Equal Adventure Lecture 2010

6:30 - 10:00pm Wednesday 27th January 2010

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
Happy Christmas from Equal Adventure


Are you wondering what festive gift to buy your friends, family and colleagues to show your appreciation for them?

Are you a disabled person whishing to experience outdoor adventure activities?

Are you seeking to enabled one or more disabled people to participate in outdoor adventure activities?

Yes? Then the Equal Adventure Lecture is for you.



Priced at only £15, £10 concessions or £50 for a group of four, the evening will provide inspiration and information that will continue to influence you for months to follow.

Learn how to set about action with a 'Can Do' approach, see and try adaptive equipment, hear about how others have enjoyed the outdoors, and feel the energy of success. Chaired by Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and Felicity Aston, this is an opportunity not to be missed.


Tickets are on sale now! Start 2010 as you mean to continue, and take action by booking your tickets now!

Happy Christmas!

To learn more and to book your tickets:
visit the website at www.equaladventure.org/ealecture2010.htm,
phone us on 01479 861200,
or email us at events@equaladventure.org

posted by glenmore @ 2:14 pm  0 comments

Scottish Tooling Series 2009
Report_______________________


What a FANTASTIC Series!!! Five venues managed to create unique styles of competition that appealed to the young, old, short, tall and everything in the middle. Here is an outline of each event with a review of the prize giving at the end.

Round 1 – Avertical World, Dundee
Round 1 and what a way to start the series! There was a great turnout from young to old and everything in between.

The guys at Avertical had worked really hard in the run up to the comp and had created some fantastic problems ranging from the relatively easy right through to the almost impossible! The problems were a mixture of low level, technical bouldering routes and pumpy top roped routes.

There was a great atmosphere throughout the day and it all built up to the final in which the top three competitors from each category battled it out for the win. The final route started in the bouldering cave and involved several strenuous moves before pulling out over the lip onto the steep upper wall and finally moving onto a free-hanging horizontal log and onto glory at the final lower off clip. The route stretched the already tired climbers to breaking point and only one competitor managed to complete the route; Robbie Phillips.

Round 2 – Ratho, Edinburgh
The competition headed to Edinburgh for the second round at Ratho, the largest indoor climbing arena in Europe!

The route setters went for a unique approach of re-creating moves found on actual winter routes. There was a thrutchy chimney just like Stirling Bomber and a delicate rock slab like White Magic to name just a couple.

Round 3 – Extreme Dream, Aviemore
Extreme Dream is the original veterans of dry tooling competitions and as such the expectations for a first class competition were high. True to form the guys created some brilliant problems and the atmosphere was electric! Although a smaller venue, the steepness factor cannot be overstated and the guys had gone fully over the top with more crazy obstacles and wooden mayhem than ever... We had the “Jungle Gym” in the cave, “The Diving Board” plus numerous strikeable panels which meant that a wide variety of skills were tested. Well set problems ensured that everyone went away having got plenty done but for the top guns in the final as always The Roof beckoned.....


Round 4 – Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore
What a turn out! What nearly great weather! What a great final display by Steve Johnstone! What an inspiring lecture by Andy Turner! All in all a great day was had by all.

Mark Chadwick and Scott Webster set the problems. They managed to really stretch the top climbers while allowing the new comers to get some points on the board and enjoy the challenge. The final was a traverse followed by a steep and technical overhang onto a hanging log. They thought they had over cooked it as all the other finalists failed to get past the ¾ point. Then the last to come out of isolation was Steve Johnson who managed to almost make it look easy and the crowd let him know it as they cheered and chanted him onto the last move.

Andy Turner ran beginner workshops and a master class and then presented a totally awesome lecture on his past year of activities which included Nepal, the Alps and Scotland. The images and chat really captured the audience and left them chomping at the bit for winter conditions. A wee dram of Balvenie from one of the event sponsors also helped people to round off a great Scottish climbing day - sun, rain and then a dram. Perfect.


Round 5 – Ice Factor, Kinlochleven

Is there a better venue to host the final event of the series and the Grand Prize Giving? I would have to answer no. The Ice Factor maybe a challenge to get to compared to most but that is nothing new for climbers. We travel miles to get a good days climbing in and that is exactly what we got at the Ice Factor. Well done to Jamie and his team and guest celebrity route setter Andy Turner.

5 hours of climbing flew by but left most of us with arms a bit longer than we started with. There were 2 routes on the outside of the building, 3 in the ice room and then a variety of top roped and bouldering problems. As has always been the case, the Series has encouraged the route setters to fulfil the needs of novice intermediate and super talented climbers. This is not an easy task but time and again we walk away feeling amazed that the whole cross-section of the competitors feel they got exactly what they came for. Brilliant!

