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!

Having taught Paddy and Dave to sport lead climb earlier in the year, Ali knew it would only

Dave leading his first Trad climb

be a matter of time before they wanted more. Sport lead climbing can be very exciting, but you are limited where you climb by the areas that have bolted routes. Trad climbing on the otherhand has no limits, except your own ability.

The venue was Symonds Yat in the Forest of Dean. Their first task was to get to grips with  the type of gear available; natural gear – threads and spikes, nuts, hex’s and camming devices, how to use them and how to recover them. Paddy and Dave seemed to be doing really well, scoring each other on their placements for both a downward and an outward pull until Ali said ‘Ok, now do it with only one hand’. The next step was to create belays by joining pieces of gear using slings to create a central point or by using just the rope itself for a more dynamic belay.

Dave belaying his second

The group then discussed racking up; how to arrange gear on their harness. There is no hard and fast rule here, it’s just a matter of personal choice, but it has to be logical to the leader, and must be the same each time so that gear can be accessed without having to look for it. Their first lead climb was ‘Golden Fleece’ and Ali placed a few choice pieces for them to aim for, but enabled them to place as much gear as they could to fill in the gaps. Placing gear uses up lots of energy, so there is a fine line between keeping safe and maintaining strength. Their next task was to set up belays at the top of the climb and bring the second up, a

Paddy setting up an abseil

style of belaying alien to both of them. They had practised on the ground beforehand, but at the top of the cliff with a live climber on the end of the rope needed a lot more speed and dexterity.

 Day 2 dawned to a very wet crag indeed, climbing was impossible. The morning was spent teaching Paddy and Dave how to set-up abseils and how to use Prussiks to ascend and descend the rope, ensuring that back-ups were in place at all times

A low level traverse gave Paddy and Dave the perfect opportunity to put into practice all they had learnt, without compromising their safety, and develop their gear placements, belay construction and belaying the second. Ali even threw in a bit of improvised rescue to add

Paddy escaping the system

to their tool box as they were progressing so well, and both men learnt to escape from the system should the leader be knocked unconscious or get into serious trouble.

Finally the crag dried sufficiently to allow them to do Trundlebum Rex, where Paddy and Dave climbed independantly and Ali was on hand to assist should they need it.

Paddy and Dave worked hard to achieve a high level of competence over the 2 day course. Their constant questioning and practising of techniques enabled them to achieve their independance.(They even practised overnight at their B & B!!!). So thats a rack of Cam’s for Christmas then!

Tracey and Neil are an amazing couple. They have a son Jay, who is in the Sea Cadets, and they devote all their spare time, voluntarily, to train to become instructors for the Sea Cadets. They are incredibly good students, dedicated, attentive and practice until perfect.

Sport Leading - spotting before 1st clip

Their weekend in North Wales was planned as a scrambling weekend, to train TJ and Neil to become independent scramblers so they could at least take Jay out and about as he loves to climb, though not necessarily attached to a rope!

Typically of Snowdonia the weather was very unkind on the Saturday with torrential rain and gale force winds so they retired to the Beacon Climbing Centre to work on sport leading, lead belaying and climbing techniques. They also did a mini Climbing Wall Lead Award training session. It had been a while since they both did any lead climbing so they were a little rusty and lacked confidence, particularly Tracey who is often very hard on herself. They both did exceptionally well, leading several routes and showed definite improvement in their climbing technique. The weather meant the Beacon became quite busy, and several climbing friends turned up, which made the day a very sociable occasion.

Ali introduced TJ and Neil to the GriGri, a very useful belay device, particularly when working with groups indoors, and showed how they could be used to self belay if you had to rescue a ‘frozen’ child.

TJ rescuing Neil

As the centre got busier they moved to a quiet corner to look at belays in preparation for their scrambling day. The bouldering section has an area where you can build belays by using natural protection; threads, cams and nuts. TJ and Neil took it in turns to tie in, create belays, and ‘belay’ their second up, ensuring everything was in line – ABC – Anchor, Belayer and climber.

An excellent first day, Tracey and Neil buzzing with all they had learnt and looking forward to putting it into practice at Tryfan Bach.

Ali overseeing belay construction - ABC

Sunday dawned bright and sunny after a night of heavy rain and ferocious winds. Everyone got ready and headed uphill from the campsite to Little Tryfan and some serious scrambling. They began by getting close and personal with cams and nuts, constructing belays by equalising with slings to a central point, and using the rope only. Ali was very impressed with how quickly Neil and TJ became proficient in recognising good gear placements and they were soon ready to lead a scramble. Neil opted to go first, and he seemed calm and collected in his first trad lead ascent, though apparently he was terrified. Ali was on hand to ensure the belay was solid and that everything was in line, with Neil in the optimum position to bring up his second.

TJ placing gear on lead

And all too soon it was TJ’s turn. Ali didn’t find out until afterwards that TJ had a loss of faith before her ascent and didn’t think she could do it. Tears were involved! TJ is a very capable woman and does lack self belief, but Ali knows TJ can do anything she puts her mind to and she did lead the route in good style and her gear was excellent.

An incredible weekend with exceptional people. Thanks must go to Andy Varley, a trainee SPA who helped the weekend run smoothly.

