Karabiner Mountaineering Club

February 2002 Meet Reports

7^th October - Laddow - A. Croughton

Guests: Dan Jackson, Julie Kennington, Alan James, Roger Daley, Dan Crebel, Steve Chandler, Kate Sparks.

Yet another successful Laddow meet thanks to all the tea drinkers in the club. All the classic routes were climbed by more than one group of climbers making the most of the fair weather before the rain kicked in for the afternoon. In between climbs over 50 cups of tea were drunk, two birthday cakes were eaten as well as lots of homemade chocolate chip cookies that seemed to be more chocolate than cookie (thanks Sabina).

There is not much more I can say about this meet other than it is still one of the classic meets on the KMC calendar and I look forward to continued support in the future.

I would also like to thank Ken Beatham for making the meet what it is today through his years of tea brewing in the past, and hope that 2002 will see lots more KMC'ers doing penguin impersonations trying to stay warm in the cave on September 29th cheers Andrew.

13^th/14^th October - The Fell Race, Irish Row, Coniston - The KMC

Members: Bob Anderson, Joanne Castick, Virginia Castick, Rob Clark, Sabina Cosulich, Andrew Croughton, Dave Dillon, Joe Flynn, Mark Garrod, Jim Gregson, Sandy Gregson, Graham Harkness, Sue Harkness, Michelle Harvie, Sheena Hendrie, Roger Mapleson, Craig Marsden, Neville McMillan, Al Metelko, Lester Payne, Derek Seddon, Jim Symon, Judith Symon, Chris Thickett, Peter Walker, Frank Williams, Margaret Williams (27)

Guests: Mark Ashley, Kate Sparks (2)

During the week prior to this event, the ground had been saturated with heavy rain showers. But during Friday it improved, giving false hope, with sunshine at the end of the day.

Saturday was back to reality with cloud down to 800 ft. The meet leader hung back from the main group, and set off on his own to suss out the details of an alternative lower-level route for the morrow, in case of bad weather. The group, showing great prescience, decided to stop for half an hour on the Walna Scar track, playing silly games in the mist, until the meet leader turned up, urging them to move on. Al, Dave, and Rob went off to Dow to climb, though with varying degrees of commitment. The rest disappeared into the mist, all trying to second-guess what the meet leader was doing. In the afternoon, the cloud lifted and broke briefly, giving some glorious views. Then it all came back as thick as ever, making return to the hut a navigational task.

Sunday produced cloud at least as low and thick, but with added rain! However, by the time of decision the rain had stopped, there was no wind and it was relatively mild. After consultation with the check-point marshalls, it was agreed that the high-level route was navigationally straightforward, after the first check-point (at least that was the theory), and we were unlikely to lose anyone through hypothermia, so the original route was on.

Everyone who said they would turn up on the Sunday did so, as did Chris and Bob, unexpectedly. Sue, who said she would not participate, obviously liked the look of the weather and decided to join in. And so it came to pass that 16 members and 2 guests set off in four groups, soon to disappear into the mist. Finding the first check-point did not seem to pose any problem for Mark, or Al. But others struggled, particularly Sheena, and independently Virginia, who phoned them up to ask them where they were! (Is this within the rules of the game?)

The second leg should have been quite straightforward, though Roger (and Sabina) seemed to encounter some local difficulty. But it was the leg from Great Carrs to Goats Hause that really separated the men from the boys. And Peter and Derek were definitely among the “men”, putting up the seventh fastest time over this stretch, and 8 minutes faster than Graham Harkness. Roger (and Sabina) were 18 minutes slower than Derek on this leg – what were they doing? But the booby prize for this section has to go to our racing postie, Mark Ashley, whose bicycle must have got stuck up a back alley. Mark took ¾ of an hour longer than anyone else, and nearly 1¼ hours longer than the 77 year old Derek. Is it any wonder the post is always late?

And so to the finish, where we were busy watching Michelle bounding down the hillside across the river, and did not notice Mark Garrod hareing back from Levers Water, to get to the finish first. After losing time on earlier stages, Roger, Sabina, and Sheena put in the most competitive finish. Sheena lost, then gave a good impression of being about to die. The most joyous finish was by Derek, finishing on the run, with a big grin on his face, and looking as though he could do it all over again.

