Karabiner Mountaineering Club

November 1997 Newsletter Meet Reports

27 July: The Roaches: Robert Clark

Present: Robert Clark, Linda Batey, Rob Allen, Anne Wooley, Dave Wylie, Roger Dyke, Dave Bone, Tony Major, Roger Mapleson, Bridget Mapleson.

The Meet leader decided to switch the location from Almscliff in Yorkshire due to the weather forecast for that area. This seems to have been a popular decision, the day turning out warm and sunny at the Roaches. Several ascents were made of the easier classic routes; Valkyrie, Via Dolorosa, Pebbledash, Black and Tans.

Rob Allen and Anne Wooley were spotted demonstrating the benefits of the twin rope technique on Valkyrie, with a single 9mm rope. Having just returned from India, Anne was suffering a little from the old "Delhi Belly" . However, she wasn't too concerned about having to second the flake pitch, as she was well equipped with a double roll of Andrex bog roll.

Dave Bone and Tony Major did Safety Net on the Sky line area among other routes. Roger Dyke had only turned up to do a bit of bouldering as he expected everyone to be sampling the delights of Almscliff.

Thanks to everyone who came - did anyone go to Almcliff?

5 October: Laddow Rocks: Ken Beetham

Multitude present included: Phil Ramsbottom, Jim and Judith Symon, Lester Payne, Frank and Margaret Williams, Iain McAllum, D.W. Seddon, P. Walker, Cathy Devine, Jeremy Engineer, C. Williamson, D. Dillon, Al Metelko, Dave Wylie, Dave Bone, Dave Whittingham, Dave Shotton, R. Dyke, Sue and Heather Brooke, D. Lee, Virginia and Joanne Castick, Lorna Marsland and her lads, Me, Nev McMillan, Sheenah Hendrie, Craig Marsden, Anne Wolley, Bob and Sylvia Haynes, Claire Byrne, Roger and Bridget Mapleson plus a few lads from Nottingham two of whom took tea with me. Of KMC and guests 37 approx.

If I have missed any sorry.

Of course one may say that the climbing here is now dated, but is that such a bad thing. You at least, like Scafell and Gable have to work up a sweat to get there. I passed a sprawl of couched youth on the way up and was a little disturbed, not by their pleasantness, but by the pending obesity of several of them bound for the Chew.

Anyway it was a lovely day after last year's wash out and many routes were done. I know the youngsters performed admirably and the surviving 'experienced'!!! mountaineer found ecstasy amongst the sods. The now mucky first climb I did there was North Climb with Brian Waller in the early fifties and Duncan reminisced with me as I kneed my way up the lower grass to final glory worthy of Wagner's efforts. It may well be the last. The Stove limped along on a worn out engine until the last litre when it suddenly roared into melt down. Was it trying to tell me something? Dillon seems set on winning a pot at the slide show whilst another member received gear from Lee to the relief of his second who was setting down for the night. Nev inspected the sandy veneer at the top of Leaf Buttress, and lastly I can hardly move today, Tuesday.

It's a strange gathering this particular meet at Laddow, annually people turn up like old neighbours popping in and its great to see them. I suppose the stove and clap trap surrounding it acts as a pivot and thanks again to all who came. I'm sure that the day was well spent by all concerned. Many thanks to those work horses who bore upwards both waters and means to boil it. Perhaps what Man City needs is KMC tea. What do you think? Suggestions please by postcard addressed to Francis Lee Esq.(Duncan's Uncle) at Maine road. Moss Side.

1-2 November: Ty Powdwr: Pyros

Present: Mark Garrod, Michelle Harvie, Dave Dillon, Alison Gilbody, Cathy Divine, Geremy Engineer, Al Metelko, Chris Williamson, Roger and Brigit Mapleson, Rob Allen, Mary Stuart, Levi Todd, Andy Croughton, Dave Wylie, Linda Crossley, Duncan Lee, Robert Clarke, Sabina Cosulich, Lester Payne, Dave Bone, Dave Whittingham, Susan Glenan, And lost of guest appearences.

By all accounts, it was a splendid do. The bonfire was built from subterranean levels upward by Mark. He had been collecting fallen wood from around the hut. Some of the wood, while technically being dead wood and parted from the main tree, hadn't made it all the way down to the ground. As a consequence of this, Mark expended so much energy building the bonfire that he forwent the intended task of going for a run. He said it would be too easy in comparison and didn't want to wind down with a run. Dave Wylie and Levi dispatched most of the fire works into the night. To complete the fire side ethics, Mark got up really early to dowse the ashes and re-lay the turf he'd removed the previous day. He had the help of Cathy with the jigsaw puzzle.

Sunday was occupied with people looking for the best venue for the day. Tremadoc had the best sunshine, so the Rob's reported. The worst overtaking was witnessed by Roger and Bridgit towards Pen Trewin, which put them off doing too much for the rest of the day. Other teams spread out over Wales, reporting the sights. The worst rain was in the Llanberis pass. The most spectacular fire works were seen above the Idwal slabs. The most worried people were seen in the car parks down below Cwm Idwal. The worst head torch couldn't be seen on Idwal Slabs.

