Introduction These tables show typical times for the Yorkshire Three Peaks (Y3P) Challenge route. This shows you how long each section should take, so that you complete the Y3P Challenge…
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Introduction A 'learn to lead' course in Yorkshire is the ideal way to get into leading traditional ('trad') rock climbs safely. It is an ideal place to do this, because of…
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Introduction A beginners' rock climbing course in Yorkshire is the ideal way to get into climbing traditional and sports rock climbs safely. Yorkshire is an ideal part of the country, because…
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Demystifying Navigation - Introduction This article is full of map-reading and navigation tips for beginners and especially for those people who may be frightened by the whole subject. I’ve called…
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Yorkshire Three Peaks - Sunrise Introduction Here is a selection of Yorkshire Three Peaks tips and training ideas for someone walking the Challenge for the first time. The Yorkshire Three…
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Understanding mountain weather Introduction As regular, or even occasional, hill-walkers and mountaineers, it's vital that we have an understanding of mountain weather. Therefore a number of my previous tips have…
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Rock Rings All over social media there are pictures of people building their own climbing walls during lockdown. Keen climbers are training harder than ever so that they are ready…
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Harvey Maps Mazzles Harvey Maps 'Mazzles' are a perfect way of putting some 'lockdown' time to good use. If you want to improve your map-reading and navigation skills, then one vital…
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Equalising slings Building belays during traditional climbing and mountaineering will very often involve equalising slings. Most often, I use the Figure of Eight or Overhand Knot method. To do this,…
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Sastrugi This tip is all about Sastrugi which, along with rime ice, are very useful in determining what the local wind direction has been recently. This knowledge plays a crucial part…
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After 59 callouts in August, the busiest month in our history, we think it is time for a serious conversation about what is happening in our mountains.Our volunteers carried out prolonged rescues in darkness and poor weather, dealt with serious injuries, heat-related issues, assisted people stuck in serious terrain and, sadly, attended incidents where people and animals lost their lives.What concerns us most is the increasing number of people taking on difficult terrain while completely unprepared for what they are facing.The mountains have not suddenly become more dangerous. More people are visiting them, and the way routes are discovered and accessed has changed.Routes once mainly attempted by experienced hillwalkers and mountaineers are increasingly attracting people with little or no experience.A photograph or video of Crib Goch can make an exposed Grade 1 scramble look like just another route to the summit. What it doesn’t show is how intimidating that ridge can be in cloud, rain or strong winds or how quickly a manageable situation can become a serious emergency.We want people to enjoy Eryri. We understand the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in the mountains but accidents happen, even to experienced, well-prepared people. That is why we volunteer.But enjoying the mountains also comes with personal responsibility. Too often, people simply don’t know that a route may require specific skills, equipment, fitness, experience and judgement and how quickly conditions can change.Our callout numbers tell the story:147 in 2020237 in 2021233 in 2022308 in 2023327 in 2024359 in 2025Around 440 projected in 2026.This trend is not sustainable. The answer cannot simply be more Mountain Rescue. There has to be greater focus on prevention and personal responsibility.We will always respond when someone genuinely needs our help. The bigger question now is: how do we stop so many people from needing help in the first place?Enjoy the mountains but please try to understand the environment you are entering and if the terrain or conditions don’t feel right, turn around.
A little bit of a change - a trip to Kyrgyzstan for an ascent of #peaklenin.Sadly no Lenin summits mainly because the weather played havoc with our rotations. However, everyone did summit Razdalnaya, which was good.@adventure peaks
