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Back Yourself

ddjmountaineering21@gmail.com — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:00:14 GMT

A post from a fellow instructor got me thinking the other day.
They’d received some harsh feedback about their instructing practices and the types of courses they deliver. This isn’t the first time this has happened to them, not because they’re a poor instructor, no not that at all. It usually from anonymous sources or random social media profiles who have an issue with people from the underrepresented communities that she directs her courses towards.

Her response. She was very open and honest about it. About how it makes her feel. About how she has grown and learned to deal with it. About the realities of progress and embracing change.

It reminded me of advice that I got from a friend years ago about having the confidence to back yourself. Back yourself to know you’re the right person for the job. Back yourself to win. Back yourself to have the knowledge. Back yourself to know you’re doing the right thing. This attitude is what she has in spades and she is making it work for her.

Coming from a sporting background, I know the power this mindset can have. Standing on the pitchside, convincing yourself that you belong and that you have the skills and talents needed to have a positive influence, you’re already one step ahead. Inversely you’re one step behind when you don’t.

This also happened in my climbing in Pabbay last year. An uninhabited island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Tall sea cliffs and potentially wild conditions make for real adventure climbing. The consequences of an accident need not be dwelled upon. By backing myself to know I had the skills to operate smoothly and safely in an environment like that meant I had the trip of my life and subsequently broke through a few plateaus along the way too.

It’s not an easy thing, it will come and go, and it can be a fine balance before falling in to the trap of arrogance. But by reminding yourself of the skills you have inherited on your journey you’ve been on through life, as well as understanding the gaps you can still fill and the goals you need to pursue, you can start laying the foundation of confidence. You can start backing yourself.

The only person you can truly affect is yourself.
Starting up a path and continuing on it is daunting and often fraught with challenges, whatever it may be, but by backing yourself eventual success and enjoyment will be guaranteed to come with it.

How can you back yourself in a part of your life?

Rock Skills: What, How, Where?

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 12:17:14 GMT

Recently DDJ Mountaineering got approval to be able to run all of Mountain Training’s Rock Skills courses on their behalf.
We’re thrilled to get this approval to work with Mountain Training for this purpose and we’re excited about what the future of our course delivery can evolve in to in close collaboration with associations such as this.

After this introduction though you may be left wondering, what is Mountain Training? and what are Rock Skills?

Mountain Training

Mountain Training are the National Governing Body in the UK for all professional instructors and coaches in both outdoor and indoor climbing and hillwalking related activities. They develop and deliver all the training and assessment awards for outdoor mountain professionals. Every staff member at DDJ has one or more Mountain Training Qualifications in walking, outdoor climbing, indoor climbing, coaching and/or mountaineering.

Although only operating in the UK for their award schemes, they are highly regarded and their qualifications are recognised in many countries internationally.

Rock Skills

The skills schemes are Mountain Training awards. There are 4 levels of skills scheme in rock climbing (Introduction, Intermediate, Learn to Lead Trad and Learn to Lead Sport) and 2 levels in hillwalking (named Hill skills and Mountain skills). However one key difference between the qualifications mentioned in the paragraph above and the skills schemes are that the skills schemes are not leadership awards.

The skills schemes are purely for personal development and aim to give people the necessary knowledge and abilities to be competent outdoor enthusiasts in mountains and crag environments. They do not qualify you to take others out for work or payment.

How can I sign up for a Rock Skills course?

The Rock Skills courses are advertised on Mountain Trainings website here , and on most of the private websites of the providers that deliver them on Mountain Trainings behalf including DDJ here .
There are many providers spread around the country delivering the courses. All have been audited and are monitored by Mountain Training both at the application stage and throughout delivery of the courses at a regular stage, so you can guarantee every skills scheme provider will be of high standard and professionalism.

To attend a course firstly requires registration from each candidate for the skills scheme as a whole (free of charge) and also, depending which level you enter at, a small log of your previous experience in climbing to make sure that you are at the right level to get the most out of the course. This can be done by your provider who will then send you your account information and registration details or if you prefer you can do this yourself.

There are guides on this both in the Handbook and in videos on the Mountain Training YouTube site, all of which are linked at the bottom of this post.

Where can I do a Rock Skills course with DDJ?

Most of the courses offered by DDJ take place on the dramatic gritstone edges of the Peak District, such as Stanage, Froggatt, Millstone and Burbage.
However if you would like the course to take place somewhere else then this can also be arranged on a private basis. Feel free to get in touch by email or phone if this is something that you would like to do.

When can I do a Rock Skills course with DDJ?

All public DDJ Rock Skills courses are advertised under the Rock Skills tab at the top of the page with the dates available. These dates change depending on the availability of staff per season so keep checking in to see if something comes available. They can also be found on the ‘Find a Course’ link on Mountain Trainings website and booked through there.

