The first day of adventures

Posted on | By Cstavri

With the alarm clock beeping continuously in my ear, I and Mei desperately scrambled to turn the lights on. As we didn’t want to wake the others up, we tried our best to be quiet! Cleverly, the night before we had planned to wake up early so we could be the first to have a shower. However when we finally managed to get to them, it didn’t turn out to be as pleasant as we hoped [it was either to hot or too cold] When getting ready, we struggled to know what to wear as we were still getting used to the new experiences.
Gathering the breakfast at 7:45, as instructed we all filled our stomachs to the brims. We didn’t want to get hungry up in the mountains so some of us even had seconds! We all agreed that the food here was better than Germany. Soon afterwards, we gathered in the common room to find out our groups. Nervously, we all opened our ears and listened intensely, however, soon after Mr Alderson had spoken, Mrs Webster announced that we would be in a group with herself and an instructor Mary. Pushing and shoving into a new room we had never seen before, we were then told that today we would be climbing a ring of three mountains. We were also told the equipment we needed, what we needed to wear and more information about our day.
Luckily, we were in a group where we all got along and could conferee with each other about what we needed to do and when. We got our things, shoved them into our bags and walked downstairs to the place we were told to meet Mary. We then promptly changed into our mountain boots and toppled into the minibus. From then on it was only the 10 of us.
Getting out of the mini bus after a short 5 minute journey we were soon greeted with an amazing display of mountains [3 of which we were planning to hike]. We stared of strong but quickly got tired but Mary then explained that it was completely normal and we would get the pace soon. It was a nice journey up the mountain even though some people struggled. There were many pauses and stops when people could catch their breath and have a quick drink or snack; however we tried not to guzzle our drinks because sooner or later we would run out. Working our way up the first mountain called Carnedd y Filiast, many people tripped or slid down the muddy hills. The weather was great but the nearer we got to the top, the wind got stronger. Finally, when we reached the top of the mountain, it was an amazing feeling and the picturesque view could not be better. However, the hike wasn’t over yet, there was still more mountains to climb…
The second mountain of the three was called Mynydd Perfydd and it ended up being a lot easier than we thought as we were energized after eating our lunch. When we got to the top most of us were feeling astounded by the fact that we had climbed 2 mountains. On the other hand most of us were thoroughly exhausted so Mary made the prompt decision that we would head back down. This upset some of us because it wasn’t as great of an achievement as it would be if wed climbed all three, although it turned out to be the correct decision. Over all it was a great experience and we both can’t wait for tomorrow.

By Hazel and Emily 

Sunday evening and walk to Dolbadarn Castle

Posted on | By Mr Alderson

Activity locations map

Posted on | By Mr Alderson | No comments

I’ve added some of the activity locations to a Google map (click here to view larger map).
A few of the walks and most of the other activities used by earlier trips are shown.
Many of the place names will soon become familiar because all the dormitories are named after major mountains and rivers near KMC.

The Snowdon Climb

Posted on | By Mr Taylor

Today was our final day, our dorm woke up 2 minutes before breakfast and it was a massive rush to get dressed and get our team ready to climb Snowdon. After a swift breakfast we all met in the common room where we was eventually segregated into our groups, today we were going to climb the tallest mountain in England and Wales. Once we were in the lecture room we were lectured (haha pun) into what we were going to need for the climb. It was too much stuff so I forgot but we had a full bag. We then hauled ourselves outside to where we had to put these torture-like device shoes on our feet. Grace had already got a sinkhole (blister) in her foot from these Michael Myers deathtraps. Then Keith (the big police man) told us to clamber into the minibus, we then proceeded to drive our 15 minutes where Lola wouldn’t shut up singing, this was going to be a long day. We reluctantly clambered out the minibus into the starting area of our climb. We had this walking stick which Lola held for a while it made her look like my nan on steroids. We then began to analyse this sign describing the two possible paths we could take and of course we took the hardest one because I love taking the hardest route, I do! After 10 minutes of walking me and Will realised we were about 100m in front of the rest of the group so Emma shouted at as and told us to wait. Me and Will looked like turnips standing still on a pathway in the cold. Once we had gotten past this predicament, we continued our long tiresome journey towards the summit of snowy Snowdon. A few minutes later we stopped for a snack we met a strange poodle who didn’t like people and then we never seemed to see that same dog again but I could’ve sworn we went the same way he did. After our small snack break we then continued to plod along whilst Jaan proceeded to explain how he was scared of dogs. Once we arrived at the peak we started taking photos on several different cameras owned by different specimens – this took some time. Once we had completed said task we then proceeded to start the climb down. Thankfully no one fell over but we had a few close calls sadly no one died. This was my last day at KMC.