I first met Art at Symonds Yat on 8th June. I was guiding a young woman who was learning to trad lead climb. Art was watching my every move. He’d been climbing before with some army friends and hadn’t enjoyed the experience at all. I promised him if he ever booked with Monsterclimbs that I would look after him and hopefully put to rest some of his fears. He subsequently booked a 2 day ‘experience’ with me. When he met me again, he couldn’t believe how petite I was or that I could possibly look after him, but I soon put his fears to bed as we headed to Symonds Yat.

Art on 2nd pitch Snoozing Suzie

We geared up at the bottom of the route, I showed Art how cams and nuts worked and how to remove them and put them safely on his gear loops. I then showed him how  to lead belay and finally talked about climbing, how to move on the rock, that footwork was essential and that the legs pushed you up the route rather than the arms. I split the route into bite size chunks so that I could see Art at all times, give him lots of encouragement and show him where to put his feet. As the climb progressed he became more relaxed; he was a good student, listening to instructions and didnt have any problems with taking gear out. His only problem really was he didn’t trust his feet, even when they were on large ledges he pulled himself up with his arms. This technique is very tiring and Art stopped to rest many times to recover his strength. He did well and though it was slow progress we had all the time in the world. We topped out and Art had to face another fear as he abseiled back to the ground.

Art knew that I could look after him and the second day took us the Central Bay area of Wintours Leap where we took the

Art and Ali at Wintours Leap

easiest line up the face. Again I split the route into small pitches so that I could see and help Art at all times. Despite all he had achieved on day one his fears returned with avengance and he actually froze on the route. Fear is such a humbling emotion, can take you unawares and be quite irrational to others, but with lots of firm reassurance and encouragement, and a bit of help from the rope Art persevered and made it to the top. He actually climbed with fluidity and style at times, especially when he relaxed and trusted the system. I’ve never seen a man sweat so much in my life! And will Art be back for more. Hell yes.

Thanks must go to Brian and Paul who retrieved a nut from the route and saved me abseiling back down for it.

Striding Edge

A day on Helvellyn with two aspiring scramblers began at the base of Mires Beck, next to Glenridding campsite . It was a steep but beautiful ascent, with clear visibilty and amazing views. The aim of the day was to give Gemma and Ross confidence to become independant and more adventurous scramblers. Striding Edge came into view, the higher we ascended, cutting through the atmosphere like a knife. The steep sides falling away to each side.

Helvellyn Summit 949m

The summit stands at 949m and the views over the Lake District were stunning, but for Gemma the worst was still to come, the descent, where her knee gave her the greatest discomfort, but she was well prepared with walking poles, a knee support and Ibuprofen, or Vitamin I as it is known to ageing climbers – me included! We took our time, spotted Gemma when necessary, admired the view and let her move at her own pace. The descent went well and we actually moved at a good pace. We were soon in The Ramblers Arms enjoying deliciously cool pints of local cider, reliving the day and planning their next adventure – Crib Goch in North Wales. Watch this space!

Constructing a belay using cams

When I met Giada, in September 2010, my first impression was a lady with drive and determination. She had climbed indoors with friends, but they seemed reluctant to teach her to lead climb, suggesting she wasn’t quite ready. In the first day of instruction she was not only leading indoors but taking leader falls. And by the third day she was leading trad. Giada is Italian and has had a love of the mountains since an early age, she has skied since she was 5 and has spent many holidays in the Dolomites, scrambling or being guided. It’s no wonder then that Giada has this burning desire to climb independently and has been such a good student.

She is an intelligent and enthusiastic climber, so that she learns quickly and is able to put new skills into practice almost immediately, but she is very hard on herself and if things aren’t as good as she expects she becomes sullen and is easily disappointed with her performance.

Leading Exchange VS4b

Our course this May, began with a day at Symonds Yat, where Giada led 2 routes of VS 4b in excellent style and learnt to top rope belay, building belays at the top of the route and then bringing her 2nd, me, up safely. She followed a VS 4c, The Druid and an E1 5b, Strathdon in excellent style.

We were rained off the second day, but spent the day at Bristol Under Cover Rock where we worked on Giada’s footwork, weight transference and her dislike of overhangs. She did several and developed good technique.

We headed north to the Roaches on our third day to revisit gritstone where I first taught Giada to trad lead climb. We couldn’t believe how different gritstone was to limestone and how brilliant the friction was, or how quickly it dried. It was pouring with rain when we arrived, but cleared up to give us a perfect day.

Constructing a belay using a spike and the bowline

Giada constructed a number of belays with cams and nuts, threads and spikes and added a new knot to her repertoire – the bowline whilst we waited for the rock to dry.

The highlight of the week came on Giada’s last day when we headed to Wintours leap. She led a sport route, to demonstrate her new skill of threading the belay and keeping safe, followed Freedom VS 4c, in good style despite the polish and led the 2nd pitch of

Leading Moth HS4a

Moth HS 4a. Her piece de resistance came with her final lead, the 2nd pitch of The Split VS 4b, an off width tiered crack. The abseil rope was on hand if she felt out of her depth, but it wasn’t necessary. She ascended the first 3 tiers with a couple of wobbles, but her gear was good and I gave her lots of encouragement. The final tier offers only a chock stone for protection quite low down and then nothing to the top, which is quite polished, and if you do fall off you will hit the ledge. Giada composed herself and got into the ‘zone’, becoming one with the rock, so it would let her in. I was so proud as she topped out and so happy for Giada – an amazing achievement.