If the dates you require aren’t listed or if you have a group of people interested that would like to do a course privately then please do feel free to make an enquiry and we will endeavour to arrange a course to suit your needs.

What do I get from a Rock Skills course?

Registration to do any Rock Skills course also carries its own perks such as, access to all four of the Rock Skills courses, a 15% discount off anything at Costwold Outdoor and Snow and Rock, a copy of New Rock Climbers book to be handed out at the beginning of the course, a certificate of attendance and completion to be handed out at the end of the course and lifetime access to a Digital Logbook on the Mountain Training Website of all the climbs you have done.

Plus as already mentioned above, by the end of a Rock Skills course you should have all the necessary skills to start you on your journey to becoming a competent and independent lead climber, ready to take on your own adventures on rock.

If you have any more questions then please do feel free to send either me or Mountain Training an enquiry email and we will be happy to answer you.

Happy climbing,

Dan

Handbook

How to register video

How to use DLOG video

Leonidio Destination Guide

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 21:32:38 GMT

Greek Climbing Paradise

Leonidio is a small town of about 6000 residents, sitting on the eastern side of the Peloponnese of Greece. It is famous for its bounteous sweet fruit and vegetables that are grown in the valley of the Dafnon River, particularly its aubergines and satsumas.
As a climber though the first thing that will strike you are the impressive red and orange cliffs that border and overshadow it and the crystal blue waters of the Aegean sea that Leonidio opens up to.

The climbing

The climbing on offer there is predominantly single pitch sport climbing on the many small cliffs that surround the enormous faces of the Kokkinovrachos. The style of climbing varies between grey slabby routes on small sharp crimpy edges to more vertical overhanging orange rock with black dripping tufa everywhere. A sight to behold and a style that takes some getting used to coming from the UK. There is also plenty of multipitch on offer too for someone seeking more adventure. Me and my climbing partner did one of the easier muti pitch routes on offer, Mignonette 5c+, in 2.5hrs car to car.

The grades pretty much start at 6a and are reminiscent of North Wales grading as a reference. If 6a is above your ability at the moment and you’re looking for a relaxed time then you may find you will have a hard time finding your flow. Although if you’re wanting to push your grade then Leonidio is a great place to do that with friendly bolting and a good mix of grades from 6a upwards at the majority of crags for mixed ability groups.

When to go

As is typical with a southern European destination the best times of year are in the Spring and Autumn. The weather is still warm but not too warm and for the most part dry. A summer trip would be torturously hot.

In our time there as mentioned we had a mix of unseasonably hot weather, a day of wetness and storms and a cooler, cloudier weather. Day to day an early start and finish is well rewarded in Leonidio.

We arrived on the 30 ^th October 2022. It seemed to be a bumper year and climbers were everywhere, this probably wasn’t helped as a few days after we arrived the first Leonidio climbing festival held since pre covid was just around the corner.
The weather was an unseasonable 28c. This was a lovely change to the dark grey cold days that were rapidly rolling in in the UK, immediately giving off holiday vibes.
Admittedly though it wasn’t ideal climbing conditions for a Brit and the shaded crags such as Sabaton, King of Thrones, Mars and Aresos were all packed out with climbers from around the world. This made for a great vibe but did result in some route queuing and tightly packed belay stances.
In the second half of the trip a after a large storm rolled through the conditions cooled and made for quieter crags as people took advantage and spread out to some of the sun trap crags.

How to get there

We flew direct Manchester to Athens. Being an international airport, flights are very regular from most major UK airports.
We then hired a car from Alamo for £150ish and drove the 3.5hr journey down south. This trip is half on highways with a few tolls along the way, the other half being on well tarmacked single lane roads which wind their way down the coast with stunning views stretching along the sea and pretty ports.
This trip can be done by bus but a hire car is highly recommended, not only for the length of the journey getting there but also for getting around when in Leonidio. Most of the crags are out of town and require at least a 10 minute drive to get there, without access to a car you’ll be very limited for choice of crags.

Provisions

The first week we stayed at Anna’s house on Air BnB which was a lovely small flat for 3 people right in the heart of Leonidio and directly opposite the Red Rock bar and Italian restaurant (both very nice). This gave good access to a few crags right from the front door and also to the town square and high street bars and markets. It was however very noisy late on and early in the morning with small mopeds and bin lorries whizzing by right outside.

The second week we moved to Ariadne’s Garden in Poulithra, about a 15 minute drive south of Leonidio. This was a welcome change and the house itself was very comfortable and had views to die for. A good destination for a large group of people. The town of Poulithra itself was very quiet and felt very private. Although a little separated from the main town and the climbing near Leonidio it gave closer access to some of the crags further south in the direction of Kyparissi.

