The rest of the world stood still.

For the last two days it seemed as though the rest of the country was focusing on delays caused by the predicted cold snap. To us this just presented a greater challenge to prove ourselves worthy Bushmen.

Boulder was hosting a Stone Soup course with Totem to provide staff skill updates. A Stone soup course allows each participant the chance to present to the others on a given topic and in our case to then promote discussion on best practise in delivery. Ten people presented on a variety of topics broadly summarised by: tools, shelters and fire, followed by the associated topics of safety, appropriateness and environmental considerations. What really surprised me was how much can be learnt from people you work with everyday if prompted in a suitably hosted atmosphere. Thanks to Sam from Totem for the idea and to all the hard work that went into the presentations.

Sparks being used to light fire.

Claire, Ivan and Matt making use of a wire saw during shelter building.

Claire and Kelly in what looked like a 1 man shelter for most.

Presentation Night.

Thursday night I was fortunate enough to have been invited to a presentation night for one of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services EARLY courses. This was the second celebratory presentation I have been able to go to this week in Liverpool; both very heartening. Boulder Adventures delivers week two out of the Team’s 12 week development course. The EARLY courses are just like the Prince's Trust courses which the fire service also deliver. They are designed to improve the lives of the participants by building up confidence, reliability and personal motivation leading to greater employability prospects. In fact four of the team who had started the course had managed to find jobs so did not make it to the end of the twelve week course, a quicker turnaround than anyone could hope for - well done them.I am very proud to have built up such a productive working relationship with the fire service as the skills that our courses can highlight are so well reinforced by the rest of their hard work and values. I really feel we are part of something worthwhile. Hopefully I will be in the position to witness more of the remarkable transformations these courses can make soon.

Morning.

Today for the first time in a long while a gang of us managed to get out kayaking before work. So that we did not waste too much time journeying we chose the Seiont as its on our doorstep. The five of us meet up at Seiont Nurseries for 7.45 to sort the kit out. From here drove up to the get in under the pylons and made it to the get out by 9.30. The Seiont really is a wonderful river made all the better by the fact that there were no wires across any of the bridges for a change. I also have to recommend the cafe at the garden centre we found it very pleasant to take in tea on coffee at the end off the river.

Forthcoming Depar Sounds Nights.

This Friday night (27th Nov) I have a busy night. You can see me DJing at ::definition in Rascals, Bangor. After this I am running the sound system at a private 21st party at Glan Gwna. Both of these are shaping up to be very good nights.
In a fortnight’s time I am at the Fricsan with VENOM, GoCat and L-Jay, see the poster below.

Knives for a pro!

At work we are getting more interest in bushcraft style sessions. So today I had been out buying knives, saws and axes. These will be used for preparing firewood, whittling and shelter building. I am quite pleased with what I have managed to find locally to me without having to mail order the tools of the trade from miles away as this seems to defeat the principle of preparing of the land. All this combined with a trip to the bank, it’s OK I went to the bank before buying the tools.


In my selection I now have: a Gerber (rather worryingly named) sport axe, must be for the American market, the good thing about this axe is that it comes supplied with a tough cordura head cover. A Bahco Laplander folding saw which is the same as the Sandvik version recommended in Ray Mears' Essential Bushcraft book. I have also chosen Mora knives as student knives since they have seemingly good quality blades for the money and are bright blue, with ugly handle which means that they should be seen if left on the ground. The Mora knives are also at a price where we can afford to replace as needed, so students get given sharp tools thus reducing the pressure that needs to be exerted to make a cut; safer in my opinion. I also treated myself to a new Helle Godbit knife which is the one in the photo with the attractive wooden handle.

I am really looking forward to getting out into the centre grounds and trying these out. I should also be organising a day or two of training for staff and friends in bushcraft skills in December. I hope these will be mini seminar based where each person attending presents on a different subject, a Stone Soup course as Sam from Totem Development calls it.

Will and Vicki's Wedding.

