Tag: Tyrolean Traverse

Mr Alderson’s group – Wednesday

Posted on | By Mr Alderson | No comments

IMG_0387After Mr White had courageously swapped his cake for some extra eggy bread, after his third breakfast we set out for an activity day. The twisty winding roads towards our destination caused motion sickness for Rachel, many others were exhausted from the previous days, however we soldiered on to complete another challenging, eventful and exciting day. Today was a more relaxing day which involved map reading, orienteering and more walking!

We always look forward to our soup breaks, especially after a tiring climb. Lewis and Dan were very eager to stop after their new craze for soup. We were split into two groups and went different ways where we would eventually meet each other half way to our destination. Mr White’s group were twenty minutes in front of Mr Alderson’s group and decided to eat their lunch in a tree sheltered area lounging on a mass of soft mossy cushions. Mr White marched on ahead whilst we stayed in our comfy den until we heard a strange whistling noise gradually coming towards us, we became unsure but when we heard Mr White calling “Bon Bon” calling his dogs to come (us) we were relieved. The other group finally turned up, we walked on then Craig and myself (Maddy) led the way and the teachers both let us do our own thing…we immediately went the wrong way. Everybody stopped at the riverside and the teachers started to attach large ropes to trees across a fast rushing river. All of us were anxious because the teachers deliberately didn’t tell us what activity we were going to do until we put on extremely uncomfortable harnesses and helmets on.

We did a Tyrolean Traverse circuit going crossing the river twice. Charlie Burgess bravely went first and excelled at it. Rachel’s turn came next falling over the big drop before the river. Mr White set a challenge to see if we could go on top the rope, which proved quite challenging sitting struggling looking stupid in the middle of the rope in mid-air. Lewis managed to get on top of the rope, however did not hook his foot so ended up dragging himself with the rope between his legs which seemed to be quite painful as he sat on the other side near on crying.

On the walk back we split apart from the teachers. They went an easier route around the lake and we went the hard way which was proven by Lewis falling over about 5 times on slippery branches and rocks. Being apart from the teachers made us feel very independent and we were hoping that we wouldn’t get lost on the way back to the minibus!

By Rachel & Maddy

Wheels on the Bus

Posted on | By RNoone157 | 1 Comment

On this fine day or not so fine in the morning we woke up at the breakfast bell. Today we were probably the most tired we’d been so far when waking up, but the idea of getting soaked in the gorge changed that.

After breakfast we were told that we were going to go gorge walking. It was about a forty-five minute drive to the gorge, we were so tired we (Charley and Róisín) fell asleep. After a bit of lunch we got off the bus and had to get on our harnesses which like yesterday made Charley feel like Spiderman…

We went through the forest and found the bottom of the gorge, which was full of rocks and lots of small waterfalls with a huge one at the end. It didn’t take long before we started slipping off Elliot, being the first man down. It was pretty challenging to get up at parts but the worst bit was definitely the first time you fell in one of the pools and the cold water got into your boots! When we were about 1/3 of the way up Louise set up another zip wire thing between two of the rocks which was really fun.

Next we went up a few more waterfalls which were hard because we couldn’t see where the next rock was and sometimes we had to pull ourselves up. Next Louise said we could go the easy way or the hard way and we ended up going through the elephant butt. It was basically just two huge rocks leaning against each other half in water with a pretty small hole in the middle. We had to sit down up to your waist in FREEZING water and slide through the hole which was quite scary because we were worried we couldn’t get through half way. It was optional but most of us did it anyway. We then climbed up another small waterfall slipping another few hundred times. When we were pretty close to the top, we took off our harnesses and left them on a patch of grass, it was great not needing to carry them anymore. Going up the last few waterfalls was hard as there was so many deep parts which we didn’t know were there so we fell into pools almost up to our chest. D:

Once we got to the top we climbed along some of the rocks and slid into the water. We walked underneath the waterfall on stepping stones and there was a gap which was the shape of a chair which was really cool because we could sit in it and stay dry for a few precious seconds before getting into the really deep pool. We thought there was more stepping stones but there wasn’t so we were both on the last one screaming at each other not to let go because we didn’t want to get cold. Eventually we manned up and pushed each other in. We were standing neck deep in the freezing water as Kaan floated past us on his buoyancy aid and couldn’t get back up. We wish we could say that we helped him.

Then we swam and walked awkwardly full of water to the water fall we had recently climbed and slid don it like woooossshhhhhhhhhhh and then we climbed back up for another go! We then climbed down more of the smaller waterfalls that we had climbed up to start with. Once we had finished and Kaan had finished floating we got back to the grass patch where we had put our harnesses previously. Then we walked down the slope where we met the other group and we walked back down to the car park. We got dressed in the woods, the girls on one side and the boys on the other.

Back in the coach we had more lunch before driving back to the centre. Today charley decided to sing the wheels on the bus again in attempt to get them to put the radio on of course every one joined except an odd few (Kaan bashing his head against a window).  After the tenth verse we admitted defeat and gave up. Kaan was hitting Róisín with his hat so she stole it and he went metal but he EVENTUALLY got it back.

