Lying at the heart of the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales, Plas y Brenin is uniquely placed for rock climbing. The rock is of the highest quality and many of Britain's best mountain crags are only minutes away.
The Rock Improvers course is aimed at people who whish to progress onto multi pitch crags, get to grips with double rope techniques, push their grade, or simply consolidate their existing experience. As a minimum it is necessary to be a proficient second and understand the principles of leading before attending this course.
Each morning the course staff decide on a venue which is best suited to the weather conditions and the group. The first two days are spent at single pitch crags. For the final three days, the group is split into pairs, with one instructor per pair, to tackle some of the larger multi pitch crags.
During a week of intensive climbing, the following areas are covered in detail:
Details of this and other courses can be found on the Plas y Brenin website at www.pyb.co.uk
Monday
After a general introduction from course director, Phil Douthwaite, we headed out to some local boulders for a morning of bouldering with the emphasis on training for climbing, problem solving and movement techniques.
After a short break for lunch, and a visit to the ice cream van on the A498, we drove down to the Llanberis Pass. We spent the rest of the afternoon below Dinas Mot concentrating on setting up top ropes that could be used by groups of climbers on a single pitch crag.
Tuesday
With the prospect of another hot and sunny day, we headed off to the Anglesey coast to a single pitch sea cliff, referred to locally as ‘Crag X’, just south of the main Gogarth climbing area. Continuing the theme of gear placement, we spent some time assessing the placement of gear on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the criteria of direction, overlap, contact, and rock solidity. We then looked at the organization of a lead rack and some strategies for easily identifying and locating gear when leading on a crag.
Meanwhile the tide had started to go out, revealing a large wave cut platform at the base of the cliff. Putting the scrambling techniques learnt yesterday into practice, we scrambled down the side of the cliff and traversed round to the platform where we identified the routes we were going to climb. Having done this we scrambled back to the top of the cliff and, working in pairs, set up top ropes for these climbs. We spent the remainder of the afternoon taking it in turns to climb and belay, lowering our partners down to the platform and belaying them back up the cliff.
After tea and cake back at the centre, we had an evening session consolidating the theory and practice of setting up and equalizing anchors in preparation for our multi pitch outing tomorrow. We also looked at emergency techniques and methods of escaping the system before practicing the art of prussiking up and down a free rope.
Wednesday
Today the group was split into pairs and each pair assigned an instructor to work with them for the remainder of the week. We headed off to the Llanberis Pass with our instructor, Cath Wilson, for the first day of multi pitch climbing. We parked in the layby at the base of Dinas Cromlech and scrambled up to the start of Flying Buttress, a two star VDiff climb, which we seconded in four pitches.
This was a fairly easy warm up climb with plenty of exposure and fantastic views up and down the Pass.
After scrambling back down a gulley, we then moved on to something more challenging, Noah’s Warning (VS 4c, 5a).
This left just enough time for a quick spot of bouldering on Joe Brown’s Mantleshelf at the base of the Cromlech before heading back to the centre for tea and cake.
Thursday
After our day of seconding yesterday, it was time to move on to leading our own climbs on double ropes. We headed off to the Idwell slabs in the Ogwen Valley to attempt Charity, a classic two star VDiff climb. Taking it in turns to lead each pitch, we climbed to the top of the slabs in four pitches under Cath's close supervision, placing our own gear and setting up all the belays.
Rather than abseiling off, we set up protection for a traverse and down climb around the Suicide Wall area to the left of the slabs. During our descent of the gulley to the base of the climb, the RAF provided us with a noisy demonstration of helicopter search and rescue techniques.
Friday
The last day of the course and a chance to consolidate everything we had been taught during the week. We headed off to Tremadog on the coast to lead our own multi pitch climbs without intervention from our instructors. Having climbed here some years before (as a second), Simon was keen to have a go at leading Christmas Curry (Severe).
Jillian was not up for leading at this grade so Simon was treated (?) to leading all four pitches of the climb!
After topping out without mishap, and before heading back to the centre for a course debrief, we stopped off for an ice cream to celebrate the achievements of the week.
