Shadowing / observing / supporting session with John Rocks. Four young climbers.
John set up two BR’s and with a mix of bell ringing & us belaying, all climbers got up the route. Enjoyable area as the climbers showed me where they had previously climbed and done some weaseling.
Side note to this, which was important as a safety consideration:
John invited me to head to the anchors and see how they were set up; this involved a scramble on greasy rocks to the top. Having seen the setup (which was really useful) the two of us started to pack up the anchor system. John had asked the climbers to remain at the base of the crag and get their things together. However two of the climbers made their way up the scramble that I did to come and see us. We only knew about this when they topped out on the scramble nearby - a huge safety issue I believe and a high risk of injury. To get all of us back down, I downclimbed half the scramble and anchored myself to a tree, whilst John body belayed the climbers (one by one) back down the scramble. Being able to see the anchor setup at the cost of the climbers safety, and not directly supervising them was a big mistake which we both made I think. I think that had I been running the session, the climbers would not have been left unsupervised, but seeing this set up with one instructor having to leave the group to manage the ropes gives way to many more complications.
Area :
Yorkshire Grit
Mostly those crags north of Leeds and the M62 in the Yorkshire Dales, but also the crags in the vicinity of Harrogate and Wetherby. The grit cracks in South Yorkshire close to the Peak District are covered in the Peak District Region, as are those just north of the Peak but south of the M62. Protect the Rock – let this be your mantra. John Dunne and Lucy Creamer cut their teeth here. Tradition is respected but cams and mats come in useful.
