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June 2002 Meet Reports
2nd/3rd March - Ty Powdyr Holiday Slideshow - Sabina Cosulich
Members present: Kevin Anderson (Roisin's #1 favourite), Colin and
Roisin Maddison, Al Metelko, Dave Dillon, Duncan Lee (Roisin's least
favourite), John Evans, Dave Whittingham, James Richardson, Sheena
Hendrie, Roger Dyke, Peter Walker, Lester Payne, Michelle Harvie,
Mark Garrod, Lorna Marsland, Sabina Cosulich (Roisin's # 3
favourite), Jim and Judith Symon, Mark Wiltshire.
Guests present: Dave Swindlehurst, Jo Farringdon, Anna (?).
Uninvited guests: Steve Bowker, Marcus Payne.
Saturday morning offered a typical Welsh welcome with uninspiring
weather, but a number of intrepid KMC teams headed off in numerous
directions. A grumpy president woke up to find I had arranged to go
to sunny Tremadog with Roger Dyke and was refusing point blank to go
ice climbing with him. Al and Mark were on their way from Scotland
(!), Colin is a sensible chap, Dave Whittingham had brought the wrong
kind of boots, rope and gear, and everyone else scuttled off quickly
before they could be asked. The president had no 'victim' for the day.
Tremadog was, in fact, so sunny that Roger and I managed to climb
over 10 routes. Upon returning to the hut, it emerged that unbeknown
to us, Dave W, John E., James and Anna had climbed Creagh Dhu Wall in
the rain, so Roger and I were forced to admit that all the routes we
had done had been on coloured holds and pre-placed quickdraws (Beacon
Climbing Wall). Meanwhile, Mark and Michelle had run up approximately
10 peaks, whilst Jo and Kevin had been climbing on Gogarth (Pel VS
4c, Blanco HVS 5a). Duncan, at this point, had climbed Shallow Gully,
Parsley Fern, and Parsley Fern left hand before grumbling (!) his way
down as he had nobody to climb Sinister Gully with.
As the evening went on, more and more people started arriving at the
hut, so more and more ingredients were added to the soup (where is
Ken when you need him? There was some serious chopping going on!).
The result was a compulsory three bowls of soup for everyone present
(including Roisin!), together with compulsory tasting of Kevin's
freshly baked bread and John's date slices.
The slides were a mixture of shots from all over the world, with the
complete world tour from Wavey and Kevin, Alpine shots from Colin,
Duncan and Pete W. (who had brought the wrong set with him), some
African landscapes and even a guest slot from Steve Bowker.
Sheena (Ed - page 3 pinup) and Michelle managed to sleep through most
of it, though I have to admit the warmth and darkness conditions of
the lounge made me fall asleep too after a long day on the errr?hills.
The next day, the weather was so inspiring that a lot of people
headed straight back to Manchester. Colin, Duncan, Al and Kevin
played on the steep stuff on Pen Trwyn (Green Flash, Hom Rescue, The
graduate) for a couple of hours, whilst Roisin, Wavey and I
intrepidly headed off looking for candy floss on the pier.
In all, a great meet with some inspiring slides and tales of club
members adventures. I hope we will be able to do it all again next
year (perhaps without the compulsory three bowls of soup).
17th March - Peak District Walk - Iain McCallum
Members present: Ken. Beetham, Virginia Castick, Martin Heaton,
Alan(H) Jones, Alan(L) Jones, Iain McCallum, Lorna Marsland, Lester
Payne, Alan Peck, Phil. Ramsbottom, Derek Seddon, Chris. Thickett,
Frank Williams, Margaret Williams, Dave Wylie (17)
Guests present: Vincent Barvaux, Emilia Krajewska, Mike Radcliffe,
David Swindlehurst, Vicki Warren (5)
A great turn out and the weather behaved itself for most of day. From
the car park at Meerbrook we made our way along the road and across
the fields to Park House farm where the leader missed the path
causing the whole party to commit a trespass by walking through the
farmyard and down the lane. The farmer was not too pleased! From the
road we followed the path up onto the low ridge leading to the Gun.
Along the way we stopped for a break before reaching the Trig Point
at the dizzy height of 385 metres.
