Archives Team Members

Dave Evans

  • I have been instructing at Plas y Brenin for 15 years and have been a full-time instructor for the last three. I work entirely in the mountaineering department on pretty much the full range of recreational and instructional courses, from introductory walking and leadership to Mountaineering Instructor.
  • In the last few years, I have been heavily involved in the development and delivery of the BMC FUNdamentals coach education modules and am a member of the BMC’s Training, Youth and Walls committee. I am a course director for every instructional and leadership course administered by Mountain Training and run most of these a few times per year, and am occasionally involved in doing bits of work specifically for them.
  • I have been hillwalking, scrambling, climbing and mountaineering since before I can remember. Family holidays were generally in Scotland, the Lake District or Snowdonia, and later on throughout the French Alps. I have been skiing since I was 7 and continue to do so now. In the last 15 years, I have climbed all over the place, from America to China and Big Walls to Alpine North Faces. I am still generally most motivated by UK Trad rock climbing.

Achievements

  • Central Gully, Beinn Lui, Grade I, Southern Highlands, with Parents c.1982 This was where it all started for me…
  • Mont Pelvoux traverse, AD, Les Ecrins, France with parents, 1995
  • Comici Route, VII/E3 6a, 500 metres, Cima Grande North Face, Dolomites, Italy, 2003
  • Cassin Route, TD, 800 metres, Piz Badile, Bregaglia Alps, Switzerland, 2003
  • Tour des Ecrins, a 4-day ski tour through one of the most remote parts of the French Alps, March 2004. Particularly memorable for having to sleep in an Alpine hut that was totally buried under avalanche debris! Some of the wildest ski terrain in Europe.
  • China Mountaineering Expedition to the Siguniang Range in the Sichuan Province. While unsuccessful on our main target, we climbed peaks in a little-known region of China up to just under 6000 metres and had an incredible adventure.
  • Aiguille Verte, “Late to say I’m Sorry”, ED2, Chamonix. 1st complete British ascent. Made particularly memorable by the descent from the summit, soloing back down the Couturier Couloir, which is itself a 1000-metre D+ Alpine North Face route, and the subsequent ski back to Chamonix in failing light, taking numerous hilarious falls in easy terrain as we were so tired! We still made it back for beers and burgers, though! One of the best climbing days of my life!
  • Eiger North Face 1938 Route. ED2, Grindelwald, Switzerland. An awesome experience with 2 great friends, which with good weather and conditions, was actually a great pleasure to climb!
  • Strawberries, E7 6b, Vector Buttress, Tremadog. After a few days of failed attempts to get up this one, my successful ascent came a day after my teammate and good friend Emma Twyford. Emma came back up there with me even though she wasn’t climbing to hold my ropes! I had to try really hard on this one, too, so it will always remain a fond memory.
  • Un Poco Loco, VII,7, Church Door Buttress, Glencoe. It's still one of the best winter days I have ever had, with perfect conditions, perfect weather, and a mind-blowing route in a totally wild place.
  • Darth Vadar, VII,7, Ben Nevis. This is a great route with loads of character in a deep chimney feature. I will never forget how quickly myself and Dave Rudkin climbed this one; we were back in Fort William, eating paninis and drinking coffee by 1.30 pm.

Ambitions

  • I also, as always, have my eye on quite a few local classics in North Wales that have eluded me so far… there’s always something awesome to do on your doorstep!

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Matt Stygall

  • I’m a part-time member of the instructional team, specializing in all things mountain-based, both summer and winter. A large part of my work is with the national governing body (NGB) awards, but I also work with the skills courses at Plas y Brenin.
  • It’s great to see folk come through on skills courses or NGB courses, watching them grow and gain experience and ultimately pass an assessment they have been working so hard for.
  • Some of the most enjoyable parts of my work are people achieving their goals and experiencing that team feeling of reaching a summit or topping out on a route!

Achievements

  • Over the years, I have been on many expeditions; some were successful, and others were not (I’m still getting over them!).
  • I have been to Alaska, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, The Alps, Norway, Patagonia and America. Some highlights were a fantastic trip to Yosemite big wall climbing, time in Patagonia climbing dream routes on Fitzroy and the surrounding peaks.
  • On the shorter trips, I have been able to have ski touring adventures to Iceland and, believe it or not, Scotland! I also try my hardest to get to Scotland in the early seasons to start the suffering. It’s a great time of year: short days, major routes, quiet and challenging weather; what more do you need?
  • Each year my work takes me to the Alps, and I have a week’s climbing before the season starts, which from year to year has been exceptional due to the diverse routes you can climb there. Professionally I’m proud of becoming a British Mountain Guide. It was a long journey, but every bit of it was worth it, possibly the best job in the world!

Ambitions

  • Well, if there was one mountain to climb, for me it would be Cerro Torre. I don’t mind which route. It would be a dream come true. I first read about the mountain in a book called Enduring Patagonia, the team finally made the summit and the selfie is the picture I would like to take and put on my wall.
  • Other ambitions would be to complete all the six North Face routes in the Alps. I have two left to do; the Eiger and Matterhorn (the easy ones!). There is also an endless list of winter routes to do, not to mention summer rock climbing or all the 4000’ers.

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Chris Evans

  • I work as an instructor specialising in paddlesports and mountain biking. What I love about Plas y Brenin is the learners we see through the door (I find people really interesting), the variety of work I get (everything from introduction to advanced-level skills courses and leadership and coaching training and assessments), the staff (everyone’s always keen to go and do stuff in their spare time) and of course our amazing location!
  • I’m also qualified to train and assess a range of personal skills awards and leadership awards, and coach training and assessments.

Achievements

  • I’ve been paddling since the age of 8 and have been lucky enough to paddle in some amazing places.
  • I’ve paddled in Norway, France, Slovenia, Germany, Italy, Austria, Africa, America and New Zealand. I’ve competed in sprint, slalom, freestyle and extreme races, with my competitive highlights being placing on the GB freestyle squad twice.
  • I’ve been mountain biking all over the UK and in France, Andorra, Canada and New Zealand.
  • One of my more recent accomplishments is the completion of a diploma in performance coaching, and linked in with this is the completion of the British Canoeing level four award. This is fairly big for me as academia was something I always felt challenging.

Ambitions

  • Future ambitions include completing an MSc in performance coaching (hopefully….) and lots of future biking and boating holidays. Oh yeah, I want to do loads more sea kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, too... too many things to do, not enough time!

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James Bruton

  • I am an instructor at Plas y Brenin, working across the Mountain Biking, Paddlesports and Mountaineering departments. I love the variety in my work, and spending time with diverse, motivated clients makes my job great.
  • I also work with our Fast Track Instructor Pro course, allowing me to coach and mentor the next generation of outdoor coaches and instructors.

Achievements

  • Like most of us at Plas y Brenin, my holidays are spent doing what I do for work but different! Any time hanging out and sharing experiences with like-minded people means a good trip. A few highlights include my first descent of the Rio Santa Tomas in Peru (a self-supported multi-day kayak expedition) and racing at the Mega Avalanche 2017 (the biggest downhill race in Europe). I met loads of great people, the tracks are amazing, and there’s nothing quite like sprinting off the line with 250 other riders!

Ambitions

  • My goals include surviving another season of racing the UK Gravity Enduro Season and returning to the Mega Avalanche to improve upon last year's result.

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