Me and Debra did a basic rescue skills course on Sunday in the Peak, run by Peak Mountaineering. It was a small group – four of us plus Paul Lewis who runs the course and another guy (Rick something) assisting him, so it was a really high instructor to punter ratio and they were able to tailor the day for our needs. Debra and me for example got shown some techniques specific to climbing on double ropes, while the other two students were more interested in scrambling situations. I found the day was just what I needed – it covered basic skills for escaping from the system, lowering or hoisting your mate off a route, prussicking and assisted abseils. There was a good balance between the amount demonstrated and time taken to actually practice this stuff. I think we probably both lost a few pounds in sweat trying to haul each other just a few metres, and it gave me a lot more confidence for feeling that if something went wrong part way up a route I would have some ideas how to deal with the situation. And as the whole thing took place in glorious weather in the Peak it was of course all very enjoyable and really good fun as well.
We tied the course in with a climbing skills day which Debra found really good for being able to get someone to look with an experienced eye at her placements and anchors and confirm they were good. And once again that was a very pleasant day in warm spring sunshine!
PS Since we did all the rescue skills stuff on Burbage North I had plenty of time to admire the crag and am now itching to go there and do some routes
PPS We camped at the Hardacre Farm campsite. It's a lovely small campsite with nice hot showers and an on site cafe which does massive cooked breakfasts. Just two things to remember if you do camp here – try not to site your tent in the top corner by the railway line (though the trains do stop at 11), and allow enough time for your breakfast to arrive – it's really nice but took about half an hour for two (huge) bacon butties, so we had to eat them on the fly.
Tags: rescue skills training