The time had come… in August
2011 I attended my Single Pitch Award training with Phill George Mountaineering
in Llanberis. The course was very, very good. This was my second outdoor
training course that year after completing my Mountain Leader Training two
months earlier. It had been particularly difficult getting the climbs in. My
logbook has about 120 different routes in it, but unfortunately about 95-100
where sport… It took some doing to get the climbs in with all the bad weather
and lack of free weekends but I got there in the end. Barely…
The assessment got off to a
good start. We drove to Holyhead Mountain and our personal climbing skills were
put under the microscope. The weather was glorious and we began with belay construction
and top roping, all bread and butter so we all enjoyed our turn to climb in the
sun. After lunch we moved onto lead climbing and gear placements. This one
caught me out a little. The route, New
Pants and Booties S 4a, proved a little tricky toward the top and my leg
did begin to party like it was 1999 but after a little bit of precision
footwork I topped out onto the easiest belay construction of the day.