By Oli Harris

Will we get lost?

Posted on | By Mr Alderson

Today Kiera and Libby came into our room to wake us up, to get ready for the day. However most of us couldn’t be bothered to move, but I needed to have a shower and whilst I was in the shower I encountered a big lobster bug so I ran out nearly screaming. Staying in bed we eventually realised the time so we rushed quickly to get to breakfast. For breakfast we had Sausage, Beans and Potato SMILEYSSSSS!!!!  Most of us enjoyed breakfast, which was followed on by our usual meet in the common room to watch either CBeebies, milkshake or CBBC, the channels that we all love <3

After this we met in our collective meeting rooms with our instructor to review the previous day, also to discuss the plan for the day and to also find out the equipment and clothes for our adventure. We found out that we would be navigating our own walk by starting at one point on our maps and reaching a little village by a lake to find the teachers. To start with we all agreed that someone or everyone one would die or get completely lost.

We gathered in the courtyard in our walking boots all ready to leave. So we climbed on the minibus, but as per usual Sam was either late, missing clothing or missing equipment. On the journey to our starting point, well… to begin Paige was reading ‘HARRY POTTER’ like normal but Mr. White said “Paige why not read it out loud so that we can all listen.” Paige disagreed, but then Jaime piped in and read almost a whole chapter with great voices!

Once we arrived at our stop by the train station we got off. Mr. White stayed with us until the farm, which was about 50m from the bus. Then we were alone… So we grabbed our maps and started walking uphill zig zagging left and right, so far so good. However we came across some cross roads. Devon and Oscar thought that we were quite a bit higher up on the map, but me, Sam, Charlotte, Paige and Jamie all knew that we had to head up. We knew this because the way they wanted to go had a sign for Snowdon which is NOT where we wanted to go. We argued. Luckily Simon, our instructor, came to the rescue. Apparently, he could hear us from really high up (OOPS!) He told us that we as in (Jaime’s side) we’re right!!

Eventually we carried on moving up until we reach the BULCH which is two hills with a gap/dip running through the centre. We carried on past the bulch down a long path. We came across many mountain sheep, and a few were perched on the track, we attempted stroking them however the sheep ran away L

As we travelled down this really long continuous path we reached some house ruins. By this time it was around 12:30 so we agreed to sit and have lunch in the house. Afterwards we carried on with our trek. As we kept walking we found a bridge and crossed it. Next we kept walking a bit further and we knew we had to turn left yet we turned on the wrong left. Luckily we were only on the right side of the lake as we were supposed to be on the left. Soooooo we had to cross the lake by standing on rocks similar to stepping stones, like the gorge on Thursday. We got back on track after travelling through a small green of bogs(No-one fell in – luckily)

Then we kept moving towards the village. On the whole trip Alex spoke to a lot of people that we were walking by. Most of us asked the people passers the time as none of us had watches or phones. Next we entered the forest, we weren’t in there for long but it was fun, even though we didn’t know which way to go as there were many paths optional. We ended up reaching the end of the woods and finding Simon and Mr. White. They told us that we were only round the corner from the centre.

When we finally got back Simon said “We’re going abseiling”, however first we had to clean our boots and then hand in our whole kit without failure. Then we took off for the abseil rock. It was really fun said most of us. Also Oscar was currently scared of heights, however he temporarily got rid of this fear (I think) a great accomplishment. Also whilst at the rock there were some other people doing the same as us and as we got down from the rock we got to stroke their dog called OREO. He loved the attention.

