Rachael Crewesmith - Mountain Biking, Mountaineering and Other Outdoor Stuff

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The fab team at @lowe.alpine have sent me some of

The fab team at @lowe.alpine have sent me some of their bonza new crag packs from the Rock Range for participants to demo this summer. With thoughtful features, rope mats, side entry zips and roomy volume, these packs are perfect for chucking everything in and heading to the crag without anything dangling off the outside. I think you will agree that the colour is fantastic too. I love my 48l Rogue, I don’t know how I lived without it. I think I convinced the team ok the benefits of a big bag for cragging!

#moveyourworld #readytorock #outdoorwomen #thisgirlcan #wearerab #doyouclimb #rockclimbingwomen #trybeforeyoubuy #goodkit #packtesting

The first @teambmc Women’s Ready To Rock day was

The first @teambmc Women’s Ready To Rock day was this weekend. We placed lots of gear, demystified belays, tied a lot of clove hitches and tested this all at the top of the crag, lowering each other into some pretty tricky climbs. There were lots of questions, lots of laughter and lots of snacks! We dodged all that rain, got a bit buffeted by the wind but the views were spectacular and the rock perfect. The team tested out the new Rock Range packs from @lowe.alpine, carrying a lot of kit to the crag in fully coordinated splendour! It was all finished off with Rachael’s Café of tea and fruit cake. There are more of these sessions running throughout England and Wales run by @ami_professionals female instructors. My dates are 5th June, 3rd July, 4th July, 10th October with spaces at the moment but filling fast!

#readytorock #thisgirlcan #getoutside #newskill #wearerab #moveyourworld #rockclimbing #climbing #climbinglife #snowdonia #snowdonianationalpark #skillsforlife

The weather is back to normal and what more perfec

The weather is back to normal and what more perfect a time to go dipping in the cold water. I’m on day 145 but you could start with day 1 now! Here are some tips:
🥳You don’t need a fancy robe but a big towel is helpful.
🏊🏼‍♀️keep your head out of the water to keep a bit warmer.
🧘🏾Enter the water calmly and slowly, splash a little water on your face to help your body acclimatise and be as zen as you can manage: no squeeling!
⏱2 minutes is all you need to feel the positive effects.
⏳If you feel great, it’s time to get out. Don’t stay in until you start shivering.
🧦🧤Neoprene socks and gloves mean I don’t feel pain in my extremities. Try it!
🧣Bobble hats look cool but seem to just get wet!
🛀🏽Don’t jump straight into a hot shower, however tempting it is: it will make your feel colder! Have a hot drink and do some star jumps to warm up from the inside. Soup is perfect!
🚫Check access rules, park considerately and respect nature.
👭Always swim with somebody.
🐸Wash your kit well to avoid contamination, particularly of upland, sensitive water.
🌒Check tides and currents and know your limits.

With a 350% increase in popularity in the past year, I expect some of you have had a go. What are your top tips for swimming outside?
📸 @jobynewson

#wildswimming #swim #getoutside #nature #outsideisthebestside #weswimwild #thisgirlcan #outdoorswimming #outdoorswimmingsociety

Snowing in the Carneddau but we found sun and T-sh

Snowing in the Carneddau but we found sun and T-shirt’s out at Holyhead Mountain today for some cruisy routes... although typically the mountain didn’t offer up anything ‘cruisy’. Fiddly gear, upside down holds and rough little footholds: must be quartzite! Loved moving on rock today, feeling the flow and finding moves I haven’t even thought about for 18 months.

Quick dip in Porth Dafarch to wash off the chalk. 🏊🏼‍♀️

#climbing #brilliant #loveclimbing #wearerab #moveyourworld #tradisrad #backtoclimbing #climbfirstthinktwice

Another excellent day at the crag. It’s going we

Another excellent day at the crag. It’s going well isn’t it? I haven’t been to Tremadog for ages but it is so familiar I felt like I was meeting up with an old friend. After some optimistic questing up Yogi in the wet (😱) and a hasty bail, we had a brilliant time on Christmas Curry. It felt SO GOOD to be enjoying the moves, excited for my next pitch and loving the exposure. It’s not in Classic Rock but it should be.