Below the Gun the track deteriorated into a swamp before we gained
the road leading to Hollinhall. Lunch was on a sunny grassy bank
above the River Dane. Crossing the river we made for Dane Bridge and
the Ship Inn at Wiincle. Here we met Ken. A very fortunate meeting
because Vincent had to drop out at this point suffering from a
painful hip. Ken, very kindly, transported Vincent and Emilia back to
their car at Meerbrook much to the meet leader's relief.
From the Ship we climbed up through the woods above the Dane to the
Hanging Stone, then along the ridge leading to the Roaches. Following
a short but very wet storm we reached the Roaches and the climbing
fraternity including Ken Wilson. Below the Roaches we followed the
Staffordshire Moorlands Walk back to the cars at Meerbrook. A select
few retired to the Lazy Trout for drinks.
Distance about 12/13 miles.
Thanks for your support.
23rd/24th March - Mill Cottage, Feshiebridge - Mark Garrod
Members present: Mark Garrod, Michelle Harvie, Dave Whittingham,
Jeremy Engineer, Dave Lygate, Andrew Croughton.
Potential members: Ian (Brue) Brewer, Jason Davis.
Given the reasonable forecast, fine accommodation, 12+ hours of
daylight and the long journey, most people decided Friday was best
spent extending the weekend - good decision.
Team Keen - Dave W, Jason and Ian, having arrived at 2am Friday
morning (yep, we heard you) - headed off into Sneachda, despite some
slight melting worries, and picked off Red Gully, a grade III route.
Everyone had 1 pitch as leader. Dave claims that was his first winter
route of the season, despite going on 3 Scottish meets. It seemed to
keep them happy for the day, and the evening as well. Michelle and I,
being made of lesser stuff, let the "Cairngorm Ski Ambassadors"
(people who can talk a lot and want free ski passes and a snazzy
jacket) talk us into skiing on Friday. What do you know; no wind, and
enough runs open to lose most people who were around - a fine day.
Saturday managed to get slightly warmer and windier, sufficient to
persuade Team Not-Quite-So-Keen that a gentle meander around the
scenic Loch an Eileen was what they needed. Jeremy, Dave L, Andrew,
Michelle and I made for the top of Cairngorm, and from there, braving
the 40-50MPH arctic winds, Andrew and Dave dropped down to Loch Avon,
and up Beinn Mheadhoin (Vain) -the centre of the Cairngorms (that's
what Mheadhoin means!). By all accounts, a good, hard days going. The
rest of us took an easier route round the tops of the Northern
Corries, back to the car, then headed off (independently) for Loch an
Eileen for the scenic views. Dave and Andrew's mate D'Al Whinnie
dropped in to see them at the hut very early Sunday morning, but
obviously couldn't stay long at all - no sign of him on Sunday
morning proper.
Sunday saw Dave L, Andrew and Jeremy hit the slopes, physically as
well as metaphorically, M&M did a lower level walk through the Ryvoan
Pass, and Team-Gentle-Does-It very kindly cleaned up the hut kitchen
before heading south.
14th April - Hotpot and Slide Competition - The President
The Walk: Edges Walk
Members present: Ken. Beetham, John Castick, Andy Croughton, Alan
Jones, David Lygate, Iain McCallum, Lorna Marsland, Alan Peck, Nigel
Rosenbaum, Brian Street (10)
Guests present: Joan Green, Emilia Krajeska, Dudley Moore, Zoe
Rosenbaum, David Swindlehurst (5)
Children: Hannah and Harry Rosenbaum aged 3 & 2 respectively.
Dog: Tomba.
The weather forecast proved accurate ! Sunny in the morning,
clouding up in the afternoon with rain later. After morning tea in
the cafe at Grindleford we climbed up through the woods and onto
Froggatt Edge. Alan caught us up as we approached Curbar - a little
late after a 6.30am start! Following a pit stop near the car park at
Curbar we followed the path along White Edge. Views of the Peak were
superb - Kinder, Mam Tor, Lose Hill, Whin Hill, Stanage, Carl's Wark
were all bathed in sunshine. However, the weather started to change,
clouds began to gather and the wind became pretty keen. As we neared
the Longshaw Estate we met Ken, "the Old Man of the Hills". Not easy
to recognise in his disguise of very dark glasses but the shape gave
him away!
After lunch at Longshaw Lodge, the Rosenbaum team departed for
Grindleford. Our route now took us along Burbage and round the valley
to Higger Tor. Below the Tor we stopped for a drink before crossing
the moor towards Millstone. Rain threatened as we dropped down past
Laurence Filed through the woods in Bole Hill Quarry but it held off
until we reached the cafe and tea at Grindleford at about 4.30pm.
