Karabiner Mountaineering Club

March 1998 Newsletter Forthcoming Meets

"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."

March 7-8: Lakes-hut: Ian Bennett

The meet will be held at Beetham Cottage FRCC hut in patterdale but nearer Brothers Water. Unfortunately there are only places for 5 men and 4 Women in the hut but it is possible to camp (Brrrrr) and we may be able to get another 2 places nearer the time. The cost per night is £4.00 and a booking can be confirmed by pressing £8.00 into my sweaty hand to cover the cost of bed nights.

You can walk from the hut to some good ice climbing at the top of Deepdale ( remember the crag Nora) or drive to Glenridding and make the hike in to the more reliable ice above Red Tarn or do the Helvellyn Horseshoe. It is also possible to walk to falcon crag where there is ome excellent ice climbing. Apart from Great End this is the best and most reliable ice in the Lakes. Time to get your rusty tools out and give them a bit of a sharpen!!

As well as that there are innumerable walks from near the hut which would raise a smile in all bu the most jaded walkers with the options to include a spot of winter scrambling on classic winter routes like St Sunday crag.

And for those of you who can's see past a pair of handlebars there is the classic tour of Helvellyn going up Glenridding to the mines and up the track to Whiteside bank and then over the tops of Helvellyn, Nethermost and Dollywaggon before descending Grisedale for a thoroughly meaty day out. Oh, suits you sir! Wimps need not apply and put some padding on that crossbar for the long arduous carries. It gets Severe in my book.

And by the way the pub at Brotherswater does food and beer with only a short walk. What more can I say, book now to avoid Disappointment by contacting me.

March 14-15: Onich: Roger Mapleson

Accommodation in Onich has been booked for your delectation. The Inchree bunk house has 10 places booked at £6.50 per night per person. March winter climbing on the Ben, Creag Meaghaidh, Glen Coe, etc. Secure your place by placing £13.00 with Roger, down the pub on Thursday nights.

March 21-22: Ty Powdyr

March 29: Hot Pot / Annual Fjell Fun Run: Ric Kruze / Kevin Anderson

The Annual Fjell Fun Run coincides with the beginning of British Summer Time.so don't forget to set your clocks the night before to make sure you get to each event in time. (1.30pm sharp, Sunday 29 March 1998 - at least that's when it starts....!!??). The Fell Race is being organised by Kevin Anderson. Here's his bit first.

Meet in the car park outside the Wheatchief pub, on the corner of Church Street, Old Glossop. To get there head out towards Sheffield on the A57, cross over the main traffic lights at the top-end of Glossop town centre (Norfolk Arms on the left), continue on for approximately 400m (about 1/4 mile, 20 chains, 73 fathoms, 2 furlongs, in old money, or 0.00000134 seconds at the speed of light for those travelling with Chris Williams ), turn left off the A57 bythe Commercial Inn and head up Manor Park Road for another 400m. This road eventually becomes Church St. As it bears sharply left you'll see the Wheatchief and carpark on your right.

Alternatively, let the train take the strain - they run (well sometimes) on Sundays now. As you come out the station turn left up the hill, walk for about 5 minutes then turn right down Hall Meadow Road - this turns into Church St. Keep walking till the road bears sharply to the right and you'll be next to the Wheatchief (also near the Bull and just 30 seconds from the Queens!!)

To give us all time to get showered, shaved, into our smart Ron Hills and over to New Mills for the evenings fun, frolick and festivities the race (used in its loosest sense) will begin at 1.30pm, so be there by 1.15pm.

I've arranged for those of you who either break into a sweat, or more likely are pushed into a peat bog by one of your competitors, to use the Glossop leisure centre showers after the run (55p each, that's 11 bob to the older members). The leisure centre is just five minutes walk from where those of you that survive will finish the run,or should I say be finished by the run!!!!

Although, as usual the run details are kept a carefully guarded secret until after the race, I can leak a few bits of useful info (or beta to you rock jocks - not that we'll see any of you on the run as your legs are no doubt too thin to carry you further than from the car to the wall - go on, prove me wrong):

Distance - between 7 and 11ish miles.
Altitude gained - not more than 3000'.
Terrain - some track, some paths (the sheep type), lots of peat and heather, river crossings, gentle scrambling.