Grocery shopping in Leonidio is very good in terms of what you can get and there is plenty of choice of stores but is fairly expensive compared to other places I’ve been in Greece. A large general shop at Lidl on the way is recommended to cut some costs. For less general products and to take advantage of the local produce there are a few veg market style shops who all have a great choice of fruit and veg and would often give us a free bag of extra veg each time we shopped.

I also have to make special mention of a must visit shop which we named the ‘Local Shop’. A very small place opposite a large clothes store on the Leonidio high street selling amazing locally made wines, oils, jams, honey’s, nuts and dried fruits, even climbing hand balm. This place kept us coming back time and time again as the produce was delicious, great for crag snacks. The owner was very pleasant and generous giving us free samples of a range of different things and even a free bottle of liqueur.

Eating out is simple and all very good with a mix of Greek, Italian and English cuisines on offer to be enjoyed with a beer and sharing climbing stories with friends and others in large squares outside the restaurant. Good holiday vibes.

Rest Days

There are plenty of picturesque quiet beaches and port villages dotted along the coastline boasting warm opal blue seas and beachside bars and restaurants.

Lots of surrounding areas have remnants of ancient Greek culture and civilisation for the culture and history buffs. This is where westernism as we know it was created.

Recommended Crags and Routes

Aresos

A good introductory crag to get a feel for the place without much commitment. Engaging climbing on long grey slab and vert routes.

Protocollon- 6b

Sabaton

A popular (busy) crag. Roadside, short routes, great views, Olive trees on large flat belay platforms. Plenty of good routes to go at from 6b upwards.

Born to be Precious- 6c+
Freedom- 6b
Attero Dominatus- 7a

Theos- Lovers Ledge

Vertical and crimpy. A bit like Masson Lees except dryer, with solid rock, consistent bolting, and better views…the approach is harder though.

All of them on the orange coloured rock, they’re all superb.

Hideout

One of the few crags with accessible low grade tufa climbing on massive tufas with fun indoors style movement. An hours drive south and a spicy via ferrata approach to a coastal cliff face. The belay ledge is narrow but with anchors to secure yourself.

Tufa Column extension- 7a
Pelops- 6c
Wings of Desire- 6c

Saint Nicholas Sintza

A simply jaw dropping massive limestone gorge overlooking the monastery built in the rock face. Lots of endurance required here with 50m routes being the norm. Take lots of draws and be prepared for a good ego check.

Taraxippus Extension- 6b+
Cornerboy- 6c+

(Controversially I would say Mars is avoidable, incredible features but very overcrowded and the quality lower grade lines are few and far between)

Conclusion

Leonidio is a must visit area. A great holiday climbing destination with brilliant bullet hard rock forming beautiful lines everywhere you look. I will absolutely go back at some point in the future as theres many things left undone including a visit to Kyparissi and Babala.
As with all climbing trips though the climbing often comes second to the people you go with and meet along the way, that’s what makes the memories.

El Chorro Trip Report

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:38:50 GMT

El Chorro has been a climbing mecca for many people for many years

It was one of the first areas in Spain to see focussed bolting on a large scale due to climbers realising the potential for somewhere of high quality and ease of access. Since then it has seen even more expansion and become a go-to destination for international climbers to enjoy a relaxed sun soaked climbing holiday in a beautiful setting. In March of this year I was lucky enough to visit on a 10 day trip with my friends Mathilde and Matt.

El Chorro is located in Southern Spain near the Mediterranean coast, about one hours drive in land from Malaga. Flights from the UK are available from many of the larger airports. We flew from Manchester for around £85 per person return with an overhead bag included. I would always recommend selecting an overhead cabin bag for all your gear as you’ll always have it with you, imagine getting to your destination and all your climbing gear ends up lost in a hold luggage screw up…trip over before it’s began.

We hired a car, which cost £120 for 10 days, which was great and allowed us to get to some further crags and see some more sights on rest days, but this wasn’t entirely necessary as public transport links from Malaga to El Chorro are plentiful.

The most popular place to stay in Chorro is undoubtedly the Olive Branch, offering camping and bunkhouse accommodation aimed squarely at climbers. It is well priced and the vibe is very relaxed and friendly. The owners and volunteers are always on hand to offer assistance and beta, and the evening socials in the main lounge (often with guitar and bar games included) are a great way to meet new people and top off an active day.

Climbing partners are always as easy to come by as that just by asking around at the Branch or turning up at some of the more popular crags and seeing if someone wants a belay. Because of this the solo traveller can also be confident to get the most out of El Chorro, for example we made friends with a guy called Tommy, a Canadian who was travelling through Europe, and climbed with him for four days.