The winners were:
Fastest overall: Mark Garrod 1 hr 46 mins
Fastest female: Michelle Harvie 2 hr 17 mins
Fastest on handicap time (Shelagh Manning Trophy): Derek Seddon 1 hr 12 mins
Fastest first-time competitor (Concordia Trophy): Sabina Cosulich 3 hr 13 mins

The results are in the table below. The times to each checkpoint, and the times on each leg of the course are also given. Thanks to the wonders of computers, these are each listed in order of increasing time, so that everyone can see how they were doing compared against their competitors.

My thanks to the seven check-point marshalls, and to Andrew Croughton, who walked round as sweeper-up (not literally necessary, but a close thing!). Thanks also to Mark and Michelle for organising the food, and producing a vast quantity of soup. Thanks to those who manned the kitchen, particularly to Rob, who very efficiently brought all finishers back to life with hot soup and tea.

My thanks also to Ken Beetham, who made suggestions and comments about the course, and gave me practical advice on how to organise it all, which was a great help. Also to Alan (L) Jones who handed on his handicapping system, without which I would have been lost.

Finally my thanks to all who supported the event in less than ideal conditions, and made it a memorable occasion for me. Encouraged by this support I have agreed to run another such event next year, in Langdale, September 12^th/13^th. I hope everyone will be there.

		Time to Finish			H’cap			Handicap Time	Finishing Place
		mins		hours:mins	mins			hours:mins	Actual		H'cap
Mark GARROD		106		1:46	-5			1:51	1		4
Al METELKO		113		1:53	10			1:43	2		2
Michelle HARVIE		137		2:17	-8			2:25	3		8
Craig MARSDEN		144		2:24	17			2:07	4		5
Jim SYMON		184		3:04	47			2:17	5		7
Sabina COSULICH		193		3:13	10			3:03	6=		12=
Roger MAPLESON		193		3:13	17			2:56	6=		10
Sheena HENDRIE		194		3:14	36			2:38	8		9
Graham HARKNESS		214		3:34	105			1:49	9		3
Virginia CASTICK		237		3:57	55			3:02	10		11
Mark ASHLEY		254		4:14	0			4:14	11		15
Peter WALKER		262		4:22	132			2:10	12=		6
Derek SEDDON		262		4:22	190			1:12	12=		1
Kate SPARKS		271		4:31	0			4:31	14		17
Bob ANDERSON		282		4:42	94			3:08	15=		14
Chris THICKETT		282		4:42	99			3:03	15=		12=
Joanne CASTICK		335		5:35	3			5:32	17=		18
Sue HARKNESS		335		5:35	77			4:18	17=		16

Time to Black Sails			Time from 1st to 2nd				Time to Great Carrs				Time from 2nd to 3rd				Time to Goats Hause		Time from 3rd to Finish
	mins					mins				mins			mins			mins			mins
Mark GARROD	34		Mark GARROD			21	Mark GARROD			55	Mark GARROD		19		Mark GARROD	74	AI METELKO		31
AI METELKO	38		AI METELKO			23	AI METELKO			61	AI METELKO		21		AI METELKO	82	Mark GARROD		32
Michelle HARVIE	47		Michelle HARVIE			25	Michelle HARVIE			72	Craig MARSDEN		25		Michelle HARVIE	99	Michelle HARVIE		38
Sabina COSULICH	47		Craig MARSDEN			27	Craig MARSDEN			80	Michelle HARVIE		27		Craig MARSDEN	105	Craig MARSDEN		39
Roger MAPLESON	47		Mark ASHLEY			27	Mark ASHLEY			80	Sheena HENDRIE		38		Jim SYMON	132	Sabina COSULICH		43
Craig MARSDEN	53		Graham HARKNESS			29	Sabina COSULICH			89	Jim SYMON		42		Roger MAPLESON	150	Roger MAPLESON		43
Mark ASHLEY	53		Sheena HENDRIE			29	Roger MAPLESON			89	Peter WALKER		43		Sabina COSULICH	150	Sheena HENDRIE		44
Jim SYMON	54		Jim SYMON			36	Jim SYMON			90	Derek SEDDON		43		Sheena HENDRIE	150	Jim SYMON		52
Graham HARKNESS	77		Virginia CASTICK			37	Graham HARKNESS			106	Graham HARKNESS		51		Graham HARKNESS	157	Virginia CASTICK		56
Peter WALKER	78		Sabina COSULICH			42	Sheena HENDRIE			112	Chris THICKETT		53		Virginia CASTICK	181	Graham HARKNESS		57
Virginia CASTICK	78		Roger MAPLESON			42	Virginia CASTICK			115	Bob ANDERSON		53		Peter WALKER	184	Mark ASHLEY		59
Kate SPARKS	78		Kate SPARKS			52	Kate SPARKS			130	Kate SPARKS		54		Derek SEDDON	184	Peter WALKER		78
Derek SEDDON	78		Bob ANDERSON			56	Bob ANDERSON			139	Sabina COSULICH		61		Kate SPARKS	184	Derek SEDDON		78
Chris THICKETT	83		Chris THICKETT			56	Chris THICKETT			139	Roger MAPLESON		61		Chris THICKETT	192	Kate SPARKS		87
Bob ANDERSON	83		Peter WALKER			63	Peter WALKER			141	Virginia CASTICK		66		Bob ANDERSON	192	Bob ANDERSON		90
Sheena HENDRIE	83		Derek SEDDON			63	Derek SEDDON			141	Joanne CASTICK		69		Mark ASHLEY	195	Chris THICKETT		90
Joanne CASTICK	90		Joanne CASTICK			63	Joanne CASTICK			153	Sue HARKNESS		69		Joanne CASTICK	222	Joanne CASTICK		113
Sue HARKNESS	90		Sue HARKNESS			63	Sue HARKNESS			153	Mark ASHLEY		115		Sue HARKNESS	222	Sue HARKNESS		113

