The Spider Monkey's day of mountaineering (Group 1)

 Mrs Wraighte's Spider monkey team (we only named ourselves half way round- you'll see why!)

 We started the day with a hike up the cragg. With tons of heavy bags to carry, teamwork was essential. I was really impressed with the kids stamina- a couple of miles carrying kit is no mean feat!

 We did have one or two rest stops...

 Eventually we reached the top and after putting our helmets and harnesses on we...

 Ate drumstick lollys! Well, we had had a long walk.

 Powered up and ready to go we headed off to abseiling.

 For anyone who has not abseiled, I can tell you that the trickiest bit is the initial lean back. After a few goes we got pretty professional. You might even notice some grown ups dangling from the end of a rope- all in the name of education!

 We got so confident that on our second run we did time trials- our fastest was a seven second decent- well done Jack!

 Sadly, when we stopped for lunch, we all had hat hair! But being the true bunch of adventurers we are, we pushed through! Bring on the rock climbing.

There were two courses. One is tricky and the other one is bonkers! however, this is where our team name came into its own- we were soon bobbing up and down like true professionals.

 We trecked to the tower and were beguiled by the view- it is truely beautiful.

  Last of all we went 'weaseling'. Now for the uninformed (me included) this involvs squeezing yourself under, between and through teeny gaps between boulders. Yes, I can hear you all queueing up to try it. Quite a challenge for those of us a smidge terrified of small spaces! But we pushed on and everyone managed at least 4 weasel holes.

 Now to explain, this is a chimney climb- once you have wriggled along on you tummy under a rock, you then shimmy with the requisite skill up the gully and out of the hole at the top- great work everyone!

 Weaseling is tiring! Its important to relax.

 This crazy weasel hole was so narrow that once you had wriggled under the first stone and through a very tight space- you then had to be dragged head first out of a hole by Dave (the instructor). Everyone loved it! (Yes really?!!)

 We even discovered a new weasel hole- previously thought impossible, Go Harewood! Nice work Koutaro, Henry and Luca for mastering the climb.

To relax afterwards we played a poking game and then made our way home.

 

 As we all now look a lot like this, we are going back for a shower and some tea- lots of tea!!