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I am the owner of Dave Talbot.net

Charity Abseil Event for TK Max

This Tuesday just gone i ran a charity abseil event  for TK Max at the amazing - Peel Tower. Peel Tower is in the village of Holcombe, near Manchester and is situated right on top of the hill side looking out for miles across a sunning landscape, it's one of the best venues out there for a charity abseil event. The weather was not the best that it could of been, there was a little rain, snow, hail, sunshine and lots of wind. So much so that we had to move the abseil to the other side of the tower to get of the wind half way through the day. Still everybody did the abseil in good spirits and they raised nearly £5000 for comic relief - not bad going at all. If your interested in running a charity abseil event then get in touch for your 'charity abseil information pack' that gives you all the info you need to help you get started and raise money for a good cause.

By |2020-06-10T20:53:42+01:00March 5th, 2015|Blog|0 Comments
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New Abseil Venue

I've just gone and done a site for a new abseil venue in the town of Bury that is near Manchester and Sheffield. The venue is called Peel Tower and its a beauty.  Tall, unusual and in a great location, with tonnes of history associated with it too see - History This is a picture of the outside of the tower and looking at the front face that you abseil down. At the bottom of the tower there is a large area that you can group in out of the elements and the staircase to the top is very winding and atmospheric. If you want a great abseil venue or to use this one then get in touch. If you want a great abseil venue or to use this one then get in touch.

By |2020-07-07T06:56:41+01:00February 18th, 2015|Blog|0 Comments
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Running and Climbing in the Peaks

I Have been out over the last couple of days running and climbing in the peaks. After a site visit at Peel Tower which is now a new venue that I can use for charity abseils, myself and Robyn headed over to check out Wimbury in the northern area of the Peaks. We managed to get a few things done and then headed over to the Climbers Club to stay the night. The next day we got and there was a strong cold wind blowing, we headed over to Burbage Valley for some friendly bouldering - not like the photo below which is obviously very high ball and above one pad!!! I've always wanted to run across Stanage edge but I have never really been that interested in running and to be honest i was always too busy climbing all the routes i could bag in day to make time to get to the top of the cliff with running shoes. Today was the day however and getting changed outside the van was a chilly experience. We started up towards the popular end of Stanage edge and hit the trig point at the top, from there we ran to the other end of the cliff and the trig point there and reversed over steps. A great day of running and climbing in cold weather and making the most of it.    

By |2017-02-17T16:14:56+00:00February 18th, 2015|Blog|0 Comments
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Toubkal in Winter

Climbing Toubkal in Winter. As soon as you get off the plane you can see the mountains from Marrakesh airport all covered in snow unless you've come in summer, in which case they won't. We wanted to ski off the summit of northern Africa's highest peak and that was goal or at least the first goal. We knew we needed to get to a town called Imlil which is the mountain town from which most people start there trek to the summit. We hadn't really planned that much apart from booking a flight and making sure we had at least two pairs of socks each and some crampons that fitted the socks. I was with a mate of mine - Mike. We hadn't climbed together but had worked together off and on at the fine institution of 'Outward Bound' for around three years. This then was our first date. The baggage handlers at the airport seemed to take a fancy to our skies and this seemed to be a theme that ran throughout the trip. We were stood at the carousel with no bags and no skies long after everyone had headed for Marrakesh town. A chap poked his head through the black plastic drapes that hung separating the carousal and the tarmac outside and asked what we were waiting for. We had to describe each bag before it was put through – strange!!?? We grabbed ourselves some Dirhams and headed out into the open air. Problem one occurs almost immediately when you try and grab a taxi – what price do you want to pay and what price is the taxi driver willing to except? The haggling begins. We arrived in Imlil after [...]

By |2019-03-23T00:12:09+00:00February 1st, 2015|Blog|0 Comments
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Abseil Event

I ran an Abseil Event for Macdonald Hotel chain last week, doing the 12 days of Christmas via abseil down the front face of their hotel opposite Windsor Castle. The aim of the abseil event was for 12 abseilers to complete the abseil down the front face of the hotel with festive music playing for the crowds to sing along too, bringing to life the 12 days of Christmas. The event was for the local people in the towns advent calender (more info here) but it was also a great way to generate marketing interest in the hotel chain as four local papers turned up to capture the action. I had done the site visit a few weeks prior and myself and Choire were rigging off the roof of the hotel with the take off being from the balcony of room 406. Something a little bit different for an abseil event with the participants having to walk through a lovely hotel suite to get to the abseil in all there gear. We gave ourselves plenty of time to setup the abseil event during the day, then participants started arriving at around 4:45 pm for a briefing at 5 pm. The 12 abseilers were from the local area such as the town mayor, Windsor and Eton town center manager and such like. We had rigged a practice abseil in the lower level car park so that after kitting people up they could have a go at abseiling on the flat and receive some coaching. We then took the abseilers up through the hotel, into a free hotel room next to take off point were we had tea and coffee setup and another practice abseil inside the hotel room. [...]

