Karabiner Mountaineering Club

Midweek Meets

Please read the following if you are considering coming along to one of our meets:

BMC Participation Statement

"I accept that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a risk of personal injury or death. I am aware of and shall accept these risks and wish to participate in these activities voluntarily and shall be responsible for my own actions and involvement."

The KMC mid-week outdoor climbing meets are starting up again now that we have the extra hour of evening daylight and the weather seems to be improving.

The meets are held at local crags, normally every Wednesday evening, weather permitting. Crags for each week are nominated by those keen people who actually got out and climbed the week before.

Some lucky people may be able to get out climbing nice and early, but this will vary depending on work hours and the travelling distance. Generally you should find KMC climbers at the crag by 6pm and some of us might still be there after its gone dark!

We also have the lists of mid-week meets (and any reports from them) for these other years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Next Midweek Evening Meet
September 8th	Troy Quarry (see also the Online Guidebook)
If you have any questions about coming along to a meet, or if you want to try and arrange car sharing, etc., then just send us an e-mail.
Previous Evening Meets from 2010
April 14th	Hobson Moor
A good turnout for the first KMC midweek evening meet of the year, including a few prospective members: Gareth Williams, Dave Wylie, Al Metelko, Josh Dynover, Ian Crook, Mark Ashley, Mike Reading, Katharine Bagshaw and Mike Freeman. Some bouldering on the classic traverse round the quarry was the first order of the evening. Then various classic routes were climbed, including "Pocket Wall", "The Harp", "Epitaph Corner", "Amphitheatre Climb", etc. The weather stayed very fine, thought it did get a bit chilly once the sun left the crag. On to the "Waggon and Horses" for a swift drink and to decide where to go next week.
April 21st	Anglezarke
Ten people, including another new prospective member, turned up at Anglezarke for a fine evening of climbing: Chris Williams, Gareth Williams, Katharine Bagshaw, Bob Kelly, Al Metelko, Dave Wylie, Andy Grantham, Mark Ashley, Carolyn Mills, Nick. Most of the climbing were done on the "Walts Wall" and the "Lower Walls" next to the easy scramble down from the road. One team did venture through the jungle swamps to the other side of the quarry, though. Routes included "Whittakers Original", "Wedge", the eponymous "Nightmare" "Meanwhile" and "Alldreds Original"
April 28th	Helsby
Attendees: Chris Williams, Nick, Andy Grantham, Carolyn Mills, Al Metelko, Dan OBrian and a couple of people enquiring about the club. A beautiful evening, lots of sun despite it raining as people left work in Manchester. Lots of routes led up to HVS. Four went to the pub and after much discussion Pex Hill was voted next weeks venue.
May 5th	Pex Hill
Attendees: Chris Williams, Andy Grantham, Gareth Williams, Carolyn Mills, Al Metelko, Chris Hall. The midges almost came out to spoil the evening. The weather had a damp but cold feel, the grass was wet but the rock was dry and routes were led, top roped and there was plenty of bouldering to give a pleasant feeling of having given the fingers a good workout.
May 12th	Castle Naze
Attendees: Chris Williams, Bob Kelly, Josh Dynevor, Carolyn Mills, Koy oi Ding, Gareth Williams, Andy Grantham, Al Metelko, Mark Ashley. A bad choice of car sharing hub ensured total confusion when a convoy of 5 cars hit the rush hour traffic on the A34, which was lucky for the mobile phone companies! The crag was warmer than expected as it was sheltered from the NE wind and the rock was in as perfect condition as it will ever be on a sunny evening.
May 19th	Egerton Quarry
Attendees: Dave Wylie, Katharine Bagshaw, Al Metelko, Chris Williams, Gareth Williams, Carolyn Mills, Chris Hall. Dave and Katherine arrived first and headed to the lower tier of the Empty Quarter. "Space Between my Ears" seemed quite a bit harder than the guidebook grade of Hard Severe, 4a. While Dave was still leading the route, other people arrived and chose the Red Wall/Cherry Bomb area. Joining them later, "Desert Dust" (allegedly at HS, 4b) seemed quite a bit more straightforward than the previous route! A few other routes in the Red Wall area were climbed, with a fair amount of loose rock coming down in the process. Fortunately, none of this hit the belayers! Occasional faint voices were heard drifting through the heavily wooded quarry, but whether these were other climbers, or just passers-by, remains a mystery. There were also some rather noisy trail-bikers in the vicinity, plus at least one squirrel and a few midges. The quarry does have a few relatively clean and worthwhile routes, but doesnt seem to be popular enough for most of the climbs to stay in condition. However, it probably didnt deserve Katherines dismissal of it as "A bit of a cess-pit"... The lightweights left the quarry at around 9pm, but a hard-core group persisted, despite the lack of light, and finally made it to the pub at 10:45pm.
June 2nd	Dovestones Edge
This venue was originally scheduled for May 26th. Unfortunately, afternoon rain in Manchester put most of the KMC off. Two people (Midge Castick and Katarine Bagshaw) did make it out to the crag that evening, but didnt manage to meet each other. The only climbing seems to have been a Moderate, soloed by Midge. However, as she did not suggest an alternative crag, Dovestones Edge was carried forward into June. Attendees: Dave Wylie, Katharine Bagshaw, Roger Dyke, Midge Castick, Al Metelko, Chris Williams, James Williams, Carolyn Mills, Mark Ashley, Andy Stratford, etc., etc. The weather on June 2nd provided no excuses, so plenty of people turned up at the edge. So many, in fact, that the above attendee list is incomplete! Loads of routes were climbed in the glorious evening sunshine. Again, as per the attendee list, not all the details have been recorded. Lets just say that several excellent classics and a few less well trodden climbs saw traffic. However, out of all the people who got out to the crag, only 3 went to the pub. Disappointing!
