Latest News from Plas y Brenin

30% Discount on Mapyx Digital Mapping

In celebration of its partnership with Plas y Brenin, Mapyx are offering an exclusive discount to PYB e-newsletter readers

Mapyx are allowing Plas y Brenin customers a 30% discount on all of their downloadable mapping for a one month per.........

19 Oct 2011

Plas y Brenin Teams up with Mapyx to bring you the best in digital mapping.

The Mountain Training Trust is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Agreement with Mapyx Limited, a leading exponent of digital mapping solutions for Mapyx to be .The Exclusive Supplier of GIS and Digital Mapping Solutions. to the Mountain.........

12 Oct 2011

BCU Student Safety Seminar

The 16th annual BCU Student Safety Seminar will be held here at Plas y Brenin on the 14-15 October. It promises to be a great weekend of workshops and lectures, with many being run out on the water. The weekend is open to anyone, and is filled with i.........

12 Sep 2011

Pumping New Track For PyB

We've been eagerly awaiting the completion of our mountain bike skills course and pump track and it's finally finished. The course was designed and built by Rowan Sorrel and the Back on Track Team who have done a fantastic job. Early reports are that.........

12 Sep 2011

The hills are alive with the sound of music

Our second Big Acoustic Walk (5-6 Nov) is set to even bigger that the first and with all our accommodation nearly full there are only a handful of places left staying in our bunkhouse. People are coming from all over UK, with a great mix of enthusias.........

12 Sep 2011

Can you win it? Yes Yukon!

Congratulations to Adam Harmer and Simon Coward for winning the Yukon 1000 race, they came in with a time of 6 days 8 hours and 51 minutes. Adam is one of our full-time paddlesport coaches and was paddling tandem kayak with his team mate Simon Cow.........

2 Aug 2011

Who's diggin' our latest track?

Rowan Sorrel and the Back on Track Team have arrived along with a couple of huge diggers and they are well underway with the construction of our new mountain bike skills course and pump track. Rowan and the team have designed the course as a first.........

2 Aug 2011

Big Bang Theory Proves Correct

Plas y Brenin Climbing Coach James McHaffie always thought 'The Big Bang' was possible but as the climb had not been repeated since its first ascent in 1996 by Neil Carson, it was going to be tough. James has successfully made the first repeat of.........

2 Aug 2011

Style in Fusion

We've got a brand new fleet of Pyranha Fusion Kayaks. These are the ultimate crossover kayaks carefully chosen by our coaches as the best possible touring boat with the bonus that you can also have an occasional bit of fun on whitewater. They are eas.........

18 Jul 2011

Mean Machines

We've just taken delivery of two fantastic Kayak Ergo's kindly supplied by Canoe England for use on our courses. The Ergo simulates the motion of kayaking on dry land so are a great training aid in perfecting forward paddling technique and cardiovasc.........

14 Jul 2011

Sit on Tops Tipped for the Top

Pyranha have just dropped off a shiny fleet of Feelfree Nomad Sit on Top Kayaks. This is the first time we've had Sit on Top Kayaks at Plas y Brenin and we're looking forward to getting them out on the water.

Sit on Top Kayaks are growing .........

14 Jul 2011

Gold in Morocco

Helen Barnard, an International Mountain Leader and our D of E coordinator took time out to work for Outlook Expeditions (preferred expedition partner) in Morocco. She took fourteen 6th form students and two staff from the Lenzie Academy School in G.........

12 Jul 2011

Kings Silver D of E Success

Since January, we have been training the Kings School Chester for their DofE. Following a successful practice expedition in April, 4 Silver teams completed their qualifying expedition in Snowdonia. Well done to all the participants involved and we .........

12 Jul 2011

Licenced to Frill

We've given our bar a complete makeover, making it a comfier destination for all your adventures. Don't forget you needn't be on a Plas y Brenin course to visit our bar, whether you're paddling, walking, climbing or biking you are welcome to pop in f.........

12 Jul 2011

Yukon 1000 Race

Adam Harmer, paddlesport coach is heading out to the Yukon 1000, the longest canoe and kayak race in the world from Whitehorse to the Dalton Highway Bridge on the Yukon River through Alaska and Canada covering 1000 miles. Starting on the 18th July th.........