By |2020-07-07T06:58:15+01:00December 27th, 2014|Blog|0 Comments
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Abseil to Raise Money in 2015

Why not abseil to raise money in 2015 ? If so a charity abseil or abseil event could be just the thing. On the last few abseil events that we have run as an abseil company the charity that we have been working for has raised between £4000 and £10,000 per day - that's not to bad at all. An abseil is a totally safe way of raising money and the profile of your company or charity. Also people are more likely to donate their money due to the challenging nature of the event taking place. The great thing with abseils is they can be run nearly any where that has a vertical drop (or near vertical drop)  - your office building, cliffs near by, dams, stadiums even large cranes can work. [su_quote]"Dave’s team were brilliant, and the event ran extremely smoothly from start to finish with 100% smiley abseiler faces coming back to me when they came to pick up their certificates afterwards. Every single member of the Mountain Vision team were very professional and put each one of our participants at ease, creating personal and memorable experiences for our very happy abseilers!" Childrens Hospice South West[/su_quote] If you have a venue in mind we can help you get permission to run a charity abseil or abseil event with our comprehensive insurance, risk assessments, qualifications of our staff and experience, that you can present to the site owners. After permission has been granted, we can even help you advertise the abseil in order to help you fill the slots and raise more money. All of our abseil events have up to 50 participant places a day to abseil and can work out to be less than £15 per person, so even if someone [...]

By |2017-02-17T16:14:56+00:00December 5th, 2014|Blog|0 Comments
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Wye Valley Rock Climbing

Today i was back out in the Wye Valley rock climbing at Wintours Leap.  I've done most of the routes there up to E3 but I've saved a few classics for a rainy day. The last route that i saved for ages was an E1 at North Wall called 'Notung'. I had saved this route for around 7 years and when i finally did I wasn't hugely impressed - it wasn't the climbs fault, it was mine. From then on i vowed just to climb them when the time is right. After climbing locally for 12 years you end up doing all the classics rock climbs quite quickly and sometimes its nice to save a 3 star route for later on-sight. Today was one of those days. The girdle of North Wall at Wintours Leap is known as 'The Angels Girdle' and it is a classic 3 star outing. The route climbs left hand route and then breaks off right traversing for 3 pitches. The climbing is easy enough but the gear is slightly spaced but the situations are superb. You have to be a dab hand at rope work to get through the route without grinding to halt and the back roping on the last pitch adds value to whole experience.  A fantastic route and a very good route to test your rope work no matter what grade you climb. If you fancy getting out in the Wye Valley rock climbing then get in touch here.  

By |2017-02-17T16:14:57+00:00October 28th, 2014|Blog|0 Comments
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Multi-pitch Climbing

Over the past two weeks i have been out here in Kalymnos guiding and today i went multi-pitch climbing, my favorite way to get high. There is more and more multi-pitch climbing being put up and the route we did today was put up in 2103 and is not in the guide book. 3 Stripes is 7 pitches long and is around the 5c grade. The first two pitches are easy and then the interest starts. The next 4 pitches are well bolted with stances often, allowing you to link pitches depending on your second. The rock is generally sound and there are some amazing holds that come to hand. As a guiding route it is a good one, although most of the stances involve hanging belays and the route does traverse slightly left the whole way. All in all good multi-pitch climbing from start to finish.

By |2017-02-17T16:14:57+00:00October 12th, 2014|Blog|0 Comments
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Avon Gorge Rock Climbing

Finally after a long stint of work around Europe i have managed to get out for a day in Avon Gorge rock climbing again. I have just worked a month in a row without a day off and on the way back from Newquay i squeezed a quick route in at Roche Rocks - one of the most unique crags in the country. The next day i was climbing with Sarah Jane on the Suspension Bridge Buttress in Avon Gorge. This is one of the best crags in the world. Above the road, a little quieter then the normal Avon Gorge and with non-quarried lime stone, great gear and steeper than most. Fantastic stuff. We did a quick session ticking Suspension Bridge Arete, Baby Duck and Hell Gates in one pitch. All some of the best routes in Avon Gorge. The next day i went with Robyn to Cheddar Gorge and did four 6b's and two laps of Cheddar Gorge hill on the road bike. Now off to Kalymnos working for Rock and Sun over the next few weeks. See you out there. If you fancy doing a rock climbing course in Avon Gorge then get in touch here.

By |2017-02-17T16:14:57+00:00September 30th, 2014|Blog|0 Comments
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Underground in Bristol

After finishing another guided cycling trip from London to Paris making this one my 6th time it was time for a quick blast back to Bristol and a very early start to go underground in Bristol for a BBC series "Britain Beneath Your Feet" which is coming out early next year. I meet the film crew at 7 am by the Cottage pub, we got geared up and i led the team in canoes to gate 504 which is right in the center of town by the fountains. From here we made our way underground in Bristol passing beneath the center with some very low sections with the ceilings being only 2 foot off the water. A map of the tunnels underground in Bristol can be found here - https://www.bristol.gov.uk/sites/default/files/assets/documents/big-blue-map-of-bristol.pdf As we paddled through we came to our first obstacle after around 200 meters of paddling in the form of a weir. We had to take all of the kit out of the boats and drag them over the top. The water on the other side was now part of the river Frome and had been diverted to flow away from the center.  The water level was very low and in order to get the kit in the boats meant wading through deep, sticky mud. We then paddled up stream navigating a few lefts and rights until we came back out into day light again after around 2 km of paddling underground. Now we started filming for the series with myself and the presenter  'Dallas' in a boat together going into the tunnels and exploring. We had several peaces to camera and i had good few lines to deliver so i am looking forward to seeing how [...]

By |2020-07-07T06:59:08+01:00September 25th, 2014|Blog|0 Comments
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