hello all
i have a friend staying with me from the 17th of august and i am going to be teaching her srt.
does anyone have suggestions of were may be a good place to take her to practice around the derbyshire/staffordshire area.
so far i have been suggested jug holes shaft, as i did this one with a difrent frend im trying to think of other possible options too.
any suggestions apreciated
thanks
ditzy


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Could also look in Shropshire at Snailbeach - the chaps there would be more than happy - I think Weds pm is their SRT session - ...

Adrian - am I right??????

Pete

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I'd be tempted to suggest that you don't start teaching SRT in a hole!

I know of an occasion when about 8 people were 'accidentally' taught SRT at the bottom of a shaft and it was a bit of an epic getting them all out 😮

What I'd suggest is that you find a tree with a branch over which you can throw a rope and then tie it off lower down. As long as you've got about 10ft of rope to use, that's plenty to practice going up, changing over and abseiling, then ascending up again and so on.

If you want, you could also rig a second rope and thus practice changing from one rope to another; or you can ascend up to keep an eye on your friend and provide assistance on the same level rather that having to shout up when you may not be able to see what she's doing.

I started SRT this way and despite my misgivings, it was a much better - and safer - way of working things out than dangling 60' in the air above a quarry in broad daylight.

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Skippy wrote:

Could also look in Shropshire at Snailbeach - the chaps there would be more than happy - I think Weds pm is their SRT session - ...

Yes Wednesday is the usual night for training. It's a good environment. Training is staged at various levels. There's also club training gear that can be loaned to those without any for these sessions.

Wyn

Do you have learner slopes in there - I hear some of the pitches are quite gentle slopes anyway - I agree with Vanoord's suggestion, but if you can do the same thing u.g., why not combine the two....

PS - anyone done SRT with a dog - she's great at helping set timbers - digging holes etc., but not so crash hot at SRT yet...

Pete 😞

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We used the bridge at Cheedale on the Monsal trail, not too high, has good steelwork at top and is easy to walk back up to if you needed to, plus good parking at the old staition.

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"I'd be tempted to suggest that you don't start teaching SRT in a hole!"

i should have been more specific, what i mean is im going to actually teach her in the house first but i ment for a first undergound trip were could i take her.

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Ahhhhhhh! 😉

Trees are good, but avoid trees near swamps as you'll end up covered in midge bites, as I did... 😞

I suspect that the trick is to ensure that your friend is happy with going up and down and changing over from one to the other - applying it to 80' pitches in the dark will be the easy bit!

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im going to actually teach her in the house first but i ment for a first undergound trip were could i take her.

All in one day?

No way can anybody become fully competant at SRT in a short period, what happens when it goes pair shaped underground?

As Barney says:

All in one day?

No way can anybody become fully competant at SRT in a short period, what happens when it goes pair shaped underground?

At Snailbeach the initial training is on a short vertical hang, where you step off a bridge and there's a ladder adjacent to aid the trainee/instructor. This is ideal for the basics, then the next stage is in the barytes stope (Skippy this is nicely sloped) where you can try out rebelays, deviations a traverse etc.
When both instructor and trainee are happy then it's off down to the 40 yard level (I think Barney would recommend that trip).
The important thing is that time is taken on each stage.

Get a copy Andy Sparrows excellent DVD 'Speleo Vertical'
http://www.caving-adventures.co.uk/publications.htm 

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im going to actually teach her in the house first but i ment for a first undergound trip were could i take her.

All in one day?

No way can anybody become fully competant at SRT in a short period, what happens when it goes pair shaped underground?

i wasnt thinking in one day i was more of thinking teach her one day and then the next day take her on a trip, but i will have others with me who know how to rig pullies and things if it goes wrong.
and it if possible to learn it in one day. i did about 2 hours practice well learning in a friends garage and then i went straight down water icicle 😉 it was a great trip, i didnt struggle at all really apart from getting my croll off at the top, and we rigged the pitch with a re belay aswell, we did it in a way that there was one person at the top, one on the rebelay ready to help me if i needed it.

i wasnt thinking of doing anything hard with my friend. i still dont know how to do a deviation very well so i dee what you mean that no one can learn everything but its more the basics that i will be teaching her.

she has had practice with abseiling before and has also used a ladder on a pitch before but because she saw me srt up the valley entrence pitch before she wants to learn too and we only have a few days in wich to do this as she will be only staying at mone for about 4 days.

so what im really looking for is a pitch thats got no deviations in it, isnt too long, and for prefrence isnt wet or too wet, and also there being a clear view from above so that the person from the top can see what is going on.

it is important that the pitch isnt too noisy tho as my friend is 72% deff, i dont see how her hearing being impaired will be a problem but there are a few worries that on a loud pitch she may find it hard to hear, we were thinking of getting around this by using a wallkie talkie, this is also partly why the pitch nededs to be easy to see as if there are rocks in the way ofview the walkie talkies may not work.

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I suggest a climbing wall for the initial training. Some of them even have SRT ropes permanently in place.

Chris.

thanks for the suggestion do you know of any around staffs/derbyshire?

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Sadly I don't!, I used the one in Ingleton last Friday to do some SRT training which made me think of it. £5 per person per day which was good value.

There must be some around there somewhere though.

Chris.

ok thanks
it may be possible to use my friends starwell at his factory tho.
il speak to some others about it later on and find out what they think would be best to teach her, but the stairwell at the factory is probly as good as using a climbing wall as its about 30ft so its not too high and also you can get almost anywere on the stairwell to help out if she gets stuck.

once she has learned the basics well take her underground once we have got a suitable place

thanks for the suggestions so far.

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Although we once got an okay from the Beacon climbing centre up in these parts, they seem to have changed their policy recently.

I suspect it may be because they also use the ropes for Industrial Rope Access courses, although it's a bit of an odd policy.

Either way, just remember that to learn SRT you only need to be a few feet above the ground, not 50 feet up! :)

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i taught a friend srt out of the loft hatch the other week, im not so keen on teaching my other friend out of it tho as the wall got mucky when stqaci was doing it plus its a but confined once going through the loft hatch wich ment that i couldnt really see enough to help my friend when she asked for it.
i think i will only teach srt when bri is around this time as there was a incident were he went out with a friend for a bit and my friend got up to the top and said " how do i get down" and also "what am i doing wrong" i for one couldnt see past her and also bri had given her a fig of 8 to use and i dont know how to use one let alone load one as iv only used a stop! i told her i thought it was loaded right but she wouldnt come down as se was worried it wasntloaded right and also she couldnt get her croll off the rope, i couldnt reach her plus she was in the way so i left her dangling on the rope 😞 i called bri up and he exsplained to me what to do over the phone but it ewasnt possible so he came home to sort her out but as he got in through the door staci had managed to sort it out herself!
Although she got stuck it was only her second time up and also about 90% of inciddents when doing srt need to be figured out by yourself so you could say it was just part of the practice!

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the 40 yard level (I think Barney would recommend that trip).

Oh yes! The rigging at Snailbeach is excellent, and a damn fine place to look around. The group looking after the place have done a great job. Thoroughly recommended 😉 :thumbsup:

In answer to the climbing wall - there is one in Longnor a quick google search finds it with contact details



http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2005/12/01/sport_climbing_feature.shtml 

You would be welcome to do training at Snailbeach and many do but the trainers would require notice and there would be an expectation of joining the club
Mike