June 9th	Wilton 1 (see also the Online Guidebook)
Attendees: Andy Stratford, Andy Grantham, Carolyn Mills, Gareth Williams, Al Metelko Earlier rain and a cold biting easterly didnt stop 4 very keen climbers from climbing Eliminate VS 4c, 999 HS 4b, Fingernail VS 4c, Flywalk VS 4c, Bird Chimney S 4a. Al joined later in the evening, in time to tie on to the end of a rope.
June 16th	Horseshoe Quarry
Attendees: James Williams, Andy Stratford, Carolyn Mills, Chris Hall, Al Metelko, Gareth Williams. Brilliant weather, fab climbing. Last off crag teams just made the pub.
June 23rd	Witches Quarry (see also the Online Guidebook)
Attendees: Carolyn Mills, Gareth Williams, James Williams, Peter McNulty, Andy Stratford, Chris Hall, Penny Lewis, Al Metelko, Keith McDonald. Another dry almost sunny evening ended with another mad dash to the pub for last orders. First timers to the quarry seemed to be most impressed and loads of routes up to E1 led. I guess as it wasnt quite the full moon and the witch free evening allowed us solve the mystery of the little red nut.
June 30th	Running Hill Pits
Attendees: Dave Wylie, Andy Grantham, Al Metelko, Carolyn Mills, James Williams, Andy Stratford, Mark Ashley, Chris Hall, Rhian, Keith McDonald. "Plumb Line" (VS, 4c) fended off many attempts, the only successful clean lead on it being by Carolyn. The "Midge Pit" at the bottom of the route was not a pleasant place to belay...
July 7th	Hen Cloud
Attendees: James Williams, Andy Stratford, Andy Grantham, Penny Lewis, Chris Williams, Keith McDonald, Al Metelko. A slightly damp and cloudy evening didn't stop the above from climbing well into dusk. Even so, they were not as keen as the group of 4 who'd been climbing since 11am, through the rain and where last off the crag.
July 28th	Heptonstall
Attendees: Andy Stratford, Dave Wylie, Peter McNulty. It was third time lucky for Heptonstall on the 28th, following bad weather which had put (nearly) everyone off for the previous two planned visits. The last of the day's showers blew past just as Andy and Dave arrived - but the rock was completely dry. Peter turned up soon afterwards and was pleased to see that he was not the only attendee this time - unlike on July 14th, when he was on his own and just got some bouldering done. Andy led "Fairy Steps" (HS, 4b) and "Curving Crack" (VS, 4c). Peter did "Trepidation" (VS, 4c). Dave just stuck to seconding. There were also three other, non KMC, climbers and a few locals out for their evening walks. An excellent evening's climbing, presumably the reason that there weren't more people in attendance was because all the other regulars are out in the Alps.
August 4th	Alderman Rocks
Attendees: Dave Dillon, Mark Ashley, Keith McDonald. Wavey Dave commented that "Alderman had lots of exiting and airy climbs". Mark provided the attendee list and reported that he'd managed to fall off one route (an HVS), so is this what was meant by "exiting"? Or was it perhaps "exciting"?
August 11th	Pots and Pans Quarries
Crack teams in various stages of Alpine fitness ascended on Pots and Pans. Climbs a la climbing wall colour coded: Green for Greasy and Brown for Brill. Bounteous brill byways bashed while magnificent maelstroms mangled Manchester. Also a spot of deep water soloing, or the moorland equivalent with head torch.
August 18th	Wilton Three One (see also the Online Guidebook)
Carolyn, Gareth, Mark, Nick, Al, Pete, Chris, Dave. Teams rocked up from many mountain ranges around. Wilton One the venue because a red plank flew. Crag coding on this meet was a bit more discreet. Brown remained still for Brill, Green two grades more up hill. A further code Beasty added fun to the game. All in all a pretty good session on the grit.
August 25th	Pule Hill (see also the Online Guidebook)
A record Wednesday night attendance for 2010 including 4 Daves(!) with Al Metelko, Andy Stratford, Gareth Williams, Wavey Davey, Dave Garland, Dave Shotton, Dave Bertalot, Carolyn Mills, Katherine Bagshaw, Kate Harvey, Mark Ashley, Nick Adamson all making it to the pub plus a couple of others who didn't. After being nearly eaten alive at a midgey Wilton One last week the voting was focused around getting to a crag that more or less was guarenteed "to have lots of wind". So Pule Hill was very still, very warm and very midgey last night! Routes climbed included on The Sentinal included Bed End (VD), The Peeler (S 4a), Traverse Not (HS 4c), No Exit (VS 4c). Routes on Flying Buttress included Minotaur (HVS 5a), and Flying Buttress (S 4a). There were lots of others. Most agreed that the routes were typically Yorkshire in their undergrading and often thuggy! Midgeyness was once again a deciding factor in the convoluted voting and on the basis that limestone gets less beasties and we have only done one place with sport routes on a Wednesday this year, Harpur Hill Quarry was eventually settled on. NB according to those in the know HH does have a few excellent trad routes. A good session both on the grit and in the pub and a warm welcome to the newer faces.
September 1st	Harpur Hill
Harper Hill devotees : Al Metelko, Penny Lewis, Andy Stratford, Gareth Williams, Carolyn Mills, Mark Ashley, Nick Adamson, Dave Dillon, Keith McDonald, Roger Dyke. Nearly midge free, moon free, not bog free, almost trad free, sort of sun free. Plenty of whirling escapades. Only voting for four crags in the snug pub made an easy finish to the night out.