Summer Mountain Leader Assessment - Day 3

When I woke, my first thought was that the rain hadn't stopped all night. My second, was that I remembered we were meant to be doing a river crossing today - brilliant.

We put on our old clothes, old boots and old waterproofs and waited nervously whilst sipping a brew. We could still hear the rain hammering down against the flat, as we flicked through the pages of Classic Rock. Richard soon arrived with Darren and Mike and they all came in and sat down. Richard said that we would go through the home papers first and hopefully the weather would clear up a bit, so I got up and put on another brew. We sat around and went through the home papers and discussed the answers together. It was clear that we all had good knowledge of the outdoors, the laws, regulations and best practice. The rain hadn't eased at all but Richard was still keen to cross a river so we jumped into his car and headed along the minor road towards Blarmachfoldach once again.

We parked at the roadside just above the river to our right. Down at the riverbank, Richard gave us a quick briefing. We were standing at a corner of the river and to our right the river looked deep and fast-flowing. To our left the river was wider, slower, more shallow and a lot more inviting. We were asked to get ourselves across safely using whatever method we liked. We all grabbed our walking poles and set off to the other side. The water was rather chilly to say the least and was fast flowing but only shin-deep and none of us had any problems getting across to the other side. Richard then asked us to move down the bank a little where the river was a little deeper and faster. We then each took it in turns to be in charge and get us all safely to the other side; this involved either the wedge or the single file technique. Then Richard got the rope out and it was time to get serious... and very wet. Richard took us  around the corner of the river where it looked deep and fast. We were asked to try out the 'V' technique with the rope and try to get us all across. James sat down behind a large rock on the bank that looked like a good belay spot. Darren went in first, holding onto the rope and doing his best to fight the strong current. He was making steady progress until he got closer to the other bank; where the river seemed to get deeper. As I looked on, Darren was really struggling and I could see that the water was rushing over his thighs and around his waist. I turned around and saw Richard had moved downstream and was on standby with a throw line. Darren made a lunge for the other side and rolled onto the high grassy bank. I was up next.

The rope came back over and in I went. Up to halfway the going was good, but then the water got deeper, stronger and faster. Wobbling a little I pressed on; using the tension of the rope for balance. To make things worse: the rocks underfoot became large boulders and they were smooth, slippery and hard to avoid. The water was now at the height of my waist and the water was gushing up into my chest. I couldn't keep my balance or fight the force of the current for much longer so I made a sideways lunge for the bank. I grabbed a handful of grass, swung my leg up and rolled onto the grass - I had made it... just! James came over next and he struggled to the other side the same as I did. Maybe I was just being a bit soft, but as James rolled up onto the bank he looked at me and I could tell he was thinking the same thing; that was a close call and I knew he had been right on the edge too. Mike then came over last with Darren belaying him. At around halfway, Mike became quite unsteady and as he went deeper, even more so. We all looked on but could do nothing; he lost his footing in the deep water. He tried to hold onto the rope and right himself but he couldn't as the current was too strong and was keeping his feet from under him. He was fighting a loosing battle and soon he had let go of the rope and was heading downstream. Richard had been watching and had thrown his line in for Mike to grab. Richard hauled Mike towards him and out of the deeper water until he could stand again and he stumbled to the other side. Richard shouted across to us and said that we were going to head back.

Mike was obviously soaked but he probably wasn't much wetter than then rest of us; the rain was still hammering down and hadn't stopped. I couldn't feel my hands as we crossed back to the other side, further up the river this time. As we headed back to Calluna to have hot showers and get warm again, I reflected on what just happened. Speaking to a few folk about their SML assessment, all of them told me that they never even did a river crossing on their assessment; their assessors talked it over with them and suggested that you would never attempt crossing a big river with a group. Clearly this assessment was of a much higher standard and that river crossing was certainly an experience!
After we were warm and dry again back in the flat, we sat around with a brew and laughed about what had just happened. After lunch, Steve Spalding arrived from Pitlochry. Steve was going to take over from Richard as our assessor for our expedition over the next 3 days. As usual, he was in fine spirits and we chatted about what each of us wanted to do for the expedition. James and I said that we weren't too bothered, while Darren and Mike fancied heading into the Mamores. Steve said that he had been looking at the weather closely over the last few days and he was concerned about the snow line and said that we had to try and stay below it. For this reason, he wanted to head to the West and fancied heading into the Glengarry Forest. Everyone seemed happy with that idea so it was settled.
After the others left, James and I couldn't wait to talk about the epic river crossing earlier and how we hadn't expected that at all. Apart from the experience being a little 'out there', we were both pleased with how the day had gone and felt we had coped well with all that was asked of us. We were well organised with our gear and supplies so it didn't take us long to pack our larger expedition rucksacks. Then we both fell into bed totally wiped from the last few days of activity and relentless concentration.
I was very much looking forward to the expedition.

