake District and make the move to do further kayaking trips themselves. Best of luck!

If you would like to book an introductory Kayaking or open canoeing session in The Lake District on either flat or moving water, contact Iain at Kendal Mountaineering services here.

Further photos from Teresa & Gareths day out with Iain can be viewed here

Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District. Stickle Ghyll, Langdale Saturday 8th October 2011.

On October 8th, Iain from Kendal Mountaineering services was out ghyll scrambling again for another business - back once again in Stickle Gill in Langdale here in The Lake District.

It was another fine day and there was less water in Stickle Gill this time than when Iain was last here with groups of undergraduates from Cambridge University.

This time Ian was here again with undergarduates and international students too, but this time from Grantham in Lincolnshire.

There was only one group of five in the morning but we had 24 students to deal with in the afternoon, so Iain was joined by two other instructors then. Photo one shows Iains team at the first climb in Stickle Ghyll.




With such a small team, Iain was able to crack on up the ghyll and reach his usual high point in photo two in a relatively short space of time.

Here, the instructor generally climbs the rock rib behind the group between the two waterfalls and rigs up a belay at the top before bringing the group up one by one.

Occasionally we manage to do the next roped climb above here, but the party had got well & truly stuck in to the experience of ghyll scrambling (otherwise known as gorge walking) and were wet through. They were happy to call time on the session once atop the waterfall.


Photo three shows Iain's much larger afternoon ghyll scrambling group about half way up Stickle Gill. Stickle ghyll along with Church Beck is one of the most regularly used venues for ghyll scrambling & gorge walking sessions in The Lake District although unlike Church Beck, Stickle Gill is not suitable as a canyoning venue.



Stickle gill has a smaller catchment area than Church Beck and so is generally a smaller stream making it suitable for use with groups of children and so it gets a lot of traffic from outdoor centres - there were five other groups in the ghyll with us in the afternoon.


Our fouth & final photo from this ghyll scrambling post. Eight happy clients at the top of the large upper waterfall climb in Stickle Gill and the end of another moist day for Iain.

It is getting rather late in the year now for ghyll scrambling, gorge walking or Canyoning half day sessions here in the Lake District, but if you want - we can still do it!

Everyone on our sessions gets provided with a full wetsuit, a cagoule, a bouyancy aid, helmets, harnesses and walking boots as part of your fee making us one of the best Lake District based outdoor pursuits companies to try this sport with.

If you would like to try Ghyll Scrambling or canyoning just as a fun thing to do or as part of a corporate event or Stag or Hen Event then contact us at Kendal Mountaineering Services and we'll be happy to arrange it for you. More photos from this ghyll scrambling day can be viewed here.

Corporate Team Building events in the Lake District. Tuesday October 4th 2011.

On Tuesday October 4th, Kendal Mountaineering Services ran a corporate team building event for clients from GEN II Training Ltd.


GEN II work in partnership with a number of UK industries to recruit and train apprentices for those industries. Kendal Mountaineering Services has already been involved with the induction programmes for the Nucleargraduates Scheme run by GEN II and pretty much everyone in photo one has attended one of our ghyll scrambling & canyoning session as part of their induction.

We were asked by GEN II to put together a one day corporate event to focus on teamwork, leadership and communication skills where there would be three separate teams with an element of competition between those teams. Iain put together a proposal which involved a lake cluefind session on Derwentwater (the client had specified a water activity as part of the proposal), standalones, rock climbing and the building of a Tyrolean traverse. Each team would be required to complete all four tasks during the course of the day starting with the lake canoe cluefind.



So, starting at 10am, the teams headed out on to Derwentwater to commence the first task - basically a water based orienteering event. Each team consisted of a pair of rafted canadian canoes carrying 12 people. Each group had a map showing locations of clues which they then had to find and bring back a pair of letters located at each point to gain points. Penalties were incurred for clues not found and for being late back - we were on a tight schedule!


After lunch at 12 each team set off on the afternoon "round robin" of team tasks that had been set out for them on the area. Photo two shows one team engaged with problem solving at the standalones. There were five tasks set up here for each team to choose three from these. Each task involved a brief outlining what was to be achieved and what equipment was available. There were constraints and penalties for failure to comply with the brief and failure to keep to time.


These tasks were designed to get people working together as part of a team, to actively partake in discussions intended to arrive at a shared understanding of what was to be achieved at each task with individuals understanding their part in achieving success. At the end of each task there was a short review from which indiviuals were intended to "take way" learning points from that task in order that they could be applied to the next task and within their workplace. Each task was expected to take no more than 20 minutes (an hour for three) and points gained from here were added towards each groups final total.


Photo three shows one of the teams at the site of the Tyrolean Traverse over Watendlath Beck. The Tyrolean had been part rigged by the attendant technician who was in charge of safety during this task. With the aid of a diagram, each team was expected to tension the tyrolean ropes to a stage where all team members could be successfully transported across the gorge which the Tyrolean spanned.

In this photo, a team member crosses the gorge suspended from the Tyrolean whilst the rest of the team look on. Points were gained for each team member successfully completing a crossing. As well as having to work together to rig the Tyrolean there was certainly an element of reacting to challenge here as the ropeway spanned a precipitous secion of the gorge with a large waterfall crashing down a drop directly below.




Photo four shows one delegate attached to the Tyrolean rig prior to crossing the gorge and the photo was taken to show the complexity of the rigging and equipment required to make it all work.

