This is Real Adventure’s Old Blog (last edited Aug 2010)

Hi

Click here to see the new blog and website…

New Website and Blog

We have just launched a new Real Adventure website.

The blog is now integrated into the site and this blog address and site will be cut and pasted in time over to the new site and be put to bed.

Please head over to the real adventure website and click blog for the most recent RA postings.

We have also added a Gear Review Blog, here we will post articles for magazines we right and favourite bits of kit as and when we come across them.

Please be patient, the info on the new site is still been cut and pasted from the old and is undergoing change, if it does not look right or the info is not there, apologies it will be soon.

If you can not find what you are looking for or the info is not there just drop me a line.

Thanks for following, see you on the new site.

Mining Trip

Well after a long day in the office with Simon Fenna working on the report-ability of m office database, John Riley of Fired Up Design working on the new RA website and myself working on the content of the new site and future programs we all got a little itchy and needed to go do something.

Simon’s Mate is one of the local mining experts, she popped a black bag over our heads span us round in circles drove us to an unknown location and took the bag off only once we had walked 35 min up hill and got into the entrance.

Wow… now both simon and I have done allot of caving over the years, but nothing just compares tonight. Vast man made chambers, hanging floors, stunning blue flowstone, worrying deads (waste rock stacked precariously) long abseils, deep blue water, filled shafts, etc, etc.

This was not sport, nor was it adventure – this is adventure exploration… You do not get that feeling that you have done a great deal due to the sedate nature of your delicate movement through the passages, any heavy feeling and there is the chance of falling through on of the false floors. There is also that missing feeling that you get in a cave of the awareness of water conditions (cave are made by water not man and his dynamite) however it was replaced by the inevitable collapse of what ever lies above or below you.

Towards the end of the trip our resident mine nutter noticed a place that she had been standing just last week was now a gaping whole in the floor dropping down past the distance of a really powerful LED torch!

This level of mine exploration is not safe, it is not fun, it is not somewhere I would choose to take people and it is totally bazar to be walking in the mountains wearing caving kit. However it is really fascinating, learning about the history of what went on to extract a bit of metal out of the earth and learning about the methods and seeing the old workings is just formidable.

New Website & Blog

The Real Adventure web site is being re developed as I sit here typing this post. The Old site is now 5 years old and with new developments in web site design and back end usability it was time to move forwards.

Real Adventure has also developed as a company over the years and the range of what we can offer increased significantly. The company has been a great journey for me and I am really exited to be pushing it forwards once more with this rather large step.

So by the end of the week, if all goes to plan, you will notice that the old site will have been changed a touch.

RA New Website Preview

If you notice a lack of content straight away – apologies, there will be a time laps from when it goes live to adding the copy bit by bit.

The Website address will stay the same however the Blog will change from being a Word Press Blog to a blog with its own rights stylised under the RA site.

Once this is sorted you may need to change the path if you have the original set up in your favourites.

Dan Robinson

Head of Real Adventure

Family rock climbing taster day

Today Margret and her 2 kids came over to the Lakes to try there hand at climbing outside & see if it where something they would like to get into. Both Amy and James and their mum had been down to their local climbing wall a few times and really enjoyed it and where just curious to see what it was like outside. We headed to Borrowdale, One of the best places in the Lakes to take your first step on rock. At Brown Slabs we did 3 routes, 4 pitches and 2 absiels then headed to the cafe for tea & ice cream.

Amy and James on the final pitch of the superb Brown Slabs Arête

They will be back to try it again…

Learn to climb – Day 2

We headed over to the Limestone at a place I first stepped foot on a crag when I was 12, Hutton Roof. Sarah was still on the way to being 100% over her fear of “the edge” and heights so this venue with more careful coaching allowed gave her the head space to take onboard the technical aspects.

Sarah learning to belay from the top of the crag

Rope Coiling

After a number of routes Sarah and Michael’s brains where full so we finished the day with some more coaching on movement and bouldering.

Learn to climb – Day 1

Sarah and Michael arrived from Colchester on Thursday night and stayed in Ambleside. Michael runs a private medical practice, we spent most of our time chatting about business and databases, I popped them in touch with my database engineer and anorak Simon Fenna.

The first day we headed to Middle Fell Buttress in Langdale and looked at multi pitch climbing & abseiling, they are now well on there way to overcoming fears of heights and being able to second a leader with confidence of what they are doing and understand the bigger picture of multi pitch.

Looking down on the Old Dungeon Ghyll

In the afternoon we headed into the valley where the exposure was less and did a spot of bouldering at the Langdale Boulders.

Sarah likes bouldering…

Learning good footwork - Langdale Boulders

River Kent

Just as I get in from work (1845) I get a little txt from Gareth “get yourself to the get in on the kent at Morrisons for 1845″

Straight back out the door for and to the get in to see no sign of any boaters, back to New Road and the crowds of onlookers gave a clue as to what was going on under the bridge, on went the dry suit for another little fix whilst the water is still here.

“There ain’t no such a thing as bad weather – just the wrong choice of toys”

River Leven

Back in the Lakes it had been raining too.

The kent was a little high so we headed over to the Leven to catch a cheeky run before work.

Kat Mclennan, Gareth Field and I ran it twice, it is such a short section at the moment as Backbarrow Falls has a large quantity of scaffolding acting like a mincing machine for any unaware kayakers whilst they repair the bridge after the Floods of November.

Gareth, Kat & I After the first run down the River Leven

Kayaking the Conwy

Well as it was raining lots and the rivers where up and Sally (one of RA’s staff) was in wales and we all had our boats it seamed a shame to go home without stealing a before breakfast run down the river.

We started at about 6 in the morning so we could all get to work on time.

The river goes at about 3+ and has a great little s shaped drop on it. It was a shame we did not have much time to play on each wave.

Sally Ozanne kitting up before the River Conwy 0615

Off back to the lakes for a 1030 start!

I need to get a waterproof camera – any suggestions?