Indoor "ice climbing"

P1010826.jpg, a photo by stevemountainguide on Flickr.

As AMI Development Officer I was asked to head up some instructional sessions at the Telegraph Outdoor Show in London. We worked in partnership with DMM using a training wall built specially for us by Steve Mayers of the Beacon Climbing Wall.

We were inundated with demand and ended up running sessions for kids between the main sessions. It was exhausting but fun! Thanks are due to J.P. Edgingon, Hiday Sharon and Edd Stone in particular for their enthusiasm and professionalism in what turned out to be a very demanding few days.

Notice also that we were playing with some of the only "Switch" tools currently available in the UK, as demand has massively outstripped availability.

International Mountain Leader Assessments in the French Pyrenees

P1010972.jpg, a photo by stevemountainguide on Flickr.
My latest assignment was a fortnight working for Plas y Brenin in the French Pyrenees. The course was held at the chalet run by Altitude Adventure leaders Ian and Angela Pendry in the Font Romeu region of the French Pyrenees, this really was the perfect location for this course, with masses of soft powder making snowshoes the logical kit for exploring woodland and crossing frozen lakes.

All the candidates were well prepared and the assessment results showed this. For longer journeys I prefer to travel by skis but for exploring the woods in search of wildlife, snowshoes are the perfect means of travel. It's also pleasant to be wearing comfortable boots. Certainly worth considering also for approaches to ice climbs.