3^rd/4^th November - Ty Powdyr Bonfire (continued) + The KMC Navigation Course

I've been lazy about hill navigation. Crags 300 ft high are difficult to miss, and if they are more than a mile from the car I'm not going there anyway. On a KMC walk, there are so many ace navigators I can just follow and admire their precision. So Dave's course was a good chance to get a new skill.

I think we all learnt a lot, but for me the special points were:-

• Use distance as an aid to location. Somehow I had never previously got the feel for this from 1:25,000 maps.
• Carry a magnifier, or my mother's reading glasses, and use all the detail on the map.
• Look at the contours on the map, and visualise what that is going to look like on the hillside. This is going to need lots of practice.
• Look for “ring-cons” and other peculiarities of the contours as an aid to location.
• Don't be over-confident that I know just where I am, and especially don't try to “make” the map fit if there is a permanent feature that doesn't.
• Don't hesitate to “aim off” - it works just as well walking as sailing, and is especially useful in the dark and presumably in bad visibility.
• And by the end of the day: waterproof maps are well worth the extra.
  Steel myself to cut them up - seems like sacrilege, but it is just so much easier in the wet and wind to whip out a folded-up A4 bit than the whole Explorer sheet. And the other parts stay dry and un-frayed.

Thanks Duncan for organising the course and Dave Kenyon for taking two parties out on consecutive damp days.

Roger Dyke

11^th November - Mountain Biking Meet - Margaret Baldock

Guests: Mark Ashley

The ride began with an upward haul through the plantation west of the reservoir with more time spent off than on the bikes. This applied to bicycle chains as well in some cases. Having reached the top we continued along an undulating track via Rowlee Farm, crossed Snake Pass and the River Ashton where one of several bicycle maintenance workshops was held. Next was a long ascent navigating an endless series of boulders complicated by the need to avoid cyclists hurtling towards us from above. Then followed several mud baths, and a pleasurable descent down in the village of Aston. Dave was getting tired of sitting on a saddle at this point so decided to demonstrate his acrobatic skills, incurring only minor injuries but looking a bit dazed after the second performance. Other highlights of the day included sunbathing outside the Yorkshire Bridge, never having to open any gates because Rob was always there first, sun shining all day whilst Manchester was reportedly under a cloud. We arrived back having clocked up fifteen miles according to Rob's bikometer. Lester, despite having decided modern bikes were no good because they have too many gears, and Mark sped into the sunset for further exercise. The rest of us rolled into the carpark just in time for last orders at the snackbar. Thanks to all for a really good day.

9^th December - Kettleshulme - Len Stubbs & Walk Leader Duncan Lee

Guests Present: Richard Holt*, Dave Swindlehurst, Christine Jones, Mrs. J .Barber, Sue Davis, Paul ? and James Richardson*.

* Definite non-walkers.

