Self-rescue – the Severe climber

Me in Coire na Ciste on my first day of the course.

Me in a bucket seat that I had dug and attached to a buried axe.

Walking through Worthy Wood.

Climbing the absolutely brilliant Gargoyle Flake (VS, 4c) at Bamford Edge.

Climbing the boulder problem Big Slab Right (V0+, 5a) on a wonderfully sunny day at Higgar Tor.

Me on the top of the pinnacle on Pinnacle Buttress at Dewerstone (thanks to Peter for the photo).

Climbing Monkey Crack (VDiff) at Stanage.

Bouldering on the Marsh Boulder at the RAC Boulders.

Me on the summit ridge of Eldir Fawr.

Leading Wall Corner (HVD, 4a) at Burbage.

Me leading Hollybush Gully Right Direct (Severe, 4a) at Stanage.

Bouldering above the beach of Lon Isallt Bay.

Me learning how to do a hoist

Me climbing on The Cube boulder at Bonehill.

Me climbing The Runnel problem at Hound Tor.

Walking on The Black Mountain.

My self-rescue skills became rusty because I never got into the sort of trouble where they would be needed. That’s definitely a good thing. My self-rescue skills also became rusty because I never practiced them and didn’t get refresher training as often as I should have. That’s definitely a bad thing. The self-rescue course I did at the weekend highlighted for me just how risky it had been leaving it so long to get a refresher. There were so many aspects of the rope work that I had forgotten and other aspects that I wasn’t particularly confident on. The instructors were great at talking me through the steps of a variety of techniques and putting them to use in different scenarios on the rock. I feel more confident about self-rescue now and determined to practice it more often (although, only in pretend situations).