For dinner we had either fish and chips or burger and chips, with mushy peas, but nobody on our table ate them. Next we went back to our rooms to pack as we had to leave early the next morning. After packing briefly we met back in the dining room for the OFFICIAL KMC QUIZ. The team ‘Barnacles and limpets’.

Then we met in the boys’ common room to get some certificates or significant funny, compliment or bad moments. After this we watched a slideshow of photos which some laughed at J Finally we finished watching ‘Happy Gilmore’.

I had a great time on this trip and I’m pretty sure most others did too!!!!

By Savannah Day

Lots of rock and cold water

Posted on | By Mr Alderson

Here is our Friday blog of snowflakes, where we went sea-traversing. We started off by jumping in the German whip and scooting off to the coast. On the way we went through the village with the second longest place name in the world, I don’t know how to spell it so I’m not even going to try. Libby, being her normal self decides to listen to Mr Alderson and make a song from two words, busy road, to the tune of chitty chitty bang bang. We then arrived at the proper steep clifftop, as we were waiting for our instructor, we ate our lunch but everyone was excited because we had FULL SIZED MILKY WAY BARSSSSSS! As soon as Jez arrived we headed down to the water. Obviously, Mabel was the first to fall in. Our fun fact that we found out is that a barnacle’s penis is 20 to 30 times its body height and that limpets’ teeth are the hardest substance known to man. After about two hours of climbing across the cliffs we came across a challenge where we had to clip our harness to a rope and pull ourselves across a 20-metre drop, but half way across we were told to swing to get on top and shuffle to the end but only Joe and Dom M manged to do it. We then went to the edge and some of us jumped in, Joe did a front flip and Dom P did a dab. We went to get changed into dry clothes but there was nowhere to go so joe decided to get changed in a thorn bush but to be fair he didn’t realise.
In the evening our activity was a quiz about general knowledge, Welsh culture, sport, music and geography. Keira and Megan’s team won by one point in front of Joe’s team.
thanks for reading!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

By Joe Sykes and Dominic Pook

Last Day of the Trip

Posted on | By Mr Alderson

Today, Breakfast was sausages, beans and potato smiley faces. Once we had finished our breakfast, we went to the common room and then we were sent to our meeting room. Mary told us the plan for the day and then we were given 20 minutes to get all of the equipment that we needed for our walk and we met in the courtyard ready to set off.

We parked in a car park near a lake and then set off uphill to the peak. We were left to walk without an adult to develop our independence as a team and Mary ran up the other side of the mountain to meet us at the top. The first stop we came across was the boulder throne and we stopped for a quick ‘Snackette’. Then we continued making our way up to the next stop which was the remains/ruins of a stone house.

Once we made it to the house, we were not far from the top. We walked the remaining bit to get to the top, but not quite the peak. A notable moment at this point was when Adam and Jacob found a large rock and re-enacted ‘The Circle of Life’. We then got out our shelter (just for fun) and waited inside for Mrs Webster and Mary. On Mary’s arrival we stopped to eat our sandwiches and then Mary lead us to the actual peak of the mountain. At the peak, we looked out over the village of Beddgelert and admired the beautiful view of the mountains. Then we made our way back down the other side.

On the way down, we came across an old copper mine. Mary showed us how to use a rock as an anvil and whack to rocks together to try and discover Fools Gold. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any actual pieces of Fools Gold, only what looked like glitter. Once we had finished our ‘treasure hunt’ we carried on down the mountain. We also came across a memorial bench. Underneath the bench, was a small notepad, pen and a bottle of alcohol. We left some messages in the notebook. Then we came across a rocky path that was quite slippy, but everybody made it across in one piece.

After a while of walking, we made it to the flat land next to a river and continued walking to where Mary had moved the minibus to and we had a quick toilet break in the public toilets. Mary then showed us a map that was on the wall and explained to us the next route that we would take without adult supervision. We set off and our first place to walk next to was a gorge.

Later on, after we had met up with Mary once again, we visited Beddgelert (Gelert’s grave). Mary told us the story of Gelert and then we went to see the statue of Gelert. We then visited the grave where he was buried and then continued towards the village.

