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Snowdonia of Sir Lewker

by mavi | Nov 12, 2024 | Books, Movies and Art, Vertical Destinations

Snowdonia of Sir Lewker

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Sir Abercrombie (“Filthy”) Lewker, a former commando and pompous Shakespearean actor is a fictional character invented by the English writer Glynn Carr. Filthy solves murders while mountaineering. One of his deed was the resolution of a mysterious murder in Snowdonia, presented in the book Death on the Milestone Buttress…

Cover of the book “Death on Milestone Buttress”

We don’t want to spoiler too much the book, which we found intriguing and interesting, but we’d like to give some information about the location of the story, Snowdonia, and the climbing attractiveness.

Snowdonia or Eryri is a mountainous region and national park in northwestern Wales. It is a place rich in history, has seen figures from King Arthur to Mallory, Edwards, Kirkus, Brown, Whillans, Boysen, Livesey, and Fawcett and more.

The name “Snowdon” means “snow hill” and is derived from the Old English elements “snāw” and “dūn”, the latter meaning ‘hill’. “Snowdonia” is simply taken from the name of the mountain.

The origins of Eryri are less clear. Two popular interpretations are that the name is related to eryr, “eagle”, and that it means “highlands” and is related to the Latin oriri (to rise). Although ‘eryri’ is not any direct form of eryr (eagle), it is a plural form of eryr (upland).

Before the boundaries of the national park were designated, “Snowdonia” was generally used to refer to a smaller upland area of northern Gwynedd centred on the Snowdon massif. The national park covers an area more than twice that size, extending south into the Meirionnydd area.

Map of Snowdonia National Park

This difference is apparent in books published before 1951. In George Borrow’s 1907 Wild Wales he states that “Snowdon or Eryri is no single hill, but a mountainous region, the loftiest part of which [is] Y Wyddfa”, making a distinction between the summit of the mountain and the surrounding massif. The Mountains of Snowdonia by H. Carr & G. Lister (1925) defines “Eryri” as “composed of the two cantrefs of Arfon and Arllechwedd, and the two commotes of Nant Conwy and Eifionydd”, which corresponds to Caernarfonshire with the exception of southwest Llŷn and the Creuddyn Peninsula. In Snowdonia: The National Park of North Wales (1949), F. J. North states that “When the Committee delineated provisional boundaries, they included areas some distance beyond Snowdonia proper”.

Climbing in Snowdonia

This area boasts an extensive variety of rock climbing experiences. Whether it’s cragging or high mountain routes, the climbs are mostly traditional and can be incredibly challenging and downright frightening, like in Glynn Carr’s book!

Yr Wyddfa stands as the tallest peak in Snowdonia, and even though the National Park is home to multiple mountains exceeding 3,000 feet, this renowned mountain’s fame outshines all the others in popularity.

Here is a selection of routes and climbs that we suggest:

– Milestone Direct Route – Milestone Buttress

Go experience the mountains of Glynn Carr book! Positioned close to the main road (A5) this route is easy to access. It can be difficult to find your foothold though due to the many climbers who’ve taken this approach over the years. Some bouldering is available nearby if you don’t have enough equipment for this hard very severe (HVS) climb.

– Great Gully – Craig yr Ysfa

Great Gully is one of Craig yr Ysfa’s classic climbs. With a difficulty rating of grade three, it’s not advisable for inexperienced climbers. For those up to the challenge though, it’s a varied route with breath taking views from the top.

– Gashed Crag, First Pinnacle Rib, Grooved Arete

Boasting challenging yet popular climbs, you’ll be in great company on Gashed Crag, First Pinnacle Rib and Grooved Arete. Finding the routes can be complex, but no experienced climber should go home from Snowdonia without completing them. If bouldering is more your cup of tea however, there’s plenty on offer in Ogwen Valley.

– Glyder Fach

Depending on your ability, there are 97 climbs to choose from. From the moderate Main Gully Ridge on the east buttress to the extreme Slim Chance on the Hawks nest buttress, you’ll find plenty here to get stuck into.

– Llywydd – Avalanche/ Red Wall & Longlands Continuation

Routes steeped in history, Avalanche, Red Wall and Longlands Continuation were used as training for the Mount Everest team of 1953.

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CTO job post

by mavi | Nov 11, 2024 | About NIVA

Who we are

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NIVA is the platform connecting all climbing and outdoor sports enthusiasts, offering a complete experience for both end users and business operators. For climbers, it works like a “Tinder, simply for climbing”: it helps find climbing partners based on skills, experience, and location, solving a common problem where climbers struggle to organize and often rely on fragmented channels. Users can create and join events, boosting social engagement and trust within the community.

