testimonials
Anglesey coastal Path: Fantastic Sand dunes
The sand can move very quickly in high winds
Ray and friends enjoy a walk along the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path. The day started at South Stack in blustery, cold conditions. Eventually the sun came out, waterproofs came off and we enjoyed a glorious walk to Traerddur Bay.
Theresa says: “I would like to thank Joe for a fantastic coastal walk, wonderful guide, would highly recommend Mountaineeringjoe. Roll on August for our next adventure.” Isle of Anglesey Coastal Walk – 4th May 2013
See our walking pages for more details. We are happy to arrange private guiding or instruction to suit requirements.
Contact us to make a booking enquiry.
Oren and Dylan had a fantastic time on their Introduction to Winter Skills course with Joe. This is what Oren had to say:
“My son and I have just come back from doing a 2 day winter skills course with Joe. The course was in preparation for a Mont Blanc summit that we are doing in the summer.
Joe was kind enough to meet us on the day before the course in order for us to get to know each other, check our expectations, fit crampons and ensure we have everything we need for the course. It worked very well as it gave us 2 full days focusing on our skills development.
On the first day we learned things like kicking/cutting steps, self arrest in different situations, using crampons, using an ice axe, avalanche risk assessment and more. Towards the end of the day we went for a short walk with the crampons. The day provided us with so much valuable information – wow.
On the second day we decided to climb Tryfan from the west side. It was full with snow and so beautiful. It was not just a climb; Joe got us involved with route choosing, assessing the snow, and kept challenging us with things like climbing ice patches so we learned to trust our crampons and ice axe. It worked!! We feel so much more confident now.
We both had fantastic time over the weekend. Joe is an excellent guide, happy to answer any questions (we had ton of questions), flexible, and a really nice person. We will definitely do another course with Joe in the near future.”
Oren and Dylan from Dorking.
Course: Introduction to Winter Skills, Snowdonia, North Wales. 30/31st March 2013
Whilst the Winter conditions remain in Snowdonia, take advantage of our latest course listing to develop your Winter Skills. We are taking last minute bookings for Thursday and Friday 11th/12th April. See our Winter Skills pages for more details.
To make a booking please complete the booking enquiry form.
We are happy to arrange private guiding or instruction to suit requirements. So, if you don’t find a course on our website that suits you, please contact us to make a booking enquiry.
Half term and four days of warm Winter sunshine walking in Snowdonia and along the Anglesey coastal path with the Hanlon family.
The grandparents and their grandchildren enjoyed four days of walking at a relaxing pace, enjoying a variety of walking routes.
“Thanks Joe for allowing us to amble along at our own pace and enjoy the stunning scenery. We had a great time and the weather being good was a bonus as well. Thanks for taking the time to plan a walk with us each day so that there was plenty of interest for the grandchildren. Kyle loved the lifeboat at Moelfre and walking along the beaches. Isaac enjoyed the walks along the cliff tops. We all learnt a few new things as well about slate mining in Snowdonia at the Penrhyn quarry, copper mining at Amlwch and about the building of the Britannia and Menai bridges.”
Phyllis, Eric and grandchildren, Staffordshire. 18th-21st February 2013
Here is what the family did:
See our walking pages for more details. We are happy to arrange private guiding or instruction to suit requirements.
To make a booking please complete the booking enquiry form.
Secluded beaches, pretty coves, rocky cliffs and coastal hamlets provided a great day out walking for Ola and her family.
Here is what Ola had to say:
“The views were stunning and the experience was amazing! There were plenty of opportunities for ‘postcard’ photos and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Although the weather was not great at this time of year it was still a fun adventure.
Definitely recommend it to groups of friends and families with teenage children!”
Ola, London, January 2013
Mountaineering Joe offers walks along the Isle of Anglesey coastal path and in the hills, valleys and mountains of the Snowdonia National Park. See our Walking and Private Guiding pages for details. If you don’t see a course, activity or dates on our site that suit you, contact us to make a general enquiry.
Browse the gallery for a selection of views of Anglesey and Snowdonia.
‘Hi Joe, we just wanted to say thanks very much we had a great time learning to navigate. We learnt such a lot under your friendly guidance, as well as giving us a fun experience. Thanks for the helpful advice so that we can continue to improve.
Navigation – Ogwen Valley
We had not been in the Ogwen Valley before, so navigating in such stunning scenery was a real bonus. We look forward to coming back to North Wales for lots more walking and practising our navigation skills.’ Steve and Isaac.
