Karabiner Mountaineering Club

September 2003 Forthcoming Meets

All note the following small print when taking part in meets :-

6^th/7^th September - Scotland Climb/Camp - James Richardson

Could you please let me know if you would are planning to attend my Arran Meet on the weekend of September 6th/7th.

The current plan is to head up on Friday night and get the last ferry across (at 8.30pm) or if that is missed stay in Ardrossan and get the first ferry in the morning (7am). The AA reckon that it takes 4h22 to drive to Ardrossan from Manchester.

My plans for accommodation are to bivi or wild camp near were we are climbing. However if this is not for you, please let me know so that I can attempt to book you onto a convenient campsite.

For travel on the Island we shall be taking bikes with us, I am currently attempting to sort out transportation for bikes. If their are enough of us I may book one car onto the ferry to carry camping and climbing gear.

The sooner I get an idea of numbers the better really, so please try to get back to me as soon as possible.

I am not sure were abouts we will be climbing at the moment as I do not have a guide book or a map (anyone got one?).

Sun 14^th September - Laddow climbing - Andrew Croughton

Meet as usual at the cave for around 10am

20^th / 21^st September - Ty-Powder Completion party - KMC

You may be aware that we are holding a Hut Completion Party on 20/21 September 2003. The aim is to thank those people who have contributed to the successful completion of Ty Powdwr as the best Club Hut in the UK!

All Club members are invited to attend, there will be a communal meal at 1900 on the Saturday. Price per head will be £5 for which you get a main course (meat and veggie options being organised) plus pudding and a starter glass of wine. Some of the fee will subsidise meals for the handful of invited guests (current and ex-Hut Officers without whose input Ty Powdwr would not be what it is now).

Please let me (Sheena Hendrie) know if you intend come ASAP so we can organise the catering.

The Committee

27^th / 28^th September - Fell & Rock joint meet - John Castick

This is at Beetham Cottage, Hartsop near Patterdale.

Brilliant walking area. Some very hard but rarely climbed routes nearby plus classic crags like Hutaple Crag and Scrubby Crag. Number of places unknown at present. Please let me know if you're interested

4^th / 5^th October - Ty-Powder Working Party - Virginia Castick

The Boss has not yet given me a list of exciting jobs yet but be assured there will be some. I intend to delegate and make soup.

11^th / 12^th October - Annual dinner, St Georges Hotel, Llandudno - KMC

The KMC Annual Dinner for 2003 will be held on Saturday 11^th October at the St. George's Hotel in Llandudno. The hotel is located on the Promenade & we will be in the Wedgewood Suite for both Dinner, Drinking & Dancing. The Dinner will be of a similar format to previous years with club & guest speakers, raffle & disco with our own club DJ's. The bar will be open until 1am (which is an extension to the opening hours).

Celebrations will start in the bar at 6:45pm with the meal at 7:30pm. You will be able to order wine for your meal before the dinner starts.

Menu choices

Starters

• Home-made Chicken Liver Parfait enhanced with Port served with a Cumberland Sauce & Melba Toast
• Fillets of Locally Smoked Trout served on a Green Salad with a Piquant Plum Sauce
• Button Mushrooms in a Rich Stilton Sauce capped with a Puff Pastry Lid

Main Courses

• Prime Roast Beef served in a rich red Wine & Mushroom Sauce or Traditional Yorkshire Pudding & Roasting Gravy
• Roast Leg of Welsh Lamb, lightly studded with Garlic & Rosemary, served with a Leek & Fresh herb stuffing & Roasting Gravy
• Leek & Wild-Mushroom Potato Bake topped with a Herb Crust served on a sweet Oyster-Mushroom Sauce

All main courses served with a selection of Market Fresh Vegetables & Potato Dishes

Desserts

• Creme Brulee with an Orange & Drambuie Glaze
• Trio of Chocolate Terrine with a bitter Orange Sauce
• Bramley Apple & Raspberry Pie served with a Vanilla Custard

The cost of this years Dinner will be £18, cheques should be made payable to the "KMC" and bookings should be made through Sue Brooke, Heather Brooke or David Lygate. We will require your bookings by Friday the 3^rd of October, so that we can confirm numbers with the hotel.