Summer Mountain Leader Assessment - Day 2

After breakfast, we were surprised that all are gear had dried overnight in Calluna's excellent drying room. Richard was bang on time and we were soon all squeezed into his car heading out of Fort William towards Glen Coe. It was still raining and it was quite a chilly morning; certainly a good few degrees colder than the previous day. Richard told us that he expected snow on Ben Nevis today so he was excited at the possibility of some winter climbing later in the week. I had heard from some friends that Richard was quite a serious winter climber but I didn't really know what that meant. I always thought winter climbing looked pretty 'serious' at any time or level but would love to have a go - something else for the list. We passed through Glencoe village and parked at the large car park near Achnambeithach. We got out of the car to faff with our gear and get ready to go. I picked up my bag and turned away from the road to look South and gazed up at Bidean nam Bian in all it's misty magnificence - stunning.
It was raining hard so Richard said he was going to keep the briefing short so that we could get moving. He told us that we didn't have to worry about navigation today. We crossed the large footbridge and headed towards the trees that surround Achnambeithach. Once there, Richard said he would ask us each to lead the group up the steep grassy slopes. So up we went; each of us taking it in turns to lead a zigzag up the slopes between Aonach Dubh and the Allt Coire nam Beithach. The rain had now eased a little and Richard stopped us on a steep grassy slope and asked us to get out our ropes. We then paired up to demonstrate how we would manage a nervous person on steep ground. First we all showed techniques without using a rope e.g. leading and holding folk by their rucksacks. Then we used the ropes and Richard got the other person to close their eyes to make it more realistic.  Richard then told us to pack away our ropes and to put our lids (helmets) on. Just then the rain really started coming down so we pressed on up the rocky slopes and found a sheltered spot to have a munch. The grassy slopes were now some way below us and we were now on some pretty gnarly ground - probably some of the worst I'd been on. Almost as if he could read my mind: Richard asked me to lead us first up the rocks. At first there was a vague path that lead through the slope that seemed to avoid most of the main obstacles but that didn't last long. Soon, the only place to go was up... and up! There were a few tricky sections where I had to spot the others up a couple of small 'bad steps'. I felt I struggled a little with my positioning and found it tricky to spot the others from where I was a couple of times. I guess this was down to my experience and I think it probably showed where I was lacking compared to the others in the group. I followed on with my confidence a little rattled, as the others took it in turns to lead around the rim of Stob Coire nan Lochan.
Richard called us to a halt above a small crag and asked us to get out our ropes. He paired us up and I was asked to get Mike down the vertical drop below me. This was a huge step up from the angle of slope we had practiced on the SML Training but I knew the principles were the same. I lowered the rope down to check the length and it looked like it was just about going to reach the bottom of the crag. I then looked around for an anchor, and there was only one: a large boulder to the left of the drop. It was a little off-line but it was the only anchor around that looked bomber. I wrapped around the end of the rope, rethreaded the figure-of-eight knot and then tied an overhand knot on a bite a little further down the rope and climbed into the middle of it (making sure it was a good fit around me). I then put my bag back on to avoid being cut in half by the rope as I passed it around my back and prepared for the body belay. Richard asked me if I was ready and I nodded. He called Mike over to me. I passed the rope around his waist and made sure the loop was a good fit; not too tight and not too loose. Mike then looked at the drop that he was about to go down and seemed to freak out a little and I could tell he wasn't happy. He looked up at Richard and asked if he had checked the anchors - Richard turned and went over to the boulder to inspect my rope work and said, "Looks pretty good to me!" Mike still didn't seem happy and as I lowered him down the drop he seemed to be shaking slightly. I was quite surprised at this, because I knew he had a reputation as a climber - but at that moment he seemed very ordinary. This boosted my confidence again and I brought him back up again, much to his delight. The wind was now howling and the hail was actually coming up from the corrie below us. Richard wanted to get moving again so we could get warm so we packed away our ropes and headed up to the top of the corrie, above Collie's Pinnacle.
Richard then mixed the pairs up again and this time I was asked to get James down safely from a big ledge on a small outcrop. The anchors were good so I started setting up once again and was much quicker this time. After James was safely down, Richard asked me to get myself down safely. I knew exactly what I needed to do and quickly got down safe using a traditional abseil. I had practiced this a little at the local crag but it was a different thing altogether when faced with this vertical drop, the wind howling and the hail coming down - I was glad that was over! At the end of the SML Training, Steve had said to us that the assessment would also include some further training that followed on. We hadn't covered the South African Abseil in the training but I had studied the technique in a couple of books but had never been shown how to do it properly. Seeing the opportunity, I asked Richard if he could show me the technique? He looked at me so I knew he had heard me but just walked towards the others and shouted at them to pack up and get ready to move. I was now feeling a little deflated as I packed my rope away. Did he think I was a useless idiot? Maybe I was... maybe he didn't like me? I tried to bury these thoughts as we all met up behind the shelter of some rocks.