Compulsory Equipment:
Fell type shoes,
Running clothes (that includes you Cathey!!)
Map (no, not the Snowdon one again Chris Ivory) - Dark Peak
Compass
Wind proof
Small rucsac, bum bag or large pocket,
Pen/pencil
Choclate or equivalent
Letter of conscent from parents, spouse or religous leader.

Optional Equipment:
Rope, axes etc,
Flares ( but no bell bottoms)
Survival blanket or bag,
Dog/s - with leads!!

Definitely no horses, helicopters, mountain bikes or scramblers.

And now for the incentives.
1st - A free shower
2nd - A night in Ogwen with either Linda or Chris - or both for those who like that sort of thing.
3rd - A make-over and photo shoot by Reddish's answer to David Bailey
4th - Night climbing with Al Metelko(must have own car and head torch!!)
5th - A weekend orienteering withChris Ivory
6th - A 'water' bottle signed by Ken Beetham
plus many others.*!?#

So that's it folks. See you there - it'll be easier than it sounds -promise!!??

Now for the evening entertainment.

The Hot Pot and Slide show is at the Swan Hotel on Buxton Road (A6), New Mills. The doors are open at 6pm and we will be sitting down to eat at 7pm. The cost is £5 for the meal and I need to know numbers at least a week before. Also when booking could you indicate if you want a vegitarian meal.

There will be a Slide Show to follow so please get your slides in early (if possible). Hand your slides and photos to Andy Croughton as soon as you can (like now) so the judge can be bribed early. Please hand them in by the 19th March to help Andy. (so he can put a few extras in).

Just to remind you, the catagories are;
1. Mountain Landscape,
2. Rock Climbing Action,
3. Human Interest and
4. Mountaineering Action.

The slides should have been taken during the last 12 months or so, with people submitting a maximum of 3 slides in each category. Please mark all you slides with your name and the category in which you are entering. PLEASE NOTE :- Really humourous slides can have this years date written on in ball point pen and there is no limit on the number submitted.

Booking for the Hot Pot to me at the pub or at my address in the handbook.

April 4-5: Peak Walk, The Four Inns: Dave Shotton

The plan is to do the classic Four Inns walk, covering a distance of 40-45 miles and linking the following Peak District hostelries: Isle of Skye (notional inn, as it has been demolished - grid ref SE 077073, on the A635 Greenfield-Holmfirth road), Flouch (198016), Snake (113906), and Cat & Fiddle (001719, on the A537 Macclesfield-Buxton road).

The transport and time arrangements and a more detailed route plan will be finalized nearer the time but the walk can take either of the following forms:-

EITHER in two parts with an early start (7.00/7.30 a.m.) at the site of the Isle of Skye on the Saturday and an overnight stop in the Edale/Snake area (bivvy, camping, B&B or as on past occasions at the Snake Inn itself) or even at home(!), to finish at the Cat & Fiddle on Sunday (this plan definitely requires the support of a driving team - volunteers welcome!)

OR continuously, with a comparatively late start on the Saturday, walking through much of the night to finish relatively early on the Sunday (this might allow some use at least of the public transport system).

Please speak to Dave at the pub on a Thursday night if you are interested in this meet, as there will need to be some discussion regarding final details of the walk.

(I am indebted to Iain McCallum, whose reports of his meet in May 1994 have been unashamedly plagiarized for many of the above details!)

April 9-13: Easter in the Lakes: Linda Batey

I've booked the Fell and Rock's Birkness hut in Buttermere from Thursday 9 April until Monday 13 April. We are limited to 16 spaces in the hut (10 men and 6 women ) so see me as soon as possible if you want a bed, alternatively there are two campsites nearby.

April 19: True Grit - Gardom's Edge: Mark Garrod

Of course it's warm enough, Gardom's has, I'm told, loads of stuff for everyone. Bring you running gear hust in case it's 'orrible.

Parking is at the Robin Hood (A619) 281722, or near crossroads at 278740. Suggest 11 a.m. onwards, near Och Aye Wall or Moyer's Butress areas.

April 25: Peak Outing: Robert Clark

Robert will be on his holidays this weekend. He has promised faithfully to find a proxy leader for the meet. It is to be a local do. See Robert for details.