On the business side, NIVA provides targeted solutions for two types of stakeholders: on one hand, gyms and event organizers, who benefit from innovative micro-SaaS solutions; on the other, companies offering outdoor products and services, which gain a direct, highly-targeted marketing channel for reaching their ideal audience.

Starting with climbing, NIVA aims to evolve into a global networking platform for outdoor sports, first extending to other vertical sports, then to water sports (such as sailing, surfing, and windsurfing). The vision is clear: to become the social network for sporting adventures, bridging the digital and physical worlds with a focus on trust, social connection, and a shared passion for nature.

Who you are

We are looking for a tech co-founder who is not just a “technician” but brings a strategic vision for technology and product development. The goal is forNIVA to become the go-to platform for building outdoor communities.

A passion for climbing or outdoor activities is essential; we need someone who deeply understands our challenges and can collaboratively develop creative solutions.

Lastly, we’re looking for someone with a broad outlook, who thrives in an innovative, ever-changingenvironment, and has international ambitions.

What you will do

You will be responsible for defining the best technical direction to achieve NIVA’s Mission, including architectural choices, technologies, frameworks, and models to adopt. You’ll contribute to shaping the technology roadmap (both short- and medium-term) and be the first to “get your hands dirty” and experiment alongside us.

What we’re looking for

We’re not going to focus too much on your CV when choosing you in this venture — many important qualities don’t show up on paper, and a master’s degree doesn’t necessarily mean competence. However, experience in startups is valued, more for the agile mindset and approach than for specific hard skills, and the ability to develop a product is essential(otherwise, this journey wouldn’t make sense). Experience with community app development projects is appreciated, but even more so, the drive,capability, and commitment to stay up-to-date and seize new opportunities before others do. We also value a history of “healthy failures,” as we’d love to hear how those experiences have strengthened you both personally and professionally. Tenacity, combined with pragmatism, and the willingness to take significant risks (time and beyond) alongside us are essential. International experience and strong English and Italian language skills are a plus. Finally, we ask for a commitment of at least 30 hours a week to effectively move the project forward.

Required Skills

Alongside this, we’re looking for a few specific technical skills that are very important at this stage:

Front-end: Experience with Flutter and Blazor
Back-end: Experience with .Net Core
Database: Experience with relational databases, especially MySQL

If you’re missing any of these but are highly motivated, tell us how you plan to fill in these gaps.

What We Offer

A dream and a purpose: if NIVA doesn’t represent this for you, then you’re not the co-founder we’re looking for.

We offer dedication, loyalty, and a startup vision worth risking a few years of your life for, with an equitable share of the equity. We give you the opportunity to help shape the vision, challenge the status quo, and trust your expertise in making decisions. We offer the chance to work on a project that we believe will bring as much satisfaction as stress. And when we can afford it, a fair salary (but if this is your main motivation, you’re not the right fit). In short, we offer the chance to do what you love every day, alongside other passionate people who made the same choice.

You’ll work closely with the other founders. For the technical development, you’ll be supported by other tech resources, the same team who built the app. We don’t have physical offices, but there will be plenty of opportunities to meet in person (maybe for a climb or ski trip together 🙂).

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Lastly, what are our values? Here are a few ideas: passion and motivation, transparency and trust, creativity and freedom, perseverance and pragmatism (“done is better”), responsibility, and independence.

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Chi siamo

NIVA è la piattaforma che connette tutti gli appassionati di arrampicata e sport outdoor, offrendo un’esperienza completa sia agli utenti finali sia agli operatori business.

Per i climber, funziona come “Tinder, ma per scalare”: permette di trovare compagni di arrampicata in base a skill, esperienze e posizione, risolvendo un problema comune dei praticanti, che faticano a organizzarsi e finiscono spesso su canali frammentati. Gli utenti possono creare e partecipare a eventi, aumentando la socialità e la fiducia all’interno della community.

Lato business, NIVA offre soluzioni mirate per due categorie di stakeholder: da un lato, palestre e organizzatori di eventi, che possono beneficiare di micro-SaaS innovativi; dall’altro, aziende di prodotti e servizi outdoor, che trovano in NIVA un canale di marketing diretto e ultra-profilato per il loro pubblico.