Thanks @prideexpeditions for another great day and @perispup for patiently waiting for us. We had some great conversations about diversity in the outdoors (my favourite subject), swapped funding knowledge and debated whether swimming is colder in a wetsuit or in skins...

#rockclimbing #wearerab #climbing #moveyourworld #gayclimbers #unitedweclimb #climbersofinstagram #pride #loveclimbing #thisgirlcan #outsideisthebestside #unitedweclimb #inclusionmatters #diversity #loveclimbing #tradisrad

💥The Orange Power Ranger is back in action 💥

💥The Orange Power Ranger is back in action 💥

Brilliant day on the ultra-classic Grooved Arête. It’s been six years since I last climbed this and I didn’t remember any of the long, airy pitches, the burly grunting (just me?), the wedging and the delicate moves. It was excellent and I wore all my favourite clothes.

Thanks to @debbiemorgan9 for documenting it, taking all the gear out and throwing as many krabs off the route as me. A mountain dip rounded off the day nicely.
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#classicrock #tockclimbing #extremelyorange #orange #wearerab #moveyourworld #rockclimbing #climbing #mountains #sunshine

Top afternoon out with @swim_snowdonia on Flying B

Top afternoon out with @swim_snowdonia on Flying Buttress. We were a bit late for the sunshine but the sun was reflecting in the polish on the holds so we needed sunglasses the whole way. This route deserves its place on the Classic Rock list.

#classicrock #climbing #rockclimbing #snowdonia #thisgirlcan #wearerab #themountainpeople #moveyourworld

And that’s a wrap! Thanks to everyone who came a

And that’s a wrap! Thanks to everyone who came along to the @teambmc Hiking Essentials evening. We put a lot of prep into this, distilling everything we would teach over a whole day/week into 2.5 hours and I hope everybody learned something new, had something confirmed that they knew already and most importantly had a good time! Looking forward to getting back out into the real hills and passing on my enthusiasm for geology, flowers and summit-creme-eggs! Absolutely loved working with the team @maryannochota @zenbecky and @stevetrenier . We had such good chemistry even though we only met remotely. What a dream!

Thanks to @debbiemorgan9 for taking this photo of me in my ‘studio’ as I got everyone on the Zoom to come into the tea shelter with me!
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#hiking #getoutside #hillwalking #learnsomethingnew #groupshelter #teashelter #mountainheater #dreamteam

Rehearsal done and we are ready to go! Come join u

Rehearsal done and we are ready to go! Come join us on Thursday for an evening of tips, tricks, hacks and info to get you outside now that lockdown is easing. What to buy, where to go and how not to get lost. Join me, the brilliant @stevetrenier and the excellent @maryannochota as well as some special guests with stories, questions and answers. There are prizes from @montaneofficial and @komoot as well as discount codes. Tickets £4.99 for @teambmc members&concessions, £7.99 non-members. Tickets details in my bio 👆🏾. Let me know if you are tuning in!

#hiking #hillwalking #outside #mountaineering #skills #hikingcommunity #hikingskills #walking #walkinguk

A lovely day out with @debbiemorgan9 on the East F

A lovely day out with @debbiemorgan9 on the East Face of Tryfan yesterday. Getting back into climbing after a bit of time off means taking things easy: looking for fun and long routes to enjoy moving and oil out the clunkiness. First Pinnacle Rib was a brilliant mixture of easy climbing, fun route finding and occasional loose rock with a summit top-out. The only downside is the confusing guidebook descriptions who seem to get themselves in a right muddle!