THE SCOTTISH TOOLING SERIES PRIZE GIVING & ROUND UP REPORT

There were prizes, trophies and cheers galore! We have built a really strong group of people around this Series. We are all already talking about next year and the youth are off to tell their friends at school how much fun axes can be!

We all know that these events can not happen without the support of sponsors. Lyon Equipment (distributors for Petzl, Sportiva and Beal) has sponsored the Scottish Tooling Series from the start. Martin Bergerud attended and took part on Saturday and it was fantastic to have him there. He witnessed first hand what a tremendous atmosphere there is among events like this and he said he was proud that they could support such grass routes events. He was also so impressed the age and gender range of the participants. The youngest is 10 years old (Sophie) and the oldest is 62 (Tony). The crowd showed their appreciation when I introduced him so he left in no doubt that is a group of people who love the Series and really appreciate how it needs their kind of support. I would also like to thank our others sponsor at this point; Marmot, The Balvenie, Wigwam and Dream Climbing Holds. The prizes have been superb and really add so much value to each event.

This Series was also given tremendous support from the MC of S for the youth side. Although the junior female numbers have not increased, the junior males have and there is a strong support for the feeling that we some Olympic champions in the making ready for 2016.

Each venue takes a risk by running an event. They are closing down for normal business in the hope there are enough entrants to cover the days expenses. As the Series grows in popularity this is becoming less of an issue, but they need thanks for taking the risk in the first place. They also have to put in so much hard work route setting as it is never as straight forward as just putting holds on the wall…..tooling without hanging logs doesn’t exist any more!

Glenmore Lodge has been very proud to co-ordinate the first two Scottish Tooling Series. As a National Centre we were told there was a need for such an event. There obviously is and with the support of the venues and sponsors we are really proud we have been able to help it on its way. I will be leaving the Lodge in February and it seems the perfect time to hand over the role to the group of people who have made the Series their own. Pete Hill has offered to lead the co-ordination for 2010 along with Neil Silver who did the website for this year completely in his own time. They are hoping that all participants give them feedback from this year good and bad so they can keep the momentum going for many years to come. Pete’s website is www.drytoolinguk.com and the Neil’s Series website www.scottishtoolingseries.co.uk. I am not sure how they will manage to upstage the hand made trophies designed and made by Scott Webster and Graeme Hepburn. Petzl ice picks in oak plinths – now is that stylish or what?!

I have had an amazing time over the past two years and look forward to taking part in the coming events except I will no longer have an excuse to shout at everybody!

Thanks to everybody for making the Series such a fun event to be part of.

Big thanks to Neil Silver for his brilliant work on the Series website and Lukasz Warzecha (www.LWimages.co.uk) for the fantastic photos he has allowed us to use.

FOR THE FULL RESULTS AT EACH EVENT GO TO NEIL'S WEBSITE AT WWW.SCOTTIHSTOOLING SERIES.CO.UK

posted by glenmore @ 5:37 pm  0 comments

News Release
December 2009

Doors open to mountain medicine cabinet

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) today comes to the aid of trekkers, climbers and mountaineers by launching a new online resource full of expert medical advice on keeping fit and healthy in the mountains.

The launch coincides with a new intake of 30 active climbing doctors to the ever expanding UIAA University of Leicester Diploma of Mountain Medicine at Plas y Brenin (the national mountain centre in Snowdonia) and with the High Altitude Medical Symposium taking place today (4 December) in Birmingham.

The BMC’s team of medical advisors has been busy bringing together a wealth of advice and information that caters for people all levels of experience in the mountains. Whether you're looking for advice on finger injuries or altitude sickness, the BMC has the answers.

David Hillebrandt, Medical Advisor to the BMC says: “The site is packed full of potentially life-saving advice and acts as a portal to external information sources. Whether you’re an experienced climber or a novice embarking on your first trek, you’ll find lots of relevant information and advice.”

The website includes advice and guidance on:
• what to do in mountain incidents
• climbing injuries and injury prevention
• travelling at high altitude
• nutritional considerations
• frostbite – how to avoid it and how to treat it
• specific guidance for Kilimanjaro trekkers
• accessing the Medex network of doctors for personal advice

Included in the helpful resources are:
• accident report forms to download and keep in your first aid kit
• a series of mountain medicine advice sheets produced by the UIAA (the international body for mountaineering)
• a list of essential websites, courses and books for mountain medicine
• a free downloadable Medex booklet – Travel at High Altitude

The site helps to answer questions such as:
• How tight is too tight when it comes to climbing shoes?
• Can I take my child to high altitude?
• What should I do if I get a tick?

