Trad Diaries: Next Level Trad
Having previously attended our Learn to Lead Climb course last autumn, at the end of August this year Emily Ankers returned to us for Next Level Trad. Read about her experience on the course below, and be sure to check out her previous blog that she wrote earlier this year about Progress & Goal Setting in trad climbing.
Let me begin by saying I think I’ve only just recovered mentally and physically from attending Next Level Trad at Glenmore Lodge! Ant and I attended last week from Wednesday to Friday, it’s now Thursday the next week on. Three days of concentrated learning and practicing skills is a lot – but it’s totally worth the effort and energy.
Tuesday:
We arrived at the Lodge the day before our course began, with a pizza pitstop at the Cheese and Tomatin Restaurant (would highly recommend!) in Aviemore, we were keen to get settled and ready for the next three days. Dashing from the car to the front entrance to escape the midges, we were greeted by the friendly staff at reception and given our key cards for our room. I had forgotten how comfortable the accommodation at the Lodge is, plus the food is reliably fantastic! After a cheeky pint and quick card game in the bar, we turned in early to rest up for the next day.
Wednesday:
At 7am our alarm went off, we swiftly got up and dressed in our climbing gear. It was easy to get up for two reasons. One, we were really excited to get out climbing. Two, we knew that the breakfast awaiting us would be excellent and it did not disappoint. Porridge, cereal and cooked breakfast – it’s exactly what you need when you’ve got a full day of climbing ahead of you. After fueling ourselves we got our kit together and met up with our instructor Jon Jones, Head of Mountaineering. We had met Jon on our previous visit to the Lodge, but all the instructors at the Lodge are approachable, open and are there to ensure you get the most out of whichever course you’re attending.
In our informal meeting with Jon we discussed our climbing experience and ability, things that we struggled with, and what we wanted to get out of the course. Ant’s desire was to learn more skills, like alternative belay set ups, self-rescue and how to approach sea cliff climbing that requires abseil approaches. I wanted to continue to build up my confidence and be less scared.
Then, it was off to stores to collect any gear that we might need. We didn’t bring our own rack with us (mostly out of disorganization more than anything else) but the Lodge has an extensive collection of gear and kit. If there’s anything you need that you don’t have with you, they’ve got you covered.
We practiced some essential skills with Jon in the stores area. This enabled Jon to check up on our foundations: belaying, managing ropes, setting up belays and different styles of anchors. This didn’t take long, and soon we were en route to Kingussie, one of the local crags.
After a 15 minute approach walk to the crag, we geared up and began climbing. Jon led a route to get us warmed up. We really wanted to practice abseiling, so we were abseiling off routes from the get go. Throughout the day both Ant and I led a couple of routes each. Jon hung out, literally, on a fixed line next to the routes that we climbed, to give us a bit confidence and to check out our gear placements. This was also really helpful with finding more creative placements, Jon’s trained eye is able to pick out placements that we might not have gone for. It’s always useful to find more gear placements, and there are usually more available than you’ve realised.
To round off the day at the crag, Jon taught us how to do an assisted haul and an unassisted haul – which is just as energetic as it sounds. These are useful skills for situations when a climber may need helping up a route, or in the worst case scenario, rescuing. After that, we were back to the Lodge. On returning, it was time for some tea and cake as standard, and a debrief with Jon about the day and to plan for the next one.
Dinner is served at 6.45pm sharp but we had just enough time to scoot down to Loch Morlich for a quick dip with fellow climbers Alice, Logan and Olivia who were on the Learn to Lead course. We had never met them before, but we had all been at Kingussie crag and our experience with other course attendees has always been so positive. I think it might be because everyone is there to learn, and as a result everyone is open and friendly with each other. After dinner, we finished the evening in the bar for a pint with Olivia, chatting about our climbing experiences and goals. Not too late though…
Thursday:
We were up early again, breakfasted, and ready to leave at 8.30am for Polney Crag at Dunkeld, about an hour and a half drive away. A minibus load of us were swiftly on our way, a little bit fatigued by the previous day’s climbing but excited to get out on the rock again.
