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January 2009 Meet Reports
February 7th/19th - Norway Ice Climbing - Craig Marsden
It's been a long time in the making (!), and now it's an
article/report/advert for the next adventure so I randomly placed it
at the end of this report.
Rjukan, Norway 2008 (and for 2009)
Members Present Feb 8-15th: Colin Maddison, Al Metelko, Dave Lygate,
Susan Marsden, Craig Marsden.
Guests Present: Thomas Marsden, Roisin Maddison, Phoebe Marsden.
The strap line? Fed up with variable Scottish conditions and poor if
any ice, want virtually guaranteed conditions with a maximum of an
hour and a half walk or as little as 2 minutes, want a choice of some
175 ice routes then Rjukan in Southern Norway may well be the place
for you?
The reality was even better as 8 winter hopefuls step off the Ryanair
flight to Oslo Torp, it's not that cold! Was the first cry but wait
advises the meet leader, there is time yet! (I didn't know you could
cross so many things!).
After some initial tribulations obtaining and then finding the hire
car, the silver car turned out to be black, we were on our way to the
silky accompaniment of Al's lady friend ensuring a devious and very
direct route to our destination.
We eventually arrived in Rjukan to find our beds awaiting at 2 am.
A slow start on the Saturday morning (ish) showed the 1st split in
the party with Dave and Al heading off to the Ozzimosis area whilst
the rest of us made our way up to the ski area to sort out the skiers
in the party, with clear blue skies beckoning for all. Dave started
in sensible style with a nice WI2 and followed a Klassik WI3 and
gains his first star, if he carries on at this rate then we expect
WI6 at least by the end of the week. Al got his turn with a nice warm
up on Anakje WI3.
Colin and I nipped in to sneak a first route at the Ozzimosis area to
test Colin's sparkly new axes out, they are so light and very curvy,
no I'm not talking about Colin here, although maybe, in geological
terms!! Ozzimosis proved more than a little exciting if not painful
for a warm up route! Dave Garland I now know what you were worried
about all those years ago in Spain, I thought I was going to hit the
first runner! After this inauspicious start, Colin made short work of
the rest of the route. Not exactly what I had in mind for a warm up
route but we were off to a 'flying' start.
Colin above on Ozzimosis WI4.
The next morning saw the dawn, well, 11'ish, rising to get the skiers
underway for their 1st lesson, full of excitement and exuberance and
the climbers off to the Lower Gorge for our first full day's play on
ice.
The gorge was a magical place with some classic looking lines,
Camilla foss, kort og godt. The Lower Gorge provided plenty of
amusement with Dave leaping up to Water Ice 4, at this rate Dave will
be on Mixed 6 by the end of the week. The Skiers had a great time
with the youngsters coming to grips with down hill and Sue deciding
on cross-country.
Out for a pizza and back to the hut for a whisky and to decide on the
next day's activities.
Day 3 saw us visiting an incredible area, the Vemork bridge, the area
below the legendary power station that was attacked due to heavy
water production.
A fantastic route, Vemorkbrufoss Ost WI4, gave much excitement with
Dave having a few flying lessons but having a thoroughly enjoyable
time.
Day 4 saw a return to the Vemork bridge area and our first foray onto
a WI5 with Vemorkbrufoss Vest, a fantastic route in a superb position.
The Skiers were having a great time up at the ski area with wall to
wall sunshine and virtually empty slopes. Sue decided cross-country
was her thing and went for some private lessons.
Dave was determined to do some telemark skiing in the telemark region
and Al accompanied him to the summit of Gaustatopen. It certainly
looked amazing with fantastic hoarfrost boulders. Colin and I decided
to climb in the Sun for a change and visited the Rjukan town centre
crags, discretion was the order of the day however when a couple of
tonnes of ice came down a few hundred metres from our line.
Day 6 saw a brief visit to the upper gorge for Dave, Al and I whilst
Colin demonstrated he hadn't forgotten how to Ski in over the last 12
years. In the afternoon we made a visit to Krokan, the areas main ice
cragging area where Thomas experienced his first ice climb Bullen
WI3, the area classic.