Our Introduction to Hill Skills and Navigation is ideal for beginners or those with some experience wishing to build their confidence.
Mountaineering Joe received a private instruction booking and a challenge from Paddy Wilmot. “Can you teach me to lead climb at VS grade in 3 days?”
Paddy says: “I have been climbing for a couple of years as a second to my climbing partner and including a couple of HVS’s I’ve never failed on a climb when seconding. But leading is a whole new ball game. I called Mountaineering Joe and set him this challenge. His response was – well, let’s see.”
Paddy thoroughly enjoyed his 3 days learning to lead climb and sent Mountaineering Joe an account of his experience.
“on the first day we climbed diffs and V.diffs and concentrated on the principles and techniques of setting up belays. For example, always maintaining a loaded system, to avoid the dangers of shock loading. On day 2, in the morning, Joe had me climb the same level and even a mod making me place gear in every possible placement, until I emptied a full rack.
Learning to lead climb on Tryfan Bach
In the afternoon, we tackled a delicate severe on Tryfan Bach which after balking at a few times I finally took on and won. By this stage I had got it. I was seeing anchor points and picking gear quickly and placing it securely.
Throughout his patience was extreme and his encouragement was quiet and unpatronising. I had worked out on day 1 that I had set him an impossible challenge but I was extremely pleased with myself after leading the severe. I had achieved what I wanted to achieve which was to learn how to lead a climb safely and confidently. I was confident in my gear placements and in my belays. I understood how it all worked.
On day 3 refusing to balk at the challenge Joe took me to lead a VS. Joe can teach you to climb. he keeps it simple and bullet proof. He can teach you to find good placements for safety and how to recognise unsafe ones. He wont allow any mistake to creep in. Every screw-gate must always be closed etc. But, he cant teach you courage!
I enjoyed the climb. It ended in a 50m abseil. After a few more V.diffs and severes I’ll have another go at leading it.”
We are glad you had a great experience Paddy. Keep enjoying the climbing and we look forward to climbing with you again.
Paddy Wilmot developed his skills in contour map reading and found his enjoyment of the mountains was greatly enhanced.
“I had done a fair bit of micro navigation and general navigation whilst undertaking Mountain Leader training. This involved calculating routes from a-b using compass bearings, timings and pacings, and a storyboard based on map features like walls, boundaries, cairns or sheepfolds etc. This method of navigating has such a complex story board that it requires constant referring to the map and compass and complex pacings and timings, not conducive to a comfortable walk in the hills and an interesting conversation with your companions. I wanted to be able to navigate with my map and compass, for the most part, zipped inside my pocket.
I mentioned to Joe that I wanted to be able to stow my map a bit more. He said I needed to learn contour navigating, using the contours to ‘see’ the shape of the land and even using the fall line as a compass. We went off to a bowl, under Moel Hebog, to find a ruined cottage using only the contours to find it and then using only the contours to ‘prove’ that it was there.
I suddenly got it. From then on we navigated to find little irregularities in the contours. For each leg we analysed the shape of the land as the storyboard and put the map away before setting off, only pulling out the map again when we had decided that the destination, the small flattening say, had been reached. In due course Joe said, “put your compass away, use the contours to orient your map”.
This has revolutionised my navigating and my enjoyment of map reading a walk in the mountains. Joe is the only instructor I have come across who teaches this.”
Well done Paddy, we’re pleased you found that map reading can be fun. The team at Mountaineering Joe wish you every success with your Mountain Leader qualification.
Brigid Baxter certainly enjoyed her rock climbing experience on Tryfan Bach (Little Tryfan) with Joe and she’s looking forward to doing a lot more:
Climbing on Tryfan Bach (Little Tryfan)
“Hi Joe, I want to say a really big thank you very much for looking after us so well and for the much appreciated teaching you gave Kerry and myself to take our climbing to the next level”
What Stephanie Curran had to say about the ‘Rock Climbing for Beginners’ day out with Joe instructing:
“My first attempt at rock climbing was last year in the Snowdonia mountains at Tryfan Bach, with Joe leading our small group. It took some encouragement by the other group members to persuade me, initially, to have a go at the climb. Joe was very reassuring about it, telling me it was an excellent rock face to attempt a first climb.
There were a few other small groups climbing however no-one else had an instructor with them. Joe explained the safety equipment and signals and then we were off. He talked to me throughout the climb offering me advice when I seemed unsure and making me feel confident to the point that I abseiled down with a big grin on my face.
Thanks Joe for making me laugh throughout and inspiring me to ‘carry on’ up the mountains.”
Well done Stephanie.