May 2-3: Pembroke Bank Holiday: Linda Crossley

Start your Summer climbing season on sea cliffs in sunny south Pembroke, the May Day bank Holiday weekend. Despite the birds having right of way, there is plenty of climbing at all grades.

Accomodation : camping/ bivvy at St Petrox, south of Pembroke (the town). Bird Nesting details : Available at beggining of March. See the BMC access list or check with Me.

May 10: Peak Climbing - Black Rocks: Dave Wylie

In an increasingly desperate attempt to (a) go somewhere new and (b) get a bit more mileage out of the Chatsworth guidebook that I've only used once so far, I've picked Black Rocks for the mid May Sunday climbing meet.

There are loads of routes here at virtually all grades: from six Moderates up to two E8's (and even an unconfirmed E9!). Plenty of starred middle grade routes for us to have a go at if we're not feeling up to "Gaia". And there's bouldering too - what more could we wish for? (Stop that muttering about Pubs and Tea Shops...)

To get there, head South from Matlock a couple of miles down the A6 to Cromford, then follow the B5036 South towards Wirksworth. Just over a mile uphill, a lane forks left. This should be signposted for the crag. There is a car park along here according to the guide, only two minutes from the crag (which should be clearly visible).

I should be turning up at the crag in the late morning sometime, probably around 11-ish. See you there!

May 16-17: Working party Ty Powdwr: Dave Wylie

Bit of a tricky one this time. We're planning to replace the cold water tank. Why? well, put it this way: if you've been drinking the water at the hut from the taps that this tank feeds, then you certainly shouldn't be short of Iron! The old metal tank is rusting badly. If it were to spring a leak then nearly two tons of water could be deposited into the hallway, so it is time to do something about it. We're currently investigating how big a plastic tank we can get up into the loft, and hopefully we'll have bought a suitable replacement in time.

The problem is, of course, that if we're replacing the tank, then we'll have to turn off the hot water, and manage on one (directly fed) cold tap at best. This means that we really don't want too many people turning up at the hut on this weekend.

We WILL however need some help; as we also want to put in the lintel for the new door into the ladies loo. This needs to be done while the water's been drained, as the wall we need to knock through is supporting the (two tons of) water tank!

The skills we need are mainly plumbing and building related; but PLEASE contact me IN ADVANCE to offer your help, so that we can co-ordinate things.

Thanks in advance, Dave Wylie (Hut Manager).

May 23-25: Rock Climbing, Fairhead, Ireland: Duncan Lee

Fairhead, on the North Coast of County Antrim East of the market town of Ballycastle, is undoubtedly one of the British Isles best crags. It is well worth the extra effort to get there. The cliff is over 2 miles long attaining 400 ft in height in places and is superbly located overlooking Rathin Island and The Mull of Kintyre.

The rock is basalt and columnar in nature (a giant Giants' Causeway) thus providing perfect crack and corner systems at very regular intervals. Most of the routes follow the soaring cracks, so take a substantial rack. Most routes are multi pitch (VS and above), most are superb and queues are non existant. A crack climbers paradise far from the maddening crowds.

Accomodation is still being arranged, so contact me nearer the time. I am currently trying to negotiate access to a climbing hut, but it may be camping.

In the case of the unlikely event of rainfall, the area offers lots of sites to see and touristy things to do such as drink Guinness, visit Giants Causeway, drink Guinness, visit the Bushmills Distillery, drink whisky, venture across Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, eat dulce (sea weed), drink Guinness, eat soda bread, drink Guinness, yummy, etc,.

Now the tricky bit: you will have to book ferries, planes or the SeaCat, so here are some useful phone numbers:

SeaCat Ferry services :0990 - 523523

SeaLink Ferry services:01574 - 273616

Stenaline Ferry services:01232 - 747747

May 31: Peak Limestone: Dovedale: Al Metelko

Park at Milldale (138 548). To ensure a parking place get there early. The plan is to start on Ravens Tor (141 539) in the morning and then move on to the magnificent Ilam Rock. Most of the routes are in the medium to hard grades, but easier climbs can be found at Tissington Spires.

See me in the pub to arrange lifts

March 1998 Newsletter Index.

Copyright © 1998 Karabiner Mountaineering Club