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November 2005 Meet Reports
June 25th/26th - Pillar/Black Sail Meet - Virginia Castick
Members: Virginia Castick, John Castick, Roger Dyke, Christine Beeston, Cathy Devine,
Cath Sanders, Roger Daley, Frank Williams, Margaret Williams
Guests: Simon Theobalds
Most of us stayed at Ennerdale youth hostel on Friday night ready for an easy walk in
on Saturday morning. Roger Daley and Simon walked over from Honister and
incurred the wrath of the new warden at Black Sail by arriving about midnight.
John and I had taken bicycles to facilitate the 4 mile walk from Ennerdale youth
hostel to Black Sail. I volunteered to carry everyone's excess baggage in my
panniers. We wobbled off up the track and did actually beat the walking team to the
hostel, but not by much. After being refreshed with tea and cakes, left out in the
hostel for weary travellers, we set off for the crag. Roger and Simon had left us a
note and were already halfway to Pillar. After a pleasant walk in the sun along the
climbers traverse from Black Sail pass, it then took us ages to get round the bottom
of the crag to our intended route, New West climb. When we finally got there,
realising we should have gone over, not under the crag we decided it was too late to
do the route so some of us went up Slab and Notch to the top of High Man. A lovely
walk over the top of Pillar saw us arrive back at the hostel just in time for the evening
meal. Frank and Margaret were already there having walked over from Buttermere
youth hostel. Roger and ? had climbed New West route and were also back at the
hostel.
The new warden we thought to be very inflexible compared to the warden some of us
had met the previous year. The tame sheep wandering through the hut and eating
oranges is a thing of the past! The midges were horrific and even a trip to the loo
(outside and round the back) was a dangerous game. Once inside the "facilities" the
midges were waiting in their swarms to catch you with your knickers down.
Sunday was another nice day. Frank, Margaret and John went for a walk over
Haystacks. The rest of us set off for Pillar deciding this time to walk down the valley
and approach from below. A farcical time of trying to find the path up and indecision
finally led to Roger and Simon walking back to Honister, Cath and I going back to
Ennerdale to climb on a low level crag and Cathy, Roger Dyke and Christine
flogging up the very steep slope back to Pillar. Roger and Cathy finally did New
West climb whilst Christine watched.
John had a fantastic freewheel on his bike back down the valley for 6 miles back to
the car park. I freewheeled down from beneath Pillar but was again loaded with
masses of excess baggage. Much juggling with cars finally had everyone back to the
road end by 7 at night and we all left having had a really good weekend.
Lessons learnt
- Pillar is a long way from anywhere.
- Go with someone who knows their way round the crag
- Don't go out for a pee at 6am in just your undies when the midges are about.
- When the warden says breakfast at 8, she means 8 not 7.59.
July 2nd/3rd - Craig Yr Ysfa High Camp - Virginia Castick
Members Camping: Trish Cranston, Dave Dillon
Members who nearly camped: Virginia Castick, John Castick, Cath Sanders
Members found lurking on Anglesey: Roger Dyke, Roger Daley, Lester Payne, James Richardson
Driving down the coast Road on Saturday morning, John, Cath and I were quite
cheered by the sunny weather. By the time we reached the car park at Cwm Eigiau
the drizzle, strong wind and low cloud caused us to retreat to Anglesey for some
sunny climbing on Holyhead mountain. How we missed Trish and Dave on the road I
don't know. They arrived about the same time as us but were obviously made of
sterner stuff and set off to the chosen campsite for a weekend of walking and wine
drinking. Apparently the weather wasn't too awful but not really fit to climb.
Meanwhile on Anglesey, no sooner had Cath and I set off for the crag, the mist rolled
in and a strong wind blew. One route saw us back at the car park birdwatching with
John. It was lovely to see Puffins which I had only ever seen before in Scotland. We
met Chris Thickett and Lynne also birdwatching in the now gale force winds.
Retreating to Roger Dyke's 'place in the sun' for a cup of tea we found Lester, Roger
Daley and James on the same mission. At least it was an opportunity to watch the
Wimbledon Ladies final.
After a night at the hut we considered going to Craig Yr Ysfa for the day but sanity
prevailed and we had a pleasant day out climbing on Bochlwyd Buttress instead.
August 27th/29th - August (not the Cairngorms) Bank Holiday - Peter Walker
Members Present: Jim and Sandy Gregson, Chris Beeston, Roger Daley, Rob Clark,
Julie ORegan, Kevin Anderson, Dave Dillon, Trish Cranston, Scott Sadler, James
Richardson, Dave Bish, Peter Walker. Guests: Linda and John Dolan, Karen
Kennedy, Geoff Hibbert, Steve Bowker, Simon Shackley, Anja Wimmerling, Katy
Morgan, Peter Bamber.
Final Score:Ty Powdwr: 22, Cairngorms: 0.
A good gathering at the hut by Friday evening in spite of a not very good weather
forecast. Jim and Sandy had already had a days walk on the Lleyn Peninsula by the
time I arrived and Linda and John had set up camp with Nelson--what a name for a
one eyed dog!
A gloomy Saturday morning saw Chris, Karen, the Dolans and Nelson get a lift down
to the Pen y Gwyrd to traverse back over the Glyders and Elidir Fawr to the hut.
Two ropes headed for the Pass, Dave D and Trish to do Scramblers Gate(S) on the
Grochan, whilst Daley and Walker did Flying Buttress and Spiral Stairs on an almost
deserted Cromlech, unbelievable on a Bank Holiday - and there was plenty of
parking.
Over on Anglesey Scott and Geoff ticked off Fanfare(hvs), Daddy on Sight(E3) and
Fear Test(E3) on Rhoscolyn.
The main focus of attention on both Saturday and Sunday was Tremadoc where
Kevin and Steve did Grim Wall direct, Rob did Striptease(vs),One step in the
clouds(vs); Julie and Peter also did One Step, plus Grim Wall(vs) and Shadrach(vs).
Davey,Trish and Karen also did Grim Wall. Meanwhile Scott and Geoff were
knocking off Scratch Arete(hvs)Pincushion(e2) and barbarian(E1)
Sundays walk by Chris,Rob, John and Linda was the classic Nantle Ridge whilst Jim
and Sandy were on Yr Arddu and Cnicht.
My apologies to,Anja James, Dave and Katy for not having a note of their climbing,
and anyone else I have missed out.
Last but not least, Simon Shackley cycled from St Asaph and back!
The promised rain finally arrived on Monday morning so everyone had gone when
the sun broke through in the afternoon. Life was ever thus!
October 1st/2nd - Ty Powdwr Working Meet - James Richardson
Members: John Castick, John Evans, Roger Daley, James Richardson.
Guests: Colin Nickelson
Got plenty done including giving the hut a good clean, re-profiling the speed bumps
through the Farm and fixing slates and walls.
Colin used to come out with the hut over 10 years ago, this is his first meet since
then. If he makes a point of coming to working meets lets hope he keeps coming
down.
On Sunday Roger, John Evans and myself headed to Ogwen to do Ordinary Route
and Cneifion Arete in the Drizzle.
On Monday John and I headed to Tremadog.
Thank you to everyone who attended the meet.
October 8th/9th - Annual Fell Race, Irish Row - Neville McMillan
Members: Vicky Alderton, Bob Anderson, Mark Ashley, Christine Beeston, Virginia
& John Castick, Robert Clark, Trish Cranston, Roger Daley, Dave Dillon, Joe Flynn,
Mark Garrod, Jim & Sandy Gregson, Sheena Hendrie, Alan (H) Jones, Duncan Lee,
Colin Maddison, Roger Mapleson, Craig Marsden, Neville McMillan, Al Metelko,
Anna Neubert, Lester Payne, Scott Sadler, Peter Scholefield, Chris Thickett, Peter
Walker (28)
Whereas last year we filled all the available accommodation, this year the hut was
never more than half full. This was just as well, because although there are 31 bed
spaces, the facilities are totally inadequate for 31 people.
Saturday provided low cloud, 100% humidity, and a strong cold wind, so those
present settled for walking, and sussing out the terrain for tomorrow. Even so,
Duncan and Vicky managed to climb in the dry at Hodge Close Quarry.
Sunday dawned dry, with 100% blue sky and sunshine. But by 10am Neville's prayer
had been answered; the sun had gone away, there was cloud on the tops, a strong
SW wind, and it started to rain! Encouraged by the sunshine around Manchester,
several participants arrived on the day. And all the marshals appeared, mostly from
other parts of the Lake District, as if by magic.
Mark Garrod made a welcome reappearance after a year's absence, this time free of
injury. Several males had been doing clandestine training; unfortunately Colin's was
to no avail, as he had to retire without starting. Alan Hyde appeared, having warmed
up on the Langdale Horseshoe the day before! And Peter Scholefield, ace fell-runner
of yore, re-appeared (how much training had he been doing?). Amongst the ladies,
neither Michelle nor Julie were able to participate, but Sheena made a return to the
field. Christine was encouraged to avenge last year's performance, and Anna kept
her company. The field numbered 18, all KMC members.
This year's course was about 25% shorter than last year's, but this was
compensated by a similar increase in the amount of up and down. Overall, the times
were shorter, but not a lot.
Course: Irish Row - Hawk Rigg (NY 3006/0137) - Levers Water (SD 2797/9955) -
Coniston Old Man (SD 2723/9782) - Irish Row
The first leg was relatively low level, with no real navigational problem, but it sorted
out the participants into roughly the same order in which they finished. The spread of
times was remarkable, from 30 minutes by Mark Garrod, to 78 minutes by Peter
Walker.
On the second leg, Rob Clark and one or two others made an inspired choice of
route. By reversing the first leg back to the hut, and then up to Levers Water, they
stayed below the bad weather, and avoided the traverse of Wetherlam. It may only
have saved a few minutes, but it avoided the loss of 14 minutes made by Roger
Mapleson due to navigational errors in cloud.
The check-point at Levers Water tested people's mental resolve (as I thought it
might!). Joe, Lester, and Peter Walker wimped out, and took the easy way down and
back to the hut. But the rest gritted their teeth and slogged up to The Old Man, no
doubt saying a few unkind things about the course-setter. The times indicated who
had energy left. Roger Mapleson gained 4 minutes over Mark, Peter Scholefield put
up an impressive performance on this leg, and Alan Hyde came back into contention,
whereas Scott and Sheena suffered. Trish suddenly came to life on this leg, being
only 1 minute slower than Sheena, and 13 minutes faster than Virginia. But Craig
must have been saving himself, and put up the fastest descent back to the hut in 22
minutes, with Scott only 1 1/2 minutes slower.
At the finish, Mark was almost 10 minutes faster than Roger Mapleson, with a close
contest for third place between Craig and Al, who ran very consistently throughout.
And the winners of the trophies are:
| Ken Beetham Trophy | Fastest time | Mark Garrod | 2:20:12 |
| Sumerfield Cup | Fastest Lady | Sheena Hendrie | 3:16:14 |
| Shelagh Manning Trophy | Fastest handicap time | Sheena Hendrie | 1:52:14 |
| Concordia Trophy | Fastest first-time entrant | Roger Daley | 3:54:00 |
The full results (PDF format) are also available.
My thanks to all the checkers, especially Bob and Chris who had the worst of the
weather, and also to Vicky and Duncan for producing food and drink very efficiently.
Start training for next year; I'll be praying for lower cloud, and thicker cloud on the fell
tops!
October 22nd/23rd 2005 - Borrowdale Camp/Scramble - Virginia Castick
Members: Virginia Castick Jim Gregson Sandy Gregson
With the weather forecast putting off everyone including my husband ("I've got to pull
up half the floorboards in the house this weekend"), the meet turned out to be rather
exclusive. Jim and Sandy had booked into a Youth Hostel leaving me in solitary
splendour on the campsite. Even I was put off by the torrential rain on Friday night
and arrived in Borrowdale on Saturday morning. Scrambling was not an option in the
conditions so a walk up Grains Gill and see what the conditions would be like higher
up was the choice. After a very humid but just dry walk to Sprinkling tarn we headed
off to Styhead tarn then up and across to Gillercombe. We admired the hardy souls
on Gillercombe Buttress as we slithered about on the rocks below. It was really
raining by now and we were glad to be heading down to Honister Pass and down the
old road to the teashop at the bottom. Alan Barber would have been proud of the
way we consumed all the tea and all the milk.
Whilst Jim and Sandy retired to the comfort of Ambleside Youth Hostel I was left to
contemplate a quiet evening in the rain. Fish and chips in a cafe in Keswick was
followed by a trip to the theatre. Is this a first for a KMC meet? It was an excellent
diversion from the foul conditions outside.
Sunday was still wet but the forecast promised better. After waiting until 10am when
the Sunday scramble was due to start (but, of course, no-one turned up), I set off to
meet Jim and Sandy in Grasmere. We had a very pleasant walk in the dry but the
humidity was such we may as well have been in driving rain. The mist was low down
and the meet leader abdicated map reading responsibility to those with a map! We
walked past Easdale tarn and then along Blea Rigg, scene of a recent fell race
checkpoint,and back to Grasmere as the clouds finally lifted a little.
November Newsletter Index.
Copyright © 2005 Karabiner Mountaineering Club
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