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September 2005 Meet Reports
April 30th/May 2nd - Yorkshire Dales Cycle Way (a three day tour of the tea shops) - John Dobson
Members : Sue Brooke, Linda Crossley (Monday) John Dobson, Joe Flynn,
Chris Williamson, Alan Wylie.
Guests: Steve Brough, Bob Burgess, Emily Hulley (Sunday), Rosie
Williamson, Clive (Monday).
Saturday
Those who understand these things assured me that they had
ordered 'not too hot sunshine accompanied by no wind'. Unfortunately
the reality was somewhat different. Whilst it was not actually
raining when we left Barden Tower, this was soon rectified and the
party was distinctly damp by the time they reached Malham, except for
John who had wisely volunteered to drive the support car. However
the advantage of poor weather was that the usual bank holiday
tourists decided to hit the shopping centres giving us quiet roads.
The undulating territory of Barden Tower to Burnsal lulled the riders
into a false sense of security which was quickly dispelled. The
pleasure of a substantial lunch at Malham accompanied by improving
weather was quickly punished by the assent from Malham to Malham
Tarn. The steep ups and downs towards Stainforth were rewarded by
the sight of Steve Brough's pioneering attempt at a new downhill
speed record quickly followed an attempt at the man-powered flight
record.
Better weather and easier terrain gave the riders had a very pleasant
ride down the valley towards Ingleton. By this time the party must
have looked a sight because as we left the camp site in Ingleton for
an evening meal in the pub, we had the riot act read by the Camp site
proprietor on the need for good behaviour on our return.
Sunday
The riders were rewarded by some very nice weather, which
was just as well because the assent over Kingsdale was steep!!!.
Those enjoying the even steeper decent into Dent were punished with a
gated road with a closed gate at the bottom !!! The decent into
Muker managed to test a few nerves. However the day's excitement was
rewarded by a very nice campsite at Healaugh and a few beers in
Reeth.
Monday
More fine weather which had to be a paid for by more hills
and a strong head wind. Unfortunately the combination fine weather
and a bank holiday produced an afternoon of brain-dead drivers. The
crux of the day was definitely the 1 in 4 descent into Kettlewell.
Rosie decided to follow the instructions and dismount and I only wish
that I had read these instructions before I got to the bottom. A
pleasant afternoon tea in Grassington was brought to an abrupt end by
a sudden and very heavy downpour, which continued until we approached
Barden Tower.
Many thanks for all those who participated and to Joe Flynn for
sharing the driving and the pain.
June 5th - Sugworth Hall - Mike Graves
Members Present. Iain McCallum, Alan Peck, Pete Walker,
Roger Daley, James Hartlet. Guest Joane Wilkinson.
The weather was as I had ordered, fine with some sunshine, and a
cooling breeze. We started off at a brisk pace, Iain was certainly in
fine form, at this rate we should finish by lunch time. Walkers
Clough slowed us down a bit, but the view down the reservoir made up
for the slog.
Coffee stop was taken on the ridge, and the breeze was now quite
chilly, but the decent down to Broggins soon warmed us up. Lunch was
taken in a great suntrap, near to the Strines Reservoir, I could have
stayed here all afternoon.
The rhododendrons at Sugworth Hall were not at their best, from this
point Iain suggested a path that I had not used before, and it was
certainly better than walking down the road. The route back to the
carpark, had a slight variation, which, I think improved the walk. A
very welcome pint at the Snake Inn finished off the day, many thanks
to all who turned up.
Mike Graves.
July 31st - Kinder - James Richardson
4 Attempted Crags:
- Upper Edale Rocks
- The Pagoda
- Crowden Towers
- Crowden Clough Face
Attendees (points for number of crags climbed on):
Wavy (3), Trish (4), Dave (the tart) (4 + 2 bonus points for leading
on all crags), Mark Ashley (1.5), Lester (1), Roger Daily (1), Anja
(3), Myself the fear(less/full) leader (4).
Walkers:
Roger Dyke, Kate Sparks.
I turned up at the pub on Thursday to be informed by the KMC
doom-sayers about the awful weather that was occurring on Saturday
(which didn't occur), so a plan was made to meet at 10 - 10.30 Sunday
morning at Edale to have a look at the Southern Edge of Kinder. I
can only assume that my reputation hasn't reached everyone yet as
some people turned up before 10am! The southern edge looked nice and
dry after virtually no rain, so we headed up Jacobs ladder to look at
some of the least popular crags on Kinder.
Upper Edale Rocks although short had very good quality rock, the most
number of routes were done here with the highlights being Bending
Crack (VD), Traverse and Crack (VD) and Avatar (E1 5b, lead by Dave
(clearly climbing well, his membership form stated that he wanted to
be leading E1 5b by next summer)). Most people followed Dave on
Avatar (his first monumental piece of belaying) mostly without
incident, although Roger did manage to lie down halfway up, a feat
that is probably impossible to repeat.
We then trotted down to the Pagoda were various battles took place,
notably Mark and Lester on Morrison's Route (S 4a). I am not sure if
they did ever manage to get off the ground but Mark's efforts gained
him an extra half point. Wavy and Trish did Hartley's Route (E1 5b,
upgraded from VS), Trish managed to do the first move under her own
steam despite Lester's attempts to be allowed to push her up. Dave,
Anja and I did Herford's Route (HVS 5a) possibly the best route on
the crag, followed by Hartley's Route.
As members of the team began to lose heart we headed off to look at
Crowden Towers, the greenness killed most of our spirits and if it
hadn't been for Dave's never ending enthusiasm we wouldn't have done
a route. Dave lead Alpine Sports (S 4a) followed by Trish and
myself and was in fact quite pleasant.
Finally as most of the teams mood mellowed (except one of course) we
went to have a look at just how green a crag can be at Crowden Clough
Face. The "deepening groove over the block" that is Middle Chimney
(D) is indeed "worthwhile". By now most of the meet had made a run
for it, so Mr Enthusiasm (Dave) lead the chimney and did his final
bit of masterful belaying as myself, Wavy, Anja and Trish followed
him. Everyone ended up having at least one laughing fit while
climbing the route. While I was the only one who didn't fit in the
beginning of the chimney and ended up having to back and foot up a
slimy wall, which I probably wouldn't of managed if Lester's
(un)helpful advice hadn't finally made me loss my cool. I guess
scumbag managed to get stuck in his where as I couldn't fit in mine,
once again I am officially fatter than scumbag!
August 7th - Shining Clough - Sheena Hendrie (in absentia)
Attendees: Robert Clark, Rob Allen, Kate Sparks, Andrew Croughton,
Dave Dillon, Trish Cranston, Al Metelko, Kevin Anderson, Mark Ashley,
Lester Payne, Julie O'Regan, Scott Sadler, Cathy Gordon, Alison ????,
Dave Wylie, Ian Crook
Although the original meet leader was unable to attend, the meet led
itself and a great day was had by all. I won't attempt to list all
the routes that were done but notable ascents were a new route by
Dave Wylie (named it yet Dave?), failure on a route by somebody who
thought the route he was on was several grades easier, and a route
that took so long the belayer needed to have a toilet break while the
leader 'hung on'.
A good time was had later in a local drinking establishment;
unfortunately food was not on the menu for me, who held back for an
hour before ordering only to discover that the kitchen had closed!
Ian Crook.
August 27th/29th - Cairngorms - D. Bone
Meeting cancelled due to a combination of a low level of interest,
and a poor weather forecast for a North facing, Scottish mountain
crag.
September Newsletter Index.
Copyright © 2005 Karabiner Mountaineering Club
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