This weekend Boulder Adventures hosted the wedding reception for two off our very good friends. It was a spectacular weekend with everyone who attended seemingly having a really wonderful time. It was really pleasing to be able to offer friends such a wedding gift.

I was rather busy during the proceedings so did not manage any photos other than the ones below showing the setting up.

The dining room, not bad for an adventure centre!

The table place chutney.

The wedding cake made by Will's mother.
Champagne glasses ready for the reception.

The dining room awaiting guests.

Party Power Purple Moose!

Five Months!

Five months of lost business.
Five months of inconvenience.
Five months of increased business costs.
Five months of worry.
Five months of Blue/Green Algae.

I hope five months has been long enough for the authorities to put a plan in place to make sure this does not happen to Llyn Padarn again. They do seem to realise that improvements are needed. Welsh Water are trying to find a more effective position in the treatment process for the removal of phosphate, this should give an improvement on previous performance. Welsh Water are also carrying out maintenance work on the sewers on the way to Llanberis water treatment works to prevent the infiltration of lake water into the system, this should save the treatment works being hindered by the high flow rates it has been experiencing. The Environment Agency is also reviewing the different capacities of Llyn Padarn for things like phosphates. I am sure that they will also update the discharge consent level for the treatments works and bring it down to lake levels rather than continuing to allow discharge at river levels.

At least the lake is now clear of this menace.

Round Table Christmas Float.

Last week I picked up the Round Table Christmas Float. Hopefully this weekend I will get the opportunity to clean it up for a very special person who will be joining us on our charity collections in the lead up to Christmas.

The float in all its glory.

Time to improve.

My business is continuing to be impacted upon by the Padarn Lake algae outbreak which has meant I have decided to re-evaluate the cleaning products used in the centre and the damage they have on the environment I work in. In my business environmental statement I say that although I do not always get it right first time, as I am educated I will make improvements as I can. As a result I have found an important area in which to make changes.

The new cleaning product range for Boulder Adventures

In an effort to reduce my output of harmful cleaning agents I am now trialling different cleaning products from ECOVER and ECOLEAF. I have also found that although these products seem more expensive, with reasonable planning; bulk buying, reusing containers and monitoring the amounts used to ensure correct dilution for the job, prices can be relatively comparable; it just takes a bit more effort. In thinking through my practices I have found that I should reduce the road miles for products to the centre because I can buy in bulk and reduce my waste by reusing the dispensing containers, in theory one step better than recycling.

Wedding Pictures.

As I mentioned in a previous post, last weekend I visited the Isle of Man for my brother, George and Jens’ wedding. It was a fabulous weekend for all involved. Some of my pictures follow.

George and Jen leaving the church. George and Jen as husband and wife. The best man, Big Phil. The Crombie family, with the new addition! Michael no doubt recounting his youth once more.

Snowdon makes it into the news ....... again.

Normally stories like the ones below make it round the village of Llanberis quite quickly, seemingly there is something making the news from the mountain every week. It often seems to be charity walking groups making the headlines for the wrong reasons causing as much trouble as the good they planned to do. This is often because they lack any significant mountain experience or leadership and more often than not, in my experience of working with these groups, being very poorly equipped.

This weekend I was not at home in the village to hear any stories first hand but read them in the Sunday Telegraph on the ferry from the Isle of Man on the way home from my brother’s wedding, Pictures and details of the wedding to follow shortly.

Charity climb team member left behind.

The harm caused by mass organised mountain accents.

New advice from the Environment Agency.

In June of this year the EA and Gwynedd Council gave warning that Llyn Padarn had high levels of toxic blue/green algae. This is naturally occurring but never, as far as I have known, been present in dangerous levels in Llyn Padarn. As the algae presented a health risk to people and animals I decided that it would be unacceptable for me to make the decision to expose my customers to this risk. From June onwards I have not used LLyn Padarn for any of my kayaking, canoeing or raft building activities. This is despite having a centre directly on the shores of the lake. As I write, this now totals four months of increased hassle and cost of running my business with no immediate end in sight.