The St. George have reduced the room rate for members to £35 per person for a twin room (B&B) & £45 for single occupancy (B&B). The Hotel phone number is 01492 877544, it is recommended to phone during the day, as evening staff may not quote this rate.

There are also many alternative places to stay in the surrounding area. Here is a selection from the 2 star range e.g. circa £17/p/n upwards for 2 star. These are from the Llandudno Tourism web site or contact Llandudno tourist information office on: Llandudno, 1/2 Chapel St, Telephone 01492 876413.

This is a very small selection of what is available:

All Seasons Hotel Hill Terrace, Llandudno LL30 2LS
Telephone 01492 876277 Fax 01492 876277
B&B Min £23.00 B&B Max £30.00 WTB Grading 2 Hotel

Alvastrada 24 Caroline Road, Llandudno LL30 2TY
Telephone 01492 876966
B&B Min £15.00 B&B Max £16.00 WTB Grading 2 Guest House

Annan Hotel 1 Abbey Road, Llandudno LL30 2EA
Telephone 01492 877159 Fax 01492 875675
B&B Min £24.00 B&B Max £25.00 WTB Grading 2 Hotel

Beach Cove 8 Church Walks, LLlandudno L30 2HD
Telephone 01492 879638 Fax 01492 860552
B&B Min £17.00 B&B Max £24.00 WTB Grading 2 Guest House

Sun 19^th October - North Pennines walking - Iain McCallum

Route: Smithy Gill Bridge / Swarth Fell (681m) / Wild Boar Fell (708m) / Little Fell / High Intake Gill / Pendragon Castle / High Seat (709m) / Gregory Chapel / Hugh Seat (689m) / Scarth of Scarths / Hell Gill Bridge / Smithy Gill Bridge.

Map: OS Explorer OL19 Howgills & Upper Eden Valley

Meet at 9.45am for 10am start at Smithy Gill Bridge (GR.776965), Parking on the side of the B6259 road near the bridge. Leave the M6 at junction 37 and follow the A684 via Sedbergh and Garsdale to the Moorcock Inn then trurn left onto the B6259.

A good tramp around the upper Eden valley hills. Distance about 12/13 miles on reasonable tracks for the most part. The route can be modified to suit the conditions there is a low level return route along the Eden valley. Our ETA at Pendragon Castle is between 12.45pm. and 1.15pm. if anyone wishes to join the walk at this point.

25^th / 26^th October - Fell Race - Neville McMillan

LOCATION: High Moss, Seathwaite (Rucksack Club Hut), Dunnerdale SD 237966

A change of venue this year to the secluded Duddon Valley, always popular with KMC members. On Saturday it is climbing on Wallowbarrow, or Dow for the more energetic, or walking, followed by drinking in the Newfield Inn on Saturday night to finish your training programme. Fell Race on Sunday. As before, attendance by Committee members is compulsory, either to participate, marshall, revive the also-rans, or feed the hungry with soup and sandwiches.

The idiosyncratic handicap system works to a secret formula that gets tweaked every year. But the more times you participate, the bigger your handicap. First-time entrants have the chance to win the Concordia Trophy, so lets have some new participants this year.

The easiest way to the hut is via Levens Bridge, Newby Bridge, Broughton, turn right immediately before the traffic lights at Duddon Bridge, and up the valley to Seathwaite. The journey is about 20 miles further than to Raw Head, and the last 20 miles are increasingly bendy and slow, so allow plenty of time if coming on Sunday morning. 0.7 km N of the Newfield Inn, turn right as though going to Turner Hall campsite, then straight ahead through the gate labelled ?High Moss?. Shut the gate, and 3 more gates before parking at the side of the hut. If arriving at night, take care where the track crosses the stream, otherwise you will need hauling out the following morning. There are around 20 dormitory places, but please book ahead with Neville (£5 pp/pn).

