ART OF ADVENTURE - NEWS BLOG 2011

Sunday 17th April - Bouldering at Combestone Tor into the sunset with good friends Lee Pooley and Jo Nosworthy and a guest appearance from Lou Reynolds (photo).
It's been a great couple of weeks of climbing for me with hard training sessions at Dartrock Climbing Wall with Jo, a pushy session on the limestone sport routes of Torbryan Quarry with Nick Arding and shredding fingers on the granite playgrounds of Bone Hill and Saddle Tor.
Keep that sun shining.

Wednesday 13th April - Princetown Youth Group had the pleasure of Ru Wellings and I taking them scrambling amongst the rocks of Hound Tor and along Greator.
Thankfully the rain held off till the end of the day which was a blessing as it meant we had lovely dry rock to play on.

The day was organised by the Dartmoor Centres, one of Devon County Council's Outdoor Education sites.

Friday 8th April - Trad climbing at Low Man on Dartmoor with Jo Nosworthy. This was the first trad climbing of the summer for me and after a quick warm-up lead on Levitation I was very pleased to crack out an on-sight of Aviation (E1 5b, 5b), especially now it's been put up a grade in the guide books.
There were lots of teams out enjoying perfect Haytor weather, glorious sunshine without the usual howling wind to freeze you to the belaying bone.

I went home happy to be pushing into the E-grades and watched a dvd of James Pearson knocking out an E9 7a !!!!!!!!
I had to laugh as the universe had once again provided me with a gentle reminder to not lose oneself in the world of form.

A great book to read on that subject of ego and climbing is Arno Ilgner's "The Rock Warrior's Way".

Tuesday 15th March - Bouldering with good friend Francesca Bourne at Honeybag Tor. It was great to get out on some warm, dry Dartmoor granite.
I coached her the climbing techniques I'd learnt from Lucy Creamer's masterclass and Francesca noticed a big increase in her movement skills.

Francesca is an excellent Sports Massage Therapist practicing in South Devon.
She can be contacted through The Practice in Totnes or The Haven in Ashburton.

Saturday 12th March - Introduction to Kayaking on the River Dart with Anand, Manoj, Vicky and Presath, a group of software programmers from India.
Despite being complete beginners they were keen to do some white water so they ran Totnes weir and loved it.

Thursday 10th March - Climbing Movement Masterclass with Lucy Creamer at the excellent Climbing Academy in Bristol.
Lucy is Britain's most accomplished female climber and my friend Jo Nosworthy and I were lucky enough to attend this masterclass.
It was fantastic and has reminded me to focus much more on technique rather than thuggery.

Jo and I went to Undercover Rock at St Werbughs afterwards to practice what we'd been taught on the lead.
This 15th century chuch makes a spectacular setting for the Bristol Climbing Centre.

Saturday 5th March - I ran an Advanced White Water Safety and Rescue training for members of Totnes Canoe Club on the River Erme.
Some of you may know Slot Drop on the Erme with it's double recirculating stopper.
Nasty!

We all had a great day and everyone went home promising to practice and practice.

Thursday 24th February - Took my lovely sister Mary and her partner Chris climbing at Dartrock climbing wall.

They loved it!

Thursday 17th February - Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis. What an awesome climb. After a week of unhelpful weather the Ben gave up one of it's fantastic routes in perfect condition.
Having battled up the South West Ridge of Douglas Boulder with Joe Bellows on Monday in terrible sugar-snow conditions it was a joy to have strong consolidated snow and neve under my crampons.

Photo on far left shows L - R: Kev Colclough, Jeremy van Riemsdyke and Joe Bellows.

Photo on left shows me leading the Eastern Traverse. Photos are courtesy of Mike Bradford.