What now wrangles is that the environment agency is now recommending that people should be switching to more ecologically sound detergents to help limit the level of nutrients making it through the water system into the lake. This education in its own right is commendable but costs me more in my operating costs. Surely it is also an admission that the sewage treatment works for Llanberis cannot cope with current demand, although Welsh Water claim this not to be the case. A report compiled in June by the EA noted it was likely that improvements to the Llanberis treatment works would be needed to ensure that the lake meet the requirements of the EC Water Framework Directive. Why on earth are we now trying to sort out a problem like this when the lake is apparently monitored so regularly? The EA advice could have been given earlier or Welsh Water should have ensured their treatment works was capable of dealing with increased levels of nutrients.

Hopefully Llanberis can lower its output of phosphates and nutrients to a point where they are manageable by the manmade and natural water systems that have to deal with them. If not, the worst case scenario may be that another hot summer may produce the same results. So far the algal blooms must have affected most outdoor centres and providers in North West Snowdonia. Three of these have a centre on the shores of Llyn Padarn with many more no more than fifteen minutes drive away. The blooms have also had a major impact of the fisheries of the Seiont River meaning two significant tourism industries have been restricted in operating when the recession is causing additional demands already.

Surely now that it is apparent that the local council, Welsh Water, the Environment Agency and the Welsh Assembly all know about this very serious problem, it is time for all involved to take responsibility for this environmental disaster and cure the problem causing it.

Depar Sounds, X1 build.

After Tom from the local climbing wall manufactures had CNC’ed the ply for me, this weekend just gone is the first opportunity I have had to build my new sub bass speakers, speakerplans.com, X1's.

To get prepared Friday meant a visit to Definitions night in Bangor was in order for some beer and drum and bass. This meant Saturday was the day to get going and I spent 11 hours in the workshop with 8 hours from Michael. Sunday was the longest day with 15 hours spent at it, another 4 from Michael and 2 hours from Tom. Thanks Tom I hate all the sanding and preparing. Below are some pictures from the project at different stages for the two different cabinets. All the ply is top quality 18mm birch ply and they are now loaded with Void V18 1000’s.

The pictures are all very good but what you really what is to hear these monsters, I hope to see you out when they are playing soon.

The internals of cabinet number 1.

The internals of cabinet number 2 during construction.

Cabinet number 1 awaiting at paint job.

Number 1 after a couple of coats of paint.

Number 2 all ready for painting, with the removable speaker access panel showing.

The finished articles.

Two years on.

Two years ago some friends and I went to explore the Cynfal Gorge, we only made it as far as Rhaeadr y Cwm. We felt the prudent choice was to come back another time when the water levels were not rising and we had not underestimated the length of rope needed. The Sunday just gone about two years since we last visited some of the original party returned for another go. On this occasion Will, Mark and I made the journey from above Rhaeadr y Cwm to Rhaeadr Cynfal.

This is a spectacular gorge as you can hopefully see in the photos below and a great committing adventure. If you go to do it take a good amount of rope as we previously found a single 50m to potentially be a little short. This time we took 120m which was defiantly more than needed but was what was in stores on the day. Also don’t forget some tat and old crabs to leave behind on the abseils, some of the kit left from others looks very faded with river debris wrapped around it.

Will abseiling in.

Mark feeling drained after retrieving the abseil rope on Rhaeadr y Cwm.
Will leaping from the bottom Rhaeadr y Cwm.
Mark and Will repacking the ample rope after abseiling the fall above.
Mark (closest) and Will wading on downstream.

Will on a slide between Bont-Newydd and the Viaduct.

The sun is back.

Summer seems to be here again after having a break for August. This was great as it coincided with a day’s coasteering I was running for the RAF. What a great group to work with as we managed to get loads done covering a massive distance with plenty of swimming as it was such a still day.