Partendo dall’arrampicata, NIVA ha l’obiettivo di evolversi in una piattaforma globale per il networking negli sport outdoor, estendendo il suo modello prima ad altri sport verticali e poi a quelli legati all’acqua (vela, surf, windsurf). La Vision è chiara: diventare il social network delle avventure sportive, che favorisce la connessione tra il mondo digitale e quello reale, puntando su fiducia, socialità e passione per la natura.

Chi sei

Cerchiamo un tech co-founder che non sia solo un “tecnico”, ma che porti al tavolo una visione strategica sulla tecnologia e sul prodotto da sviluppare insieme: la scommessa è che NIVA diventi la piattaforma di riferimento per lo sviluppo di community outdoor.

Un ingrediente essenziale è anche la passione per il mondo dell’arrampicata o in generale per le attività outdoor: cerchiamo qualcuno che possa coprendere a fondo le sfide che affrontiamo e che riesca a sviluppare assieme soluzioni creative.

Last but not least, cerchiamo qualcuno che abbia vedute ampie, sappia orientarsi in un ambiente innovativo e in continuo cambiamento e infine che abbia ambizioni internazionali.

Cosa farai

Sarai responsabile di definire la migliore direzione tecnica da seguire per perseguire la Mission di NIVA, da un punto di vista architetturale, di tecnologie, framework e modelli da adottare; contribuirai alla definizione della roadmap tecnologica (sia per il breve che per il medio termine) e sarai il primo a “sporcarti le mani” e sperimentare con noi.

Cosa chiediamo

Non guarderemo troppo il tuo CV per sceglierti in questa avventura: tante cose non traspaiono da un CV e, di contro, un master non significa necessariamente competenza. È chiaro però che sono apprezzate esperienze in ambito startup (più per una questione di mindset e capacità di lavorare con approccio agile necessari in questo contesto, piuttosto che di hard skills) ed è essenziale la capacità di sviluppare un prodotto (diversamente non avrebbe senso iniziare). Sono apprezzate conoscenze ed esperienze con progetti di sviluppo app per community, ma ancor di più la voglia, la capacità e la costanza di essere sempre aggiornati per intercettare le nuove opportunità prima di altri. È apprezzato anche qualche “sano fallimento”, di cui vorremmo conoscere la storia e come ti ha fortificato come persona e professionista. Una qualità fondamentale è la tenacia, abbinata al pragmatismo, e la volontà di scommettere e rischiare tutto (il tuo tempo e non solo) con noi. Apprezziamo molto anche esperienze internazionali e un’ ottima conoscenza dell’inglese. Infine, chiediamo la disponibilità di investire almeno 30 ore la settimana per portare avanti in modo efficace il progetto.

Competenze richieste

Accanto a ciò chiediamo anche alcune competenze tecniche, non sono molte, ma molto importanti in questa fase:

Front-end: esperienza con Flutter e Blazor
Back-end: esperienza con .Net Core
Database: esperienza con database relazionali, specialmente MySQL

Se ti mancano ma sei molto motivato, raccontaci come pensi di colmare queste lacune.

Cosa offriamo

Un sogno e uno scopo: se NIVA non rappresenta questo per te allora non sei il co-founder che stiamo cercando.

Offriamo dedizione, lealtà e una visione di startup per cui valga la pena rischiare qualche anno della propria vita, compensati da una equa spartizione dell’equity. Offriamo la possibilità di contribuire a plasmare la visione, sfidando lo status quo e fidandoci delle scelte di tua competenza. Offriamo la possibilità di lavorare a un progetto che confidiamo porterà tanta soddisfazione almeno quanto stress. E, quando potremo permettercelo, un congruo stipendio (ma se è questo il tuo driver non sei il profilo giusto).

In sintesi, offriamo la possibilità di fare ciò che ami, tutti i giorni, insieme ad altri pazzi che hanno fatto la tua stessa scelta.

Lavorerai a stretto contatto con gli altri founder. In aggiunta, per la parte di sviluppo tecnico sarai anche affiancato da altre risorse tech, le stesse che oggi hanno sviluppato la app. Non abbiamo uffici fisici, ma ci sono spesso occasioni per incontrarsi (foss’anche per una scalata o una sciata in compagnia 🙂).

Ah, infine, quali sono i nostri valori? Ecco qualche spunto (che potremo approfondire): passione e motivazione, trasparenza e fiducia, creatività e libertà, perseveranza e pragmatismo (“done is better”), responsabilità e indipendenza.