The final day saw a beautiful dawn and a return visit to Rjukan Town
Centre area to have a go at Tjonnstadbergfossen (***WI4) - this was a
great climb with very delicate climbing on pitch 3, a great way to
finish a superb holiday.
This turned out to be a very harmonious and enjoyable holiday proving
that it is in fact possible to mix children and a fantastic winter
playground. Everybody on the trip was great company and I won't
hesitate to recommend this trip to anyone, in fact, we have booked
again for 2009:
Flying out on Friday 13th of February and returning on Sunday the
22nd, flight costs £30 each way plus taxes and baggage costs. And the
Sales might be on!
Accommodation circa £100 /person /week. Hire car £350 / 9 days.
We still have one place available in the hut we have booked and there
is a high likelihood that there will be other smaller huts available,
we have booked a 4 person one for 2 in the past. Don't forget that
there is a Ski resort if you don't want to climb... That's where Sue
will be and it is a lovely relative small resort with a max queue for
ski lifts of 5 witnessed last year.
Give yourselves an early New Year present and book for a fabulous
winter trip. Contact me if you want more information.
Members of the group were:
- Al 'clean plate' Metelko
- Thomas 'black eye' Marsden
- Susan 'Cross Country babe' Marsden
- Phoebe 'balletic' Marsden
- Roisin 'bullet' Maddison
- Dave 'Thumper' Lygate
- Colin ' What do I do with the Spare Axe / Icharus?' Maddison
- Craig 'elegance and grace' Marsden (I wonder who wrote this?)
June 8th - Dovestones Fell Run - Roy Lee
Members: Roy Lee, Duncan Lee, Vicky Alderton, John Cox, Richard
Yorke, Jim Symon.
Guest: Ivy Limbrick.
We left Dovestones Reservoir running past the boat house and onto the
site of the old Ashway house where I tripped over a stone and fell
full length on the gravel, removing the skin along my forearm. After
a discussion Ivy offered to run back to the car to get the First Aid
kit - the rest of us walked on until she caught up with us walking in
one direction and she running the opposite one. By the time she met
up with us, she had had a four mile run, was knackered and decided to
cut the route short. Jim being on a tight schedule joined her and
Vicky gleefully took the chance and went with them (I think she
tripped me up but she denies it).
After medical attention from John and Duncan, the remaining four
climbed up Holme Clough onto the moor and towards the A635, but I
started to struggle with my left shoe where the sole had peeled off
back to the instep. Richard kindly donated the cord out of his
rucksack to tie it back together - off we ran again onto the Cotton
Famine Road and towards Broadstones, but nothing was meant to be easy
on this run as the sole peeled off my right shoe, which needed more
cord and some laces to fasten it back. Never daunted we ran on
passing fields of cotton grass, which made parts of the moor look
like snow. On arriving at Pots and Pans war memorial we decided to
split up again, with Richard of Yorke and Gaunt Jon going over
Alderman, and Duncan and I doing the easy way back as my shoes
repeatedly needed tying together - we met again at the base of
Alderman and ran back to the cars. I must have made an interesting
sight with my arm bandaged and my shoes tied together. We decided to
give the Pub a miss and head home. I want to thank the people who
came for their help - the day did not turn out quite as expected, but
in spite of the problems I really enjoyed leading my first KMC meet
for many years.
PS. My running shoes returned to New Balance who admitted a
production error and refunded my money.
August 10th/23rd - Ailefroide meet - Duncam Lee
Members present: Vicky Alderton, Roger Mapleson, Bridget Mapleson,
Craig Marsden, Sue Marsden, Al Metelko, Kate O'Regan, Julie O'Regan,
Andy Grantham, Kirsten Mundt, Dave Bish, Katie Horgan, James Hoyle
and Duncan Lee.
Guests present: Carys Mapleson, Owen Mapleson, Thomas Marsden, Phoebe
Marsden and Mike Farrish.