30 Jun 2011

The Road to the Megavalanche, the Ultimate Mountain Bike Race?

A year ago Rob Spencer, Mountain Guide and Operations Manager at PYB, made a real mess of clearing a double at Llandegla and bust his shoulder. Previous serious accidents kayaking, skiing and climbing made Rob realise that getting back on the bike ag.........

28 Jun 2011

New Mountain Bike Skills Course

It has just been announced that Plas y Brenin have commissioned a new mountain bike skills course and pump track. It is being designed and constructed by Rowan Sorrel and the Back on Track team. The idea is to produce a first class coaching facility .........

28 Jun 2011

Alpine News Flash

PYB instructor and trainee British Mountain guide Dave Evans has just returned from a very successful trip to the Alps, during which he made ascents of the classic ice route .Fil a Plomb. on the North Face of the Rognon du Plan, an early British asce.........

17 May 2011

Dino to the Rescue!

Over the last few years we have been running Rescue 3 Courses training people in white water, swift water and flood rescue. Dino Heald, a full time instructor here at Plas y Brenin heads up and delivers these courses for us. And at the recent Rescue .........

16 May 2011

Bags of Goodies!

Every climber attending the 'The Big Climb' this weekend (14-15 May) will receive an amazing goody bag stuffed full of outdoor gear worth over £100. The goody bag includes a Clouburst 25l Rucksac, Lorpen Socks, Teko Socks, Rockfax Guidebooks, a 15.........

10 May 2011

A Fantastic Easter Weekend!

This Easter Weekend has been amazing here at Plas y Brenin, not only did we have fantastic sunshine but the centre was fully booked, with people enjoying the bank holiday weekend on a variety of courses including kayaking, climbing and hillwalking. P.........

26 Apr 2011

State of the Art Kayak Fleet for Plas y Brenin

Its that time of year again when Pyranha and P&H kindly bring us a shiny new fleet of kayaks for our clients to use on our courses, and this is only a snap shot of all the kayaks they delivered! Not only does this mean that on our courses you get .........

19 Apr 2011

Plas y Brenin Secures a Bright Future

Sport England has awarded MTT (Mountain Training Trust) a 15-year contract to manage Plas y Brenin, The National Mountain Centre. MTT has managed Plas y Brenin successfully since 1997 based on a 5-year renewable contract taking Plas y Brenin from st.........

13 Apr 2011

Free Rucksack up for Grabs!!

The first lucky 40 people to sign up to the Plas y Brenin/ OMM Mountain Marathon Training Camp will receive a £50 Rucksack. This information packed weekend (2-3 April) is great for all from newcomers to the sport to seasoned mountain marathon ru.........

3 Mar 2011

Outdoor Activity Taster Days - Two for the Price of One

Once again we are running our hugely popular Taster Days during the holidays. You can choose from three exciting and adventurous activities - climbing, skiing and canoeing with each session lasting for two hours. And during Easter we have a two for t.........

3 Mar 2011

Plas y Brenin joins forces with HF Holidays

Plas y Brenin has formed a new partnership with HF Holidays. This well known holiday company has been offering active outdoor holidays for nearly 100 years in both the UK and Abroad. Alongside HF Holidays, we are looking to create a new programme of .........

3 Mar 2011

New Instructors Join Plas y Brenin

We have just completed or induction training for five new instructors: namely Emma Warren, Blair Fyffe, Daniel Butler, Steve Parry and Guy Steven. Induction has been led by Director of Training Martin Chester and Chief Instructor Carlo Forte. A bus.........

28 Feb 2011

The OMM Training Camp is back!!

Once again we're dedicating the whole centre to this exciting event - The Original Mountain Marathon Training Camp. This time its on the weekend 2-3 April 2011. A fantastic weekend for newcomers to find out how to get started and seasoned mountai.........

16 Nov 2010

First snow of the year is here!

Winter has definitely arrived in North Wales, with the first coverings of snow over the mountains. Despite the drop in temperature and the slushy drive to work, we're all donning our wooly hats and thermals ready to get out and enjoy the snow and fan.........

