Outdoor and Adventurous Expeditons
Review the planning and undertaking of the expeditons and personal development
For this assignment, the actvites I partcipated in, indoor wall climbing and orienteering, will be reviewed as
expeditons. Our class went climbing three tmes over three weeks, and it was just us on the wall due to a lack
of resources. However, the three tmes we went orienteering we went alongside the other public service class,
being split into groups of 3 and taking part in orienteering routes that steadily got harder as the three weeks
progressed.
Review of climbing
Overview: Indoor wall climbing was my frst actvity. Over the 3 sessions, we went through equipment safety,
how to ft a harness, knot tying, climbing technique and how to belay. On the frst week, we were introduced
to all the equipment and were shown how to te knots, belay, and be safe around and on the climbing wall.
This frst week was almost a trial week to get our group used to handling ropes, tying knots and practcing
safety. On the second week, we focused more on knot tying and actual climbing, and were stll ofered help if
we needed it. We were also introduced to some techniques such as smearing. On the third week, our skills
were assessed. We could ask only a few questons before our knot tying, technique and safety was tested.
Strengths: I feel like my ability to wall climb was improved over the three weeks. I am already an experienced
climber, indoor and outdoor, holding a NICAS level 3 award, but I hadn’t been climbing in a fair while and so
putng my skills back into practce was good. I feel like my main strength was my technique – I am very aware
that climbing should be more in the legs than the arms – in other words, correct foot placement technique will
get you further than pulling yourself up the wall by upper body strength and sloppy foot placement. I spent a
little longer completng my climbs, ensuring my feet were secure, my body close to the wall and my hands only
restng on the holds, so I could use the strength in my legs to push myself up. I also feel as though my knot
tying skills were a main strength of mine, as I am quick and efcient in tying a good, safe knot before climbing.
Furthermore, my communicaton while climbing is very good. Before a climb, communicaton should be used -
when the climber is ready to climb, they say “take me in” to the belayer, who makes the rope taut. The belayer
then asks “ready to climb?” and the climber will say “climbing” before they move of. This makes sure
everyone knows what is going on. I explained this to the person I was working with and we both practced it,
while communicatng throughout each other’s climbs to ensure the rope was at the right slack, and to make
sure both of us were comfortable.
Areas for improvement: Even as a slightly more experienced climber, there is room for improvement. I feel
like I could have pushed myself to complete climbs – ofen, I was nearly at the top on the harder walls but gave
up and came down due to the fact I was tred, or my muscles were hurtng. I could have in fact waited on the
wall for a bit, analysed my surroundings and found a clear path to get to the top, going when I was ready.
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