Visit the new section at www.thebmc.co.uk/medical

-Ends-

Notes to editors
• For further information please contact Tina Gardner (Press & PR Officer) on 0161 438 3337 / tina@thebmc.co.uk OR Alex Messenger on 0161 438 3308 / alex@thebmc.co.uk. Pictures available on request and at www.thebmc.co.uk/press
• The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers in England and Wales and is recognised as such by government. The BMC is committed to promoting the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers and good practice in all activities related to these pursuits.
• Medex formed in 1992 to support the charitable works of Medical Expeditions. Medex co-ordinates research expeditions and social events for a growing membership, sharing the experience and research findings http://www.medex.org.uk
• The High Altitude Medical Symposium takes place in Birmingham on Friday 4th December, at the Birmingham Medical Institute http://users.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~kylep/bmres_altitude_meeting.htm

posted by glenmore @ 5:34 pm  0 comments

Bob was very pleased to see that the domestic team respect his position as the King of Glenmore Lodge. They presented him with a Christmas present of a throne and sceptre made of Tennents beer cans. They had to spend hours drinking to make sure they had enough to make a big enough throne. Just as well he isn't very tall or we could have had some serious alcohol issues on our hands!

posted by glenmore @ 5:26 pm  0 comments

MCofS News Release

Ugly and environmentally damaging hill tracks are constructed every year with no requirement that they are considered through the planning system. Beautiful wild areas, iconic for Scotland’s residents and visitors, are being blighted by these uncontrolled eyesores. The national importance of this has finally come to the notice of the Scottish Parliament after the issue was raised by Peter Peacock MSP (1) in response to the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) highlighting the incremental reduction in wild areas. Government figures show that between 2002 and 2005, the area of Scotland unaffected by views of man-made developments fell from 42% to 32% (2).

Hebe Carus, MCofS Access & Conservation Officer, who highlighted the issue to the MSP said, “I regularly receive photographs of outstandingly badly constructed tracks through previously wild areas, even in supposedly protected areas. The sad thing is that these are irreversible and completely uncontrolled through the planning system. The longer the review is delayed the more of wild Scotland will be lost forever.” The President of MCofS, Chris Townsend, further explained; "Many of these tracks in upland areas are horrendous. The MCofS is very concerned about the ever increasing irreversible loss of wildness due to hill tracks being bulldozed throughout Scotland. These areas of wild land are being lost to Scotland."

The Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 is supposed to modernise the planning system for the benefit of the people and environment of Scotland, but the implementation timetable is being permitted to slip repeatedly. There has already been more than a 2 year delay since an influential report from Heriot-Watt University, commissioned by the Scottish Executive, recommended an extensive overhaul of the uncontrolled rights of landowners to construct hill tracks through our beautiful wild areas.

posted by glenmore @ 3:48 pm  0 comments

The Tweed Valley is set to expand its biking facilites again over the next couple of months with a New Pump and Jump track being developed. The site is within Cardrona Village which is handily halfway between Glentress and Innerleithen.

The Tweed Valley area is well known for its Mountain biking at Glentress and Innerleithen, as well as being the start point for the Tour of Britain this year, so it seems logical that it should also gain one of these excellent training facilities. The idea of a Pump and Jump track is that you use the undulations to build up speed which in turn propels you over the jumps. If you type Pump and Jump into Youtube you’ll see what I mean.

The hope is that the facility will not only give the locals somewhere to develop their skills but also increase bike traffic into the area. When the off-road bike link opens between the two trail centres this new development will be right on the route, allowing everyone easy access.

The best bit about all this? The funding for the project has been made possible by a lottery injection, so if you want to get one of these in your local area, there are ways and means of getting the money. Rumour mill is that a similar development may be in the pipeline for the Innerleithen area as well, so watch this space.

Labels: Biking, pump and jump, Tweed Valley

posted by glenmore @ 5:06 pm  0 comments

Round 5 – Ice Factor, Kinlochleven

Is there a better venue to host the final event of the series and the Grand Prize Giving? I would have to answer no. The Ice Factor maybe a challenge to get to compared to most but that is nothing new for climbers. We travel miles to get a good days climbing in and that is exactly what we got at the Ice Factor. Well done to Jamie and his team and guest celebrity route setter Andy Turner.

Out of a potential 60 competitors, there were 59 entries. A superb turnout. The fact it was the Series Prize Giving also meant we had lots of extra supporters including Anna Wells grand-parents who were great fun and were happy to wear helmets so they could get the best view of their grand-daughter in the final. Flying axes were not going to put them off!