By the time that Vicky and I arrived at Ailefroide from the
Dolomites, on the 12th, the meet was already in full swing and had
its first epic under its belt. Messr's Bish, Hoyle, Farrish and
Grantham may have taken the Alpine Club guidebook (of lies) a bit too
literally when it referred to the "South-north traverse of Pointe des
Cineastes" as being "low enough to be climbable in periods of bad
weather." I'm not sure that it meant rain and storms but the weather
was most definitely BAD and thus helped to spice up the experience
and to slow progress down to such an extent that darkness also came
into the equation. Darkness, that was aided and abetted by the
failure of two members of the team to pack head torches. Thus Mike
and James, the alpine novices, made it back to the car in the early
hours whilst Dave and Andy failed to find the bridge across the
raging torrent below the Glacier Blanc hut and got to spend a night
huddled in a dung filled cave for their troubles. Secretly I think
Dave just likes epics.
Back in the comfort of the campsite we had two KMC enclaves with the
family's canvas castles and their orbiting satellites pitched out in
the open field whilst Andy's bargain monster marquee formed the hub
of the woodland folk's encampment. Vic and I split the difference and
pitched our tent midway between the two groups as a storm raged. A
deluge that was so ferocious that it washed away the footbridge from
the campsite to the nearest crag thus adding all of five minutes to
the approach.
Wednesday 13th
The overnight downpour cleared to give a glorious day that saw
virtually everyone cragging somewhere in the vicinity of the
campsite. Al and Kirsten (the Keen team) did the classic 12 pitch
"Palavar les Flots" whilst "Two hot men" also saw some attention but
we will gloss over that. The most impressive lead of the day however
was definitely that of "Go on, go on"(F4b), impressive because it was
Thomas's first lead and it was seconded by Owen to give a combined
age of 21 for the entire team! Maybe this club does have a future
after all.
Thursday 14th
As the Maplesons and Marsdens headed off down the valley to do some
downhill mountain biking everyone else ventured as far as the valley
crags. Most folk stuck to single pitch routes because the weather
forecast was for the weather to deteriorate as the day progressed but
as luck would have it, it stayed dry until late in the afternoon by
which time Vicky and I had completed the excellent "Snoopy" including
an accidental ascent of the slab nasty direct finish which certainly
added to the entertainment. The first, but not the last, time that we
rued not buying the new guidebook.
Mid afternoon saw Dave and Andy, ever the optimists with their eyes
on bigger things, slogging up to the Pelvoux Hut despite a weather
forecast that failed to inspire anyone else to leave the comfort of
the campsite.
Friday 15th
As the storm rumbled around the peaks for most of the night the boys
in the hut sensibly ignored their early alarm but as the thunder
abated, around 6am, they quit their beds for a quick breakfast and
headed out onto the South face of Mont Pelvoux, getting as far as the
Pelvoux Glacier before the weather closed in once more, thwarting
their efforts and enforcing a retreat. The customary descent down the
Coolridge couloir was out of the question, being swept by spin drift
avalanches, so they were forced to retrace their steps down the
Rochers Rouge which proved to be time consuming and exhausting due to
the unhelpful shelving nature of the terrain and the atrocious
conditions. As a result they only made it back to the hut at 11.30pm
and spent a second night there.
As Dave and Andy made their epic retreat to the hut James, Mike,
Julie and Kate walked up to the Glacier Blanc hut to get in position
to make the most of the forecast good weather for the morrow.
Other activity during the day was pretty minimal if you rule out
reading newspapers and festering. Except, that is for Kirsten, Al and
Katie who walked up to the Pelvoux Hut and back expecting to meet the
team coming down. Unfortunately whilst at the hut they were informed
by the warden, or one of his little helpers, that Dave and Andy were
trying to do the classic traverse of Pelvoux. This misinformation
caused a certain amount of anxiety in the valley as the evening
progressed and there was no sign of them.