In the village, we were given 30 minutes to go into different shops. There was very nice and unique art shop and as a team we all decided to buy Mary a thankyou card. Then in the fudge shop (WHICH WAS OUT OF FUDGE!!) we got her a ‘four wheel drive’- Mary’s name for sheep, chocolate. Meanwhile, Mary ordered a strawberry and raspberry smoothie. The man in the shop accidentally made far too much smoothie and so he gave them about 4 cups of it for free. So on the minibus home after a great day, we had a smoothie 1 between 2 with straws and they were absolutely delicious.

Once we made it back to the centre, Mary opened her card and thanked us for a great week and we did the same back. We then went into the stores and returned all of our equipment and handed in our KMC bags etc. Then we emptied our lunchboxes for the last time. Tonight, Rachael, Beth, Aenea, Charlotte and Lola were on duty and had to wash up, serve and clean up after dinner. Then we were all sent to go and pack everything away in our suitcases ready for tomorrow’s departure.

Once we had finished packing, we were sent to get a pen and a notebook and we gathered in the dining room for a KMC Quiz. It was very fun and it consisted of questions about subjects such as sport, welsh culture, general knowledge etc.

Since it was our last night in the centre, we were all gathered in the common room and each teacher would give out certificates to the people in their group in an award ceremony way. Then Mr Alderson showed us a slideshow of images of the week and we all laughed an remembered all the fun memories we had created. After that, we finished watching the film ‘Happy Gilmore’ and then later than usual, we were sent up to bed.

By Aenea Goult

Snowdon proper massive mountain

Posted on | By Mr Alderson

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
We went climbing in a Halloween climbing place. A nun came and put neon paint on all of our faces. There were many tall climbing walls in the Centre. It was very fun. The neon nun was very scary and he tried to take my shoes. There was a wide variety between the different climbing walls. We tried a lot of different types of climbing walls these ranged from ones that straight up to ones that went out like a ledge. One of the Dom’s reached the top of the hardest wall we did and the other Dom didn’t, Mollie got to the top, Liam got halfway, Libby fell many times as she is such a noob skin.

THURSDAY:
We wake up in the morning to an announced that breakfast had been postponed by 10 minutes and that there was a room inspection. So we all hurried the frick up and got changed. We were informed by Mr Alderson that we were climbing mount Snowdon today. We all were very excited as it is the biggest mountain in Wales and England and that we were the first group to climb it. We all piled into the German whip and set of for Snowdon, we pulled up to the car park to find it was full, luckily Bob and Jez came to our rescue and save the whip from a parking ticket. We all set off headed to the top of Snowdon. As we continued to climb the wind picked up and the hill got steeper. As we got to the part where we will have to climb over the rocks the pace slowed down as we were nearing the summit of Snowdon.

When we went back down we saw all the default skins going up the easiest route and we laughed at them. As we neared the bottom of Snowdon we saw the minibus pull up to take us back to the centre. The group went to do problem solving and Libby yeeted herself of a tight rope.

By Dominic Morton and Dominic Pook

A day of Clumsiness

Posted on | By Mr Alderson

The story begins on Wednesday evening in the courtyard for Jacob and the store cupboard for me. We were on opposing teams with different activities, one we had to get a ball out of a pipe using only water but PLOT TWIST the pipe has holes in it and we had to work together to block the holes and get the ball out, getting completely drenched in the process, at one point (in Jacobs group) every one let go of the holes and left Mabel  hugging the pipe. The second activity we had to create certain shapes out of rope but PLOT TWIST (again) we were blind folded. At the end everyone was up against each other, in this game we had to get from one side to the other using tiles of carpets but PLOT TWIST(ok that’s the last one) if a tile was left unattended The swamp monster (Miss Webster and Keith) would take them and decrease our number of tiles to use, in Jacobs group Alex almost lost the entire game by picking up tiles at the end instead of going straight over the line and also blocking himself (thanks to Mr Swamp Monster) away from the end.

