OK, confession time. I may not have had an early night. The others made it back before I crept upstairs. Much discussion ensued, some of it was relevant.
The morning started much the same as the rest. A chat about the day ahead and a look at the weather forecast. This morning was different, as well as the synoptic chart we were introduced to windytv.com. This is a more graphical representation of the chart, little arrows zoomed around the map showing wind strength and direction. I've just wasted 15 minutes watching it. I only went on to remind myself, it's hypnotic - give it a go.
The rest of the day paled into insignificance. Not strictly true, it's been an awesome day. Steep ground management - we got hands on. we got ropes out, put helmets on and headed for some rocky, broken ground. Movement coaching, foot placement and simple scrambling techniques were looked at first. Then the ropes came out and we supported people climbing down rocks and scrambling back up again. Once people were down we looked at different ways of abseiling - classic, South African and a few others. It took a bit of trust to launch myself down a short cliff just using a rope hooked over a rock. With my minimal climbing experience it was strange doing it with out bits of shiny metal being part of the system.
Writing it down it sound like we did much, but it was a steep learning curve for many of us. Hopefully we'll never have to use the skills we've learnt today as it's only if things go really wrong that a rope will come out of the bag. We all had a great day and all secretly pleased that maps and compasses stayed firmly in the bags for the day.
This evening we've been packing for our expedition. You won't get a report from day 5 as we'll be cosied up in our tents on a hillside somewhere and day 6 may be a bit late as we'll be driving home once the day has ended. Tonight we had a final day of group binding and managed to get a table for 10 in the local Indian restaurant and enjoyed a last supper. Packets of pasta sauce beckon for tomorrow night.
The morning started much the same as the rest. A chat about the day ahead and a look at the weather forecast. This morning was different, as well as the synoptic chart we were introduced to windytv.com. This is a more graphical representation of the chart, little arrows zoomed around the map showing wind strength and direction. I've just wasted 15 minutes watching it. I only went on to remind myself, it's hypnotic - give it a go.
The rest of the day paled into insignificance. Not strictly true, it's been an awesome day. Steep ground management - we got hands on. we got ropes out, put helmets on and headed for some rocky, broken ground. Movement coaching, foot placement and simple scrambling techniques were looked at first. Then the ropes came out and we supported people climbing down rocks and scrambling back up again. Once people were down we looked at different ways of abseiling - classic, South African and a few others. It took a bit of trust to launch myself down a short cliff just using a rope hooked over a rock. With my minimal climbing experience it was strange doing it with out bits of shiny metal being part of the system.
Writing it down it sound like we did much, but it was a steep learning curve for many of us. Hopefully we'll never have to use the skills we've learnt today as it's only if things go really wrong that a rope will come out of the bag. We all had a great day and all secretly pleased that maps and compasses stayed firmly in the bags for the day.
This evening we've been packing for our expedition. You won't get a report from day 5 as we'll be cosied up in our tents on a hillside somewhere and day 6 may be a bit late as we'll be driving home once the day has ended. Tonight we had a final day of group binding and managed to get a table for 10 in the local Indian restaurant and enjoyed a last supper. Packets of pasta sauce beckon for tomorrow night.