In Dunnerdale there are almost endless possibilities for challenging and interesting courses, with river crossing options included! The course will start and end at the hut. Course details will be posted on Sunday morning at 10.00 am. Start times (three groups) will be 11.00, 11.30, and 12.00 noon.

Contact Neville for hut bookings, or with offers of help.

2^nd November - Bala Walking - Dave Bone

This is a Sunday only meet taking in some less well-known hills in Wales with good views over Snowdonia and mid-wales. But it's not a tame walk! There is some rough going...The best hills are outside the park.

You will need the OS 1:50000 map 124 (Dolgellau) - or 125 (Bala) for the first part of the walk. You will also need a headtorch because you will finish in the dark! Drive to Bala and take the A4212 out of town - it is easier to find the start turning off left opposite the B4391. Meet at GR844396. After electricity pylons march across the road, at the head of the next rise, a track drops in from the right. There is limited parking for ~6 cars on the roadside, so please share cars as much as possible. This is the starting point but I hope to organise the drop off of cars. Aim to be here for a 10am start prompt (I mean it!). It takes about 1hr 40min from the start of the M56 in Manchester to here (if you don't get stuck behind a truck).

Distance: about 12 miles or 14 if we have to return back along the road, and ~950m total ascent.

Route: Llyn Arenig Fawr, Arenig Fawr, Col at 816354 (late joiners can pick up the route here, or wimps leave), Moel Llyfnant, no path now, forest at 796349 (possible exit), the going gets wilder, Foel Boeth, Moel-y Slates, and return along the old railway track (easy) to the road 2 miles from starting point.

I would be grateful if you let me know if you are coming and how many cars there are. I should be in the Pub beforehand when I hope to organise some car shuffling (to your benefit as you won't need to walk along the road). If a driver or two can arrive early, we can place a car, or two, at the end of the walk to return the drivers to their vehicles at the end.

8^th / 9^th November - Ty-Powder bonfire - KMC

Could see the end of a number of Cloggy Buggies!

Sun 16^th November - Peak bouldering - Duncan Lee

The plan is Newstones(sk 019638) and Baldstones where the bouldering is excellent, the landings are better than average and the setting is superb. I plan to arrive at the nearest rocks to the road at about 11am once the morning sun has taken the chill off the grit. So bring along those bouldering mats or a rack and a rope if you so desire. There is always Ray's Roof.

Car sharing is a good idea because the nearest parking is limited.

Sun 30^th November - Kettleshulme - Len Stubbs, Jim Gregson

Len Stubbs, KMC Founder Member will make all and sundry welcome once again at No.1, Paddock Close. Please park carefully and with consideration for the neighbours in Paddock Lane.

Arrive 0900/0915 for a PROMPT start to the day's walk which will be a:

KETTLESHULME - CAT & FIDDLE FIGURE 8 START TIME - 0930

Leave Paddock Lane opposite The Bull's Head, turn R then bear I to Fivelane - ends GRef.SJ992787. Fork R to Dunge Farm Hidden Gardens then S across fields to road at GRef.SJ989766. Steeply E up road to Pym Chair then SE to stile at GRef.002761. Continue SSE along top of Foxlow Edge then cut back R then L to reach ruins of Errwood Hall at GRef.SK008748 (alt. low-level route via the Shrine if weather is wild). From Hall, head E then S to go up Stake Side to reach stile at GRef.SKOO1732 (alt. route to this point by direct ascent up Shooter's Clough if needed), then a further 1.5 km to Cat & Fiddle (optional drinks stop). Return to stile at previous GRef., then NW to Shining Tor GRef.SJ995737. Continue N over Cats Tor to Pym Chair, 50m R to stile then N again, alongside wall all the way to Windgather Rocks GRef.SJ995783, then on to Taxal Edge. Turn L at GRef.SJ996789 then R at signpost, cross lane and follow path alongside wall to rejoin Side End Lane then gently downhill into Kettleshulme.

Walk c. 20km., enough for a late November day. A few sections of tarmac but only really poor underfoot for short sections along Shining/Cats Tor ridge. Best map - Explorer 0L24 White Peak. Walk Leader - Jim Gregson

September Newsletter Index.

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