Team Training…no not Team Big Wall

A down reander copy of Go Mappings source, you can get a much higher res off Google Earth. This imaging really helped us get a overview for the quarries.
A down rendered copy of Go Mappings source, you can get a much higher res off Google Earth. This imaging really helped us get a overview for the quarries.

Last night I was running a training session for the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, the general aim was to familiarize them with the complex layout of the Slate Quarries, so should we have to rescue a walker, mountain biker, climber or paraglider, then we should be able to respond with lightning efficiency.

The train was thrown upon me at the last moment as the planned helicopter training was shelved thanks to a crazed Lakeland gunman going on a Kill Bill style murder fest. I saw Jedwood on the TV last night and instantly thought why couldn’t they have been in Whitehaven yesterday! (Too Soon?).

Anyway we managed to get permission to drive around the quarries, making the training a little quicker, although after two hours we still hadn’t managed to get up to Australia, it was however a great evening for a evening off-roading along the main quarry track.

Hopefully the team will now be up to date with developments the quarries, and I need to speak to Si Panton, about supplying the PDFs for the new guide as an interim measure. One thing that did help the training was an aerial photograph from Get Mapping, basically a company that supplied the source images to Google Earth, who downgraded them for the web.

The aerial shot of the quarries allowed a very accurate layout to the quarries, something that OS has failed with in the past, and more importantly it let us look at relative distances and realise that certain entrance points are simply a very long hike away from anywhere. I have to thank Mr Harding for allowing me to have the Slate sample, although the team does have a disc drive with all of north wales on for their use.

It seems like I need to get that disc as I offered to make an idiots guide to access each are in case of a rescue. So so time on illustrator for me then! Also Tom if you read this, can I have the images for the quarries behind Llanberis please, as the teams disk drive of  images is probably under a pile of other stuff meant for the team, at someones house!

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