Karabiner Mountaineering Club

March 1998 Newsletter Meet Reports

13-14 September 97: Birkness Buttermere: Linda Batey

Guests: Alison Gilbody, Eric from Switzerland.

Campers in Buttermere: Jeremy's Birthday Party.

There was a good turnout for this meet, with all spaces in the hut taken, forcing Al, Graham and Eric to camp Nearby. Unfortunately the weather did its worst on the Saturday, with horizontal sleet on the tops around Buttermere. By the end of the day the drying room was full to overflowing of very wet clothes and the Bridge Inn was full of dry and thirsty walkers. The Sunday was a much better day, with swimmers seen in Buttermere.

Thanks to all who came along and made this an enjoyable weekend, hope to see you in April when I've booked the hut again, in the hope that this time we might have decent weather.

19 October 97: Trowbarrow Quarry: Tony Gask

Participants: Anne Woolley, Tony Gask, Al Metelko, Dave Wylie, Rob Allen, Robert Clark, Mary Stuart, Levi Todd, Rick Davies, and ANO (sorry)

Quotes of the day, with a little poetic licence (You can work out for yourselves who said what and/or who they apply to):

"You don't need to go to Spain to climb limestone in bright light"

"My rock boots are falling apart"

"... was content to doze and drink coffee"

"... ran out of real oil"

"... actively indulged in inner climbing"

"It's too hot"

"This is more strenuous than I expected"

Mass ascents were made of Jean Jeanie (100ft VS) and Coral Sea (65 ft VS). A spirited and successful attack was made on Hollow Earth (90 ft HVS). Easier routes included Ramp Ant (Severe, much more pleasant than first appears) and Twentieth Century Schizoid Man (I like the name; a nice clean diff. solo). No one did Hari Kari "4c (variable) E1. Not so much a rock climb, more a test of sanity"

The climbing at Trowbarrow is excellent, despite part of the main face looking as if it were about to fall down! Well worth a return visit. And a sun trap. By six o'clock the sun was just leaving the crag, and it just happened that the leader knew of a pub that was open, half a mile away from the motorway junction.

An excellent day, but where were the walkers?

16 November 97: Roaches Walk: Pete Walker

Members: Chris Thickett, Alan Peck, Roger Dyke, Jim & Sandy Gregson, Lester Payne, Lorna Marsland, Iain McCallum, Neville McMillan, Sheenah Hendrie, Bob Haynes, Ken Beetham, Dave Wylie, Frank & Margaret Williams, Al Metelko, Peter Walker.

Guests: Joan and David Green, Mike Graves, Radka Dvorakova, Reg Way, Vladi Georger, Peter, Phil Dale, Sylvia Haynes, Richard Walker.

Firstly, a note of caution if you are offered a lift by Chris Thickett in his Citroen ZX. Our survival of roundabouts taken at 60 mph owed more to lack of traffic that driving skill. You have been warned!

After this hair raising drive we just managed to squeeze in all the KMC cars at Danebridge, a very popular parking place, even more so when featured at the start of a walk in the previous days Manchester Evening News. The hordes were arriving as we set off at 9-30 up to the Hanging Stone, not a place of execution but a large rock overhang from which to view the rest of the walk - along the ridge culminating in the Roaches and Hen Cloud, then back by the valleys on the eastern side, the Churnet, Black brook and the Dane. Jim forges ahead from this point leaving the usual crowd of winter walkers to continue at a more leisurely rate to the Roaches.

Having survived the perils of the Doxey Pool we were entertained by Al and Neville each soloing a route on the crag, which was very busy for a November Sunday. We continued to Hen Cloud by way of Rockhall, the steps and the lower tier, and, on the far side dropped down to a minor path contouring the foot of the rocks to our chosen lunch spot. It was soon evident that a few people had missed this turn, including Reg Way - very unfortunately. He had been left, behind a wall, on a recent meet of Iains, now we had lost him again - not on purpose Reg - honest! We regrouped at Roach End - Reg arriving by car - cleverly having missed the least interesting section of the walk. United once more we walked down into Gradbach Woods and a visit to Lud's Church. This eerie spot has an interesting history, which the meet leader inflicted on his flock once they had been led into its gloomy depths. Our next and last stop was at Castle Rocks, another great view point for the Dane valley before returning to Danebridge by the riverside path, a lovely walk through the woods.

