Anyone interested in finding a tree or two to dangle from and practice their SRT?! 😮

We're aware that there may be a few people who are not conversant with SRT and that this might be restricting their mine exploring. With this in mind, would anyone be interested in a practice session some time?

What I would suggest is perhaps a couple of hours somewhere on the surface, probably under a tree or bridge, just practicing going up, changing over and coming down again. That's a lot easier than trying to do it in the dark, or by descending into somewhere and possibly having problems getting out again ;)

If people are confident, a small underground (or surface for that matter) trip could be arranged afterwards in order to try things out in a 'real' environment?

This wouldn't be a formal instructive session, but a couple of people who are familiar with gear can be on hand (any volunteers?!). Most of us have learnt SRT by picking it up as we go along, together with a few pointers in the right direction from people who know what they're doing, but the important thing to do is to practice at a low height, rather than trying 70' abseils at the start 😞

Dates I would suggest either 22nd/23rd or 29th/30th November?

Locations - to suit where people are coming from, but I might suggest somewhere around Ffestiniog? If anyone knows of any useful bridges, please shout!

Anyone who's interested, please post up with dates and places that would be convenient 🙂

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good idea but may I suggest an indoor location so its not weather dependant.
Maybe the Beacon? the fridge/school room has a wire ladder

As for a location, how about Coed y Brenin, plenty of trees then a metal bridge thats 15m to water then if everyone is happy there are 2 easy shafts, one with ladders to make things easier. therefore every angle is covered in one location

As for a location, how about Coed y Brenin, plenty of trees then a metal bridge thats 15m to water then if everyone is happy there are 2 easy shafts, one with ladders to make things easier. therefore every angle is covered in one location

What's the mine? :)

And which date suits you, presuming that you shall come along?!

Something like a bridge would be nice, as it gives people the ability to dangle alongside others and offer advice and gentle mickey-taking as they dangle upside-down helplessly...

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This is the bridge ...

[photo]Personal-Album-4-Image-002[/photo]


One of the mines is Tyddyn Gwladys.

Dates for me would be first week in November, after that im not sure

It would have to be one of the last two weekends in November for me - I'm away for two weeks and although I've got the first Sunday free, swmbo's mother is coming to stay (oh joy of joys!) and I will have my bits removed if I escape...

Can you get to solid ground under any parts of the bridge or is it water all the way?

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its water all the way, 15m down. Maybe not ideal however after dangling from a tree and demonstrating change from decent to ascent, and with a buddy alongside on a seperate rope, things should be ok.

I'll sign up for this, either of Vanoord's weekends is good for me, and my better half is happy to get rid of me for a few hours (think she despairs on my hobbies though) :lol:

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I reckon I've found the perfect location down this neck of the woods (Cornwall). I have access to a redundant building, which has a chain driven overhead crane, with a hook height of 7m when fully raised.

The height isn't too high, its inside and dry, to attach a rope you just have to lower the hook and raise it again, the best of it is if someone was to get in difficulty you only have to lower them on the chain.

😮 Knocker, i would be interested in that.

Sounds good for a practice up here, ill join you lot if thats okay?

Matty.

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The SCMC offer midweek training at Snailbeach there is an easy stope to work on and then later on a couple of free hangs - most who do this training have gone on and been able to access the the lower levels in the mine

Anyone interested please PM me and i WILL SORT DETAILS

Mike

Sounds good for a practice up here, ill join you lot if thats okay?

Matty.

Not a problem - assuming "up here" is indeed "up here", is Coed-y-Brenin suitable for you? And if so, which of the last two weekends in November is best?

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My Parents live in Cricieth so is not a problem for me. Would prefer the weekend at teh end of Nov ideally.
Matty.

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My Parents live in Cricieth so is not a problem for me. Would prefer the weekend at teh end of Nov ideally.
Matty.

I was hoping you'd say that! I'm only back from hols a couple of days before the penultimate Saturday and that may have been difficult, not to mention jet lag and SRT not being good bedfellows!

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Another alternative for you is the disused raiway bridge at Teiliau halt which is beetween Blaenau ffestiniog and Llan ffestiniog. it has a public footpath to it .It has about 60 ft drop, with a 1ft 6ins concrete plynth at the bottom one side. Water is about 1ft deep in the middle. On both sides there are walls of approx 15 to 20 ft drop and there are steel railings at the top as well as the railway lines. And there are trees to shelter from rain.

Photo -

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/photo/Personal-Album-106-Image-062/ 

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Cool beens, keep me posted and if we do go for that weekend it will be great. Vanoord, contact em via PM if needs be to organise nearer the time.

Matty.

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Saturday November 29th seems to be the best option - does this suit people?

Location is likely to be somewhere south of Blaenau Ffestiniog - I may take a drive down there sometime and see if I can find a bridge with a bit of ground under it rather than entirely water!

Plan for the day will be:
- a bit of practice at low level, ie from a tree or similar
- practice from a bridge or similar structure, a slightly longer hang
- a trip to a smallish mine which requires SRT

Please note that this is a get-together to practice SRT rather than being an instructional session - so it's about sharing knowledge and learning together.

Equipment required will be a minimum of:
- harness
- descender (preferably a Petzl Stop or similar)
- ascenders (usually a hand ascender and chest ascender like a Petzl Croll)
- a couple of krabs to hold everything together plus a spare or two
- cowstails

If anyone needs to borrow gear or wants advice on what to get hold of, please ask! :)


[tweak]Cowstails added, thank you Davel for reminding me 😞 [/tweak]

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overhead cranes are good for training.
🔗Personal-Album-186-Image-003[linkphoto]Personal-Album-186-Image-003[/linkphoto][/link]

Thorpey

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You could try the railway viaduct at the top of Cwm Prysor (Bala out of Trawsfynydd). But it is very, very high.

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