Mock Climbing Student

Plas-y-Brenin (PYB) is the National Mountain Sports Centre in north Wales. I have been a couple of times now, on a last minute white water kayaking weekend and then again to their mountain biking ‘Big Ride’ weekend.

I had an excellent experience on both of these occasions, and could happily take part in every course on offer at PYB, if only I had the time and the money. With that in mind, imagine my excitement when I discovered that you can attend activities there for free by becoming a Mock Student.

PYB run various instructor courses throughout the year, and for some courses and assessments they need to see the instructors with pretend students. To get this as authentic as possible, the pretend students need to have the same kind of skill and experience level that real students would have. Therefore, you can register with PYB, listing your skills and experience at whatever activity you are interested in, and they will get in touch when a course comes up at which you would be useful. A brilliant opportunity to get some free days out with a really great organisation.

I registered as a mock student for kayaking, rock climbing and mountain leader courses. I wasn’t available for the first couple of times I got a call asking for mock students, which was a real shame, but the third time I was in luck and was available. I decided to stay at PYB again as it’s so nice there, and not too expensive. It would obviously have been even cheaper to camp, but our camping gear was already cleaned up and packed away ready for emigration later in year.

The assessment I was to be a mock student for was a climbing instructor assessment, so I packed up my climbing gear and headed for north Wales. After a good dinner and a comfortable night at the centre, we had a pretty leisurely start. Beginning with introductions and then gear checks, and a few cups of tea, we headed to the crag at Idwal Slabs.

We had a chilly but good day on the rock, and I totally recommend registering with PYB for their mock student program if these activities interest you at all.

Identifying our first route from the guide.

Idwal Slab

Beautiful views from the crag, but it was cold on our shady side of the valley.

Getting ready to belay.

Teaching the other student how to coil a rope for carrying.

You can walk out of the top of these climbs.

My chalk bag - hand sewn from a bar towel :)