not sure what the weather is going to be like this weekend coming, but was hoping to head off down to saddle head. im taking a mate who has not done a lot of climbing and is not sure about abing in. he has absailed before but i dont think hes keen and is afraid of doing something wrong, and i would hate for something to happen whilst hes in my care. ive been told there is a scramble in but i cant see it in the book. can some one please let me know where to scramble in. thanks
In reply to taffyboy:
You scramble along the ridge dropping down to a little col then double back at a lower level to the platform below the routes. It's obvious where to go when you are there.
Some people will find the scramble a lot more intimidating than the ab, and it certainly is a lot more time-consuming. Not a good option if you want to do a number of routes. I think the answer is to get your mate (and you?) comfortable with safe and effective abseil system. Do you know how to back up an abseil with a safety-rope? Or set up a "stacked" abseil? Worth knowing...
In reply to Jamie B: to be honnest im fine with abing. as for backing it up with a safety rope, the answer would have to be no. never found the need to do it.
> (In reply to Jamie B) to be honnest im fine with abing. as for backing it up with a safety rope, the answer would have to be no. never found the need to do it.
Err ... this doesn't sound quite in the spirit of your original post. You may be fine with abbing but your mate may well not. It's not much hassle to take a belay next to the ab rope and use the climbing rope as a backup - if only for their first time down.
You may be right about some people finding the scramble intimidating (thought it is very easy), but its barely (if at all) more time-consuming than abbing - 10 minutes tops, and certainly compatible with a productive day.
> to be honnest im fine with abing. as for backing it up with a safety rope, the answer would have to be no. never found the need to do it.
You may not have, but I thought we were talking about your mate? Do you want to see him accelerate down the rope because you didn't take an appropriate precaution for a novice?
In reply to Jamie B: when i say im fine with abing and never used a back up, all the times ive abed as been with other climbers, experienced climbers. plus my mate just does not feel comfortable with it at the moment and im not going to force him into doing something he doesnt want to do, so im just as happy with the scramble in.
Podcast Mountain Air - 4. Renan Ozturk on the Sanctity of Space
News BMC Publishes New GB Climbing Performance Department Proposals
The British Mountaineering Council has published a series of papers outlining new proposals for the oversight of GB Climbing, following management issues related to the internal business unit last year and a member-led proposal to...