Since Jon had a better grasp on our climbing ability, we were straight into leading. Taking it in turns to block lead (lead the entire route) multi-pitch routes. Polney is a crag where it can be tricky to walk off, with a sketchy path at the top, so we mostly abseiled off. We practiced what to do when you need to bail off a route and leave gear in situ (in place – no chance of removing it on that day). We also learnt how to prusik up a fixed rope, where you can ascend the rope without needing to climb. Ascending via prusik is hard work – but it’s a very useful skill to have, particularly at sea cliffs where you may need to get back up to the top of the crag.
I found the second day quite hard work. I think a full day of intense learning is tiring at the best of times, but days in a row can take it out of you. I expected this, but it meant I needed to manage my energy levels at the crag. Mostly by eating a lot of snacks, but also listening to my body and my mind about how I was feeling and communicating that with Jon. When we left the crag and got back into the minibus, I was quickly asleep. I was so tired that I didn’t even want cake when we got back to the Lodge! I perked up a bit after dinner and enjoyed hanging out with others in the evening. Alice and Logan have a lot of local knowledge about the Cairngorms, and they were showing us different crags, mountain bike and walking routes on a map.
Friday:
Our final day and we had a big one planned; a mountain day. On the last day of your course, you need to clear your room ready for the next arrivals. After chucking our stuff in the car, munching down a big breakfast, filling our water bottles and checking our gear – we were on our way up to the Cairngorm Ski Centre. This is where we parked, said ciao for now to Logan and Alice, and began the two-hour approach uphill. The walk was challenging, and the humidity was intense, but it was a good test of our fitness. We had one route in mind, but when we stopped to look at the conditions at our agreed point of importance, we decided to opt for a friendlier route, where we would be safer should the weather decide to turn.
Jon told us about the idea of BAA – Be Adventure Aware (in the winter, Be Avalanche Aware), this is all about planning and knowing what to do to stay safe. For example, checking in with all group members, finding out how everyone feels about the plan, do they feel equipped and energised to do it, do you know how to get off the mountain if you need to, at which points will you make key decisions about your day and the safest options.
We approached our route via a downward gully scramble. This was challenging terrain and we took it slowly, though it was sweetened by an abundance of wild blueberries along the way. At the base of the route we geared up and off we went. Ant and I took it in turns to lead, so we were swinging leads. The test was when it started to rain. It was my lead and the rock was getting a bit slick. However, I was unphased! Perhaps it was the two days of confidence building, but this didn’t worry me. I think sometimes when you’re in a situation like that and you have to get on with it, you do just that. Jon and Ant were both very impressed. Then the midges decided to come out in full force – and that became a bit of an issue. Ant was leading but there were midges in his eyes, nose and mouth – which doesn’t lend itself to relaxed leading. Jon scrambled up to the top of the route at the last pitch and let down a top rope for us to scamper out speedily.
It was a really great experience in terms of dealing with less-than-ideal conditions, and it has given us confidence that should conditions deteriorate, we know what to do and how to safely proceed. Soon after topping out, we were doing the midge dance (to avoid them) and on our way back down to mountain.
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My goal was to build confidence on our Next Level Trad course and I think I can say that I did that. All instructors at the Lodge will do this, but Jon was able to understand what my goals were, what I struggle with and help to balance these to help me feel confident and safe in my learning. A key difference between the Learn to Lead course that we attended in 2021 and the Next Level Trad – is that on Next Level Trad, because you have the essentials nailed, you can really focus in on specific goals with the support of your instructor. Jon also gave me ideas on how to develop my climbing once I returned home – so I can continue learning beyond the course.
Overall, we had a great time with Jon, we learnt so much and well and truly tuckered ourselves out. I slept for 12 hours once I got home! Safe to say we got the most out of the course.
By Emily Ankers
Co-Founder and Editor of Beta Magazine
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