9 Nov 2010

Santa's on his way

The fifth real ale in our range. 'Santa's Ruin', a rich, warming ale flavoured with mixed spice and treacle will be launched during our 'Big Christmas Walk' weekend in December. At 7% it will certainly warm you up after a hard day out on the hill..........

9 Nov 2010

Exciting New Off Piste Ski Course

This year we've added a fantastic Off Piste Technique Coaching Course, spending six days alternating between technique development sessions with top BASI Instructor Simon Christy and consolidating skills on back country journeys with our Ski Guides. .........

9 Nov 2010

Scottish Winter Courses 2011

Next years Scottish courses are looking great, whether you starting to explore what the mountains have to offer in winter or whether your looking to get in some classic routes, our comprehensive Scottish winter programme will have something for you. .........

8 Nov 2010

Chris Bonington Lecture

Sir Chris Bonington CBE will be giving a lecture at The Royal Geographical Society Thursday 3 June (7pm - 8.30pm) 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR Entitled Boundless Horizons, the talk describes great first ascents ach.........

24 Mar 2010

It's Going To Be a Lush Summer

We have just introduced the fourth real ale in our range.
'Lush Summer', a light refreshing real ale flavoured with well-sucked limes goes on sale at the end of this month. Lush Summer was brewed to commemorate the further adventures of luckless .........

1 Mar 2010

Cameras Out

Plas y Brenin instructors, Carlo Forte and Keith Ball spent yesterday removing two cameras from Mousetrap Zawn at South Stack on Anglesey. The Cameras were placed there in February for the RSPB. They feed live to video screens at the RSPB?s nearby in.........

9 Dec 2009

Grants for ski mountaineering

The Alpine Ski Club may be able to help pay for your course or expedition? They offer training grants of around 250 pounds to young or inexperienced ski-mountaineers, to assist with attending professionally instructed courses. Aspiring ski-mountain.........

15 Sep 2009

MLTA Conference

Book now to join us at the 2009 MLTA Conference. The weekend event takes place on 24/25 October at Plas y Brenin. There are still places available on some workshops- please visit to www.mlta.co.uk to download a booking form. .........

15 Sep 2009

Expedition Symposium Sales Rocket

Shortly after the list of workshops was released sales of places on our Mountaineering, Climbing and Trekking Expedition Symposium have taken off dramatically. At the heavily subisdised price of only Ã.£100 for two nights accommodation, meals, w.........

24 Aug 2009

Personal Best For Dame Kelly Holmes

Double Olympic gold-medal winner Dame Kelly Holmes went back to training this week. Not at the running track but on the rock faces of North Wales, attending a five-day 'Rock Improver' course at Plas y Brenin, the National Mountain Centre.

N.........

28 Jul 2009

Peru - First Descent Succes For PYB Paddling Coaches

A team of Plas y Brenin instructors including Pete Catterall, Jon 'Spike' Green and Adam Harmer recently completed the 1st descent of the Rio Concebidayoc river in the Rain forest of Peru.
The expedition involved a 2 day mule supported trek and .........

12 Jun 2009

Manchester Signs New Deal

Plas y Brenin and The Manchester Climbing Centre recently unveiled an extensive partnership arrangement which will see MCC members extending their skills in a range of exclusive training courses delivered by the National Mountain Centre's highly skil.........

13 May 2009

Plas y Brenin Launches It's Own Real Ale.

In early June this year we are launching Brenin Bootliquor - a locally brewed real ale. Steeped in legend and Brewed by Nant Brewery to a secret recipe, the ale is the result of months of rigorous staff testing. Bootliquor is exclusive to Plas y Bren.........

13 May 2009

Floating Ropes Tested

Throw bags containing floating polypropylene line are a common sight on the river, primarily as a way of a safeguard for extracting your mate from the water after departing from the boat, and equally as a rescue tool for recovery of equipment, unpin.........

12 May 2009

Beat the credit crunch - don't buy a lift pass

It looks like it's going to be a bumper season in the Alps this year. Not only has this winter been one of the snowiest for years (filling the crevasses, and making for some great climbing conditions) but our Alpine courses are booking up already. Th.........

7 May 2009

A Successful Winter

Our successful winter season has finished in Scotland with a real flurry of extra qualifications for our staff. Congratulations to Ruth Taylor and Ben Wallace who both completed their Winter Mountain Leader assessments (ML(W)). Both of them already.........