A glorious frosty winters morning saw the massed ranks of the KMC gathered at Len's for a pleasant amble around the locality. We even managed to set off on time despite Kevin's best efforts. As we strolled up towards Black Hill Jim declared that the route chosen for the walk was a wonderful idea but it was a shame that there were not more dogs and people with walking poles. Having no green in his eyes however he lead a breakaway group back through Lyme Park whilst the rest of us ambled along the canal for a lunchtime pint in The Shepherd's Arms in Whaley Bridge.

The post lunch stagger up the Goyt Valley was most enjoyable despite Kevin's inability to fall in the river whilst hand traversing a footbridge and the constant baying of the chasing hounds. My sympathy for foxes was increasing by the minute but a spot of crafty navigation in the mist threw them off the trail so by 3.30pm we had reached Windgather in peace. A variety of folk then proceeded to solo a variety of routes. Well we are a mountaineering club after all.

By 4.30 ( having dragged Big Andy kicking and screaming past The Bull) we were all back at Len's for tea, coffee, soup and cakes which were just the ticket on such a cold day. A few climbers even turned up on their way back from The Roaches to swell the numbers.

Thanks to everyone who turned up to make the meet a most enjoyable day and an especially big thank you to Ethel Hallam and Pat Holt for all their hard work on the catering front and to all of Len's little helpers in the kitchen.

15^th/16^th December - Ty Powdyr - The KMC

Attendance: around 42.

Thanks go to all the Kitchen hands (inc. Roisin), pudding providers and outdoor organisers Al and Andy.

Special Thanks to Ken for his incredible hard graft throughout the day - from helping me set up the tables in the morning through to his chopping 25kg (55lb) of onions in the afternoon – and he was still strutting his stuff on the dance floor at 1.00am!!!!

Also Thanks to Karen Cooksey (Lee's considerably better half) who was not only a whizz with a knife but also provided much needed culinary guidance.

Result: Lots of fun, frolick and plenty of wind (on and off the hill!).

A Grumble: For some reason I can't fathom the Christmas bash attracts very few of the KMC's, how shall I put it, more mature members (with a couple of notable exceptions). This event is an important social occasion in the KMC calendar and it is, at least in my opinion, somewhat disappointing that one particular "faction" of the club appear to feel excluded. I could understand if there were genuine reasons given by our more senior clubites (& there were a few), - perhaps they were scaling grand heights or had the family round for the weekend – but oh no – the responses I received were, in general, more akin to “I've got to do my hair” or “there's an episode of Telly Tubbies I can't miss”. At the end of the day there are few occasions where we have a real opportunity to come together socially as a club – the annual dinner, President's hotpot, Christmas bash and of course the Black Memorial Lecture. It is the popularity of the last of these across all ages of KMCers that illustrates why it is important that we guard against our natural tendency to form cliques. Bowden, who I unfortunately knew all too briefly, provided a grand example of a man for all seasons - he attended all major KMC events, including the Christmas bash, where his opening address to the hungry hoards has, thanks to Ken, now become an established part of the evening's festivities. I hope that both by seeing Ken's example and by recalling Bowden's infectious enthusiasm next year's Christmas Bash will be a more inclusive affair (any suggestions as to what changes would help this come about?).

Happy Cranking in 2002

Kevin

12^th/13^th January - Ty Powdyr - Chris Thickett

Ty Powdyr Flies Again

Meet leader: Chris Thickett

Representing the Committee: Andrew Croughton and Al Metelko

Representing the Downhill Club: Iain McCallum and Bob Anderson

Representing Romiley: Virginia and Joanne Castick

Representing himself: Dave Garland

Representing the Photographic Society: Dave Dillon

Representing Master Cake Makers: John Evans

Representing Itinerant Computerised Vans: Kevin Anderson

Representing Guests: Fiona Roy, James Richardson and Catherine Liddell

Friday

In the early afternoon Bob and Chris set off up Tryfan in promising weather, avoiding both difficulties and themselves up the North Ridge. However, the capricious weather waited to bombard them with gale and rain near the summit, just at the top of the quick way down the west face - so that was the end of that.

Saturday

The meet leader was in a dilemma on Saturday morning because the weather was fine - but what about all those nasty gales forecast. Oh! Dear! Oh! Dear! What should we do? I know! Where is that assertiveness training!

