Gwilym's Adventure Blog

What does an Outdoor Instructor do when snowed in? Well, obviously not stay in the house. Having realised the car was going nowhere the next thing to do was measure the snow on my door step. Only having a 15cm ruler to hand I can say the snow was deeper than 15cm and in some of the drifts a lot deeper. Drink some coffee whilst making plans Ski round to a friends house to drop of a sledge for her children and then ski onto my parents for lunch. Drink more coffee. After lunch, dig out access to their shed and garage and clear a cornice form the roof. Ski home and build a snowman that is the spitting image of one of my work colleagues Drink more coffee As much as I would like to get up on the local hills, the roads are still pretty snowy (ie more skiable than driveable) so have to see what tomorrow brings.

Hard to tell from the pics but there were a number of snow blizzards today as I rode around The Quantock Hills following a group of Bridgwater and Taunton College Public Services students as they navigated a bike route in the open and through the woods

Out on The Quantock Hills with Public Services students from Bridgwater and Taunton College today. They were being assessed at planning and leading their own ride. It was cold but dry as all the puddles were frozen and although little bit of snow in the air, sadly it didn't settle. Given the baltic conditions, all did well and we hurried back  to eat lunch in the (relative) warmth of the minibus.

My plan for the weekend was some Laederal Resus Manikin maintenance but ....... A few weeks ago I picked up this KTM 250 and am in the process of turning it into a reliable trail bike for some summer fun. Yesterday was spent stripping the bike, draining the oil, removing the spark plug and trying to find the source of a leaky petrol overflow pipe from the carb (or at least, taking the carb out and leaving it in a bowl whilst wondering what to do). A quick trip into town got me most of what I needed ie spark plug, engine oil, 2 stroke oil and some new bolts but sadly no air filter that will fit  available locally so that is on mail order. After a morning ride (on my Explorer) with Somerset Advanced Motorcyclists , the rest of today was spent rebuilding. New spark plug, new oil added and a fully stripped and cleaned carb meaning the float is now moving freely to stop the fuel overfilling the bowl.  Being a 2 stroke, I only ran it with ...

Another day of Tech Advice today for Cannington Activity Centre with some staff training on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. We looked at the use of the canal from the Docks to The Boat and Anchor including a number of access and egress options. We even managed a bit of improvised sailing (proof you should always carry a group shelter) on the way back

Today was another Quantock Day delivering the first day of a NNAS Bronze award for Bridgwater and Taunton College students on behalf of Wet and High Adventures Ltd . After a bit of contour work on college grounds, we were  out and about looking at basic navigation techniques. A fair bit colder than the last few days but still dry and therefore a good day out

A great day in the sun this afternoon at Cannington Activity Centre assessing a couple of staff as Low Ropes instructors. Certainly one of the nicer days to be sitting on a grass bank watching people work Both staff passed so now even more students can use the excellent facilities that are available.