Spring & Summer 2011 Are Barreling Towards Us Here In
Killarney...
Outdoors Ireland,
My Instructor Team & I are well and truly into our sixth year of operation at this stage. It's been a fantastic six years with a steep learning curve and some unforgettable experiences on our mountains, sandstone cliffs and pristine glaciated lakes.
We were gifted with
incredible winter mountaineering conditions in
Kerry's MacGillycuddy Reeks, Ireland's Highest Mountains, throughout December 2010...
Dave Roche and I spent most days between December 1st to 23rd either working or playing on
Carrauntoohil, in places such as
Curve, Central and
O'Shea's Gullies; or further off in the MacGillycuddy Reeks, doing roped ascents of
Cummeenagearagh Gully or traverses of
Beenkeragh Ridge. During this period you could have easily have been mistaken for thinking you were
Scottish Winter Mountaineering or
Alpine Climbing!
After Christmas we continued our
Mountain Skills 1 and
Mountain Skills 2 Training Courses, run in both
Kerry and
Wicklow. Dave and Tadhg Boyden took on running most of these
map reading & navigation courses, while I spent my days office-bound.
Our
Kerry MS Courses are now run from Reeks Lodge, our new operations base, which is working extremely well - in fact on the first day we use the hills immediately around Reeks Lodge meaning there's no driving and maximum time spent on the hills.
Howling Ridge has been generating interest, with Dave and I running Howling Ridge Weekends, covering scrambling skills & rope work on Day One, followed by a roped ascent of Howling Ridge on Day Two.
Cormac Looney from the
Evening Herald joined us for one of these climbs.
Here's the article he wrote.Over the past months, taking advantage of the quieter time of year, I've been working on a new website -
which is now live - and coming up with different ideas to generate more bookings. We've also compiled a range of, much more in-depth, local information about the areas from where we run our
Kayak Tours,
Rock Climbing Trips and
Carrantuohill Climbs; allowing us to properly share with people much more of the area's legends, stories and history!
The past month has seen me hiking across Ireland with Lucy The Goat and Cara The Dog, in search of the Irish Welcome.
Here's a recent RTE2 TV Program we featured on.This week seems to herald the approaching summer season in Kerry, with enquiries coming in for our
Kayak Tours on the Lakes of Killarney and our
Killarney Sunset Kayak Trips.
Our new fleet of Dagger Blackwater Kayaks have their first trip on the water this Friday, with a morning trip across
Lough Lein, exploring limestone caves and landing on
Innisfallen Island & Abbey. Later in the week they have their first
Laune River Kayak Trip of 2011, with Catherine Mac from the Irish Times!
Within the next two weeks my instructor team will be meeting for a day to plan for the summer; look at how we can continue improving and offering more value to our customers; and importantly have a couple of pints and chill out with each other, which is something we don't get to do often enough.
Looking ahead for the next few months we will be focusing on adventure activities such as our
Day-Time & Sunset Kayaking,
Rock Climbing in the Gap of Dunloe,
Guided Climbs of Carrauntoohil,
Two-Day Learn to Rock Climb Courses and
Summer Solstice Night Climb of Carrauntoohil...
There's a great atmosphere in
Killarney,
Dingle and
West Cork at the moment, with a lot of people I speak to looking forward to a vibrant, busy summer and great weather, although I'm sure we'll have a couple of wet and windy weeks thrown into the mix; it wouldn't be Ireland otherwise!