Who better than YouTube to illustrate the natural beauty of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
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27
Apr
The Yorkshire Dales
Taken from Richmond.org - April 2008
Ashly Fusiarski from Richmond has just started up a new business as an adventurous activities instructor in the area.
With a partial grant and partial loan from the Princes Trust he aims to provide a series of skills courses for those who are interested in activities such as rock-climbing, kayaking and canoeing. The courses are all aimed at improving technical competence and providing a skill base to enable people to be safer and more confident on the crags, mountains and rivers.
Ashly 22, realised that he wanted to be an activities instructor whilst climbing a 1751m hill in New Zealand. ”After about an hour or two of walking I passed through the fog and all of a sudden I was walking above the clouds. It felt like real mountaineering and I was full of inspiration, as I continued above the clouds I kept telling myself I want to do this for the rest of my life!” enthused Ashly.
He now wants to help other intrepid adventurers to safely experience the surrounding area by imparting his knowledge and techniques in courses in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.
“After climbing and working with quite a few individuals who weren’t being as efficient as they could be or just plain dangerous, I thought there is a market for these kind of courses. I also offer taster sessions for friends and family days out who would like to try climbing or abseiling for the first time,” said Ashly.
20
Apr
White Water Rafting
Hydrology Lecture
This course is aimed at people thinking about moving onto white water or who have done and perhaps still unsure about the following:
Reading white-water and choosing lines,
River terminology and river features,
Understanding stoppers; full depth, surface and shape variations,
Other risks and risk management,
Personal safety in the water,
Essential equipment.
Wrap Kit Crash Course
This course aims to give you the skills and background knowledge to enable you to make a more informed decision when approaching situations on the river. Including wraps (i.e Should your boat be pinned against an obstacle by the moving water)
The course covers:
Personal safety first
Simple but effective methods as a primary measure
More complicated set-ups:
3:1 pulley systems
4:1 pulley systems
Two and three point self equalising anchors
Live bait rescues
* Hydrology Lecture and Wrap Kit course may be combined to make a full day of activities with a £10 discount.
The course covers:
Ascending a free hanging rope.
Ascending a free hanging rope using a mechanical advantage.
Introduction to self-belay on a fixed line.
Safety precautions for the above.
Learn about fixed & retrievable abseils with a brief look at releasable abseils.
Backing up abseils.
Risk management for abseils.
Climbing Techniques & Physiology
This course goes back to basics, we will leave our racks at home and focus on climbing, developing our movement and efficiency on the rock building up strength and technique along the way.
The course covers:
As many possible methods to aid our ascent on the crag, practice; smears, edging, jamming, pinches, crimps, bridging, bars, mantle shelves, flagging, back and foot, heel hooks, rock-overs, dynamic moves and variations of each.
It will also cover the stresses induced on the body, benefits of warming-up and cooling-down and practical ways of doing so.
Rope Systems For Climbers
This course is designed to improve your technical skills on the crag. It also aims to improve confidence in your systems, clarify and consolidate any previous knowledge and experience, provide a discussion platform with you, myself and other climbers* to highlight best practices and compare different methods and techniques giving a good working knowledge of the methods employable.
The course will cover:
Anchor selection; choice of anchors, single & multiple anchors, out of reach & within reach.
Belays. Indirect belay, semi-direct belay and direct belay.
System set-ups as well as covering technical and background information such as understanding fall factors, vector, breaking strengths and rope composition.
*based on group sizes
Advanced Techniques
The course is designed to perfect the basics and introduce a new range of techniques to equiping you with problem solving skills, increasing the safety of you and your partner.
The course will cover:
Quick and efficient knot tying, the uses of Prusiks, Klemheists, Bachmann, Autoblocs and their mechanical equivalents.
Hoisting systems, assisted and unassisted. Locking off and escaping the system.
20
Apr
Learning Lead Climbing
Lead climbing is the true essence of climbing. It can define freedom. It has converted many a bearded fellow from a potentially grumpy old man into a romantic, spiritual, inspiring novelist. It brings out skills and talents that you may otherwise, never knew you had. It requires balance, flexibility, strength, agility not to mention determination, focus and a nonchalant attitude in the face of danger.
The sense of achievement is tremendous and induces a sense of elation I can compare to no other. You know this, that’s why you’re here. You also know that with these great rewards comes much greater risks, so it’s wise to learn and perfect the necessary skills before finding yourself 5m above your last piece of protection as your strength begins to fade at the crux.
The learn to lead course is designed to work through each element of lead climbing, from the fundamentals to the details. Each element will be discussed, demonstrated and practised until you are happy. The course will be conducted using top and bottom ropes, providing you with security at all times giving a much more productive learning platform, allowing you to practice and perfect gear placements without the pressure of a potential leader fall.
The course will cover:
Equipment and organisation.
Gear placements.
Extending gear and why.
Single and double rope techniques.
Rope management and stance organisation.
Dealing with leader falls
Common problems & avoidance
The course also combines parts of the rope systems course and climbing techniques & physiology course in order to promote the use of the energy efficient movement essential for the lead climber. Taking place over two days (second day optional), you will have the opportunity, and be encouraged, to climb as much as possible practicing and perfecting newly acquired skills.
I am Ashly Fusiarski, based in Richmond, North Yorkshire on the border of the Yorkshire Dales. I am a outdoor instructor offering skills development courses to enable you to be self-reliant on the hills, rivers and crags of the UK.
COURSES
For those who would like to learn about rope skills specific to rock-climbing and riversports. I offer a series of courses aimed at the beginner, improver and those who want to take the next step, either from plastic to rock or from ponds to rivers!
The following courses are available:
Rope Systems for Climbers
Advanced Rope Systems
Learn to Lead Climb
Rope Ascending and Abseil Safety
Climbing Techniques & Physiology
Hydrology Lecture
Wrap Kit:Prep and Uses
Please get in touch to discuss your introduction to rock-climbing.
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