5 hours of climbing flew by but left most of us with arms a bit longer than we started with. There were 2 routes on the outside of the building, 3 in the ice room and then a variety of top roped and bouldering problems. As has always been the case, the Series has encouraged the route setters to fulfil the needs of novice intermediate and super talented climbers. This is not an easy task but time and again we walk away feeling amazed that the whole cross-section of the competitors feel they got exactly what they came for. Brilliant!

The finals had all the tension and noise effects that any good final should have. Loads of ‘go on!!’ ‘ ohhhhhhhhhh’ and ‘ahhhhhhhs’. There were some amazing gymnastic diplays and some cracking falls and all ending with smiles. We needed to have a super final too for a couple of the categories and when we thought they could give no more, they had to come and perform. They didn’t disappoint and managed to get higher than most of us could get when we were feeling fresh. Dylan McKenzie and Steve Addison ( Jnr Male) both came up to Andy Turner still buzzing with adrenalin to thank him for setting such a fantastic Jnr Final route. The female finalists were less grateful as the hanging log proved too big an obstacle for all three hence the super final. Anna Wells managed to find enough energy to take the first place for the day. Great performance.

The male vets and male sports were as unpredictable as ever. Steve Johnston only just got into the final in 5th position and then proceeded to win the event in outstanding style. Rhudidh McKenzie is the reason I am not scared of being in the veteran club.His agility was outstanding and he took away first prize.


THE SCOTTISH TOOLING SERIES PRIZE GIVING & ROUND UP REPORT

We all know that these events can not happen without the support of sponsors. Lyon Equipment (distributors for Petzl, Sportiva and Beal) have sponsored the Scottish Tooling Series from the start. Martin Berghand attended and took part on Saturday and it was fantastic to have him there. He witnessed first hand what a tremendous atmosphere there is among events like this and he said he was proud that they could support such grass routes events. He was also so impressed the age and gender range of the participants. The youngest is 10 years old ( Sophie) and the oldest is 62 ( Tony). The crowd showed their appreciation when I introduced him so he left in no doubt that this is a group of people who love the Series and really appreciate how it needs their kind of support. I would also like to thank our others sponsor at this point; Marmot, The Balvenie, Wigwam and Dream Holds. The prizes have been superb and really add so much value to each event.

This Series was also given tremendous support from the MC of S for the youth side. Although the junior female numbers have not increased, the junior males have and there is a strong support for the feeling that we have some Olympic champions in the making ready for 2016.

Each venue takes a risk by running an event. They are closing down for normal business in the hope there are enough entrants to cover the days expenses. As the Series grows in popularity this is becoming less of an issue, but they need thanks for taking the risk in the first place. They also have to put in so much hard work route setting as it is never as straight forward as just putting holds on the wall…..tooling without hanging logs doesn’t exist any more!

Glenmore Lodge has been very proud to co-ordinate the first two Scottish Tooling Series. As a National Centre we were told there was a need for such an event. There obviously is and with the support of the venues and sponsors we are really proud we have been able to help it on its way. I will be leaving the Lodge in February and it seems the perfect time to hand over the role to the group of people who have made the Series their own. Pete Hill has offered to lead the co-ordination for 2010 along with Neil Silver who did the website for this year completely in his own time. They are hoping that all participants give them feedback from this year good and bad so they can keep the momentum going for many years to come. Pete’s website is www.drytoolinguk.com and the Neil’s Series website www.scottishtoolingseries.co.uk. I am not sure how they will manage to upstage the hand made trophies designed and made by Scott Webster and Graeme Hepburn. Petzl ice picks in oak plinths – now is that stylish or what?!

I have had an amazing time over the past two years and look forward to taking part in the coming events except I will no longer have an excuse to shout at everybody!

Thanks to everybody for making the Series such a fun event to be part of.

The really good photos were taken by Lukasz Warzecha whom you will have seen hanging from the roof. The other images were mine and not quite up to the same grade. He has very kindly let us use his imges and if you ever need a professional photographer his website is www.LWimages.co.uk

posted by glenmore @ 4:45 pm  0 comments

Wild Country's Charity Begins On The Crag
'Wild Country's Pure Chalk, launched earlier this year, has been a great success but this isn't just good news for Wild Country as one of the bonus features of buying 'Pure Chalk' has been that Wild Country are donating a portion of the turnover to the BMC to put towards their Crag Care Fund.

And for that reason Jason Myers, UK Sales Manager was able to send Wild Country's first donation taken from the turnover of sales, the sum of £710 this week to the BMC. Jason commented;
'We are really happy that the chalk has taken of as it has but we are doubly happy as it means we can give more to the BMC to help those guys that help to keep our crags open and accessible.'