Iain McC, Al Metelko, Alan Peck and Lester extended the walk to Gradbach Mill - which probably meant they got caught by the downpour which we watched from the comfort of the Wild Boar Inn.

A rather undemanding twelve miles - but through a very beautiful and interesting area. The company was great, as usual, with Vladi and Radka adding to international flavour.

7 December 97: Kettleshulme: Lorna Marsland

PRESENT : Ken Beetham, Derek Seddon, Pat Holt, Dave Dillon, Virginia Castick, Tony Gask, Clare Bass, Joanne Castick, Joan Green, Bob Haynes, Phil Ramsbottom, David Green, Sylvia Haynes, Liverpool Jones, Dave Shotton, Chris Thickett, Eric Hallam, Iain McCallum, Mark Garrod, Neville McMillan, Dave Wylie, Michelle Harvie, Sheenagh Hendrie, Mike Peters, Len Stubbs, Rick Kruze, Brian Taylor, Pete Walker, Ruth Ashton, Margaret Baldock, Richard Walker, Lester Payne, Roger Dyke, Jim Gregson, Frank Williams, Margaret Williams, Hyde Jones, Christine Jones, Lorna Marsland, Al Metelko, Keith Williams, John Dwyer, Rich Johnson, Julie Johnson, Neil Whittaker-Axon.

Quite a few people turned out for this one, so I must be in the running for the BEST ATTENDED meet if the WORST LED title eludes me!

The weather was dull but rain held off all day despite a certain dampness in the air. A number of us set off from Len's at 9.25 as ordered by HE WHO MUST BE OBEYED and we followed a well-known route towards Lamaload Reservoir via the Gritstone Trail, up Shining Tor and onto The Cat and Fiddle for a very welcome pre Christmas drink.

Various people joined in and opted out during the course of the day, which made keeping track of the numbers an interesting challenge. We only lost one person to my knowledge but as he's very definitely over twenty-one, no one concerned themselves too much by his disappearance from the general throng.

The highlight of the day was a little incident at the picnic stop where we ate a hurried lunch avoiding the wind. I happened to mention as I placed my stainless steel thermos on the table that a friend of mine had likened it to a phallus. It was an ill-conceived comment as I was surrounded by men who took this as an invitation to line theirs up alongside. The table was soon resplendent in flasks all slightly different but with a common theme, their proud owners commenting on personal idiosyncrasies whilst casting surreptitious glances to either side. Boys will be boys! It provided a very amusing distraction on a chilly day, particularly Tony Gask's offering - I can say no more!!

Back at Len's it was standing room only when the afternoon shift arrived i.e. those who hadn't managed to get out of bed early enough to do any of the walking or any of the drinking. They flooded in by the thousand or so it seemed and the catering squad did a fantastic job of feeding them all.

Thanks to everyone for turning out on a potentially inclement day, and to Len for sharing his home with us yet again. See you next year .

4 January 98: Peak Walk: Lorna Marsland

MEMBERS PRESENT : Jim and Sandy Gregson, Dave Dillon, Linda Crossley, Derek Seddon, Zoe and Nigel Rosenbaum, Iain McCallum.

ROUTE : Mam Nick, Mam Tor, Back Tor, Lose Hill, Hostelry - home-made stilton soup, steaming hot with fresh crusty bread mmm, Win Hill, Hope, Castleton via the river, Wynnat's Pass, Mam Nick.

As you can see it was a circular route with lousy weather throughout, which is why the hot soup was most welcome. Nothing very unusual happened on the walk - the Gregsons left us before Win Hill as Jim was worried about altitude sickness and we lost Iain on the summit when he trotted off after a rival party in search of the Yorkshire Bridge. Some people seem to regard these meets as little more than a pub crawl! Oh, and Linda Crossley insisted I do an emergency stop on the A6, when she spotted a body in the gutter! So all in all it was just another uneventful meet. Thanks to all who turned out in the expectation of being thoroughly soaked, and it was particularly nice to see Nigel and Zoe after such a long time.