Saturday 16th
The forecast perfect day saw James, Julie, Mike and Kate having a
jolly time on the South-West face and South ridge of Montagne des
Agneaux but they were robbed of the summit views due to the presence
of a human traffic jam in the chimney above the Col Tuckett. This did
not appear to detract one iota from their enjoyment of the day
judging by the size of the grins on Julie and Kate's faces as they
descended back to the valley passing the families out marmot
spotting. James and Mike were determined to make the most of the
weather and relocated to the Ecrin Hut in readiness for another route.
Meanwhile a worried Katie was pacing nervously around the village but
a quick phone call to the hut shed light on the matter of Dave and
Andy's whereabouts. They had only just begun the walk back down to
the valley after a lie in and a hearty breakfast. Relief all round!
As well as the mountains, the more substantial valley crags also got
quite a going over, especially the excellent 15 pitch (500m) "Pets de
Rupricaprins" which saw ascents from the ever keen team of Kirsten
and Al with Bridget and Vicky following on a couple of pitches below.
Craig and I strolled up to Vers Clapouse where we had a fine time on
the varied and entertaining "Tueur de Boucs". The spectacular crux
pitch followed a gangway sandwiched between huge roofs and proved to
be very memorable, especially for Craig who stress tested a piece of
granite beyond its shear point. He was also heard to mutter the odd
technical climbing term on the holdless slab above the void but all
in all, loathe as I am to say it, it was a good effort for a fell
runner who only touches rock once in a blue moon.
Sunday 17th
The earliest start of the day was recorded by James and Mike, a
proper Alpine start in fact, as they departed from the hut up the
regular route towards the Barre des Ecrin. Thickening cloud and snow
flurries resulted in them erring on the side of caution and turning
around at the col. As a result of this our paths crossed as they
descended to the valley while Roger and I slogged up to Pointe des
Cineastes for Roger's first alpine route, "Le Vieux piton" (TDinf). A
nice gentle introduction to the higher hills! As we geared up a team
above threw a huge block at us, causing a certain amount of
consternation, but I soon explained this away as normal behaviour in
the mountains and besides they weren't on our route so once we had
done the first pitch we would be out of the firing line. Roger looked
unconvinced but set of regardless and all was well. The route
followed an elegant line on perfect rock and was extremely well
protected and atmospheric as mist swirled around the pinnacle. Shame
it started to snow! By this point it was easier to head for the
summit of the first pinnacle which signalled the end of the route's
difficulties and the normal traverse of the ridge provided us with a
quick retreat as the snow began to settle.
As we walked contentedly back down to the valley we passed Dave, Andy
and Katie heading up to the Ecrin hut.
As all this was going on other folk busied themselves in the valley
with Al and Kirsten's ascent of "Riviere Kwai" being the pick of the
bunch and yes it does indeed have a bridge to cross on pitch 12. An
exposed teeter across a wedged tree trunk I believe. Either way it
was another big route for the keen team.
Monday 18th
The KMC's second attempt of the trip on the Barre des Ecrin took
place on a glorious day but again proved to be unsuccessful due to
the large amount of fresh unconsolidated snow on the summit ridge. As
recompense for their labour Dave and Andy bagged the Dome de Neige
instead whilst they were in the area.
The families also bagged a peak, La Blanche (2953m) which provided
stunning view across the range and even Carys conceded that it was a
proper mountain.
The other notable ascent of the day was again by Al and Kirsten as
they racked up another 8 pitches on "A tire d'Ailefroide", a fine
looking route to the left of the famous "La Fissure." I dread to
think how many hundred metres of rock this pair climbed on this trip.
Anyone would think they had been caged indoors for months by bad
weather.
Tuesday 19th
A poor weather forecast saw everyone opting for valley based
activities but cragging was the mainstay either around the campsite
or down the valley at Rocher Baron. The main event of the day was
Tom's first F6a lead.
Wednesday 20th
Cragging down the valley was again popular today with the only
multipitch route being done near the campsite being the
unrecommendable "Vodka and Champagne" by Vicky and I. After starting
up a superb meaty crack it degenerated from there on in.