Dave Turnbull BMC CEO says:
"It's great to see Wild Country raising money to help our crags. They were a founder member of the BMC Access Fund when it was set up in the early 1990s. This latest initiative shows their long term commitment to the crag and mountain environment."

These donations will be a permanent feature of Wild Country's Pure Chalk range - you can see the symbols on all Wild Country chalk products - and so for every Pure Chalk Ball, Block, Bag or brushes bought, 2% of turnover goes back to the crags! So the more you buy the more they send.

And remember if you are out climbing or bouldering you can help in loads of small ways by 'greening up' your climbing in the following ways - no chipping, use pads, use nylon brushes, clean ticks, collect trash & don’t litter, car share, always use marked trails, recycle, support your access groups and if you can plant a tree!!'

You can see more about Pure Chalk here: http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/Products/2009PureChalk/

You can see more about the BMC Crag Care Fund here:http://www.thebmc.co.uk/Pages.aspx?page=239

posted by glenmore @ 1:16 pm  0 comments

Do you have:
An impairment?
A UK passport?
A sporting background?
The desire to find out if you’ve got what it takes to win Paralympic gold in London?

If you are aged between 15 and 35, then we want to hear from you.

Register online at:
www.uksport.gov.uk/talent


33% of British Paralympic medallists in Beijing were part of an elite funded programme for less than 2 years

15 of the British gold medals were won by first time Paralympians

If you or someone you know has got what it takes to be part of the ParalympicsGB team in 2012 get involved at www.uksport.gov.uk/talent by 11th January 2010

posted by glenmore @ 1:04 pm  0 comments

Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres annual conference is held at Glenmore Lodge

Last week 72 Heads of Outdoor Education Centres, from throughout the UK, held their annual conference and AGM at Glenmore Lodge. The special theme for the event was sustainability.

The speakers included Professor Peter Higgins who is Edinburgh University’s Professor of Outdoor Education and Sustainability. Also Dr Chris Loynes and Dr Kate Rawls who inspired the audience with their sustainability projects that are going into schools. Colin Mortlock, who has an international reputation as a keynote lecturer on adventure and values, presented a session based around his new publication: The Spirit of Adventure. Workshops included one by Alan Smith, the Outdoor Learning Officer from the Cairngorms Nations Park Authority, on the benefits of using the John Muir Award to promote environmental education along with Myles Farnbank who promoted the Leave No Trace initiative. The conference also enjoyed an entertaining after dinner speech by Simon Steer a member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team.

Bill Haylock the Organiser of the event said “ The location and venue is perfect for this event. The Cairngorms National Park is a national treasure full of protected wildlife, flora and fauna while encouraging outdoor activities. Glenmore Lodge as Scotland’s National Centre, is an icon of the outdoor industry. The perfect combination”.

BobKinnaird , Principal of Glenmore Lodge said “The last time this prestigious event was held at the Lodge was 25 years ago and this has been a excellent opportunity to show case our national Centre as well as meeting heads of centres from throughout the UK ”

posted by glenmore @ 12:30 pm  0 comments

Following the recent success at Glenmore Lodge of the Equal Adventure Festival '09, the Equal Adventure charity is proud to invite you to an evening of inspirational lectures at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, on Wednesday 27th Jan 2010.


Chaired by Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, 11 time paralympic gold medalist, and Felicity Aston, an adventure writer working with the Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition. As if that wasn't enough we are excited to introduce some of the leading adventurers, athletes, coaches and representatives from disability and inclusive organisations across the UK.

Speakers include:
Michael McGarth - the only disabled person to brave both north and south poles.
Miles Hilton Barber - a blind adventurer who has topped many mountains and rafted dangerous rivers since his blindness.
Major Jim Bonney - the only amputee in active service in the marines rehabilitating our troops.
Other names to be confirmed at a later date.



Pass this on to someone you know:
Lecture E-flyer
For Schools and Organisations
For Individual interested in Adventure
For Outdoor Providers

Check out our website for more details
Look out for us at Glenmore Lodge for the EA Festival 2010 at the end of August and across Scotland throughout the Summer 2010.

We look forward to seeing you there!


...................................

Labels: 2010, athletes, coaches, Dame Tanni Grey -Thompson, Disability, Equal Adventure Lecture, Felicity Aston, Inclusion, Inclusive, Individuals, Outdoor Providers, RGS, School curricullum

posted by glenmore @ 3:25 pm  0 comments

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posted by glenmore @ 10:41 am  0 comments