10-11 January: Vinny's Experiment Weekend

Members and Guests present: Kevin Anderson, Joan Stewart, Chris Thickett

Members and Guests not present: Vinny

Dear newsletter man, Pleez can I av me tick for this meet cos I dint see Vinny at all an not even a test tube or bunsen burner as there was only me an Kevin an Joan an on Saterday I was on Moel Eilio an the wind was very strong but there was no Vinny an Kevin an Joan was playin in the quarries and in Llanberis on Sunday we all was on Crib Goch to see if our legs would blow out orizontal if we eld on wiv both ands an it was much warmer outside the inside the ut an it dint start to rain till late on Sunday afternoon an it says that it were free for all but I went an paid an the sheep were dancing in front of the ut but that was probably cos Vinny dint turn up so can I av me tick? Luv Chris.

31 January - 1 February 1998: Working Party

Members: Lester Payne, Steve Taylor, Phil Ramsbottom, Chris Thickett, Tony Gask, Frank Williams, Margaret Williams, Iain McCallum, Pam McCallum, Jim Gregson, Dave Cazalett, Dave Wylie.

Things really moved along in the kitchen at this meet. Everybody worked hard on the Saturday to get as much done as possible. All the joints in the walls are now finished, and the first coat of paint has been applied - mainly thanks to Phil and Chris. Steve and Dave W. finished the woodwork round the new sinks. Pots and pans are now to be stored under the new hobs and stainless steel worktops, the extra shelves here being fitted by Frank. Tony put back the skirting boards, which make the whole job look much more complete. The new food storage boxes are now in place (fabricated by Steve and Dave W. over the two weekends prior to the meet). Lester and Dave C. painted all the (non-varnished) woodwork, so we now have a fairly consistent colour scheme once more (if you don't like it, you come along and do it next time round!).

Elsewhere in (or even out of) the Hut, Dave C. fixed up the new outside light above the entrance porch. Dave W. wired this into the main hut supply - discovering some fascinating (and somewhat worrying) old hut circuitry in the process. The fine tuning of the automatic switch on/off may take some time to sort out. Lester and Jim re-cycled the old food boxes as storage shelves in one of the upper dormitories. Steve disabled the coin mechanism on the Drying Room meter - somebody had nicked the old 50p piece that we used to re-cycle, and the new style ones don't fit!

We also managed to dispose of a whole van full of junk that had been cluttering up the hut - mainly from the loft. Special thanks to Steve for organising the van (which we had to hire for transporting the new food boxes).

Iain and Pam performed their usual excellent catering, feeding the whole team soup on Saturday Lunchtime. They also (with Margaret's assistance) tended to the trees in the plantations.

Iain, Pam and Steve could only stay for the one day, and on the Sunday, most of the remaining people went out walking. There were only three daft enough to carry on working (Lester and the two Daves), but when the walkers returned they helped finish off most of the outstanding jobs. Phil and Chris fixed down the new hobs, and varnished the new woodwork round the sink. Finally, everybody helped clear up so that we could leave the hut in a fit state for the next booking.

Many thanks to everybody who lent a hand, and also thanks to Andy Croughton for laminating the new Snowdonia OS Map that we've put up to replace the old one.

15 February: Skiing the Peak: Dave Dillon

Present : Andy Croughton, Linda Batey, Lorna Marsland, Dave Wylie, Paul Hawkins, Frank Connolly, Dave Dillon.

The Route : The Grouse near Chunal to the Snake Inn and back.

The Weather : Warm and sunny with a gentle breeze in the morning clouding over a little in the afternoon, lowering temperatures.