All in all, a good do. Cheers to all who arrived.

The View from The Bottom

It was a bit of a late start. But then, it WAS the Sunday morning after the night before's Bonfire Bash. It was also a rather grey and drizzly day. Five of us - Al Metelko, Linda Crossley, Chris Williamson, Susan Glenan (on her first KMC meet!) and myself (Dave Wylie) - headed round to Ogwen in Linda's car. We walked in to Idwal from the big lay-by on the A5, and split into two teams at the foot of the slabs. Chris and Linda set off up "Tennis Shoe" taking their rucksacks with them, with the intention of continuing up above the slabs and walking off straight back to the car. Al and I took Susan up "Ordinary Route", which seemed an ideal choice given the wet conditions. We left our gear at the bottom, planning to come straight back down after doing the route. Both teams arrived at the top of the slabs at about the same time, and nobody fancied the notorious descent route down the gully. Chris and Linda stuck to their plan of doing a route on the Upper Tier and headed up "Lazarus". Al, Susan and I began to head back down the slabs. The pattern was for me to abseil first, followed by Susan, then for Al to dismantle the belay and down-climb. By this stage the ropes were soaking wet, and tangling with a vengeance. For the bottom pitch, Al lowered Susan off to allow me to abseil down nice straight (but still very wet) ropes, before he down-climbed to join us.

It was now exactly quarter past five in the evening - I remember looking at my watch. We could see Chris and Linda at the top of "Lazarus" on the upper tier, and we were easily able to shout up to them and hear what they shouted back. We agreed that Al, Susan and I would walk back down to Ogwen Cottage to wait, while Chris and Linda were going to "head left as you face in to the crag" and then walk down to meet up with us. Al shouted up "Have you got a head torch?", to which Chris replied "Yes". It was getting a bit gloomy by this stage, with the mist down and the days shortening towards winter, so they would probably need their torches to get down.

We set off down the path, and got to Ogwen Cottage at about twenty to six. "They'll be about an hour behind us", I guessed and the three of us then began to fill in the time by practising our mantleshelf techniques on the gateposts (and, in one case, the Pay-And-Display machine!).

After an hour and a half, we began to wonder why Chris and Linda were taking so long to get down. Al walked down the road to check that they hadn't gone straight back to the car (which was now the only one left in the lay-by), but they hadn't. He then walked part of the way back up the path to Llyn Idwal to see if he could spot any head torches, but there was no sign of them.

By eight-o-clock the three of us were getting a bit cold, and rather puzzled. Al borrowed my head torch, and ran off up the path to have another look. He went all the way to the bottom of the Idwal Slabs, then climbed part way up the descent route - shouting all the time for Chris and Linda as he went. He saw nothing, and heard no response. When he got back to Ogwen at around Nine, we discussed what should be done. The car was checked again, and it was still there with no sign of either Chris or Linda.

We went through the possible scenarios, and discounted the possibility that they'd walked off in some wrong direction or simply got lost. There was a chance that they'd got stuck on an abseil somewhere, or that one of them had fallen; but we still couldn't work out why there'd been no answer to Al's calls. By this stage, we were all getting concerned that something unfortunate might have happened. After going through the possibilities again, Al and I decided that we'd better call out the Mountain Rescue. Apparently it was my turn to do this, as Al had done it twice before and therefore it was someone else's go. So, at twenty past nine, I dialled 999 in the payphone, and asked for "Mountain Rescue". This set various events in motion, resulting in first a police officer, and then Tony Jones from the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation arriving, both in less than twenty minutes.

Everybody wanted details. We must have repeated the facts at least four times: How many people were missing, what were their names, how old were they, how experienced were they, where had they been seen last, when had they been seen last, what route were they doing, what colour jackets were they wearing, did they have torches, did they have helmets, did they wear glasses, etc., etc., etc. By this stage, Tony Jones had written out a note which we put on Linda's car, and we'd all been taken to the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Headquarters - "Oggy Base". Perhaps another half an hour had passed.

Tony now wanted a decision from us. Did we want him to send up a team to look for Chris and Linda? He made it very clear that it was our choice, and that he wouldn't decide for us. He said that the team would happily go out and look, but he would be very unhappy if the missing pair "didn't want to be rescued". He also mentioned that the team had already been out three times that weekend. Various thoughts of Chris or Linda in serious trouble flashed through my mind as Al and I looked at each other in unspoken confirmation, so I said "Yes, send out a team". Within seconds, Tony had rung the pager number, and the team members began to call in. I'd stopped keeping track of the time by this stage, but it can't have taken much more than another half hour for the team to assemble and get ready.

Two rescue teams set out onto the hill. The three of us, the policeman and the rescue Landrover's driver waited at Oggy Base, watching Tony co-ordinate the search. We could also hear the radio messages coming in from teams on the hill, so we had a good idea of what was going on. The driver kept us talking through the quiet stages of the search, presumably trying to keep our minds from thinking the worst. Despite several cups of tea, and central heating, we were all "cold inside" as Susan put it. We were still trying to work out what could have happened, hoping all the time that Linda and Chris would be OK.

