UK SKILLS MEET: ROCK & MOUNTAIN DAYS - North Wales AUGUST 2021

With the UK slowly emerging from COVID lockdowns and enthusiasm for mountain adventures at an all time high, a group of WAAC members from across the UK and Ireland met in North Wales for a weekend of skill sharing and confidence building facilitated by our amazing team of qualified female instructors. The weekend’s event was made up of a ROCK SKILLS day on the Saturday and a MOUNTAIN day on the Sunday.

The ROCK SKILLS day was focused on both movement skills and an introduction to Trad climbing, with plenty of opportunity to climb on dry(ish) rock. Limited access to climbing walls and the mountains over the last 18 months, meant it was great to shake off any rustiness and challenge ourselves on small holds and throw some shapes on the rock. The afternoon saw an arrival of damper weather so we looked at the more technical side of Trad climbing like gear placement and belay building.

Brains and muscles thoroughly worked, we retreated to a magical bell tent in a secret place for our WAAC SOCIAL evening of tasty pizza from an amazing local pizza truck and much loved time together.

The MOUNTAIN DAY on the Sunday was an opportunity to journey around Tryfan (the weather meant no summit - an important lesson to learn!) and look at movement on steep ground, planning a route and navigation skills including using a compass. The mix of mist, low cloud, gusty winds and torrential rain couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces as we chatted and laughed our way up Heather Terrace and down Cwm Tryfan.

It meant so much to all of us to see your smiling faces in person again, and be back in the mountains, where we belong. Thank you to all the women who joined us!!

Thank you, as well, to Kate Owen who filmed and edited this fantastic short video to give a flavour of how much fun we had on the MOUNTAIN DAY with our WAAC-y women.

If you’re interested in joining our next UK Skills Meet on the weekend of 9-10th October 2021 check it out more information here.