Last week saw the return of our staff week where all of our staff from The Climbers Shop and Joe Browns have the opportunity to come together, meet suppliers and take part in a multitude of activities in our favourite environment. This year, the mountains of Snowdonia were our playground and with accommodation provided in Llanberis by the brilliant Pete’s Eat’s Bunkhouse we kicked off with a factory tour of DMM. Employing over 250 people from their factory at Y Glyn on the outskirts of Llanberis DMM manufacture all of their tooling to make their world leading collection of krabs, nuts, wires and cams. This film takes you on a fly though of their fascinating factory:

Photo’s: Paul Holtom

Part of our remit on all our events is to support local small businesses as much as we can so after being very well looked after at the Spice of Llanberis we rolled out of the door to meet our Rab Technical Trainer in Y Heights to plan the next day.

A number of staff took the opportunity to borrow La Sportiva Akasha, Cyclon and Mutant running shoes to enjoy the dry weather while others packed their Rab Aeon daypacks for a wander up Snowdon via Crib Goch and Crib Y Dysgyl learning about the features and materials - including the fact the back system is made out of the same flexing plastic used on ski’s!

Photo’s: Paul Holtom

Joining us for these two days was Freshta Ibrahimi, an Afghani climber who we have been supporting with equipment since last October. The day was also a fantastic opportunity to share information on an upcoming expedition she and our Director Cathy are working on as part of The Unstoppable Project.

Tuesday evening also saw the the final race of the Joe Brown Midweek Series of local fell runs. Massive congratulations to JB’s Jenny Hemming for winning the Over 50 women’s category outright and to all of the winners at the prize ceremony that evening in The Padarn Hotel. It was fantastic to see so many juniors out running the last of what have been a bumper 12 events. This year saw the most entries ever with £100 donated to Aberglaslyn MRT. This was possibly our tenth year supporting this brilliant series of local fell races (it's been so long none of us can remember!!) and we very much look forward to supporting many more.

Wednesday was Montane day kicking off with yoga next to Llyn Padarn followed by coffee and pastries and tech training on Gecko Running vests in the Joe Brown garden. When two local gardeners came to ask to ask about land share a few years ago we had no idea they would turn our unused patch of grass into a sensory, edible wildlife haven!

Montane Ambassador Marcus Scotney lead a running workshop out from our Capel Curig shop to test the excellent Gecko Packs in the morning and those who were still able to move after the EPIC packed lunch provided by the Moel Siabod Cafe took a wander up Moel Siabod itself scrambling up the north ridge for magnificent views stretching from Snowdon to Tryfan and the Carneddau..

Emily Law and Ben Roberts gave a fascinating talk on “Free to Fall” and their approach to the psychology of climbing to achieve a harder grade. This lead to a really interesting Q & A discussion about ego, personal achievement and remembering that climbing should be enjoyed!

Throughout the week staff had the opportunity to try out Hawke Optics. We stock a range of their binoculars and monoculars offering stunning optics providing crisp, clear and bright images with enhanced light transmission. Ideal for spotting routes on faraway crags, wildlife and assessing terrain.

Mountain Equipment teamed up with Plas-Y-Brenin on Thursday to provide guides for a wide range of climbing and bouldering. Staff climbed into Crux and Joker shoes on loan from Boreal covering everything from (re) learning how to lead on a sun kissed Tryfan Bach to an intense Big Wall master class from BMG Tim Neill.