After having a quick bite, we started our steep descent down the opposite (West) side of the corrie. We took it in turns to pick a route down through the rocky buttresses and steep drops. This part was actually quite enjoyable and route finding wasn't too hard as there wasn't really many options! Mike spent the entire time pointing out various summer and winter climbing routes on the buttresses above and around us, but I'm not sure anyone was listening as none of us answered or spoke - we were all trying to concentrate. When we reached the grassy slopes on the other side of the Allt Coire nam Beithach, we were asked to demonstrate the use of our confidence ropes once again. As if deciding that he had seen enough, Richard announced that we were heading for the car. We packed up and joined the good path leading down the glen back to the footbridge where we had started. It was already quite dark when we reached the car to drive back to Fort William.

At Calluna, Richard took us into the small bouldering room and asked us to empty out the contents of our rucksacks on the crash mats and talk us through what we carried. I had noticed earlier in the day that my bag was definitely the smallest out of the lot. But now that I looked at what everyone had been carrying, I actually had the same (if not more) amount of kit. This was something that Richard also spotted, as he looked at me and said, "You manage to fit quite a lot of stuff in that wee pack of yours, eh?". I hoped this was a compliment, but it was good to hear. It turns out we were all carrying the same array of things for emergencies and to keep folk warm. Richard didn't really say much to any of us and seemed satisfied that we were all carrying the right kind of gear.

We were told to wear our old gear tomorrow morning, as we would be covering river crossings in the morning, before going through our home papers in the afternoon and then we would be left to plan and pack for our expedition tomorrow evening. Darren, Mike and Richard left James and I to get a brew on and try to get warm and dry again.

After we had eaten we talked over the day's events and both said that it had been a pretty full on day. I told James that I wasn't sure how well today had gone and that I wasn't sure if Richard though I was an idiot or not. James put my mind at ease by telling me that he thought the same and was finding him hard to read but he also said that folk had mentioned to him that he can take assessments quite seriously so he didn't think it was anything to worry about.

Before bed, we went over our home papers together and compared answers that were quite similar.
I crawled into bed mentally exhausted from the full on day. I listened to the rain pounding against the windows above my bed and wondered how big a river we would be crossing in the morning.

Summer Mountain Leader Assessment - Day 1

The weather really couldn't have been any worse on Sunday night, as James drove us up to Fort William. The rain wasn't taking any time to fall, as it lashed on the windscreen though Glen Coe - I was glad I wasn't driving. The road was flooded in places, and it was late before we eventually arrived in The Fort - the rain still hammering down and the wind howling. We were staying at Alan Kimber's excellent Calluna Self Catering, a legendary bunkhouse among mountaineers. We were made to feel very welcome and we settled into the large and comfortable flat. We were both pretty nervous so there wasn't much chat but we got a brew on and sat in the lounge making polite and awkward conversation. We knew that our first day was going to be micro nav, before bed, we both made sure that we had all our gear ready and our bags packed, ready to go.

