It’s been a lot of information for them to take in and it’s good to see them having a chance to put it into practice, as well as to have a chance to scout out future camp spots.
This particular venue is a huge mass of boulders – totally solid – but almost haphazardly piled on top of each other, leaving all sorts of cool caves and tunnels to scramble over and explore. It feels like at any minute they could come crashing down and yet they’ve stood like this since the beginning of time! Very awesome. So we’ve been out doing quite a bit of abseiling as well as testing our climbing skills – I say “testing” because the rock has very few good holds and so it’s a lot about just trusting that your feet will stay where you’ve put them. (This just adds to the huge myriad of spiritual parallels already present in the sport… trusting the belayer, struggling to a goal, relying on the rope!)
So we’ve had some great days out and are planning several more before I leave so that the guys can be at a good level of proficiency and able to do risk assessments, rescues, bomb-proof anchors, and solid knots after I’m gone. 
