The Association of Mountaineering Instructors held their AGM at the Conway Centre near Bangor, North Wales over the weekend 11th/12th February 2012. It was an opportunity for AMI members to get together as a professional body and discuss good practice, MLTB courses, Continuing Professional Development and AMI administrative issues. It was also an opportunity for members to take part in the numerous workshops run by highly qualified and experienced Instructors to learn new techniques, keep up to date with coaching skills and share ideas.

Coaching on steep rock

Ali attended the coaching skills workshop run by John Kettle. It was an excellent course where she gained new ideas to coach clients to imporove their climbing skills. It was also an opportunity to improve one’s own climbing skills and to learn the latest thinking on what makes an elite athlete – 10,000 hours of practice. There were links to gymnastics and dance, which had always been part of Ali’s background, so it was good to get confirmation that her ideas had good grounding.

The AGM took place on Saturday evening, followed by a buffet dinner, a slideshow by James McHaffie and finally a band.

The second day Ali attended a Provider workshop, attended by a cross section of experienced MLTB Course Providers. It was good to share ideas, agree on good practice and make plans for the future of MLTB. An excellent weekend.

Stu contacted Monsterclimbs in the Spring of 2011 to book a course to learn to trad lead climb, but circumstances were against him and time passed by. However, everything comes to he who waits and 12 months later than anticipated, Stu completed a Monsterclimbs trad lead course in the Wye Valley.

After a very cold start to February the weather turned warmer and Stu met Ali at Symonds Yat for two days of instruction. The day began with a discussion of Stu’s experience to date and then a perusal of Stu’s gear – all very shiny and new!

Clipping an extended cam

Heading down to the base of the crag Ali got a good indication of Stu’s movement skills and dynamic balance by how he handled himself on the slippery descent path to the crag.

Once at the crag they immediately began playing with gear, looking at cams and nuts and the hierarchy of gear placements. Stu then constructed his first belay before mock leading a traverse whilst Ali critiqued his gear. He seemed to have a feel for gear placements and had an instinct for good gear outside the usual tunnel vision adopted by beginners.

Ali had enough confidence in Stu’s progress to enpower him to lead independantly with a few preplaced pieces of bombproof gear, and with the belay already in place. Stu’s first lead was in the bag – calm, confident and assured with good balance and accurate footwork. Ali was impressed.

His second lead had less preplaced gear and was slightly more technical. He hesitated at the half way mark when there was no more gear to aim for, but with gentle reassurance and the advice to look for the footholds, Stu placed a cam above and within seconds he was at the belay. His final lead of the day was totally his; no preplaced gear, no belay in place. The route – Trundlebum Rex - Severe. It was a textbook lead, the gear was good, he was relaxed, the single rope in a perfect line. The only wrinkle was the belay, but that was only due to the overkill, he was belayed to three trees, each of which could have held a herd of elephants. With a few tweaks and change of position Stu had the perfect bealy in a position where he could see his second and no elephants in sight.

Stu bringing up his second

Day 2 concentrated on using two half/double ropes to lead on, a completely new concept to Stu, but the standard way to trad lead climb.They looked at belay construction using double ropes and moved quickly on to leading. Stu took to double ropes like a duck to water and his rope work was excellent – creating two perfect straight lines. This was probably due to the quality of the student and the excellent instruction!!!!!

Moving to Bowlers Hole area, Stu lead Nansens corner, which he did in excellent style.

Check out that footwork

Ali’s only concern was the lack of nut placements. Stu had become so comfortable with placing cams that he had vetoed good nut placements in order to place cams. Stu was then ‘encouraged’ to lead it using nuts only and the cams were confiscated! His ascent was more thoughtful and the footwork precise and accurate. A good result.

Stu – ‘Thanks a lot for teaching me. It was a great couple of days’.

Stu is now in the process of purchasing his first cams. Ali has created a cam monster!

Holding on securely whilst placing a cam

Placing gear on lead can seem daunting, but if you start off with easier climbs and build up you will make natural progress. One of the key elements of this is to feel solid and comfortable whilst selecting and placing gear wherever you are on the rock face and whenever opportunities present themselves. Be aware that if you place gear whilst established on a good ledge, there is a chance of hitting the ledge should you fall off just above it. You need to practice getting good balance and security whilst placing gear using smaller hand and foot holds. Placing gear can become enjoyable, trusting your own gear can enhance your experience of climbing and your confidence.

Ensure that when selecting and placing gear you do so one handed. There is a temptation when on a good ledge to use or test the gear with both hands, but this is folly, the gear could pop, you could overbalance and fall.

Good secure placements come with practice and experience, but it is always worth reading the manufacturers guidelines.