The next day the hailstones (the best group) went on a 45-minute drive to the coast. We started with a bit of rock climbing. clambering over a wall, me with the speed of a seal with crutches and Jacob going the speed of a gorilla on steroids (that’s fast). On the other side of the magical wall, we walked down a special path. At the end of the special path, was a small rock face. This was a challenge. We paired up and had to direct each other as were to put our hands and feet, with multiple “power slides” (slips).  Moving swiftly on we went around rocky rock pools and had a break shortly after. To get to the top of the cliff we had to go through the claustrophobic cave of claustrophobia (try saying that three times fast). At the top of the cliff, we went back to the van for a spot of lunch. After lunch, we walked down another special path (this is another special path but this one is not so special) and arrived to find Mary (Our instructor) on an island with ropes between the island and our path area. We had to get to the island using harnesses and the rope. We were taught how to do a backflip (sort of) on the rope. Getting to the other side was fun yet hard and only Jacob and Aenea did the backflip. We then had a gander through the rocks. During our little gander, Jacob managed to lose his shoe down a little cavern, but fear not for I, Adam, managed to save the shoe (shoe saver, I am considering putting an advert in the paper for shoe saving). The day was coming to a close and we got to jump into the sea, I did a cannonball and Jacob persuaded Mary to let us dive in. The day had ended, and Rachael had managed to slip only twice, a record, and now we’re in the lecture room writing about our day.

By  Jacob Hyland & Adam Marshall

Sunbeams and Raindrops – Afon Ddu

Posted on | By Mr Taylor

[Ed.] Today, two groups joined forces to tackle the Afon Ddu gorge. Their individual group blog posts are shown below along with photos featuring both groups.

Raindrops

Wednesday night
Ourselves and the team set off on a puzzle solving mission, Mr Taylor, and Mrs Webster [both fellow staff members on our exhibition], created difficult activities that would challenge us on both our mental and physical skills.
On our first challenge the cold hit us with us with a shock !! as we were tasked to drop a ball into a tube with one exit and one entrance, our only equipment being a hose pipe and eight people and ourselves. Soon after realising this so called ‘PIPE OF DOOM’ was completely covered in holes. The main objective was to get the ball out the pipe without tilting the pipe itself.
Our second objective was slightly more a teamwork based activity as we became challenged to create perfect square and circle whilst blindfolded, as a team we had to use our good communication skills and sense of direction throughout the task.

Thursday
Our morning started with a disruptive awakening as we to skedaddle downstairs due to the siren of the morning breakfast bell. The breakfast given was a warming simple selection off pain au chocolat, bacon and scrambled egg. Once over we sat in our designated meeting rooms and talked over the plan for the day shortly before setting over on the daily venture. Both our and sunbeams group trekked through the gorge despite facing all the natural elements, such as rock faces, waterfalls and many very slippery rocks.

Once returning from such an exciting day many of us had warming showers since the gorge became ever so cold! As returning close to dinner time, we had little time to prepare ourselves for the evening meal. we had a scrumptious choice of pasta bake and roast dinner which we were ecstatic about and that was the end of the day. Since then we spent the evening writing this up…

We hope you enjoyed it, Alex Mundy and Devon Foster

Sunbeams

Wednesday night
Our team set off on an adventure on a puzzle mission, Mr Taylor and Mrs Webster were both running the activities, both members of staff. Mr Taylor’s activity was a wet one, we had to put a ball in a tube with holes in and try and get the ball out. We had to fill the tube with water and we had to put our fingers the holes so the water didn’t squirt out, this didn’t go so well, as Mabel ended up hugging the tube. The second activity with Mrs Webster tested our team’s communication skills as we had to make a square and a circle (with blindfolds on)

Thursday morning
We were rudely woken up by the breakfast bell. we rushed down stairs and ate are breakfast then about 30 mins later we were on the minibus and where on our way to Afon Ddu, means black river. this tested your physical ability and your mental ability .There were lots challenging sections such as the elephant’s bum which is two rounded rocks that have fallen together, we scrambled up the elephant’s bum and eventually got to the plunge pool after an exhausting adventure we jump in and got drenched and had to get changed in the woods, eventually we got back to KMC and played manhunt…

By William Reeves

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