24 Mar 2009

New Sea Kayak Fleet Launched for 2009

When you come on one of our sea kayaking courses we like to make sure sure you paddle a great boat in excellent condition. Not only that, we also like to make sure you can try out different sizes and designs of kayak.
Thanks to 4 Mar 2009

Doug Ammons Lecture Tour Hits Plas y Brenin

Doug Ammons, one of the most famous American paddlers of the last decade is visting Plas y Brenin on his UK tour this March. DonâÂ.Â.t miss your chance to listen to his first hand account of some truly inspiring adventures. Among DougâÂ.Â.s.........

26 Feb 2009

Free Guidance Document On Supervision of Ropes Courses

A new 32 page document has just been made available for anyone involved in the construction or supervision of Ropes Courses. Plas y Brenin's Director of Training, John Cousins, has been part of a UK wide group that have developed the booklet based o.........

25 Feb 2009

PYB Teams up with the RSPB

Plas y Brenin instructors, Mike Raine and Carlo Forte spent the last couple of days working with the RSPB installing two cameras and fixing 140 metres of associated cabling down the sheer cliffs of Mousetrap Zawn at South stacks on Anglesey. The came.........

23 Feb 2009

Level 5 Success

Congratulations to Rosemary Powell and Chris Evans who have just completed their BCU Level 5 assessments in Canoe and Kayak respectively.

Rosemary runs our Fast Track Instructor scheme, heads our orienteering department and is a Mountaineer.........

16 Feb 2009

Winter at home and away

The incredible winter has been keeping Plas y Brenin staff busy on their day's off. Over the last two days we've had multiple ascents of the fantastic icefall Cascade (V/VI) on Craig Rheadr in the Llanberis Pass by James McHaffie, Tamsin Gay, Dave Ev.........

9 Feb 2009

Ascent of the Franco Argentine route on Cerro Fitzroy

Plas y Brenin Instructors Tim Neill and Matt Stygal have just made an ascent of the Franco Argentine route on Patagonia's mighty Cerro Fitzroy, 3,375m. Tim and Matt warmed up with a route on Aguja Poincenot 3036m (seen to the left of the picture), th.........

27 Jan 2009

New Instructors

We've just started our induction training for four fantastic new instructors: namely Luke Brooks, Tamsin Gay, David Simpson and Louise Tully. Director of Training John Cousins and senior instructor Pete Catterall took them out into the Glyders today .........

20 Jan 2009

'Off Piste Essentials' DVD delivered in time for Christmas

So much more than âÂ.Â.just another ski movieâÂ.Â. Off Piste Essentials is the new DVD from the Plas y Brenin, BMC and MCofS - and itâÂ.Â.s arrived just in time for Christmas and the ski season.

This week has been a pretty sp.........

12 Dec 2008

Welsh Language Success Story

Congratulations to all the candidates who recently attended our Mountain Leader (ML) Assessment course, run through the medium of Welsh. For two years Plas y Brenin has been running a range of leader training courses in the medium of Welsh, in coope.........

30 Oct 2008

Ex Fast Tracker Explores An Enviable New Career

One of our ex fast-track students, Antony Jinman is carving out an impressive career as a Polar Explorer. We caught up with Antony to ask him what he'd been up to and what is on the cards for the coming year.
This is what 'AJ" had to say:
<.........

30 Sep 2008

Rope Skills For Skiers

On Tuesday 16th September, a dozen committed skiers descended on Plas y Brenin for a bespoke day of 'rope skills for skiers'. This disparate bunch had been brought together by the initiative of Bernard Condon, and united through the forums of SnowHea.........

18 Sep 2008

Deuter Rucsac is a Smash Hit With Instructors

The Plas y Brenin Instructor team have just taken delivery of some very special Deuter packs. The Guides and Instructors at PYB have been using the Guide Series packs for over a year now but have deliberately waited a little longer than usual to get .........

18 Sep 2008

Plas y Brenin Hosts International Seminar Setting Standards for Leaders

Plas y Brenin has just hosted a very successful two day seminar examining the standards set for voluntary rock climbing and walking leaders around the world. Representatives' from the mountaineering federations of India, South Africa, Canada and many.........