(Distance about 12 miles)
Thanks for your support.
Iain McCallum
4th/6th May - BH Southern Seacliff Odyssey (Part One) - Rick Davies
"The Beach Boys Strike Back"!
Present: Paul Evans, Rick Davies, Matt Rhodes, Peter Johnson.
The meet got off to a cracking start with the sunshine (as predicted)
being both warm and glorious. Following a brief discussion we decided
to pay a visit to Marsland crags, however we were in for a bit of a
surprise. The guide had described two approaches, one across the
beach (ruled out due to tides being in) and another down a ridge and
then path to the crag; we chose to take the latter option. Anyway
when we got to the path and ridge we realised that things weren't
going to go so smoothly - the ridge was rather more like an E2 4c,
extremely loose and dangerous looking - so we didn't go down the
ridge! Following a brief discussion a change of plan was made - we
would visit Vicarage Cliff instead.
Vicarage cliff was a much more pleasant experience than the Marsland
had been and we all got to grips some good climbing, although were
convinced that some of the grades were a little bit circumspect - VS
4c felt rather more like E1 !
The following day the sun was up again and we all opted for the
shorts option, and made the trip up the coast to Baggy point. At
Baggy the rock was much more solid and so I decided to give Matt a
bit of a baptism of fire, so took him up Kinkyboots (with the fall
across the zawn start) and then really pushed his abilities on
Chounards yard 1 - a rather bold and thin HVS 5a. Meanwhile Pete and
Paul got to grips with Moon shot and Scrattling Crack.
On the Monday morning we all de-camped and made our way back to Baggy
where we ticked off a few of the routes on the left hand slab before
taking part in one of the prime KMC past times, visiting the tea shop
- of course to indulge in a classic cream tea!
So, No traffic jams to note on either journey and superb weather All
weekend thanks very much to those guys that came you all helped to
make a superb weekend. To those of you that didn't come, why not? Was
it because you've lost your sense of adventure? Was it because it
wasn't a 'local' meet in the Peak? Or simply because you couldn't be
bothered to make the effort and go that extra mile.
11th/12th May - Ty Powdyr WORKING MEET - Hut Committee
Members present: Bob. Anderson, Iain McCallum, Lester Payne, Phil.
Ramsbottom, Chris. Thickett, Frank Williams, Margaret Williams.
Guests present: Ian Brewer, Pam. McCallum.
A very successful working party. The excellent weather allowed the
team to carry out and complete many of the planned tasks on the hut,
car park and paddock. Earlier in the week Jim and Margaret Taylor
installed the new mattress covers which Margaret had very kindly made
for Elidir Fawr - the members' dormitory. The oak woods below the hut
were carpeted with blue bells - a magnificent sight.
Tasks accomplished
Elidir Fawr - Dorm. - Plaster on left hand wall repaired, sanded and
painted (Iain). - Cork tiles varnished (Pam).
Dormitory Hall - Cork tiles laid and varnished (Iain).
Lounge - New curtain rails installed (Phil).
Gents Washroom - Urinal flushing system - flow control unit fitted -
a very technical task! (Phil).
Guttering - Rear hut guttering removed, guttering support brackets
removed, sockets repaired, brackets and guttering replaced (Frank and
Ian Brewer).
Filter tank - Cleaned and maintained (Bob and Chris).
Paddock - Fence installed in gap between outer perimeter wall and Ty
fuse (Bob and Chris).
Car Park - Perimeter wall - further levelling and consolidation
carried out (Bob and Chris).
Trees - Trees thinned and plastic tubes removed (Iain and Pam).
Porch window - sanded and painted (Lester).
Cleaning - Lounge, dormitories, common room, cooker, hobs and windows
cleaned (Margaret, Pam and Lester).
Catering - Lunch and tea breaks (Pam and Margaret).
Many thanks to everyone for all their hard work over the weekend.
Iain McCallum - Hut Manager
NOTE Please do not adjust the water supply to the cistern above the
urinal in the Gents washroom. Flushing is now controlled by the flow
control unit. It is activated by movement in the washroom. The timing
of the flushes can be adjusted but we need to experiment with the
timings in order to achieve the optimum setting for the system.
June Newsletter Index.
Copyright © 2002 Karabiner Mountaineering Club
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