UK SKILLS MEET : ALPINE ROPE SKILLS by Lisa Tully
As I topped out on my first ever alpine route in the French Alps with a good friend in September, I felt mostly tired and hungry, but also just felt this HUGE sense of achievement! I did it! My first alpine route! In 2021 – who would’ve thought!? We had definitely written off being able to go to the Alps, so actually getting there felt pretty amazing in itself but also since it was all a bit of a last-minute arrangement that we weren’t even convinced would happen until the last moment...I was feeling a bit unprepared skills-wise. I was lucky to go with friends that are incredibly patient and super keen to pass on their knowledge, but in a week, it was all a bit of a whirlwind and I came back wishing I knew more. Cue an email from Jenny at WAAC! Alpine rope skills weekend in North Wales in October? I’m in.
The weekend began at Café Siabod in Capel Curig; to those who don’t know it, it’s well worth a visit if you’re ever in the area and are in need of a scone the size of your face or a bucket of coffee. We arrived and luckily it wasn’t too hard to find the group and after some introductions, we divided up into the two different courses for the weekend: beginners (introduction to navigation & scrambling), and improvers (alpine rope skills, grade 2/3 scrambling and navigation). I was on the improvers course which further divided into groups of 2 based on what people were hoping to get out of the weekend and previous experience, and so myself and Mel were buddied up with our guide/instructor, Jenny.
Mel and I are both climbers who have scrambled before but we were both looking to learn more scrambling/alpine skills and what is appropriate in terms of protection for scrambling. The Ogwen Valley is full of scrambles so we headed up the east face of Tryfan on Bastow Buttress, which is a grade 2 scramble and a really useful place to start learning some skills. The terrain varies between scrambling and easy climbing, so that meant we learnt how to take coils and got to test out different types of anchors and belaying systems, and taught the decision-making processes for what is appropriate for the terrain. The highlight of my day was finally learning how to do a magical mystical italian hitch – turns out it is way easier than I thought and so useful – but also learning simpler systems that are very much appropriate for scrambling and quicker too! Once we’d topped out, we descended back to heather terrace and back along the back of Little Tryfan where we bumped in to some of the other “improvers” and headed to Pizza y pient to meet the rest of the group for a well-earned dinner.
After discussing our options, the next day we agreed to head out for something a little more challenging: Idwal Buttress (Grade 2) followed by Cniefion Arete (Diff/Grade 3). Although well within our climbing ability, we knew it would be a bit more challenging in terms of finding suitable protection/anchors and therefore a good place to put in to practice what we had learnt so far. Some of the other improvers also had the same idea (great minds think alike!) so there were 6 of us there and that brought a genuinely lovely and supportive vibe to Idwal! We started off soloing as the route was amenable and dry, but switched to a roped system when we felt it was appropriate. The route proved to be a little more challenging to protect (as expected) but was really enjoyable and I was surprised that no one else seemed to be around (a first for me at Idwal!). The topout was also a handy large platform that served as the perfect spot for lunch before heading over to Cniefion Arete.
Despite the “Diff” climbing grade, Cniefion Arete is also regarded as a classic grade 3 scramble and is “alpine in character”. I hadn’t completed a grade 3 scramble before, so I wasn’t completely sure what to expect and was intrigued how something could be “alpine in character”. After a steep juggy first pitch and an awkward chimney that we pitched as we would for climbing, we popped out on to the ridge that wow, yep, most definitely felt alpine! And what a beaut! We decided that this would be a good place to practice moving together with ropes too, which I'm so glad to have had the chance to learn with the support of someone as experienced as Jenny. Moving with ropes took a bit of getting used to but I finished the route feeling like I had learnt a lot and felt more confident.
The other improvers joined us at the top and after some celebratory snacks, we descended via Y Gribin back towards our cars and said our “see you soon”s after an obligatory team photo. On the drive home, I reflected on the weekend; I'd started off feeling pretty nervous about going to my first WAAC meet but after 2 days in the mountains surrounded by amazing, knowledgeable and supportive women, I was absolutely buzzing! I learnt so much and met some great people along the way too and couldn’t recommend going along to a skills weekend more. Even if you don’t need or want a skills top-up, it seems like there’s usually some members around just heading out for fun too and they’re all very welcoming!