20 May 2008

BMC International Meet

The British Mountaineering Council organises a Summer International Climbing Meet every 2 years. Hosted by Plas y Brenin, the aim of the week is to bring climbers and mountaineers from around the world to experience British climbing. Together with a .........

19 May 2008

Off Piste Essentials DVD in the can!

The team filming Off Piste Essentials have just returned from the Alps after a successful shoot. Off Piste Essentials, the next DVD in the successful series, was written and directed by Martin Chester and Rob Spencer, both Guides working at Plas y B.........

1 May 2008

Plas y Brenin Appointed As Palm's Safety and Rescue Test Centre

Plas y Brenin recently became Palm's Official Safety and Rescue Test Centre.
Now stocked with the latest Palm safety and rescue gear, our stores will offer students a chance to try out new and innovative products from the Palm safety range and p.........

28 Apr 2008

Paddlers all set for Alpine meltdown

It's been a fantastic winter for snow in the Alps. Great news for skiers but equally good news for the paddlers because all that snow is ready to fill up the rivers for a fantastic season's white water paddling.

Not only is there plenty of sn.........

22 Apr 2008

Conditions Look Great For Alpine Mountaineering

It's been a fantastic winter for snow in the Alps, after a bit of a late start there's more snow at this time in the season than we can remember for years.

Right now across the Alps there are several metres more snow than at this time last ye.........

22 Apr 2008

Ambassadors from around the world head for Snowdonia

In May this year Plas y Brenin plays host to the British Mountaineerings Council's International Meet, a pioneering example of sporting ambassadorship, which attracts high-profile climbers from around the globe to the UK.

Every two years the .........

15 Apr 2008

Stuart McAleese Pins on The Guides Badge

Congratulations were in order today as one of our senior instructors, Stuart McAleese finally collected his IFMGA âÂ.Â.Guides BadgeâÂ.Â..
Putting aside the years of experience and incredibly high level expertise required to even be ac.........

15 Apr 2008

Dave Brown Scoops Level Five Honours

Three cheers were called for this week as one of our kayak coaches picked up his second BCU Level Five Coach Award.
Awarded by the British Canoe Union, the BCU Level Five Coach is the highest award achievable in Paddlesport and is awarded accordi.........

15 Apr 2008

New Sea Kayak Fleet Arrives

When you come on one of our sea kayaking courses you can be sure you'll paddle a a great boat in great condition. Thanks to Venture Kayaks.

Venture Kayaks recently delivered eighteen of their fine.........

10 Apr 2008

First Ever International Mountain Leader Winter Assessment

Plas y Brenin has just successfully completed the first International Mountain Leader winter assessment from a base near Samoens in the French Alps. Eleven candidates passed this course to become the first international mountain leaders (IML) to qua.........

24 Mar 2008

Girl Power

As our winter season comes to close in Scotland we've seen some very encouraging results for women in what has often been a very male oriented discipline of teaching winter climbing. We had eleven candidates being assessed for the highest UK qualific.........

20 Mar 2008

Olympic Cycling Success For Plas y Brenin

Plas y Brenin was recently named as a training camp for mountain biking and road cycling teams prepraing for the 2012 Olympic Teams.
Surrounded by an endless range of quiet winding mountain roads and tracks we're in the perfect place for cycling .........

4 Mar 2008

Palm provide the best equipment

Palm Equipment visited Plas y Brenin recently to equip PYB's entire coaching team with their top of the range equipment.
Plas y Brenin and Palm have a well established partnership spanning almost a decade with PYB staff providing design feedback o.........

28 Feb 2008

Dagger fill up the rolling pool

Dagger Kayaks recently filled our rolling pool up with new boats.
The new fleet of dedicated rolling kayaks is now in our pool area and ready for use, ensuring that students always use state-of-the art boats.
To make things even better they a.........

27 Feb 2008

Going green has a dramatic effect

Our commitment to recycling is having a striking effect. Not only have our recycling bins become one of the busiest destinations in the area for the local community to recycle their paper, glass and plastic but, along many of our other 'green-initiat.........

26 Feb 2008

RSPB and PYB join forces.

