Returned to wharncliffe for Ken and Garys 2nd day.
this proved to be a very high practice day as each client was at a different place in their climbing. Ken had done an anchor building course Gary had never climbed outside before previous outdoor day.
upon arrival I set up an abseil on the boulder at the base of great buttress.
I then tested the guys memory with gear placement.
Ken place Good gear immediately, Gary needed a bit more practice
While Gary placed gear I got ken to show me an out of reach anchor. with very little tweaking we gained a safe method very quickly.
I then showed Ken how to abseil while gary finished placing a few pieces.
While ken practice abseils I went over kens gear placement. It had clicked with him and his placements had improved.
I then got Ken to teach gary how his best placements in to an out of reach anchor, I tasked them with ken showing gary twice then Gary building it twice each time picking different points for the crag edge.
while they did this I ran up and built 2 ab anchors on beta crack improving upon my previous visit.
this was timed well and allowed me to set up well within time for the gents to finish
Myself and Ken abseiled off pre placing gear, extending to avoid run outs etc to make the climbing easier.
Ken then lead the route happily once reaching the top he built his anchor using the two points provided by the two ab anchors.
Garry seconded, his lower climbing experience showed though so I had planned to have ken and Gary abseil this time ken supervising Gary , but instead of placing Gary on a route with a committing move I got him to lead Alpha Vdiff, with me self-lining to supervise. Gary enjoyed this a lot and at the traverse showed a good understanding of extending gear on traverses.
Ken then led Romulus, vdiff and made good choices, this raised the discussion of placing gear outside of your main field of vision especially when climbing corners.
Gary led black slab right hand Mod this allowed me to walk up the hill at his side being able to see most of gear placements.
the weather was starting to turn so I provided the gents with a choice of climbs one option was to return to beta crack, the first climb of the day which Ken wanted to do without preplaced gear.
Ken lead successfully seeing the differences between the two tactics.
as Garry racked up for a final lead the rain hit hard so we bailed, packed up under a cave then ran home.
A few things to remember, as a role model the clients will try to read my actions ad copy. if I grab a crisp they may sit down for a break, If I take my coat off they may copy.
Need to experience more of wharncliffe myself as less popular sections of the crag were unfamiliar to me and had the day ran faster we would have had to relocate a few times, and the crag isn't the easiest to explore.
Area :
Peak District Grit North-East, inc Agden, Bamford, Dovestone, Rivelin, Wharncliffe etc
Notable crags in this Area, between Sheffield and the Derwent Reservoir, include Rivelin, Agden Rocher, Dovestones Tor, Back Tor etc., and also Bamford Edge further south. Also included are the crags to the west and north-west of Sheffield which are just outside the park, such as Wharncliffe and Bell Hagg.