Day 1
I didn't sleep much and woke early well before my alarm. I could hear that the rain was still coming down outside the window but it seemed that the wind had eased of, so that was something at least. After breakfast, we both had at least 4 cups of tea and paced up and down the flat so much that we actually bumped into each other at one point - very nervous. Eventually, the waiting was over; there was a knock at the door and in came Richard.
Richard Bentley was to be our assessor for the first 3 days. I had never met him before but had heard quite a lot about him in mountaineering circles. He seemed pleasant and greeted us with a smile and asked us if we could get a brew going. Following him in through the door were the two other candidates: Darren and Mike. We sat down in the lounge to have a cuppa and introduce ourselves. I recognised Mike's face immediately but I couldn't place him. In fact, it turns out that he was actually Mike Lates from Skye Guides - the penny dropped. Darren was from down South, Yorkshire I think, aged late 30s to early 40s and had only four Munros left to tick off - he'd also ticked off all the Wainwrights by the time he was only 18. Very impressive, I thought. I knew that James was very experienced and had worked in a couple of outdoor centres over the years and he already had a good few awards to his name. Then it was my turn and I didn't really have much to say - certainly nothing to brag about in comparison. I think everyone looked at me as if to say, "Is that it?". I suddenly felt relatively very inexperienced in the present company. I knew that all I could do was give it everything and do my best, as I already felt privileged to be here attempting this.
Once the formalities were over, we all jumped in Richard's Subaru Forester and headed South on the minor road out of Fort William. We were barely in the car, when we pulled in and parked up near the sheepfold about a kilometre before Blarmachfoldach. Richard showed us exactly where we were on our 1:25k OS maps and explained the format of the day. We would each take it in turns to lead everyone to a place, designated by Richard, but only the current leader would know where this spot was on the map. On arrival, the leader would need to tell Richard that we had arrived at the spot, or at what they thought was the spot. Then the 'followers' had to approach Richard individually and show him where they thought we were on the map. Simple.
Once we had all finished 'faffing', Richard pulled me aside and, pointing to my map, asked me to take him Northwest along the track and to where the first stream crossed, just after the track turned into a path on the map. Happy with the task that I had been given, I paused for a moment to estimate the distance along the track to the river and set off pacing along in silence... concentrating. It wasn't raining, but it felt like it was because it was so misty and damp. There was no wind so the mist hung in the air, reducing visibility to a little over 100 metres. It was also quite mild, making it rather warm under the waterproofs. I had noticed that we had passed over a few small streams but I knew that these were too soon to be my target, as they were too small and wouldn't be marked on the map; it was just because of all the rain. Suddenly I came across a larger stream and it timed in nicely with my pacing. A quick check and I knew we were here, so I let Richard know - ice broken. But there was no time to relax; it was Darren's turn to lead next and I had to remain concentrating. Darren left the path and went straight up the path to the right. Up we went and soon we stepped onto the higher path that was marked on the map. Darren turned right and carried on for around another 300 metres or so and then announced that we were there. I looked down at the map and I could see that there was an obvious kink in the 300m contour line and there was also a couple of distinct bends in the path. I wasn't 100% sure but I went over to Richard and pointed to the kink in the contour line - there was no response and he just turned away and looked over to James and I could tell he wasn't quite sure either. Was I right? I couldn't read Richard's reaction; as there was none. Mike's Turn next and he immediately set off at a blistering pace along the path in the direction we had just come from. Thinking fast, I took a quick bearing from where I thought we were to the lochan just to the East of Creag an Aoil. We carried on along the path and I watched my compass closely. As the lochan emerged out of the mist, it was clear that something didn't make sense; the bearing was wrong... but actually, I was wrong. I walked over to Richard and told him I had been wrong at the last point and, again, no reaction. As I turned round to carry on with the task and James brushed past me to tell Richard the same thing - this was reassuring. I turned my attention to Mike, who was standing proudly on top of the small mound on the Southwest side of the lochan. I don't think any of us were in any doubt that we were on the ring contour on the map, but we still individually confirmed this with Richard and followed the ritual. It went on like this for another 40 minutes or so - each of us taking a turn to lead and find a feature. Thankfully, I was pretty sure that I was correct every time and I found it quite easy to follow and was able to keep up with where we where. We found a sheltered spot and had a munch. No one really said much and it was all still quite serious and tense. After our break we carried on with some more navigation legs until Richard lay down on a flat patch of ground and asked us to treat him as a casualty. We all took a turn at being 'in charge' - however, when it was my turn to lead, I instructed the others to perform a logroll so we could get Richard onto a group shelter underneath him, but Mike went ahead and told us to roll him onto the side of his injured leg. I took charge and said that this was the wrong side to roll him on - I think Mike found this hard to swallow. Richard then quizzed each of us on evacuation procedures and we all gave him intelligent answers, I thought. We packed our gear away and continued with a few final navigational legs each before joining the minor road at Glengour for the short walk back to Richard's car. We were all pretty wet at this point and it was quite late in the day when we got back to Calluna. Richard said goodbye to James and I and told us we would be doing a steep ground day tomorrow so we would need our helmets and ropes. He also said that we should pack a 'leader's rucksack' for the day and be ready to leave at 9:30am.
James and I each had a hot shower and a couple of brews before we had got rid of the chill of the wet day. Before eating, we sat around our maps and discussed the day and each nav point we had to find. James' points matched exactly with mine and we both had the same reasons why it was those points. It was a little bit of relief and we had both felt the stress and tension of the day. We also discussed the standard of Mike and Darren and we agreed that the standard of this assessment was quite high - we sensed that this theme would continue through the rest of the week.
I forced the food down me that evening - my stomach was knotted tightly and I was finding it hard to relax and forget about tomorrow. Before bed, we compared what we were packing in our backpacks for tomorrow - basically everything was the same. This gave me some comfort, as I headed to bed to try and get some sleep.

