Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Lower Dart with Plymouth College students today.  3 kayaks for me whilst Mr Rees had 3 Open Boats. First time on White Water for all the students (apart from one) and as always, the Lower Dart was a perfect intriduction.  A few swims of course but then Hot Chocolate in the Salmon Leap Cafe to finish whilst Mr Rees and I went to get the minibus back

I was out on The Loop section of The River Dart today with a small group from Plymouth College. Some good paddling demonstrated and lots of fun had by all even if the river was a little low in places. All the main features still had plenty of water. Looking forward to getting back on the water with a different group tomorrow.

Today I was working for Plymouth College overseeing some 6th form students running paddling activities for Year 7. A nice relaxed day and nowhere near as cold as I expected. It was great to watch the older students take the lead from greeting the younger ones, loading boats and minibus, running sessions and packing up all the kit as the end.

To break up my journey home, I booked on a Hypothermia Immersion Course at Lochore Meadows Country Park. After a short theory session and safety brief we had 3 practical sessions Cold Water Shock - We only got in for around 30 seconds to watch initial response (I volunteered for this one) before getting warm fairly quickly and easily. 3 minute exposure - 2 willing volunteers (in picture( swam around a bit to see what happens once the shock passes, you catch your breath and you are in the stage where you can swim about. These two hardy souls were warmed up somewhat slower and needed some assistance and warm drinks. As long as you can - The last 2 volunteers (absolute heroes) managed around 6 minutes and needed lots of after care, warm water, full wrap in a blizzard bag and monitoring for some time. Always good to see the stages first hand and absolutely no regrets that I volunteered for the shortest session. Water Temp was 7.9 degrees and Air around 4.5 degrees

After a frustrating week trapped in and around Glenmore Lodge, I was finally able to get out and about today up into the hills. My 2019/2020 winter season has started! I wandered into Coire an T'Sneachda with an open mind, a set of crampons and one axe. None of the gullies looked complete so it was up onto the reliable, goes in almost any conditions Fiaciall Ridge (II). I did put crampons on for the main difficulties but it would have been mainly ok without as not a lot was frozen, just some powder snow. I wombled about the plateau for a while taking a few pictures and spying on my cousin Will who was climbing in Corie an Lochain. It was a little blowy up top so I headed back down the ridge and to the car to warm up. I am now writing this blog in a cafe waiting for Will to come and join me for a catch up.

This week I have been on a 6 day WEMSI Wilderness First Responder course based at Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms. Over the 6 days we spent time inside and outside working in teams to deal with various different scenarios

Since Wednesday morning I have been out in the hills running the expedition part of a Mountain Leader Assessment for Roxcool . A lovely route with camps at Angle Tarn and Red Tarn with lots of mountains in between. Bowfell, Esk Pike and Crinkle Crags to name a few 2 days of excellent weather if a little windy followed by wetter weather for our walk out this morning. Good efforts put in by all candidates over the last week.