The chap in the picture has joined the GEN II Nucleargraduate programme and so has already reached a high standard in their education. At the end of the two year apprenticeship with GEN II all apprentices will be taking up posts within the UK nuclear industry and may well find themselves in situations where they are presented with instructions and a range of unfamiliar equipment - and then be expected to build something or make something work.

This task involved the use of pulleys, Jumars and various other bits of equipment and systems that would be unfamilair to most of these graduate apprentices. However, with minimal assistance from the technician, each team managed to rig and run a successful Tyrolean session. Well done!



The fourth photograph from the GEN II Corporate teambuilding event shows a team at Upper Shepherds crag not far from the location of the Tyrolean venue.


Here, each team member was required to attempt rock climbing in order to gain further points for their team and the higher they climbed, the more points they earned. Other team members were expected to support, encourage and maintain the safety of those climbing whilst learning the new ropework skill of belaying.









For the rock climbing, each team of twelve was subdivided into teams of four - one person climbing, one person belaying and two people tailing ie holding on to the dead rope whilst the climber climbed.


Climbing was very challenging for some members of each team and being lowered back down in the abseiling position by their colleagues more challenging still!

At the end of the afternoon all teams reconvened at our venue - the Lodore Falls Hotel where they were expected to give a five minute presentation with regards to what they had learned during the day with respect to teamwork, leadership, communication, trust and support.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their teambuilding event with us. It had been a physically demanding day and undoubtedly challenging for every team member at some point throughout the day, However, everyone will go away with a better understanding of the value of efficient team work and how communication and good planning can go together to make for the successful completion of a task within or outwith the workplace.


We would like to thank GEN II for the opportunity to organise and run this corporate event for them. Also worthy of a mention are John & Sarah of Platty+ who provided the canoes & safety cover for the lake cluefind and the Lodore Falls Hotel for providing an excellent venue on Borrowdale in The Lake District from where we were able to run this event.


If you are looking for a teambuilding event or an event with a difference then we at Kendal Mountaineering services can organise this for you. As well as the many outdoor activities and skills training courses we offer we are more than happy to put together a corporate package if you would like a well organised and challenging day out for your clients or staff that will be fun but may have an educational or teambuilding theme. Contact us to arrange your bespoke event.

Other photographs from the GEN II Teambuilding Event can be viewed here.

Ghyll Scrambling sessions in The Lake District with Kendal Mountaineering services. Monday 26th September 2011.

As well as running our own outdoor activity sessions & skills training courses here at Kendal Mountaineering services, sometimes we also assist others with the delivery of their outdoor programmes and in turn they assist us with the delivery of ours. It is all part of a very healthy system of teamwork between individual outdoor activity providers here in The Lake District.

On this occasion, Iain was contracted in to provide ghyll scrambling sessions for another provider and spent the day in Stickle ghyll at Langdale in The Lake District National Park with some very pleasant international undergraduates from Cambridge University.

These young people were on a week long visit to the Lake District and as well as ghyll scrambling, they were also rock climbing, hill walking and kayaking as part of their week away.

The first photo shows Iain's morning group at the foot of the first climb in Stickle Ghyll - they really were a a fab bunch!



Photo two shows the group making their way up the ghyll. There was a fair amount of water on this day and it was quite chilly - just prior to that warm spell that returned at the end of September. Anyway, the group made up for the lack of warmth and sheer volume of water with loads of enthusiasm right throughout the session as we made our way upstream on our ghyll scrambling adventure.

Just in front of the nearest person in photo two, Iain had the experience of seeing a trout jump as it tried to make it's way upstream - presumably to eventually spawn somewhere upstream. So, we weren't the only ones ghyll scrambling on this day - but did the fish realise just what a journey it had ahead of itself? Obviously not! However, at some time in the past fish have made it up Stickle Ghyll as the tarn feeding the stream is full of Brown Trout and Minnows - how they got there remains a mystery.


Photo three is a fine view up Stickle Ghyll to the distant buttress of Tarn Crag. Tarn Crag is a place where Iain from Kendal Mountaineering Services frequently runs his popular scrambling skills training courses. Our last scrambling skills training course ran in August and you can read about it here.

So what is ghyll scrambling? Well - basically, the pastime of walking up a mountain stream - climbing up waterfalls, swimming through pools, getting thoroughly wet in the process, but having an exhilarating and refreshing experience. Ghyll scrambling is also known as gorge walking and there are a number of venues where we can provide this for you in the Lake District.

The sport of Canyoning is one where you actually descend a mountain stream - abseiling down waterfalls or jumping into pools from above and again, we have a number of places where we can do this for you - Church Beck being our most popular venue.

Ghyll scrambling is undoubtedly one of our best sellers here at Kendal Mountaineering Services as you'll see by reading our blog over the last few years. It may also be because of the kit we provide as part of your fee - wetsuits, walking boots, cagoules, bouyancy aids, helmets & harnesses are all included in our half day session fee of £45 per person. What this means for you is that you get the best possible equipment to protect you and keep you comfortable in this demanding environment - very much better than some of our competitors who are happy to let you undertake a ghyll scrambling session in shorts and training shoes!

Photo four shows Megan Sim, one of our group climbing the final waterfall on the Stickle Ghyll Ghyll Scrambling session - roped for safety. Her expression is typical of someone attending a ghyll scrambling session with us and as regular attendee on this week away from University, she frequently asks for; and recommends Iain to her colleagues attending these annual ghyll scrambling sessions for the first time.

If you would like to book your ghyll scrambling & canyoning session with us then contact us here. Further photos taken during this day can be viewed here.