The group climbing up to the jumps.

The view down the headland at Nefyn Golf Course.

It was also great that it was such a nice weekend as I was spending the Saturday night camping up in Yorkshire for my brothers stag do. Once the coasteering was finished it was back home shower, change vans and a four hour drive to the home of Black Sheep Ale, Masham. I think you can take a fairly good guess as to the events proceedings; needless to say the gang had late breakfast on Sunday before we all departed. This made for a good nights drinking for me, a good day of quad biking, brewery tours and drinking for the rest.

The Black Sheep Ale.

Unfortunately there is a downside to the nice weather as it seems like the toxic blue green algae in Llyn Padarn may benefiting from the sunshine after giving the impression that it was starting to disappear. This problem of the algae first came to light in June of this year and three months on there still seems to be no conclusive answers as to what has caused the problem. I do know however that is having a noticeable effect on local business and residents. This morning I have had a meeting with Alun Ffred Jones the local AM to express my concerns and hope to hear more from him soon.

Depar Sounds, improvements underway.

As a drum and bass DJ a good sounding system that can handle the bass lines, especially as the modern ones that are getting heavier is important. I have recently decided make my own (read, with the help of few others) subs to increase the output of the current Depar Sounds system. I decided to make a pair of X1’s and today most of the parts arrived from Pro Audio Parts, the most impressive being the 20Kg Void V18 1000 driver which will sit in the heart of the cabinet.

The Void V18 1000 and complimentary mouse mat.

The last 500m are the hardest.

The week following the August bank holiday was pretty quiet personal adventure wise because work was very busy. The centre had a group in which required a lot of attention so I worked in addition to the planned staff. The weekend did start early however, the group went home on the Thursday, an unplanned early departure. This just meant I had time to do all the jobs I should done earlier week before a days work of Canyoning on the Saturday.

After a family get together on the Saturday night this left enough time for a Sunday mountain bike ride. So after a heavy family night drinking and no serious exercise since being ill what did we choose I hear you ask? Well 30kms of the Penmachno trials is the answer.

What a great ride it was, I would have to recommend these routes although Nia and Kelv were a tough act to keep up with. I think the tiredness of 29.6km may well have attributed to my crash, thankfully only cut shins from peddles and bruised pride. I guess this will teach me, I should have thought more carefully before taking the mickey out of Kelv for his crash 500m from the van!

The days proudly worn war wounds.

August Bank Holiday DJing

The bank holiday has been a busy weekend with two nights of DJing out. Not much to be done in the outdoors although mates were staying and hoping to get out but the weather was very "Welsh bank holiday", not much of a surprise. The Summer Sounds night at Rascals in Bangor was a great night with a really diverse range of Drum and Bass sets played by all the DJ's on the Friday. Saturday saw me back starting the night at Fricstock, the Fricsan for Tom Booth and Simon S to finish of the night with a big set keeping the dance floor bouncing until 1.30 in the morning.

D.J.C (me) behind the decks in Rascals on Summer Sounds night.

Summer Sounds.

Summer Sounds is this Friday in Rascals, Bangor from 8pm. Line up includes: VENOM, Cautious, Tom Booth, Jumpin' Jon Butler and D.J.C(me). I hope to see you there as it's not all that often North Wales has dedicated Drum and Bass nights, should be good.

Round Table Abseil.

Tuesday night saw me abseiling in Vivian Quarry, Padarn Country Park with the guys from Caernarfon Round Table. A good evening’s activity followed by good food and beer in the Glyntwrog, Llanrug. Thank you to Kelv and Mark for helping out.

Dan on his second go, the slate museum in view at the bottom.

Merv at the top of the upper level abseil.

Elfyn on the upper level with Kelv visible at the top.
Kev leaping on possibly his fourth go.

Dylan on his second go with the pool at the bottom of Vivian Quarry in the background.

Simon on his second abseil.

Sion on the lower abseil, Llyn Padarn in the background.