The searchers launched two flares from Llyn Idwal, (the second being needed after the first one shot off sideways and exploded in the Devil's Kitchen). They couldn't see or hear any response, so they then headed up into the Nameless Cwm and set off a third flare. At this point they reported seeing a light, and set off upwards to investigate. At quarter past twelve, the advance team made voice contact with Chris and Linda. They reported via radio to Base that they had confirmed identities, and that both of them were well. There was huge relief shared between the three of us down in the base, and we could at last stop worrying. The rescue team had to set up ropes to reach the two of them, and get them out of the area. The mood had lightened considerably now, and a radio message from one of the search teams trying to find their way back down was "It's not them that's lost, it's us!". This comment resulted in a rapid scolding back over the radio from Tony Jones. The two teams got back to Oggy Base, with Chris and Linda, at two-o-clock in the morning.

The de-briefing didn't take long, and Tony Jones didn't fulfil his threat to "Rip their B**=A3=A3*<$ off", so he must have decided that we hadn't called them out unnecessarily. We also overheard one of the rescue team say that he thought we'd made the right decision in calling them out. Chris and Linda were rather embarrassed about it all, but at least now everybody was smiling. Apart from only having one head torch between the two of them, there was no criticism of their equipment or what they'd done. It was one of those incidents that we can now look back at and laugh about, but we should all remember how easy it is to get into real trouble on the hill, and what the consequences could have been.

I'll leave it up to Linda and Chris to tell their side of the story, and explain exactly what they were doing up there. I'm sure that rumours will spread, and that the tale will grow with the telling!

The overriding impression of the rescue was one of thorough professionalism. The speed and efficiency at which everything was done was remarkable. It is very reassuring to know that if the worst should happen on the hill, there are people out there willing to come out at the drop of a hat and help us out of it. We should continue to give these guys all the support we can.

Working Party 22nd/23rd November 1997

Workers: Iain McCallum, Pam McCallum, Phil Ramsbottom, Chris Thickett, Lester Payne, Alan Wylie, Dave Wylie, John Dobson

Apprentices: Richard Dobson, Ian Dobson

Another working meet focusing on the kitchen project.

Preparing the walls for re-painting took a lot of effort, mainly from Alan, Chris, Lester and Richard, but with most people chipping in at some point. All the joints have now been re-scrimmed in advance of painting, but the wall above the cooker hasn't been sanded down yet. It should be possible to finish this off and get it all painted in one more weekend.

Phil and his apprentice, young Ian, installed wiring to power the electric igniters for the new hobs. Ian was small enough to get right under the worktop in the corner and, as he's left handed, he could wire up the parts that other electricians cannot reach. Now you just turn on the gas and press the button for instant heat.

In case things get too steamy, Dave installed a couple of extractor fans to get rid of all the hot air the club generates. They're independently controllable, and variable speed, so you can choose how hard a suck you want.

Lester replaced the "trace heating" to the new plumbing for the sinks, so that even the coldest of Welsh winters won't freeze things up.

The final electrical work was to increase the number of 13A power points. Dave fitted new double outlets to make a total of six sockets. We can now safely have both fridges, both microwaves, the toaster AND the fairy lights on the Christmas tree all on at once!

John added a shelf and an end panel to the new sink unit. The new wood hasn't been varnished yet, so please try not to make too much of a flood. The new unit still hasn't got all its trim installed - watch out for the rather sharp exposed metal edge behind the taps on the right hand one.

There are still several other jobs outstanding before we can claim to have finished the kitchen. The various storage areas will move round a bit once the new "Island Unit" and food storage boxes have been built and installed. The skirting boards have not been replaced, and there are various small jobs still to be tidied up. Plus the re-painting of course. However, it looks like the majority of the big jobs are now out of the way. We're getting there, as they say!

Away from the kitchen, Chris and John plumbed in the missing link to get the large "Belfast" sink in the Gent's back in use. In the same area, Dave had a go at fixing a leaking cistern in the first Gent's cubicle. Please report any further signs of flooding in case there's still a problem here.

Iain finished off the new floor in the upstairs members dorm, whilst still finding time to tend to some of the trees and do some more bulb planting, helped by Pam. The two of them also did the catering, with two batches of soup on Saturday and even apple pie for afters! Thanks to them, the work could continue far more efficiently, without everybody having to stop to cook their own food.

As usual, lots of small maintenance jobs also got sorted out in passing. It's amazing how many things need looking after even away from the major development projects. Replacing blown lights, fixing decapitated mops, mending chairs, replacing broken glasses, checking gas supplies, etc. etc. None of it takes very long, but it all adds up.

Many thanks to everybody who turned up and put in so much hard work.

(And Thanks to Dave Wylie for writing this up so quickly, Ed)

November 1997 Newsletter Index.