@ukclimbing are running a ‘Classic Rock Challenge’ this summer. Completing the Snowdonia section awards a £20 voucher for @joebrownshops. I’m def keen! What better way to get reacquainted with Snowdonia and climb some belters whilst exploring a few new places along the way?!
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#rockclimbing #firstclimbthinktwice #tradisrad #wearerab #themountainpeople #outsideisthebestside #mountains #tradclimbing #moveyourworld #thisgirlcan #shemovesmountains #backtowork

It felt so exciting to be back on sunny, dry rock

It felt so exciting to be back on sunny, dry rock last weekend. I deliberately decided not to climb at all in 2020: if ever there was a year to have a break, last year was it. I didn’t miss climbing: I found other loves like swimming, running in the mountains and spending lots of time in my garden. I also had a different job: working in the community supporting the COVID-19 Resilience Group and running a food bank. These things nourished my soul, replenished my bank balance and kept my brain busy (not always mutually exclusive). The best thing is that I have been SO EXCITED to get back to climbing.

🏞I took it super steady, enjoying the puzzle of easy rock and the pain of tight shoes.
🧗🏻‍♂️I chose friendly venues with good rock, good gear and nice people.
🧗🏾‍♀️I didn’t compare my performance to last time I climbed.
🩰I seconded some harder routes and lead some easier routes, enjoying the feeling without the exposure.
🌄Most importantly, it’s sunny and I can’t wait for the next time!

Thanks to @hunter_mountaineering and @ewanthorburn for the fun days out.

#firstclimbthinktwice #backtorock #climbing #brilliant #wearerab #themountainpeople #moveyourworld #adventureawaits #skillfade #backtowork #escalade #getoutside #thisgirlcan #rockclimbing #klettern

🏊🏼‍♀️Day 100🏊🏼‍♀️
Actually

🏊🏼‍♀️Day 100🏊🏼‍♀️
Actually day 100 was on Saturday but there was no time for social media. I’ve passed 100 days of cold swimming in a row, the habit is well-and-truly formed and I don’t think I’ll stop now. Some things I’ve learned:

😀It always feels good afterwards.

🌡How cold I feel has little to do with how cold the water is. Other factors like time of day, tiredness, when I last ate, who I am with, how windy it is have a much greater bearing.

⏰My circadian rhythms mean I find swimming in the morning much more painful than the afternoon. It’s different for everyone. When @suecrewe swam the channel in 1976, she had to train at 4am for a month to prepare her body for the 5am start (no wetsuits and no socks!).

🩸The stage in my cycle has the biggest impact on how I feel: it really hurts in the week before my period. The week of my period I feel like a super hero who could stay in for hours (I don’t though!).

⛸Ice swimming gives a tremendous adrenaline rush but I cannae be bothered chopping holes in the ice every day, even if it does look good on social.

🧤Neoprene socks and gloves make the experience pleasurable instead of painful.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦It’s more fun with friends.

🚿Hot showers don’t warm you up: you need to warm your core with hot drinks and moving around: likewise with hot water bottles.

🧦Putting socks on first when getting changed makes it way easier to put trousers on.

🧥You don’t need a fancy dryrobe or magic towel: swimming is cheap and good for the soul.

🦵A garden kneeler makes a brilliant changing mat.

💃🏽My body is brilliant! In a world of skinny climbers and “fitspo” models on Instagram, it’s easy to get lost in a narrative of thin-is-best. Cold water swimming has given me confidence to be proud of my body and how adaptable and capable it is at doing what it does. The most powerful take home.

🙏🏽I am lucky to choose to live near open water. I have been able to swim every day because a winter of uncertain unemployment meant I had time and headspace to form the habit and I could walk to the sea.

🐳I hope you get to go swimming soon too.

📸 @savannahparton
#cold

Hello old friend! Yesterday I was in the Cairngorm

Hello old friend! Yesterday I was in the Cairngorms for the first time in over a year for a CPD workshop that has been rearranged so many times this winter. @ecossemountains shared all his tips and tricks for working in the northern coires and I got a bonus dip at the second highest beach in the UK. Looking forward to getting back to ‘proper’ work and the arrival of spring.
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#mountains #cairngorms #cairngormsnationalpark #lochmorlichbeach #lochmorlich #scotland #sunshine #cpd #scrambling #wintermountaineering #wintermountain #swimming #wildswimming #wildscotland #wilddipping

💙DAY 80💙
I wasn’t sure if I would keep swi

💙DAY 80💙
I wasn’t sure if I would keep swimming in February. Some days started to feel like a hassle, some days I was just too busy, some days I just wasn’t feeling it. The novelty of swimming in ice just became annoying and time consuming.

