UKC

anyone done a course here before? ie. touching stone? tell e your thoughts on it...

In reply to sophiekeltie:

I did ages ago... if you do search you can find my thoughts on it - but in general I thought it was great.

In reply to sophiekeltie:

Ages ago did a leader improvers course at PYB.

I liked the set up and the instrucors were top notch. The course itself though more or less destroyed any confidence I had at the time...but I don't think that was really their fault.

In reply to JonC:

That sounds worrying! What hapened, if you don't mind my asking?

In reply to sophiekeltie: never done a course there but know plenty of people who have and have had a great time. i stayed for a week once on a bmc meet and had a wonderful time.

everyone who works there is very positive and enthusiatic.

In reply to Jenn:

I got paired up with another chap who I did not trust at all and felt very nervous climbing with despite an instructor being to hand. That coupled with a hanging belay on a sea cliff and my nerves were shot to hell. Took me a while to recover from that I must admit.

In reply to sophiekeltie:

Did the intro course a year or so ago - really good instructors.

I'm off on the 27th March for a week's session....best chrismas present my wife has ever got me..
anyone else gonna be there?

roll-up, roll-up...

D

In reply to sophiekeltie: I found the course really good, the instructors and staff were superb and the accomodation was good. The food wasn't any great shakes, but there was plenty of it. I just wish they had put it somewhere that was easier to get to!

In reply to sophiekeltie:

They do have this rather odd thing where you need to get back to the centre by something like 5.30 for tea so you end up leaving the crag v early. Which can be frustrating, or at least that was my experience.

In reply to sophiekeltie:

they are very very good and very professional, don't let the naysayers put you off. There was a long thread about this last year, have a search for it.

In reply to JonC:

Ah, that would explain a lot! I wouldn't like to be in that situation

I guess I lucked out and went with my boyfriend (who I trust at least marginally ).I can imagine it would be difficult if you hadn't climbed with your partner before.

On a similar note, we went to PYB on a scrambling course ages ago and got lumped in with this horribly slow group. It was embarrassing to say the least being the last ones to show up at the end of the day!

Yes, and what is the deal with 5:30 tea!!

In reply to sophiekeltie: Wonderful place! Did intro course in 1974, VS+ course in 2000 - they even got me leading Cenotaph Corner! - and SPA training more recently. They have to contend with N Wales weather, but it doesn't stop them much

In reply to sophiekeltie: Done several courses with family and friends to keep them company and found instruction first class.They pay a lot of attention to tailoring the courses to individual needs. If you can get a small group of your own together they will provide you with a custom course to meet you own requirements second to none. Can't speak highly enough of them, especially considering prices compare favourably with B&B plus gear hire.

In reply to sophiekeltie: done 4 courses there. not the cheapest but top notch instruction. not been disappointed yet. I think the rush back for tea is about defining the end of the instructors day, particularly when instructors are subbed in to create improve ratios during cetain aspects of a course. suspect last in pays for the cakes!
ENJOY! Nige

In reply to sophiekeltie:

A full review of the course we went on a few years ago...

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=83080

In reply to Jenn:

the deal with the 5:30 tea is that it allows you to go out and do some routes in your own time during the evening.....also, bear a thought for the instructors- it is their job after all.

In reply to jezzah:

Nah, it's a quasi-religious sort of thing. Placating the ancient celtic cake Gods or something.

In reply to jezzah:

good point. I'm doing the course in June so will bear that in mind. Which crag with punter grades is nearest to PYB?

In reply to Wilbur:

Tryfan Fach???

In reply to Jenn: The tea an cakes is there way of checking all groups are back on time and if they need to basically a, contact the instructor or b, send some one out looking it gives them some precious hours before the night sets in (summer time) and the cold basically. I asked the same question on my ML an that was my instructors responce, personally i recon they are a fan of the podge!

In reply to TRNovice:

cheers - how far is it?

In reply to Wilbur:

head down the ogwen valley to milestone buttress. plenty of diffs and vdiffs and they're only 3mins from the car

In reply to jezzah:

ta

In reply to Wilbur:

<TRNovice>

Where the arrow is. PyB is by the lake below Capel Curig.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=268275&y=359830&z=5&sv=...

</TRNovice>

In reply to Jenn:

Better use this map;

http://makeashorterlink.com/?M1A6126CC