Sports Students' Adventures In Coniston

22 March 2010

Last week, nineteen BTEC National Diploma Sports Students from the Eccles Centre took part in a residential at YHA Coniston Holly How.

The students participated in ghyll scrambling, canoeing, orienteering and abseiling. Through these activities, the students learnt how to effectively apply the correct skills and techniques needed in a safe manner and can now use this new knowledge as part of their college coursework.

Ghyll scrambling involved walking and scrambling through waterbeds, tranversing above pools and climbing up water falls, as well as swimming across pools, jumping in them and sliding off rocks and waterfalls.

The canoeing took place on Lake Coniston, during which the students participated in tandem canoeing, learning a variety of different paddle strokes, how to steer in a tandem and how to navigate steering through effective communication.

The orienteering activity took place in Grizedale Forest. In groups of three, the students had to plan a map route to pinpoint and collect key features using map navigation skills, teamwork and communication in the best time possible.

Finally, the abseiling activity took place at Coniston Coppermines. Students had to learn and apply the correct safety measures and skills needed to abseiling down a 60ft mine face, descending onto a slatebed, following which they tunnelled through a pitch black and waterfilled mine to resurface at the coppermine public entrance.

The students excelled in both individual and teamwork based activities, showing determination, committment and bravey in all their activities.