Flotterstone by night

After getting in a bit of night nav practice in on Saturday evening, I was feeling quite good about the technical aspects of the SML assessment next week. Richard T and Richard G said that they would take James and I out one evening this week for a bit of night nav, just to make sure we were ready. Both of them were ML qualified so I was very grateful for any help, advice and guidance that they could offer.

Tonight, we met at the Flotterstone Rangers Centre car park at 6:30pm and headed off into the darkness with our head-torches. The Richards put James and I through our paces and ran the evening a little like a mock-assessment. I felt very comfortable finding the features and taking them to exactly where they wanted to go. I was also surprised at how well I was able to follow where we where, when it wasn't my turn to lead - I felt ready.

The only concern I had was that I didn't have enough 'Quality Mountain Days' logged to qualify for the assessment. But there wasn't much point in dwelling on this now, as it was booked and we were heading to Fort William on Sunday evening.

Pentlands Night Nav

For some crazy reason, I had agreed to sign up for my Summer Mountain Leader Award assessment. A colleaugue at work, James, had signed up for an assessment that was one member short, so I stepped up. The only thing was; the assessment was less than 2 weeks away!
I wasn't sure if I was ready for it, as I had only just done the SML training in April this year, but I was certainly going to give it my best shot. I had been out in the hills a fair amount recently but it had been a long time since I had done any night navigation so I thought it was best to brush up on this again. I wanted to wait until the weather was bad before going out to practice; my thinking was that if I could cope with it in the worst conditions, then I should be able to cope with any conditions when it came to the real thing.
It just so happened that Saturday was a real dog of a day and the wind and rain worsened as the evening drew in - perfect. I wanted to go somewhere that was completely unfamiliar to me but I didn't want to drive too far either. I decided to head towards West Linton and up the road towards Baddinsgill. I parked just before the entrance to the farm and geared up in the comfort of the car. The wind was now howling and the rain was lashing down - I must be mad; going out in this on a Saturday night. But it would be worth it, I told myself. After layering up I pulled on my hat and turned on my head-torch, then I opened the door and stepped out into the night.
I headed back along the road before turning West into Dipper Wood and got a bit of shelter from the wind and the rain. It really was an awful night, but that seemed to simply spur me on. I had soon exited Glen Ely and was clear of the last of the trees and out onto the open hillside. It was pitch black and I only had the strong beam of my trusty Petzl Myo RXP for company. By now, I was already quite wet, so I wasn't hanging around: trying to move as quickly as possible up the grassy slope without loosing count of my paces. I wanted to practice my pacing and timings, as well as my general navigation - I knew that all of these would come under scrutiny on the assessment. I was soon at the top of Byrehope Mount where there was absolutely no shelter from the elements! Not wishing to hang around here, I headed on, into the wind, and followed the features and the fence to the summit of Craigengar.
Now damp and quite chilly, I decided that was enough for tonight so I made my way back down to the farm, using the features of the land to find my way. I have to say, I was rather pleased to get home and to get warm and dry again. But I was very pleased with how the evening had gone. I hadn't forgotten how to navigate in the dark and my pacing and timing were pretty much bang on so this gave me confidence, for sure.