In situ threads

 You will often come across fixed gear on a trad climb. Natural rock threads often have bits of old tape or thin rope attached to them. Check the tape/rope for wear and colour fade, and, if possible, thread it with your own sling. Natural rock threads and spikes can be very solid and reliable runners, but check for cracks and hollow sounding rock.

Other common forms of fixed gear are pitons, or pegs as they are more commonly known. These often look quite shiny and new, but shouldn’t be confused with bolts. They may be very old and often embedded only by a few mm’s so if possible back them up with cams or nuts. It is almost impossible to judge

An old peg

the age, length or condition of the peg inside the rock and may even have been placed on the first ascent. There will be occasions when there is nothing else, but be aware of the risks you are undertaking.

It is more likely that trad climbs warrant the use of two ropes, as the routes tend to wander their way up the rock face, usually following a natural line. This allows you to place gear to the left and right of you without causing rope drag. Double or half ropes as they are known are thinner than single ropes, around 8.6mm in diameter, 60m long and of two different colours to differentiate the two lines of gear and to aid communication with the belayer.

leading on half ropes

Rope management becomes very skilful, especially if the route traverses to the left and right, and it is essential to clip the right rope into the correct runner without crossing the ropes or creating drag.

Belaying using double ropes is also very skilful, and takes some time to acquire. The trick is to keep one hand on both dead ropes whilst taking in and paying out with the other hand.

If you decide that using a qualified and experienced Instructor rather than going it alone, or relying on the experience of friends, you will find you are able to build up your skills and confidence quite quickly in a safe and controlled manner. It is usual for a trad lead course to take at least 2 days – and this is just the start of your learning. See ‘Monsterclimbs Events’ page for available courses. Depending on your prior experience you may at first mock lead, where a belay is already set up at the top and you lead the route on a seperate rope or ropes, placing and clipping your own gear, or some of your own gear and some preplaced by the Instructor.

A novice leader heading for preplaced gear

Your Instructor will be able to assess your ability and confidence and may encourage you to lead immediately with some strategic bits of gear placed for you to aim for, or she may set herself up on Jumars on a rope next to your climb,and assist with placements and check your gear as you place it. However you decide to develop your skills always try to do so in a safe and controlled manner and think how your actions may affect other crag users.

Unspoilt Sardinia

Ali has visited Sardinia several times for both personal climbing and to teach and finds it one of the most beautiful and rewarding climbing areas in Europe. Sardinia is the Italian Island off the west coast of Italy and to the south of Corsica. The countryside is unspoilt and the towns and villages have the character of old Spain with very few high rise buildings but lots of variety of style, colour and orientation. When Ali first visited the island there were few major roads, but with the construction of motorways in the interior it is much easier to get around. It is just as easy to fly to Cagliari as it is to Alghero.

There is sport climbing all over the island and varies in intensity. There are short inland

Sea cliff sport climbing

crags, huge sea cliffs often with many pitches and impressive mountain crags that take all day to complete. All the routes are bolted in Sardinia, but the climbers who put up the routes have to fork out for the bolts out of their own pockets, there is no ‘bolt fund’. The bolts are often 25 – 30 feet apart on some of the bigger mult-pitch climbs which makes for a great deal of excitement, so it is quite useful to take a small rack of nuts and cams for those moments when the run out is just that little bit too big and your nerves have been strung out too long.

Sunny Easter weather

It is a climbing venue that suits most abilities and for the intermediate sport climber who is beginning to spread his wings its perfect. The Cala Gonone area is particularly enticing with 13 different crags in Cala Gonone itself and a further 10 crags in the near vicinity. The best months of the year to climb are April and October, the winter months are too cold – it even snows here and the summer months are way too hot. On the Monsterclimbs Sport Lead climbing course your climbing will be looked at in great detail including lead belaying, leading and clipping and you will be coached on technique and efficiency. You will certainly improve your confidence and may even improve your climbing grade.

Cala Gonone is quite a busy little town with many bars, restaurants and shops, and Dorgali which is just over the hill has a good climbing shop. The nearest major town is Nuoro which is accessible by a local bus service.

Sardinia is an amazing place to climb and enjoy, the flora and fauna is incredible and there are feral and tame goats everywhere you go. Its one place you would never get tired of.

You will be staying in comfortable self catering apartments in Cala Gonone within walking distance of local amenities. If you would like to book a place on the Sardinia sport climbing holiday, or have any questions or queries fill in your contact details on the events page, and  Ali will get back to you as soon as possible.

Ali was lucky enough to escape the drab winter weather over New Year with a last minute booking to the Costa Blanca. Giada (an Italian living in Switzerland) flew in from Milan, Ali from Gatwick and they met in Valencia. Arriving late morning they were able to get a few

Sunset at Toix Oeste

hours in during the afternoon, revising sport lead climbing techniques and getting into the leading mindset on ‘real sharp, hot rock’. Giada was nervous and seemed to have lost some of her self belief, reluctant to lead routes that were well within her grade.