The families were extremely active today initially heading down to
Valloise where the boys went mountain biking and the ladies went
horse riding. After that it was back up to Ailefroide and out onto
the rock where Craig had the satisfaction of having to finish off a
route for Tom. He took the opportunity to gloat whilst he still can.
As all this was going on others were beginning the long journey home
whereas Dave, Kirsten and Katie were starting the long walk up to the
Sele Hut.
Thursday 21st
Today saw the last Alpine routes of the trip being done and started
early for Dave, Katie and Kirsten as they set forth from the hut onto
the "south east spur" of Ailefroide Occidentale on a perfect day.
Katie turned back below what Dave referred to as the "awesome
penultimate crest of snow" whilst he and Kirsten made a quick dash to
the summit. Everyone appeared to have equally wide grins on their
faces when they returned to the valley.
Vicky and I also got an early start from the end of the road in the
Valon Valley and toiled up to the beautifully pointy Dentes de Coste
Cournier where we did the excellent lower wall of Diable par le Queue
before descending the normal route back to the solitude of the
cirque. It was just one of those days when it was a pure joy to be in
the mountains.
After that the meet began to fade out as people began their journeys
home. The last act of the meet was a picnic on a ledge part way up
Tete de Draye where Dave and co raised a glass to toast another well
attended and highly enjoyable Alpine meet.
Thanks to everyone who turned up and I am assured that as I type
Colin is putting his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Alps to good use
thinking of a suitable venue for 2009.
September 27th/28th - Coniston Fells - Lester Payne
Members: Frank & Margaret Williams, John & Virginia Castick, James &
Kasia Hoyle, Lester Payne, Graham & Sue Harkness.
Guests: Mike Freeman, Des Chadderton, Geraldine de Silva, Christine
Stark.
Many weeks of poor weather and above average rainfall across the Lake
District finally gave way to a good spell of drier days during the
previous week. With the chance of a fine weekend in prospect, Frank,
Margaret, Lester, Graham and Sue, followed by James, Kasia, Geraldine
and Christine, arrived, and after struggling with many heavily laden
rucksacks sat down to a welcoming brew at Tranearth Hut.
On Saturday, early morning mist on the fells cleared away for a fine
start to the day. Jon and Virginia arrived and everyone set out for
the hills. James and Geraldine headed off to Dow Crag and 'C'
buttress, whilst the rest of us walked up to Goats Tarn. John plodded
more slowly and headed off towards Blind Tarn, Virginia squeezed into
her wet-suit and waded in to swim the windswept length of Goat's
Water. A cooling wind funnelled down from Goat's Hause, so after a
brief rest and photo's, Sue, Virginia, Frank and Margaret turned and
headed up over Dow Crag and Brown Pike.
Graham and Lester continued upwards to join the hordes on the summit
of Coniston Old Man, enjoying the views over Coniston Water and the
Southern Fells, before following the ridge to Brim Fell, then down to
Levers Hause and up for further excellent views over the Duddon
valley to Bow Fell, the Langdale Pikes and the sunlit panorama of the
central fells. Then drawn on by a rapidly changing sky and chill
breeze, we carried on to Black Sails and Wetherlam, and descended
south down the ridge on the path down by Red Dell beck to Coniston
Youth Hostel.
Meanwhile, Christine, Kasia, James and Geraldine teamed up with Mike,
Des and Rachel for ascents of the 3 star classic "Giants Crawl", Des
and Rachel making further ascents on 'A' buttress.
Lester and Graham continued past the now derelict mines and levels of
the Coppermines valley and traversed round below Levers Water to the
Walna Scar road. After detours on several less distinct paths, we
battled with chest high bracken, barbed wire fences and rickety stone
walls before crossing Torver Beck and back to Tranearth hut.
The centre of the lounge area is occupied by a large ancient iron
stove, which having been lit and stoked by Virginia, sent John into a
state of unconsciousness. Three LC&CC members arrived, having cycled
over 90 miles from Wigan. The younger members went off to Coniston
and Torver in the search for an uncrowded Pub and dinner.