No pictures, sorry... it was far too wet for my camera!

Torridon & Gairloch Reflections

After a fantastic few days exploring Torridon & Gairloch, I had time to reflect on what a successful trip it was. I know felt much better about leading the 2010 Torridon Project and was confident that I knew the area well enough to formulate some plan Bs.

It really highlights just how worthwhile it is going to check out a specific place before taking a trip/group there.
Here's a wee video I made to sum up our time in Torridon & Gairloch:

Torridon - October 2009 from Chris McMorris on Vimeo.

Torridon & Gairloch Climbing

Loch Torridon from the road to Diabaig

We are heading home tomorrow so today is our last full day in Torridon before making the long drive back down to Edinburgh. I was pretty happy with the hills that I wanted to take the group up on Projects but I wanted to check out some of the potential crags to take the group climbing and abseiling. A colleague, James, was part of my staff team for Projects next year and he was SPA qualified, so he would be in charge of those activities. However, he had asked me to check out a couple of crags that he had spotted in the guidebooks.

The first one, that we headed to, was Beginners Slabs. This was very easy to find; we parked at the viewpoint on the road to Diabaig and had a very short walk to the southwest. The massive 35 metre slabs were rather obvious and easy to find. As we geared up at the bottom of Long Thin Slab D, we laughed once again about how glorious the weather was. As I set off up the warm and grippy Lewisian Gneiss, I was struggling to spot were my first piece of gear would be... and the second... and the third... hmm. It didn't really matter, as the climbing was easy and the rock was very dry so the friction was excellent, but it turned into a solo with a heavy harness and dragging a rope attached. The anchors were also a country mile away at the top but luckily there was a massive boulder close by that I used as a single, bombproof anchor to bring Emily up safely. The climbing was excellent and I could see how it would be great for beginners, hence the name of the crag. I then ticked off Pink Slab D and Right Slab D and Emily, once again, followed me to the top of each. From a group point of view; a top rope would work well on Long Thin Slab and Right Slab is well suited for rigging an abseil.

Beginners Slabs, Torridon

Beginners Slabs, Torridon

Beginners Slabs, Torridon

After a lovely morning climbing in the sun, we headed along the road to Kinlochewe. Along the road from Torridon, we spotted a couple of stags rutting near the Beinn Eighe car park. It was an amazing sight so we got out for a closer look and to snap a couple of pictures. We headed on to Gairloch and to Grass Crag. We had climbed at Grass Crag not too long ago and James thought it looked like a very easy place to rig for a group, being a sport crag. As I hadn't been climbing that hard recently and hadn't much experience climbing outdoors, I didn't fancy trying anything to hard so, as before, I lead Third and Final F5+ and then bottom roped Kick Ass Yoga F6a+. It was quite hot in the afternoon sun, so we called it a day there and headed back to Gairloch for an afternoon coffee. It was an ok group venue, but I had my concerns that it might be quite hard for the kids.

Hanging out with the locals in Torridon

Red Deer, Torridon

Grass Crag, Gairloch

A great day and it felt good to have some idea about possible climbing venues in the area - a very successful scouting trip to Torridon. Very lucky with the weather also.