They say it takes 28 days to form a habit. Well, somehow, I would manage a quick dip every day, even if it was dark, even if I was too busy, even if I just wasn’t feeling it. We’ve reached the end of February and somehow I have been dipping every day since December 1st!

Well done to all those folk who have been taking the plunge this winter. It feels good and I think I’ll keep it up.

📸Friday at Glenfinnan as a pair of F15s spun and twisted overhead. Magic.
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#wildswimming #dipaday #thisgirlcan #coldwatertherapy

Chatting with @niallgrimes about my favourite plac

Chatting with @niallgrimes about my favourite place, Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia for @teambmc new podcast, Wild Horizons. I loved going there in my mind, sharing shapes and stories and hopefully giving you a taste of why I love it there. Niall wants to hear from you: slide into his DMs to let him know what you want to hear about next.

The link is in my bio 👆
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#wildhorizons #podcast #snowdonia #hillwalking #hiking #hikingpodcast @ami_professionals

My long-legged, fast riding, massive striding, swi

My long-legged, fast riding, massive striding, swimming-in-circles-around-me valentine ❤️

#waitforme

💙DAY 62!! 🏊🏼‍♀️
Today was the last

💙DAY 62!! 🏊🏼‍♀️
Today was the last day of January which marks my sixty second day in a row of swimming in the cold. It started with #dipadaydecember inspired by @ellachloeswims. It took me some time to get in the habit but by the end of December I didn’t want it to end so I carried on into January. It was made easier by the total absence of my normal work which meant that I could always fit a cold swim into my day and also by living in a warm, safe home.

❤️Some of my pals have been raising money for @crisis_uk and rather than do a separate fundraiser, I thought I’d just spread their word. You can find the link in my bio or head over to @gillymcarthur to find out more.
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🏊🏽‍♀️Swimming is a privilege that I have felt thankful for every day.
🙏🏽Thankful that I can choose to live near a body of water.
🏡Thankful that lockdown has left me with less, but not homeless.
👭Thankful that sometimes friends like Pamela come and support me, take photos and dress me afterwards.
🏔In the ups and downs of my Covid world, today was a low day so the swim was short and sharp and over without a celebration so here is one from the most glorious and adrenaline-filled swim of 2021.

#wildswim #januarydip #coldwater #thankful #donate #crisisuk #thisgirlcan #thisgirlcanswim #lockdowndiary

💙Dip a Day December💙
31 days of cold water i

💙Dip a Day December💙
31 days of cold water immersion culminating in this joyful, frosty swim in the mountains above my home. Thanks to @bondddd and @bertiealbertbarnett for the company, the laughter and the frozen chocolate. Thanks to someone up there for the windless blue sky. Thanks for all the small but joyful blessings that 2020 helped us to see.
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Description: A picture of two white women and a bearded white man swimming in a mountain lake. There is snow on the mountainside. Rachael is laughing so much her face is screwed up.
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#dipadaydecember #joy #hot #swim #friends #coldwaterswimming #coldwater #appreciate #cloudnews #laughter #almostdrownedbymycamera #brokesomecovidrules #happynewyear #2020 #iceswimming #threedegrees

During lockdown I contributed to a new book from @

During lockdown I contributed to a new book from @danwilkinsoncoach and @paulsmith_coach. It’s just popped through my letterbox and I’m excited to have a good look at it. My story is about reviewing and how important this is to the performer. I am honoured to have been asked alongside other heavyweights of the outdoor coaching community like @alanhalewood @girlsonhillsuk @terryjameswalker @john_kettle_climbing @libby_peter and @katycurd. What an alumni! You can get the book from the authors or from @adventuresportsmediahouse : I think it will make good lockdown reading.
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#coaching #books #learnsomethingnew #moveyourworld #contributor

*More cool news*
This week I was nominated for an

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