Giada had ample opportunity to lead sport routes and to regain her confidence at Toix TV, the Echo Cliffs and Gandia. She also led a few trad routes, which are quite scarce in the Costa Blanca, but plentiful at the Echo Cliffs, and led 2 VS’s in excellent style. She also followed a few harder sport routes, the highlight being a clean ascent of Avispilla 6a at Echo 1.

Ali ready for guiding on the Penon

On New Years Day, when everyone else was still partying, sleeping or nursing hangovers Ali and Giada were up at 7 a.m. to head for the Penon and an ascent of Diedro UBSA, the classic HVS. It was originally a trad route, but since the terrible storms of Spring 2008 the Penon was re-equipped and the route is now deemed a sport route. But do not be deceived, if you climb at HVS and you only carry quick draws you’re in for a bit of a surprise as the bolts are widely spaced and the potential for hitting something should you fall is quite high. It is also becoming extremely polished. I once guided a very competent HVS climber on the same route and although he found the climbing relatively straight forward he was put off leading it by the scarcity of the bolts. It can be mentally very tiring, doing run out after run out. Some 100′ pitches only have 4 or 5 bolts, but you can carry a rack to supplement your quickdraws.

Giada did well on the 1,000 feet climb, and particularly enjoyed the last 3 pitches, quite a

Giada following pitch 5

gnarly, loose chimney with lots of threads, an 8m abseil followed by a traverse to the belay, a traverse follwed by a beautiful piece of face climbing on quartz pockets and a final exposed corner that attracts an updraught which usually results in your chalk bag being tipped all over you. The ascent took 6 hours – we went light with only quickdraws, 2 litres of water between us and some snacks, but it is still a good idea to set off early when attempting a big route. The fact that it has been re-equipped does mean you can escape at any time as the belays are good at every stance.

The walk off is quite long and nearly always slippy as the limestone is polished underfoot and often wet from condensation, but very beautiful and leads to the marina. The bars offer delicious cold beer and as it is the tradition to have a beer after an ascent of the Penon, we had a large one!!

Tying off the Belay Plate

At Monsterclimbs we often get enquiries from Mountaineering clubs and individual climbers concerning ‘What to do when something goes wrong?’ Of course, the term Improvised Technique, means just that. A lot of clients want to learn ‘set pieces’ but unfortunately accidents don’t happen like that.

At monsterclimbs we ‘Taylor-make’ courses to suit the clients as climbers who only lead sport or on single pitch crags wont require the same technical knowledge as someone who regularly climbs on multi-pitch routes in remote areas.

We try and build up skills that are relevant to the client, in a safe and controlled environnment before practising on the rock face. One of the first skills, and the easiest, is tying off the belay plate which allows thinking time in the event of an incident. It involves a series of bites of rope fed throught the screwgate karabiner and then back through the rope itself to lock off the belay device so you can work hands free. It is also a very useful skill to learn if you are climbing with someone who is working a route and they are constantly sitting on the rope.

Simple hoists are another technique to help the second over stopper moves, or if they are

Unassisted Hoist

left hanging in space after falling off an overhang, and just involve the very useful French Prussik, and a couple of screwgate Karabiners. The DMM Revolver is quite a useful screwgate to carry within your rack, as it incorporates a small pulley and makes hoisting so much easier. If you are a bit of a lightweight like Ali, you can do the unassisted hoist out of the system, so it is connected directly to the belay and gives you greater freedom of movement enabling you to maximize your weight to assist with the hoisting. In the photo we see a member of the South Wales Mountaineering Club using his foot to push the second prussik further down the rope.

Escaping the System

In more serious situations, e.g. the second is knocked unconscious, or is unresponsive and out of sight, or injured on a traverse, you must first escape from the belay (always ensuring you are safe), before deciding the next and SIMPLEST form of action. Often the easiest thing to do is just lower the second to the floor, but this would be impossible on a sea cliff or where there were obstacles in the way and he was badly injured and/or unconscious.

Once you have escaped the system which is achieved by bypassing the belay device with prussiks and slings, you must decide – Do you abseil down to them and apply a chest harness to keep them upright or to apply emergency first aid? Do you set up a counter balance abseil so you can ’collect’ them on the way past? Is the rope long enough, or do you have to use a Stirrup Hoist to attach them to you and disconnect them from the rope so you can perform an accompanied abseil?

If you feel you or your climbing club need to acquire some of these skills to broaden your scope of knowledge then contact Monsterclimbs. BUT remember prevention is better than cure and get into the habit of checking your equipment, each other and your belaying technique.