A rather surprising day, gorgeously mild for the time of year. The plant life seemed to think it was summer and will get a shock the next cold snap (er, ... dream on). Most of the moisture on Mill Hill had obviously sublimated during the last ice age, so no one was waysided on the inward leg. There's one of those discrete stone paths up onto the end of Kinder which pointed us in the right direction for Kinder Downfall. Some water was blowing back up the Downfall, but not enough to wet anyone above, e.g. us having sandwiches. A casual paddle and splash up stream pausing at 'Gates to sneak across to Fair Brook, bouncing in and out of the groughs (sic) on that treacherous crossing. Following our noses straight (except me) to the Snake Inn, there quenching our thirst (it was uncommonly warm, you see). Low alcohol tolerance limits made themselves apparent. Return ticket via Ashop Clough along wavey tracks and paths. The diuretic efficacy of the beverages was noted. Must have been some impressive aircraft crashes judging by the debre visible near Upper Red Brook. Back across Mill Hill and Chunal Moor to complete the day, with a few hours of light to spare. A wonderful route. Even more superb when covered in snow, probably.

21-22 February: Going over the top - Kingussie: Sean Kelly

Early intelligence reports of no snow and high rainfall did not entice many heroes to take the high road, but the weekend turned out much better than the Met office forecast, despite driving rain all the way up the M6. The hostel, our advance base, is situated directly behind the 'Tipsy Laird' which was ideally suited as campaign headquarters.

Spirits were downed and later rose with the prospect of a fine day ahead. The advance guard of Tony, Harold and the meet leader conspired to manoeuvre our depleted forces in the direction of the Monadhliath via a camouflaged track, masquerading as a drivable road on the map. So began a forced route march in excess of 25Km with Carn Dearg as our opening shot. The assault was carried across peat hags, dense heather entanglements and fetid bog with our intrepid troops storming the rocky ramparts which guard the summit of Carn Dearg.

Position and altitude was quickly confirmed on the leaders 'Protrek', and new plans formulated to propel the attack with renewed endeavour towards the next 'manoeuvre' Carn Sgulain. However, its defences are well guarded by the vast expanse of the Monadhliath. So a line of attack was formulated and executed via the tops of Carn Ban, Carn, Ballach, Meall na Creahaich, Meall a Bhothain and minor top to gain our objective (in times of hostilities, place names will of necessity have to be codes and scrambled (Ed - Too true))

The overnight snow, much like the Corinthian League, soon dispersed in the morning sun excepting the odd old snow patch cunningly concealed in some defile or hollow. As we progressed towards our target, a blinking red flash disguised as an enormous anorak out of control, but on closer inspection revealed as an emergency shelter screening a detachment of Kinloss M.R. personnel. We quietly slipped past unnoticed to locate the true top of Carn Sgulain and briefly rest to take on refreshments and fresh supplies.

For the final assault on A'Chailleach we were supported by the newly arrived Lancasters and with tactics imitating Alexander at Arbela contrived to take the peak in a twin flank attack across the narrow defile of the Allt Cuil ea Callich, to gain the cairn at 930m. The obvious way ahead was along the ridge, but prospects of walking headlong into a biting wind forces a retreat into the Allt na Beinne, a tactical mistake of the first magnitude (A number of cases of trench foot was noted by the M.O. that night.)

Harold's APC appeared at the end of a very wet and taxing descent along the stream bed, a descent enlightened by Tony's account of his first foray into these hills when he was swept away by the Chaorainn in spate. Fate was kinder on this occasion. We returned to the 'Laird' to lick our wounds excepting Tony who partied into the early hours, when all fit squadies are in their 'bashies'.

Sunday's dawn heralded another fine day so a decision was made to launch a sortie into the Drumochter Hills in the vicinity of Dalwinnie, and Meall Chaich in particular. Our way was barred by a dyke, the water feeding the distillery below. The track disappeared above the dam and progress was hampered by the more difficult round churned up by the countless feet that has passed over. The light dusting of new snow masked the unseen obstacles, the more height we gained. By now the steepness of the terrain was causing problems to the knees which had waged one battle too many, but with gritted teeth pte. Kelly collapsed into the sanger of the summit cairn, battered by swirling wind and spindrift. The decent was almost a non event except for a surprise ambush of four hinds grazing peacefully just below the snow line, and abundant alpine wildlife resplendent in winter camouflage.

Mentioned in dispatches :- Lcpl. A. Gask (rtd), Bdr. H. Jepson 2nd Bn 'Stockport pals', A.W.O.L. pte S.Kelly (court-martial pending)

March 1998 Newsletter Index.

Copyright © 1998 Karabiner Mountaineering Club