Now the logistics are out of the way, lets talk about the climbing. The bulk of the climbing is concentrated within 5-45 mins walk from the Olive Branch and all grades and styles of wall can be found at many of the crags but some do definitely lend themselves to people operating in the mid-high grades eg. Encantades. It’s also worth getting the opinion of a local or someone who’s been in the area for a while to get the lowdown on what the weather is likely to do the following day and some recommended crags to visit based on that, as we found the forecast to be fairly unreliable in the area.

As for what kind of climbing is on offer, most is single pitch between 20 and 40 metres putting some good air below your feet. As a result I would recommend at least a 70 meter rope to allow you to climb the majority of routes. All the rock is limestone and varies in nature from grey coloured rock containing lots of small holds and requiring a delicate balancey style, to orangey coloured rock which tends to be steeper, with more tufas and requiring a burlier approach.

We started at Serena on day one to ease in to it and work off the weariness of the previous days travelling and then the following day visited Upper Crag of the Arab steps for some longer routes which were good choices for our intro to the area.

There’s also some incredible adventurous multi pitch routes, all with good confidence inspiring bolting making for a good intro for anyone taking their first steps in to the technicalities of multi-pitching. This was the case for Matt, so after a couple days of easier confidence building climbing we had a go at Blue Line, a 12 pitch 5c which takes you all the way to the top of the hill and boasts big ledges, absorbing climbing and improving views with every pitch. 10/10 would recommend.

The highlights to my mind definitely came at the end of the trip however. To wrap up the trip, we spent the last few days at a crag called Desplomilandia.

Desplo’ is a 20 min drive from El Chorro and is by far and away in my opinion the best climbing we found whilst there in terms of the quality of the lines and the moves the rock enables. This was worth the car hire on its own. Every line of every grade covered improbable terrain and threw amazing holds at you over the whole length of the crag, allowing Mathilde and Tommy to tick off their first 6c flash on Captain Sardinia. To top it off it takes shade all day so offers a welcome respite and comfortable climbing conditions out of reach of the searing sun.

If this has got you psyched then go check out El Chorro for a cheap climbing trip to blow off the cobwebs and have a fun in the sun. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like more info, and also check out the El Chorro Bolting facebook group for help, beta and to give back to the local climbing community for yourself and others to visit and enjoy it in the future.

Notable Routes:

Mar de Nubes, 6b, Serena

La Enferma, 6a, Serena

Bladerunner, 6a, Escalara Arabe

Face of Flake, 6b, Escalara Arabe

El Arabe Perdido, 7a, Escalara Arabe

Blue Line, 5c, Escalara Arabe

Dos Tetas Tiran, 6b, Escalara Arabe

Wifi, 6a+, Desplomilandia

Facilonga, 6a, Desplomilandia

Captain Sardinia, 6c, Desplomilandia

Party Men, 7a, Rinconcito

Happy climbing,

Dan

Let the saw do the work

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 02:39:51 GMT

Has anyone ever said that to you: ‘Let the saw do the work’? Maybe it’s just me.

When I was younger, I’d help my dad in the garden cutting timber and doing odd jobs. I’d get frustrated, puffing and panting away, hacking at the log with the saw which would constantly get stuck. My dad would always tell me, ‘Let the saw do the work’. This would only frustrate me further as I’d be thinking ‘How can I let the saw do the work? The saw does no work, I’m doing the work and the saw is just the tool I’m using. Without me doing the work, the saw is useless!’

Its only now I’m an adult that I realise what my dad meant, and he was right at the end of the day. What he failed to do was make his advice understandable. I didn’t know how to use the correct pressure and arm-stroke pattern to allow the saw to do the work. This isn’t meant in any way to defame my dad, in fact you could say after reading this that he shaped my thinking and definitely made me better at DIY.

The point for coaches is that the language we use when coaching is so important to effectively deliver information to our athletes. So many times I have used, and continue to hear coaches use, statements like ‘Trust your shoes’ or ‘Use your feet’ etc. These statements, however true, are confusing to many beginner climbers. There is a process to go through before a person can use these commands to aid their performance. Some coaching segments such as teaching the different areas of the shoe, angling the foot to use those areas, experimenting with the limit of grip that a well-fitting climbing shoe can achieve, playing with clawing the toe into a hold, and finding balance in warm up activities, can be easily utilised and encouraged to build a picture in the athletes mind of how to ‘use your feet’.

Therefore, my goal over the next 30 days when coaching is to think about coaching the skills to make statements such as ‘use your feet’ meaningful, so they can become mental cues for better performance when it’s needed on a route.

Stop. Think about it. Simplify it. Then coach it.

Happy climbing,

Dan