Right! Organise yourselves into groups of five. Oh! There are some over. Well! Virginia and Joanne: off you go and enjoy the Cneifon Arete and if you meet some Welsh people ask them how to pronounce it. Dave D: it is just the opportunity to photograph the slate quarries - can't think of a better day for it!

A "famous five": Tremadog beckons. I want to see the following routes completed: Olympic Slab, One Step in the Clouds and Poor Man's Peuterey and make sure that the conditions are spring-like. (That takes care of Al, Dave G, John, Fiona and James).

An even more "famous five": follow the meet leader from the Gwynant up the South Ridge of Snowdon and then down the Watkin Path avoiding all tempests.

Well! Virginia reported that you do not pronounce the "C" - how cnutty!

There was no time for a tea in Eric's before the climbers burst onto the routes at Tremadoc. What's all this about Al being confused climbing in the daylight?

The walkers had a splendid day on the quiet side of Snowdon on a excellent round with minimum gale and slippery bits. Unfortunately, they got lost driving back and had to ask the way in the Cwellyll Arms at Rhyd Ddu.

Back at the hut there was John's latest cake to demolish. Walnut and sultana, I think. Anyway, it was wonderful washed down with lashings of tea.

Later in the lounge, Bob won the after-dinner debates with arguments that defied all-comers as well as logic. In the meantime, a quiet game of Scrabble reached a tense climax in the dining-room when the meet leader was asked to adjudicate on the word: "Oz". Just when faced with yet another life-or-death decision he was thankful when the players were distracted when trying to count the number of letters involved and he was able to sneak off to bed.

Sunday

The meet leader rose with a smile on his face. He would not have to make any difficult decisions - it was pissing down! In fact, only Virginia and Joanne showed any urgency at all - they were off to Auntie Joan's at Abergele for tea and cakes. Iain started a jigsaw puzzle on the floor of the lower right-hand dormitory although all the pieces looked the same.

It was good to see that poor weather does not put off Kevin - he arrived just in time for the rain!

Most sat around during the morning looking at the gloom through the windows and in the bits of newspaper shared out amongst those claiming to be awake.

It was then the meet leader made his escape back to home comforts, making sure his motor car would be suitably camouflaged by skidding on a cow-pat.

Later two leaderless and headless chickens went out for a run whilst the remainder visited Pete's by walking through the Padarn (pub, lake or woods?). On their way home there was time for another exciting (or stupefying) walk and chance for photography on Llandudno beach.

20^th January - Local Walk - Dave Wylie

The weather forecast for the day predicted blustery showers. This proved to be fairly accurate, as one of them gathered at the Hollingworth Lake Visitor Centre car park in the morning to go for a walk...

Initially it looked like the weather might brighten up a bit; however, by the time we reached Piethorn Valley, more rain was blowing in from the West. When we reached the planned location for "elevenses", at Readycon Dean reservoir, the rain laden wind was blowing directly up the valley. We pressed on, rather than stopping there, hoping to find better shelter further along the track. Fortunately the rain did start to ease off, so a very late elevenses/early lunch was taken sheltering behind a wall just short of the southernmost point of the walk.

As we headed North again, along the Pennine Way and over White Hill, the last of the rain disappeared. We began to dry out slightly in the powerful wind, which increased in strength as we gained height. Further refreshments were taken sheltering amongst the boulders at Blackstone Edge - the wind up by the trig-point was pretty impressive! The majority (unanimous?) decision taken there was to come down the quick way, rather than do the extended version of the walk.

As we passed the small crag up at the Edge we found, to our amazement, that there were a couple of climbers out doing routes! They were not of KMC stock, though. Evidently even the extreme KMC members are not hard/mad enough to go out in those conditions.

Contrary to the hypothesis of one of the members, the walk was not all uphill. Admittedly there had been very little downhill so far, but the descent of the "Roman Road" quickly lost all the height that had been so gradually gained. The gentle finish via Lydgate and back to Hollingworth Lake got us out of the wind and there was even a hint of blue sky to finish off the short day.

The offer of a cuppa back at Dave W's was taken up by Linda, Zoe, Martin, Phil, Chris, Tony, Dave D. and Mark. Extra points go to Mark, for travelling to the meet by bicycle (from Middleton). Points have to be deducted from Linda's car, however, for needing a push-start to get going for the trip home.

Thanks to everybody who came along and braved the weather.

February Newsletter Index.

Copyright © 2002 Karabiner Mountaineering Club