Gorges and Mountains.

We have a very full centre at the moment, with two schools taking over both Blue Peris and our self contained bunk house at White Peris ( which can be also rented for great breaks in the welsh mountains incidentally!).
Monday has seen two group from year 9 visiting the Afon Ddu gorge for a fun filled, action packed . team work inspiring and very wet day. Both groups had an incredible day and managed to make it all the way to the top of the gorge. Well done!

Finding the hidden rock.

Kissing the waterfall to find the chosen one.

It is as wet as it looks

The central waterfall

The group in White Peris has been out in practising navigation for A Level PE ( mountaineering option), they've had a very focused day learning from one of our instructors ( Dave). The group will progress through different skill areas as the week goes on culminating in an overnight expedition on Thursday.

 

Mountain Leader Summmer Training Days 5 & 6.- Expedition.

It's been an absolutely incredible week for the students attending the Summer Mountain Leader Training here at Blue Peris. The weather has been exceptionally good for this time of year ( and consistent ;) ). 
Yesterday morning saw the groups depart the centre on their way to various areas around Snowdonia National Park.
The ML expedition is really where everything starts to come together for a lot of people. A hill day, combined with navigation practice, scrambling, camp craft, as well as looking at geology and local flora. The "night nav" element is often what stands out for many candidates when they return for assessment. All the instructors at the centre can certainly remember it!A Summer Mountain Leader Training course covers so many areas and its been fantastic to have such an enthusiastic group to work with over the past week. We really hope to see you back here for assessment! 

Clear Skies- Heading into camp for the night.

 

A natural camp kitchen!

 

A very scenic bedroom

 

Night Nav- a lot of concentration is needed.

 

It really was a incredible week.

 

Night Navigation

 

Walking out of camp in them morning

 

Relaxing before dinner.

Day Five- Summer Mountain Leader Training

This morning saw a flurry of activity around the centre as the students hurried around trying to remember what they had forgotten to pack the night before! The rucksacks appeared to vary in size, depending on how luxurious they wanted their overnight camp to be ( or how much weight they were willing to carry!). 
The groups finally departed at approx. 9:15 for a very busy expedition. They'll also be out tonight, practising night navigation till the early hours.
As a result, there are no pictures from today, but we thought we'd post some pictures taken over the past few days.

Day Four Mountain Leader Training- Sunny days.

Yet another amazingly sunny in day in "Tropical North Wales" for the Mountain Leader Training students. After generous amounts of water were packed and liberal amounts of sun-cream applied, the groups headed over to Ogwen Valley to head up some hills.

Goats Ahoy!

This isn't winter training

 

Today saw groups looking at a full mountain day ( and all that it entails), with some ascending Tryfan, whilst others ascended the Glyders via Y Gribin Ridge, with a descent via Seniors Ridge. Others headed up onto the stunning tops near the Idwal slabs, learning new skills and putting them into practice.



Boggy ground traversing

The students would have received training in many elements today, including navigation, group management, leadership styles and also some work on route choice and maybe even some spotting!

This evening is going to be busy for everyone, with the students preparing for the their overnight expedition which departs tomorrow. Food will have to be picked up from Blue Peris Kitchen with careful consideration ( weight vs quantity vs hunger!). and expedition packs prepared. Hopefully they'll all get a good nights sleep tongiht, this is essential as they'll be out till the early hours on Friday morning practicing their night navigation skills.

Summer Mountain Leader Training Day 3

Today was another busy day for the students on the third day of their training. All of the groups were busy practicing rope work skills which is an essential part of operating in the mountains as a UK Mountain Leader.

The students practiced how to safely bring up and belay each other on steep ground while utilising effective anchors. Later on in the day the groups practiced river crossings, a skill which hopefully won't needed in the future, but the aim of the Mountain Leader course is to practice these essential skills.


A well executed straight line formation



The Diamond Formation

Team Huddle? This is an effective way to cross a river

Day 2 of Summer Mountain Leader Training

Today, our mountain leader trainees experienced some of the fine weather North Wales can offer (luring them into a false sense of security). With sunshine and clear visibility, expectations were high for navigation and the students worked hard to achieve these goals!

Whilst experiencing a "proper" mountain day today, the students learnt how to manage others in steep ground and put into practice the theory learnt at University in order to become a Mountain Leader.

Roll on day three and the sunshine that will hopefully continue!

One of the many amazing views from the Nantelle Ridge!

...and I thought I was participating in a paddling course!

Not posing at all for the camera near the top of Tryfan

An excellent example of some of the spotting used to protect students on scrambles

Not a bad view from the top of Pen Y Ole Wen

Summer Mountain Leader Training

Sunday was day one of our Easter Mountain Leader Training Course.  Having a large group of students in residence gives us the opportunity to push them and get them to experience what the Welsh Mountains can offer.

Last night once they had settled into the centre they had a introduction to the course outlining what the 6 day course would entail and the expectations of the scheme. 

Today all groups went out on the hill with the main focus being Navigation on 1.25.000 maps and leadership.

Students getting their bearings

A temperature inversion provided some great views!

Trying not to fall in!

Pointing out features is much easier on a day like today

A group in the shadow of Tryffan

It was even warm enough for shorts!