– Charley and Róisín

Born Slippy

Posted on | By JVoss735 | No comments

We started our journey to Cable Bay (Anglesey) for our sea level traversing. It was very… amusing with the anonymous Human Jukeboxes providing a very O.K.ish performance. As we got to on the bay Jez (our instructor) provided us with a safety briefing after that we started climb up a wall and started to traverse

To start off it was really slippery and got worse as we went on.As we came round a corner there was a few big waves that nearly took us out. Just as we thought everything was going alright someone slipped in and got soaked up to the waist, it was quite funny. We also had to go on some stepping stones which were also slightly slippery and not very stable. Which also meant more people started to slip over.

Next we had to go through a cave to reach the cliff top. It was a bit of a tight squeeze which made us have to shuffle up to the top with our backs against the side of the rock. Once everyone got up we went back to the minibus to get some extra equipment for the rest of the activities and lunch.

Today’s lunch was not as good as yesterday but the shortbread was AWESOME!!!. Next we had to put on our harnesses, some people to soooo long but we got it done in the end. Jez took us back down and set up the next challenge for us…We went a different way than to begin but still had to traverse along a wall. This one was mostly climbing up rocks and over rock pools eventually we got to a grass area where we stopped and until they called us over. There was a rope leading us up to the cliff top for support which we attached to our cowstails and helped us get to Mr White who was taking mug shots(again)

Mr White, probably the best American I have ever met!!!

As we got to him we walked up a tiny bit and got straight to the terylene which was a bit like a zip wire but you were pulling yourself back. We had to try flip over the top however only one of us managed to do it.

There was friendly bet going on between one of us and Troll. If he couldn’t flip over the rope in 2 tries we got 2 Yorkie bars but if he did we owed him one. Obviously we won but as him being such a sore loser he tried to divert the bet. Which he didn’t let us agree on and he won anyway. Jess Voss the ninja flipped over and made it look easy whilst the rest of us tried and failed.

Then the weather went horrible but we were able to take pictures of a rare double rainbow 🙂 on the way back the human jukeboxes were making O.Kish music until the girls joined in. When we got back we were very surprised, after being last back every day so far, we were first back!!

Written by Jess Voss and Pepee le Peui

Wednesday, Anglesey, Cable Bay (Anne’s group)

Posted on | By IJones172 | 2 Comments

It’s Eden and Izzie here!

Today we went to Porth Trecastell – (Cable Bay), on Anglesey Island to do some sea level traversing! It was a 45 minute journey, but it passed quicker than we expected 🙂 We were kitted out (HEAVILY) with helmets, harnesses, cowstails, short jackets, buoyancy aids and all our waterproof gear.

We got there about half ten and went down on the beach to do some practice rock climbing and scrambling. It was slippy and wet but fun and necessary. Next we went to a large wall, where we had to plan our own route up the rocks to reach the top of the wall, which wasn’t easy! We all helped each other and used teamwork to our advantage :).

Then we went back to the minibus where we sat with all the air blowers going trying to warm us up to eat our lunch and put on our harnesses and cowstails. We all put one item of food in Anne’s first aid kit in the waterproof bag to eat later on the rocks.

We then set off on the rocks to scramble and climb our way along the beach. As we were scrambling across there was a drop, with rushing water below and jagged rocks on the side. Three of us made it to the other side, including the instructor, but then suddenly, Josie’s foot slipped so she was hanging on to this rock by just her hands, using an incredible amount of upper body strength, and with Anne’s help, she managed to clamber back to her feet again! Vicky was really excited about jumping into the sea at the end, and at every available puddle or rock pool she jumped in, soaking her feet and waterproof trousers. Later on she jumped in a big one though and slipped and fell over, and me and Izzie couldn’t stop laughing! She was actually really happy and laughing about it though 🙂

After about an hour scrambling we stopped at a big drop to eat our snacks and have a drink while Anne set up loads of ropes to form a Tyrolean traverse – which is sort of like a zipwire across the waves in the gap. All of us were really excited to cross over the zipwire, apart from Eden who was really scared to do it. Anne went over first and we sorted out the order we wanted to go in. Miss Hodgett helped us to clip on our Karabinas in the right way and one by one we slid over the waves on the rope. Then it was Vicky’s go. She started off okay but then managed to get her ‘behind’ stuck on the rock that you needed to push off to get started. She was stuck for ages and everyone was laughing, including her, but then eventually she un-lodged herself and managed to drag her body along the rope. Then it was Eden’s turn to swing along the rope. She was really frightened, but she gathered enough courage together to push off. She screamed halfway down but everyone was really supportive of her and she made it to the other side. The others clambered across until Miss Hodgett had joined us on the cliff face. We then clipped our Karabinas to an orange rope that ensured we would not fall off, and we scrambled up to the green rope, where one by one we swung back to the other cliff top.

We climbed straight up the steep cliff face to reach a muddy grassy path, which is where we started to descend. There were puddles. Lots of puddles. Muddy puddles. Vicky went crazy, and decided to jump in every puddle we came across, but then near the minibus she jumped in one, slipped, slid for 10 metres then fell down. It was really funny, especially when Izzie had to use all her might to jump out the way to prevent getting splashed. We then finally reached the minivan, were we took of our equipment and played games all the way home.

We got back first, which was a great surprise because we thought we were last. We were all cheering in the minibus;) We got first dibbs on the showers AGAIN!:]