Busy in the Borderlands

Even though the outdoor season has now well and truly kicked off, I've somehow managed to find time for some personal caving and canoeing in the Forest of Dean. I suppose the odd couple of jobs working in the Peak District and the Mendips count as a bit of a break too, right?

Night Shift

A busy week for Viney Hill Adventure found me leading 9 straight sessions of raft building on a windy Mallards Pike lake. Despite the repitition of the sessions, it was fun to work with a number of different groups from Cirencester and London. Evening sessions with the London school were a rare treat, literally seeing the lake in a different light as night fell.

Evening Activities

My nights off this week turned out to be equally busy, with an evening jaunt into the warren of passages that make up Miss Graces Lane cave, near Chepstow, followed by a night on Symonds Yat rapids fine tuning some canoe skills. 

Miss Graces Lane is an extensive system with a 30+ metre entrance shaft, complete with ladders bolted to the wall. The work that went into opening up the cave in the mid 1990s doesn't bear thinking about, but the end result is a pretty impressive cave - the 2nd longest in the Forest of Dean - that still has plenty to explore.

We made our way to the narrow rift with a high level route known as the Satanic Traverses. The intimidating drop beneath us makes it easy to see where the name came from. Ever narrower squeezes and chimney climbs followed before it was time to make our way back to the entrance via the Phraetic Causeway (Google it. It makes sense, honest!)

After an evening training new SARA recruits in basic ropework, my final busy evening took me back to Symonds Yat. The boulders that generate the waves on the rapid have shifted around since my last visit, so despite the high water, some features felt unfamiliar. I have to admit to being a little rusty in an open canoe, but some helpful observations from Bob and Callum aided me in getting back on track. The best part of Symonds Yat? Always the Saracen's Head Inn.

Nose to the Grindstone

After such a busy week it should have been a relief to have this week free, but still keeping busy as ever!

Admin time spent promoting first aid courses for Borderlands Outdoor gives way to climbing time tomorrow and another trip down Miss Graces Lane on Thursday. This summer seems to be shaping up pretty well so far!

Charity Abseil

It's been a busy week or so here in the Wye Valley, although strictly speaking most of that time was in Scotland... More on that another time. Yesterday was the day of the sponsored abseil at Symonds Yat in aid of the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA), and having spent a fair chunk of the past 6 months organising the event, I was anxious for it to go well.

A Ropey Business

The SARA Beachley station is lucky enough to have the services of three Single Pitch Award holders in addition to me so, despite the initial plan of me operating an abseil line, I was able to take a step back as Laura, Ed and Glyn rigged the lines. Other crew members busied themselves with setting up a registration area, getting harnesses and helmets ready and tying a handrail for participants to get back up the steep slope at the end of their abseil. The crew worked efficiently and competently, leaving me to wander a little aimlessly until the first participants began to arrive at 9.45.

Friends and Family

Laura began the day operating the abseil, which gave her the opportunity to look after her anxious dad Andy. A builder by trade, he happily scales ladders when working but was put off by the thought of a 90 foot abseil. With all credit to him though, he went over the edge with no fuss and raced down to the bottom. That set the tone for the rest of the day as one after the other the participants disappeared from view on their trip to the bottom. Some participants were cheered on by friends, family and - in one case- a small dog! Our crew at the bottom of the crag ensured that spectators stayed safe and sound with helmets on to protect them from any rockfall.

The final group of abseilers included Graeme and Maggie from Monmouth Canoe Club. Graeme claimed to be terrified, but made no fuss at all despite producing some characteristically awful poetry prior to taking part:

Today's the day of my abseil
Just hear me scream and hear me wail 
I should not fear 
They've got the gear 
But I'm still scared that it might fail

On a slightly more serious note, it was fantastic to see so many people facing their fears and coming through the experience all the stonger.

A Great Success

Final figures are yet to be confirmed, but the event seems likely to raise somewhere in the region of £1700 for SARA, a great morning's work for a terrific organisation that is entirely reliant on donations to continue its important work.

(photo nicked from Graeme!)

If you're not getting wetter, you're not getting better!

... or so I was told many years ago when I made my first tentative paddle strokes on white water at Symonds Yat rapids. This week has seen me upside down and back to front almost as often as paddling the right way around, but despite this I'm convinced that I am indeed getting better.

A leisurely canoe on the Wye between Erwood and Glasbury was rudely interrupted by Hell Hole rapid, where my hasty readjustment to run a fast chute backwards was described as 'the coolest thing I've seen all year' by one of our group. If only it had been fully intended...

The Wye was only a warm up for 2 days as a mock student on a 4 star kayak assessment in North Wales organised by Getafix coaching. The first day was spent on the Vrynwy, a new river to all of the candidates, as well as me, Laura and the other 'guinea pigs'. With pretty consistent white water almost from the word go, the upper section of the river was fantastic fun, and not too difficult to run. Reaching Dolanog Weir - a pretty horrendous looking set of drops with a tree in the flow for good measure - we took the sensible option and walked around it.

Further down river, things began to get more interesting. Our leader for one section skidded high onto a rock running one drop that looked fairly innocuous from above, but proved to be far trickier. I tried to run the drop to the left, but was forced onto a rock, capsizing me only about 2 metres above the drop. Common sense overcame my initial instinct to try to roll, and I hunkered down instead with my face pressed close to my deck. Four or five thuds followed as the back of my head bounced off the rocks, until eventually the thumping stopped and I rolled back up, safe but disorientated at the bottom of the rapid. Craig, one of the candidates, insisted that I took the perfect line, with the only problem being that I was upside down at the time! Given the amount of expensive kit involved in kayaking, I was pleased to finally make use of my helmet.

Day 2 was spent on the Dee between Horseshoe Falls and Llangollen. The river was high, with the island at Serpent's Tail rapid partially flooded. After a bit of consultation with Pete, the assessor, I decided to run the main drop, and came up with a fairly detailed plan: Leave the eddy and ferry glide across to the start of the wave train. Follow the wave train towards the drop. Hard left into the drop, hard right out of the bottom. Here's what actually happened: Leave the eddy and battle across the flow, hitting the wave train part way down instead of at the top. Battle to stay on the wave train, struggle to avoid capsizing above the drop. Oh, hold on a minute - there's the drop. Fall down the drop into a foaming wall of white water. Oh dear, I seem to be upside down again. Wait. Wait. I think I might be out of the rapid now, try a roll. And again. That's better, I can breathe again. Head for the eddy. Capsize again on the eddy line. Roll back up again and catch breath.

Further shenanigans and playing in stoppers downstream led to me rolling 3 or 4 times more over the course of the day, but oddly enough left me more confident in my own abilities than before, which brings me to today. Cheque in the post, 4 star training booked.