Skating On Thin Ice

From the top of Malham Cove we were supposed to do a yomp through the snow, all the way to Malham Tarn. It wasn't quite at yomp speed though, as we kept encountering snow drifts which were deeper than we were tall. It was all quite energy sapping and we needed our emergency rations of Kendal Mint Cake to keep us going.

Once we got to the Tarn, we found it frozen over.


The instructors produced a pair of ice skates for each course participant. As we all love ice skating, we thought we were all about to have an afternoon off and lots of fun. To a certain extent we were, but there was still an important lesson to be learnt. Before we took to the ice, we all had a safety line attached to us and we soon had good reason to be very grateful for them.

As more and more of us launched ourselves onto the ice, there was an ominous cracking noise, followed by a splash as George fell into the water. We didn't have time to take a picture as the instructors took us straight into rescue mode and showed us how to safely achieve a rescue from icy water and how to deal with the casualty. It was very good training as George can testify as he suffered no ill effects and said that the brandy was very good.

Lots of love, the Bears Unlimited students xxx