Cas Care Exam

Today was the Cas Care  Exam. All nine of us from the team that sat it today passed. It starts with a one hour, forty question exam paper and then you are presented with some scenarios, each observed by a different doctor. This exam is the minimum that a MR member needs to administer first aid, it allows us to treat most things we would come across on the hill, the drugs we can administer include Morphine and Adrenalin but at this level we can only administer it by IM, I'm glad the needle practice is over for a while

Team Training

Day out with the rescue team today up on the watershed above Westgate. The new C list were out today for the first time and I think they enjoyed themselves. It was an easy search and carry out of the casualty who had a lower leg injury and slight hypothermia. Scott and myself drove round the old road past the cement works where he used to work and where I thinned out the woodlands about ten years ago, the trees have put on a lot of size since then and look like they will be a good crop when harvested.

Orion Direct, Ben Nevis, 7th March

I've been wanting to get Orion under my belt for quite a while now, I felt if I could manage this one it would be a measurable mile stone in my winter climbing, the other route that plays with my mind is Smith's, I don't know if I'll have chance or the right climbing partner for this year but winter's not over yet so who knows.

   

The Ice on the first pitch was a bit frgile but then it just got better the higher we went, most of the belays were in rock making it safe but the climbing was harder than if it had had a good dumping on snow. It did snow twice while we were on the route and the visability was sometimes poor, a block of ice from the 7th pitch hit me in the arm as I was belaying, it was travling fast and left its mark but nothing serious.
I was realy pleased with the day and that the mountain had allowed me to climb this route as she always has the last say.

Tower Ridge Ben Nevis, 2nd January

Chris and I headed north after the new year to have a look at Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis. We had a good walk in and we could see head torches shining on the ridge from quite early on, someone must have had an early start. The weather was great all day, it was quiet, but we did get past by a couple of french lads who were simu-soloing moving very confidently. We reached the gap just as a party belayed in it from Glovers Chimney so we sat for over 45 minutes until they moved on up. I ran the last pitch out without being belayed to hurry along then quickly brought up Chris to finish just as the sun was setting, by the time we got the kit in the sacks it was pitch black so we decided on heading down the red burn instead of no.4 gully.It was a great day out, Chris thoroughly enjoyed himself and made best use of my camara

Grey Mares Tail, 27 December 2010

Second time lucky, I missed this climb last year by just a few hours and thought that was it for a few more years as it had not frozen for about 10years previous.

      However as luck would have it here we are again with the north of England and Scotland in Jack Frost's grip and a second chance not to be missed on any account.

      My climbing partner is Chris and this is his first grade 4 winter climb, He does fantastically well and really enjoyed the day, he's enjoyed the bragging at least, I will happily climb with him again.

Enjoy the Video.

Night Nav.

Training with the rescue team last weekend, Saturday morning was crag training, casualty evacuation from a steep ravine and then the rest of Saturday night through to Sunday morning was night navigation on the fells above Weardale and down into Teesdale, we had rain,
 sleet and snow but the navigation was spot on, pacing out how far traveled and when the fog came down we marked each other as far as we could see then leapfrogged ahead. It amazes me how accurate you can be with a little practice and a little know how, 14 hours of fun.

Ama Dablam Nov 2009

I spent all of November in Nepal on an expedition organised by Tim Mosedale to climb Ama Dablam, I can't recommend his services enough, from start to finish everything was perfect, well organised and great value for money, if you want to climb this mountain make sure you book with Tim. Our group became great friends as soon as we met and enjoyed Kathmandu and the treck in from Lukla together before some split off to travel more in the Khumbu before joining up at base camp for the climb.

My acclimatisation didn't go smoothly at first and the first night at base camp was terible, to the point that I thought my trip was over before even getting on the mountain proper but it is amazing that in a day or two your body can adjust to the altitude and it's a good reminder to move slowly.

The weather came in while we were acclimatising on the mountain and this reduced our summit bid to just a few days, we took the opportunity offered to us in a 2 day window in the weather and it turned out to last longer and gave us a great summit day. Unfortunately one of our party who had fallen a day behind was driven back by high winds and falling ice on her summit bid the following day.

                                                                                                           We made it back from camp 2.9 to base camp in a day and we ate well in the mess tent that night with regained appetites.

One of our party got down a lot quicker though, to see how click here