Plas y Brenin recently teamed up with the RSPB to begin work installing a camera in a remote cliffside location. The RSPB camera will provide unique images of a choughâÂ.Â.s nest in Mousetrap Zawn at South Stack on the North West coast of Angles.........

28 Jan 2008

Easyjet make skiing with PYB even easier

Once again this year our off piste skiing, ski touring and ski mountaineering courses are based in the fabulous Austrian resort of "Galtur".

Within easy reach of several airports (all linked by superb public transport) Galtur has always been.........

28 Jan 2008

Ex-Fast Tracker makes Tracks for Baffin

Antony Jinman attended our Fast Track Scheme in 2006 and has gone on to lead his own Arctic Expeditions. He finished the Plas y Brenin Course successfully completing his Summer ML assessment, Winter ML and International ML training courses as well as.........

12 Dec 2007

Islay Crosbie makes the GB kayak freestyle team

Congratulations to Islay Crosbie on gaining a place on the GB kayak freestyle team for 2008.

Islay was a student on our Young Persons Freeride Kayak Week back in the summer.
An 'unknown force' at the time, Islay has since gone from streng.........

10 Dec 2007

Interactive Quiz Pages Launched

We've launched an exciting new area of our website . Interactive online quizzes.
This area will grow over the next few months into a fantastic learning resource for all outdoor sports enthusiasts.

Our new quiz pages already include two .........

6 Dec 2007

The 'coaching process' cat is out of the bag

On a wet weekend in November, at the AMI AGM, Plas y brenin ran a two day "coaching process for mountaineering instructors" workshop. Headed by Chief Instructor Martin Chester who has been delivering âÂ.Â.CP coursesâÂ. in paddlesports fo.........

27 Nov 2007

Winter Mountaineering Courses (18-25 yrs) Heavily Subsidised

If you are between 18 and 25 years old you can take advantage of a great opportunity to develop your Scottish Winter Mountaineering skills with Plas y Brenin thanks to The Godfrey Jackson Memorial Award. Godfrey Jackson was a keen mountaineer committ.........

27 Nov 2007

New Waterpoof Clothing for our Equipment Stores

As part of a long established partenrship with the National Mountain Centre, Gore and Mountian Equipment recently delivered 25 new sets of waterproof, breathable mountain 'Pro Shell' jackets and salopettes to top up our equipment stores.

Our .........

14 Nov 2007

Plas y Brenin Presented with the Green Dragon Award

As a result of our long term commitment to reducing our impact on the environment we are proud to announce that Plas y brenin has been awarded the Green Dragon Environmental Standard Award (Level Two)..........

14 Nov 2007

The Brenin's cake recipes go online

Everyone loves the Brenin's cakes. Now you can make them at home as our chef's reveal their treasured cake recipes..........

14 Nov 2007

The snow has arrived

All over Europe eager skiers are strapping on their skis and taking to the slope early. Yes, the conditions are that good, this early. Of course that makes things look pretty good for our ski holidays and as you'd expect bookings are pouring in with .........

13 Nov 2007

Top Secret Reseach

Our instructor's choose to use Scarpa footwear when they take to the hills and mountains. Experience has shown that Scarpa boots not only offer comfort and performance but they also withstand the punishing treatment our staff give them.
That dur.........

12 Nov 2007

Our Mountain Bike instructors better watch their backs

We're running more mountain bike courses than ever this year. So we need to to make sure our staff are well protected at all times. Which is why our mountain bike instructor's are now all equipped with the new Deuter Attack rucsac which features an i.........

12 Nov 2007

Instructors change their socks

Bridgedale socks have generously kitted out our entire Instructional staff with new state-of-the art high performance socks.
Identified in a recent survey as one of the most important, but most often overlooked pieces of clothing for the mountain.........

22 Oct 2007

New Sea Kayak Fleet Delivered

For many years our Canoesport department has worked hand in hand with Custom British sea kayak manufacture P&H in a mutual partnership that allows Plas y Brenin to ensure its students use the very latest top of the range and modern sea kayaks whilst .........

29 Sep 2007

What an amazing winter!

Winter conditions are looking great this year both here in North Wales and up in Scotland. All of us here at Plas y Brenin have been making the most of it and are looking forward to the prospect of more great conditions. If you are looking get out an.........

1 Jan 1970