I’ve just returned from Manchester where I’ve been learning the skills of ‘dry tooling’ – a form of climbing with axes and crampons that’s used as training for winter climbing for most, although it is becoming very popular in its own right especially on the continent. I spent the day at Rock Over climbing wall, then headed to a crag called White Goods near Ruthin in North Wales to do it for real. Thanks to Tom Broadbent for teaching me and being very patient!
The piece should appear in the Training Days section of Trek and Mountain magazine shortly.
Here are some photos: