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May 2007 Meet Reports
September 16th/17th - The Climbing, scrambling, stumbling and crumbling meet - Trish Cranston
Participants: Karen Kennedy, Dave Wavey, Dave Wylie, Peter Schofield,
Bob Astles (for the Saturday), Robert Clarke, Al Metelko and Kevin
Anderson.
My memory for this meet has faded as I didn't do the write up
straight away on account of the fact that I scribbled all the names
and climbs down on a piece of paper the size of a postage stamp and
lost it for at least 6 months and had some difficulty deciphering it
in the end... Ahem! Black spots pass before my eyes...
Anyway as far as my memory serves me we arrived at the camp-site on a
Friday eve as a three; Karen, Wavey and myself and decided to avoid
the numerous caravans on the main site and congregate in the field
instead. We were just pitching up when a voice loomed out of the
darkness "you can't camp here" and Dave Wylie's head appeared, "yes
we can" we replied, and got permission the following day. Dave had
camped on the hill on the main site, but decided to come down and
join us the following day, when everyone else arrived including the
happy campervan so we were a merry crew eager for adventure!
Saturday was sunny and actually quite hot, so we made an assault on
the Castle Rock of Triermain, which proved very entertaining; routes
accomplished were Slab climb (severe, Dave Wylie lead with Karen),
Yew Tree, (V. Diff, Pete and Bob), Via Media (Severe, Wavey lead,
and myself, then Dave W and Karen), Direct Route (Wavey lead, Pete
and myself), Gazebo, (HVS, i can't recall who did this... Pete and
Bob??) whilst Al and Kevin climbed an E2 that I didn't get the name
of ? Eliminator, but Kevin appeared to do the Splitz on several times
whilst wrestling with a loose flake, and Al needed an ice axe to get
his gear out of it...!
Aahh, what fun...so back we stumbled to the campsite, but Karen and I
decided our aerobic needs had not been catered for so we hiked up the
road to Thirlmere where, we tested our webbed feet in Lake
Thirlemere, and saved ourselves 20p each, very pleasant it was too...
Then back we went for dinner in the falling darkness, large amounts
of wine and oodles of blackberry and apple crumble that I made
beforehand heated up in our outdoor oven, delicately fashioned by
Wavey who stuck a camping stove to a roll of tin foil, and achieved
the blistering temperature of 150 degrees C !! oh and copious amounts
of custard...and lots of nice stars overhead, Mumble of the evening
went to Wavey... "He's got a big Dong" whilst gazing at Orions belt...
The next day the weather was a little clagged in so the majority
decided on a hike after suspiciously eyeing up Raven crag which was
looking very Tolkien in the swirling mist, more seriously by Al and
Kevin who decided against in the end, and were relieved at their
decision when they gleaned later that it was hosting a party of
ticks! So they headed back for more thrills on the Castle rock as Al
hadn't yet had enough of hacking at Kevin's bomber gear, and lured
Wavey eventually to complete Zig Zag (MVS ) and lastly, Harlot's Face
(E1, Kevin and Al).
The rest of us did a big stomp up Watson's Dodd where Dave Wylie
suddenly threw off his big jacket and said he was training for the
next fell race, and promptly disappeared in a pale grey top into
matching mist leaving us wondering if we would see him again... so we
soldiered on up to Raise, halfway up which Rob Clarke uttered the
quote of the morning, or was it afternoon at this stage "It's not
uphill, just a different degree of flatness..." with a far-away look
in his eyes which we put down to his Scottishness. Dave Wylie
rejoined, his pounding feet and panting heard about 30 paces before
he arrived, and we continued to Whiteside bank where we descended
shouting very loudly towards the Harlot's face "TEASHOP!!!", which
was not heard by either of the still climbing pair and Wavey was out
of range so we consumed tea, scones and cake on their behalf at a
teashop with lovely garden and wood and pottery workshops attached,
wooden curtains in the loo, funky! We returned to find Wavey behind a
good book. So we brewed up again and eventually departed, meeting
returning Al and Kevin along the road, weary but happy so we handed
them an apple crumble (emergency supplies for those allergic to
blackberries) which they polished off in the green machine.
Thank you to everyone who came, I think we all enjoyed ourselves!
Baked Alaska next year (Kevin suggestion) Hmmm...
ps. The only scrambling done to my knowledge was done by myself and
my good friend Cath whilst in search of suitable sufficiently ripened
fruits
January 20th/21st - Raeburn Hut - Andrew Croughton
Members Present, A. Croughton, D. Lygate.
Guests Present, J. Corbett.
Friday
After travelling through horrendous wind, rain, sleet and
snow on the summit of Dromochter we finally arrived at the bustling
hut. An unexpected number of people had come along for the weekend
despite of the dire weather forecast. (Only two KMC members and one
guest though).
Saturday
Although still blowing a Gale, the winds had dropped
considerably from the bashing that the hut had received through the
night, and with great optimism we set out toward Aviemore and
Braeriach.
The going was good underfoot; icy in places with a smattering of
snow, the visibility was very good despite the tops and summits
remaining shrouded in clag.
John Corbett (guest) sprinted ahead putting me to shame while I
plodded along behind him and Dave followed at a steady pace obviously
taking great care not to aggravate his recently injured knee. The
passage through Chalamain gap gave us brief shelter from the wind
before giving us our first sight of the day's goal Braeriach. It also
brought us out amidst a heard of Reindeer munching away on the
heather.
We approached slowly expecting the heard to dart off at any moment
but despite Dave and John getting within arms reach they did not bolt
and allowed us to take several photographs before we continued on our
way.
From the exit from the Chalamain gap we headed down into the valley
bottom and further respite from the wind before fording the stream
and heading up on to the shoulder of Braeriach itself. As we reached
the cloud base we came over the shoulder and head first into the
strong winds that blew directly into our faces. Head down, we
struggled on into the wind which soon became blizzard, which in turn
turned into a white out and blizzard, but nothing was going to stop
John sprinting ahead and Dave as always took it in his stride.
The return journey was briefly greeted with clearing skies and a
small glimpse of the surroundings before the clag came back down as
night started to approach.
Navigation though not difficult did lead to some small difficulties
as the weather condition forced us into altering from our preferred
course leading us over a small ice/snow field. I decided rather than
detouring back on to the track some three four hundred yards to my
right to glissade down realising too late that the crisp icy layer I
stood upon was only wafer thin as my axe cut neatly through it like a
hot knife through butter. Fortunately I was able to obtain just
enough friction to control my descent before reaching soft snow lower
down, below the buffeting winds, where I gently rose to my feet and
walked nonchalantly away as if that had been my intention all along,
unfortunately there was no witnesses to my stylish recovery.
Dave and John followed by a similar route and agreed that at the end
of the day the weather and conditioned had been far beyond any
expectations we had for the weekend after the winds that had
devastated the whole country only days before.
That evening we ate at the hut and chatted with the guys from the SMC
who had been out ski touring for the day, and caught up on the day's
gossip regarding the mysterious sleeping bag in the dormitory.
Apparently a sleeping bag had been left in one of the dormitories and
no one knew who it belonged to as no record of anybody else staying
at the hut had been entered into the hut register. So by a process of
deduction, and close inspection of the sleeping bag and several other
items left in the hut, including a wash bag containing mouth wash but
no tooth brush or toothpaste, a shaver and razor, not to mention the
dirty marks on the sleeping bag itself it was deduced that the
missing occupant was a one toothed hirsute individual with bad breath
and was know wanted by the police. In truth it turned out to be a SMC
member who lived not too far away and had left his belongings behind
and collected them through the day on Saturday. Of course this did
not deter the other SMC members from making up their own mind as to
the character who owned the bag or the fact that the police where
still looking for him as he had been reported as missing.
Sunday
A promising start to the day leads us of to Killin.
The wind had dropped considerably and the sun came out as we drove
south.
When we reached Killin, we started up the approach road to the
visitors centre of Ben Lawers but were flagged down half way up to be
informed that several cars higher up the road had come to a stop on
ice and were blocking the road, so we did a U-turn on the road and
parked up in the passing place.
By the time gear had been put on and sacks lifted on to shoulders the
clag had once again come down and snow had started to fall, but that
wasn't going to stop John and Dave from reaching the summit of Meall
Corranaich & Meall a' Choire Leith, as they once again disappeared
into the distance and out of my view.
In all it was a very successful weekend considering the desperate
forecast predicted for the weekend. (Just goes to show you can never
rely on weather forecasters and it is always worth the journey north
of the border.)
February 24th - Lancashire Mountain Biking - Scott Sadler
Nobody turned up! This is a climbing club after all.
March 3rd/4th - Mill Cottage, Cairngorms - Dave Lygate
Members Present: Andy Croughton, Roger Daley, Duncan Lee, David K.
Lygate, Colin Maddison, Craig Marsden, Al Metelko, Brian Street.
We had originally booked twelve places for this meet, however due to
a double booking by The Mill Cottage Trust, we agreed to reduce this
number to eight. They tried to bump us completely, then change the
date, however all of our correspondence had the correct dates on it,
& they had cashed our deposit cheque, so they didn't have a leg to
stand on. If I was being cynical, I would say that they couldn't
resist the six day booking from the other club & thought that they
could get away with it!
The lucky eight were rewarded for not leaving their booking to the
last minute. We had fantastic winter climbing conditions on the
Saturday, the day was calm with mainly clear skies & just the odd bit
of cloud.
The trip north was looking good with clear skies & temperatures
dropping as we headed towards the Border. However, at Gretna things
started to look bad with heavy rain all the way to Drumochter. There
was also an accident that had closed part of the A9 & we were
diverted through Pitlochry as the only alternative route. We then sat
in a queue of traffic as a lorry spent 20 minutes negotiating the
underside of a bridge & almost got stuck, which would have closed the
diversion. We began to feel jealous of Andy & Brian, who had left in
the morning to fit in a fantastic day in the Lakes. Luckily the lorry
driver gave up his foolish task & waited until the A9 re-opened. We
were then able to continue out journey north & from Drumochter the
rain started to fall as snow.
Once we'd arrived at the hut, Duncan's chocolate Beer & Andy's whisky
kept us all up talking about Craig's shopping experiences a lot later
than we should. Since we were sharing the hut, it was full to
capacity, with some of the other group camping & three of us sleeping
on the sofas or the floor.
Despite or as a result of the sleeping arrangements, we were all up
early on the Saturday morning & heading in the direction of the
Cairngorm Ski Centre. Most of the group walked into Coire an
T-Sneachda, except Andy & Brian who summited Braeriach via the
Chalamain Gap.
With the ice axes out & crampon on, David & Duncan (DL & DL) & Colin
& Craig (CM & CM) all headed towards the same crag. DL & DL tackled
The Seam, an exceptionally dramatic looking climb (100m grade IV,5*)
with Duncan leading, while CM & CM tackled Invernookie, one of the
best named climbs in the area (120m grade III,4*). We then combined
groups to scramble up the top section of the Fiacaill Ridge (grade
II). On our way back down into Coire an T-Sneachda, we stopped to
watch a large party being filmed for what looked like a documentary,
before DL & DL & CM & CM climbed Red Gully (120m grade II*) with DL &
DL taking alternate leads. Al & Roger had been here on the main crag
all day & had climbed The Runnel (135m grade II**) & Aladin's Mirror
Direct (25m grade IV,4). We then all retired to the Cairngorm Hotel
to meet up with Brian & Andy for a couple of well deserved pints to
celebrate such a perfect day.
When we got back to the hut, we found out that the other group, who
were also from the North West & mainly Mountain Rescue, had mislaid a
skier. He had headed out for a short ski tour & not returned, so they
had called the Mountain Rescue. He was eventually found, given a trip
in an RAF helicopter for one mile & then driven to the hut by the
Mountain Rescue. He told us that since it was such a perfect day,
that he had decided to extend his ski tour quite considerably &
timewise he had bitten off more than he could chew.
Sunday started with the smell of burnt toast, produced by an
oblivious Roger, who said "Oh is it done?"
The weather report had said bad conditions to arrive after lunch, so
we were all up early to blue skies, determined to get a morning route
in. However, while marching into Coire an T-Sneachda the storms
arrived early - high winds & snow, we made an unanimous decision to
turn back as the conditions were atrocious. There were incredibly bad
driving conditions on the way home with high winds, driving rain &
very poor visibility. DL & DL witnessed 5 bad crashes on the homeward
drive & were glad not to have been stuck out on the hills.
Despite the loss of Sunday, it had been a fantastic trip for winter
climbing & thoroughly enjoyed by all. I'm sure I can speak for all
that attended when I say, if we get more conditions like the
Saturday, then I can't wait for next season.
March 11th - Forest of Trawden - Dave Shotton
Members: Mark Ashley, Virginia Castick, Lester Payne, Alan Peck, Phil
Ramsbottom, Dave Shotton, Frank and Margaret Williams, Keith
Williams; Alan 'Liverpool' Jones also gets a tick for an appearance
late in the day!
Guest: Nicoletta Bobola
A keen group of walkers made a prompt 10.00 a.m. start from the
Trawden Road car park near Wycoller on a fine sunny day, albeit one
with a chill March wind. A pleasant meander through Wycoller village
led past a photogenic packhorse bridge and ford, and an antique
clapper bridge made of several stone slabs. Some time was spent
inspecting the ruins of Wycoller Hall with its staircase to a
now-vanished first floor and its grand fireplace with curious
adjacent 'keyhole' niche; Frank Williams was also very interested in
the aisled barn conversion further along. A little way past the duck
pond we turned off across the ancient single-slab clam bridge and
headed uphill towards Bank House and then on towards the more rugged
uplands of the Forest of Trawden.
Slightly off track over rough tussocky grassland on Flake Hill Moor,
we finally joined the Pendle Way by the head of Turnhole Clough,
thanks to the local knowledge of Keith Williams. Following the Pendle
Way along Saucer Hill Clough, we decided not to cut straight up over
rough country towards the Great Saucer Stones, but continued until we
could follow an easier path past a small reservoir straight up
Boulsworth Hill to the Weather Stones (pre-lunch food stop) and then
on to the summit at Lad Law, complete with 20-foot radio aerial and
operator. Frank, Margaret and Virginia had dropped behind and later
turned back from this point down over Abbot Stone and then back
across fields past Germany Farm to Wycoller, where the rest of the
party caught up with them at the end of the day.
From Lad Law we (the larger group) cut across the moor to Warcock
Hill, and then followed a vague ridge SW, stopping off to investigate
the interesting-looking slabs and pinnacle of the Dove Stones grit
outcrop. The path finally petered out and we made our way across
boggy grassland to Grey Stone Hill, giving a fine view over Widcop
Reservoir. Here we sheltered from the wind in the boulders and had
lunch, disturbed only by some off-road motorcycle scramblers in the
vicinity.
We then retraced our path (a slightly unsatisfactory bit of
route-planning, but difficult to avoid) for about 20 minutes via Dove
Stones and Warcock Hill, and then headed towards Crow Hill, something
over a mile and a half away. The route started along a vague dyke,
continued over some boggy ground crossed here and there by 4WD tracks
(presumably because it's maintained as grouse country), and the group
then made a beeline across a pathless sea of heather (though parallel
to a line of occasional boundary markers), requiring negotiation of
one or two deep groughs.
From Crow Hill, the path led down Nan Hole Clough past grouse butts
and a shuttered shooting lodge. Further down we joined the Brontė Way
briefly, where we were met by Alan 'L' Jones ascending from the
opposite direction, fresh from supporting a NW Ski Federation event.
We descended towards Wycoller via Smithy Clough (though I don't think
we ever decided if our particular route here was the Brontė Way or
the Pendle Way, or both). We reached Wycoller village a little after
4 p.m., where we rejoined Frank, Margaret and Virginia. Some of us
had a look at the willow sculptures of animals by the village, and
stopped at the cafe for alfresco tea and in extreme cases, scones and
jam, before departing for home.
It was reported that at least one member of the group (Margaret) was
dreaming about walking over tussocks and disappearing into a hole in
the ground that night!
March 18th - Peak District Walk - Iain McCallum
Members present: Mark Ashley, Alan (H) Jones, Iain McCallum, Alan
Peck, Phil. Ramsbottom, Keith Williams.
Guests present: Christine Jones, Sofia Paterna, Alex Rodreiguez.
Animals present: Two dogs.
Gale force winds and snow on high ground were forecast for the day
and that is what we got for most of the day apart from some brief
sunny spells. We started with a hearty welcome to our two guests,
Sofia and Alex, on their first time out with the Club. Leaving
Moorfield, we followed the track alongside Bray Clough, then up the
path to the shooting cabin below Harry Hut. Here Christine left us,
taking one of the dogs with her. Following the line of butts above
the cabin we soon joined the "Yellow Brick Road" leading to Mill
Hill. With a following wind (gale) and the fleeting cry "gobak,
gobak" from grouse in our ears, we made good progress, past the
aircraft wreck, over Mill Hill and onto Kinder Scout. Lashed by
strong winds and hail we ploughed on along the edge to Sandy Heys.
Descending the ridge we were struck by a very violent hail storm
which brought us to a halt for a while. It was difficult to stay on
ones feet but we eventually edged our way down hill to more sheltered
ground and a welcome pit stop among the rocks.
After dropping downhill towards the Kinder reservoir we swung into
William Clough and
then followed the path up White Brow to the white shooting cabin at
the top. Here we were rewarded with good views of Brown Knoll, South
Head and Mount Famine before making our way down to the Royal Hotel
in Hayfield. Mothering Sunday! The place was packed but Keith
managed to order soup and rolls while Alex and Sofia insisted on
buying us all drinks to celebrate their first day out with the Club -
a Spanish tradition!
Things improved in the afternoon, the wind and hail showers abated
and even the sun shone from time to time. Minus Alan(H) and dog who
had gone on ahead, we left the pub headed towards Lantern Pike and
the track leading to Matley Moor Farm. By now Kinder had acquired a
winter mantle. Hail storms continued to lash it intermittently. Alan
P. left us when we reached the top of the pass and the main road
close to the Grouse Inn. From here we followed the track to Burnt
Hill. Back on the "Yellow Brick Road" led by Phil we made such rapid
progress towards Mill Hill that we missed our marker from where we
were to leave the track for the shooting cabin below. Bashing through
the heather we descended the hill side, disturbing a white suited
mountain hare on our way down into Bray Clough, and so back to the
cars at 4pm.
What an exhilarating day! Thank you all for your support.
April 1st - Todmorden Walk - Phil Ramsbottom
Members: Dave Wylie, Alan Wylie, Iain McCallum, Lorna Marsland, Linda
Crossley, Margaret Williams, Frank Williams, Keith Williams, Pete
Walker, Mark Ashley, Chris Thicket, Phil Ramsbottom.
Guests: Maja Knieszner, Sofia Paterna, Alex Rodreiguez.
I knew it was going to be a good day when we arrived at the car park
to find that it was free on Sundays, to help matters the sun was
shining and there was a good turn out. Not all were intending to
complete the walk but it was especially great to have Franks company
for the first bit.
The steep climb out of the Calder Valley spread the field out,
fortunately somebody pointed this out to give us a chance to regroup
at the Great Rock. After this I did try and count up every so often
and we managed to arrive together at the old bridge over Colden
Clough for elevenses. This really is a lovely spot to stop. From here
Frank and Margaret opted for a shorter walk (to be joined by Pete as
he was in their car), and they dropped back the valley to pick up the
canal - at least that is what I think they did, as I haven't seen
them since.
We then switched from the Calderdale Way to the Pennine Way as we
climbed up onto the top of the moor, which was mercifully dry (unlike
my previous two crossings earlier in the year). This brought us to
the Pack Horse just in time for the serious drinkers to get in their
Sunday pint.
There are at least two ways down through Hardcastle Crags, I opted
for the most energetic which involves staying as close to the river
as possible - this entails balancing along fallen trees and creeping
along narrow almost non existent paths just above the river.
Surprisingly everybody followed - although Iain did find a number of
ways to make the passage easier (when I grow up I intend to be as
smart as he is). Anyway, nobody cursed me to my face and one or two
did admit it allows you to see the most beautiful part of the river.
After passing the renovated Gibsons Mill we climbed steadily out of
Hardcastle Crags up to Heptonstall, sadly there wasn't time to
explore this interesting village today as we still had a long way to
go. We had a bit of a break at Heptonstall Quarry where we were
treated to a very impressive display of soloing - I was impressed
when the climber solo'd up to the top, but when he then turned round
and solo'd back down I was speechless.
When we reached the canal again Mark, Sofia, Alex, Linda and Lorna
decided to shorten the day and return along the canal to the cars.
The rest of us toiled up the other side of the Calder Valley to
eventually reach the monument at Stoodley Pike. This was a fine spot
to sit in the sun and enjoy the view of where we had travelled during
the day, the sun was shining, Chris and Keith were pleased because
they were both recovering from illnesses and 'did not intend to
finish'. Iain claimed this was to be 'probably his last long walk'
(if you believe that you probably think that the traffic on our
motorways will eventually be flowing smoothly). When I sit there, I
always remember the last time we did this walk as a club meet. We sat
there and enjoyed the bottle of sparkling wine, which Bowden had
carried all the way round, the grin on his face was matched by the
astonished looks from the rest of us.
So that was it, good company, good weather and one of my favourite
local walks - thanks to all who came.
April 6th/9th - Easter Alex Mac Meet - David Bish
Literary Cop Out Clause:
Forsooth and egad, methinks that the bar hath been putteth too high
and verily shall I merely recant this epistle in plane prose for fear
that the mumblings of my pen shall not compare to the erstwhile
poetry which floweth from the quill of Sir Roger, the bard of
Ballachulish.
OK Cop out clause over - the winter conditions were in where you
wanted them in and out where you didn't. That made it just the job
for long walkin's and good climbs with all our wanderers getting
safely back home for food and beverages by the side of the cosy fire
in the Alex Mac.
There was a fine turn out at this magic little hut with myself and
Roger narrowly beating, Robert and Kirsten, Wavey and Trish to the
hut - in fact we'd only managed to get the whisky open when in they
popped - funny that.
Despite a small crampon-hiring diversion Friday was good and it being
so Roger and I headed for the Ben and did Good Friday Route (III). We
bumped into club aspirants Liz and Ian at the North Face car park -
a pretty hardcore pair they walked in to the Ben with camping gear,
pitched by the CIC hut and still caught us up at the crux of the
route. Conditions were great - Ian said he had never placed so many
ice screws in a day and I only just managed to hold Roger back from
leading up a creamy blue looking sheet of ice heading straight up
Indicator wall at grade V.
At the same time Trish, Wavey, Rob and Kirsten headed South and did a
horseshoe on the South of Glencoe taking the zig zags up Gear Aonach
then on to Stob Coire Nan Lochain and Aonach Dubh.
Mark and Michelle arrived later that evening just as we got the
whisky open - funny that.
Saturday was to be the Aonach Eagach for Trish, Wavey, Rob and
Kirsten but the weekend's forgetting things jinx struck again and a
rucksack got left behind. Even though Wavey valiantly wrestled a
rabid dog for its lunch, the party fueled only on Eccles cakes and
whiffs of Champagne bagger's champagne decided that Buchaille Etive
Beag was a more obtainable objective. Fortunately this meant that
Trish was ready to return to the hut nicely in time to bake an Easter
cake (result !).
Meanwhile myself and Roger gave our tired little legs a rest and took
a cable car up to Aonach Mor and still basking in the warm glow of
the customer service from the Nevis Range staff we arrived at the top
of Easy Gully (I/II) to descend to the routes only to find them a
somewhat slushy prospect in the blazing sun. We challenged all
things forgotten by starting Forgotten Twin, which was about the only
thing in condition and then after a very Scottish £5 note rescue we
tried the less travelled area on the South of the Gully. Finding
nothing in the guidebook and nothing on the crag but bergschrund and
Cornice with a wee bit of ice in the middle we had no choice but to
put up a new route up said difficulties: "Bad Saturday Climb" (III)
which led up a short ice pitch to overhanging snow and some serious
cornice tunneling.
Michelle and Mark were no slackers that day as usual and headed up
from Glen Nevis to An Gearanach, then round the Mamore tops to Stob
Ban, and down the North ridge back into Glen Nevis (sounds easy when
you write it like that but have a peek at the map!).
Liz and Ian did Green Gully (III) that day but camped out on Ben
Nevis that evening as we guzzled cake and got the whisky open - shame!
Sunday was Big Ben meets the Easter Bunny. Trish and Kirsten joined
myself and Roger on the Ben for a grade three Easter egg hunt on
Gardyloo Gully. We'd heard that the ice pitch would be in and as
some chaps from Plymouth had abbed off when it got too hard we knew
it would be the prefect route to introduce some foolhardy new
recruits to the Ben. Not even the sight of a slightly worse for
wear Liz and Ian on the way back from their CIC-side campsite put our
hardy little crew off and before you knew it we were plodding up hard
packed 50 degree snow. The jammed chockstone pitch (that you can
often go under) was one great 3m feathered ice bollard, which I got
to smash my way up and after a small issue over how much rope was
left, Trish and everybody else popped up this and the rest of the icy
section to a nice steep belay. From here Kirsten led Roger up the
penultimate pitch into a cave under the cornice which gave a suitably
thrilling final overhanging obstacle before we all stood on the top
of Scotland and whizzed down the snowy col before Carn Mor Dearg
arźte just as the rain started. Ah - the bliss of that magnificent
walkout to Torlundy in the drizzle!
Wavy and Robert decided to have a shorter day and get lots of
firelighting practice in after romping up Bidean garlic-nan Bean and
spying out a few crags for summery exploits to come.
Mark and Michelle headed east to try and avoid any worsening weather,
and got blown around on Meall nan Tarmachan, above Loch Tay.
There was Stilton and whisky that night and we were all there to
enjoy it.
Perhaps we had plans for Monday but the weather had others - the
drizzle was by now well and truly in so after going to Nevisport for
breakfast and to take the crampons back we went to Nevisport for
11ses and then began the drive South while Mark and Michelle headed
of for some skidding around in Perthshire!
May Newsletter Index.
Copyright © 2007 Karabiner Mountaineering Club
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