Around 11pm, two LC&CC members arrived in pouring rain, having spent
all afternoon and evening climbing 'C' buttress with their 7 year old
daughter, and descending from the top of Dow Crag in darkness and
gathering rain, lost the path, falling into several bogs. Unable to
find the hut they walked via Walna Scar road to Coniston and
eventually phoned for a Taxi back to Torver.
On Sunday, the rain had cleared up overnight and Des and Geraldine
returned for some more traditional Dow Crag climbs including the 3
star "Murray's route", whilst John and Virginia completed the 3 star
classic "Giants Crawl". James, Kasia and Christine walked over
Coniston Old Man, Graham went in pursuit of further enlightenment and
living in the moment at Coniston Priory. Frank, Margaret, Lester and
Sue walked via Scarr Head exploring the paths and tracks around
Torver Back Common, and through the woods to Coniston Water then a
short section of the Cumbria Way path was followed along the
waterside, returning to the hut via Torver Common and a pint in the
Pub.
Many thanks to all who made the effort and enjoyed a great weekend on
the hills.
October 19th - Peak District Biking - Heather Brooke
Members; Heather Brooke, Dan O'Brien and Joe Flynn
Totally amazing day!! Very challenging bike ride with HARD uphills
and SCARY downhills. However, everyone ended the day with a massive
grin and pretty much covered in mud. What more can you ask for from
an October bike ride.
Half-tick should be given to Sue Brooke. She managed to turn up
15mins late, totally missing the rest of the party, and cycle the
whole day by herself - top marks MUM!!!!
October 26th - Wild Wales Walk - Dave Bone
Members present: Bob Kelly, Dave Bone, Jim and Sandy Gregson.
Guest: Selina Li (First meet as prospective new member).
It rained the day before and overnight, but the forecast was for it
clearing out to give a largely dry day so I set out from Manchester
in hope picking up Selina from the convoluted recesses of Eccles. The
Welsh rivers looked very full, but we arrived at the car park where
Bob was ready - the Gregsons soon arrived, and all got ready.
Waited in vain past the appointed time and then set off up the road.
Daylight could just be seen under the first footbridge and then
proceeded steeply up-hill in 5 minutes of warm sunshine - the longest
spell of the day. Stiles had to be negotiated with extreme care -
they were teflon coated on this stretch. A bit of a squelchy wander
through the woods, over, around and straight through the forestry
logging and finally out onto the open pasture at the crest of the
ridge, where the apparent warmth was replaced by a chilling breeze
and dark scudding clouds. Sunshine was about but never seemed to be
on us - the central Berwyn being particularly favoured and Snowdonia
was in a far worse state.
Some rickety gates and a fence or two had to be escaladed - poor
Selina finding one particularly difficult and an awkward fall. A bit
of a dance over the low wet ground, then up the cleared way in the
heather to emerge on the bald pate of Foel Goch. The team strode
along the ridge in single file following the "path", heather and
tussocks on all sides, directing Bob to each high point for his
collection of 609m (2000ft) hills. A coffee break at the Trig point
of Foel y Geifr was delayed in favour of a bit more shelter found at
the pass at the junction with the road. This was cut short by a sharp
shower so we set off at a steady pace generally east along the track
winding its way round the high ground. After proceeding over one
Nuttall with Bob, he left us at the turnoff for the next - with
further tops to collect and the out and backs in the heather adding a
further ~2.5mi, we weren't to see him for the rest of the walk.
After lunch trackside we turned off for the last easy top of Y Groes
Fagl with its solitary marker post, and the trackless wastes linking
us to the final top of Foel Cwm-Sian Llwyd. This seemed to take less
time than feared despite only finding the sheep track quite late,
though the ladies with shorter legs had tougher going. I had a bit of
complaint (politely put of course) about that. Then the homeward
stretch via the forest side, skirting the fields round the farm and
down the road with its splendid array with very tall firs. With the
rest of the day only receiving occasional short light showers, but
only fleeting sunlight, arrival at the cars at ~4:15 was greeted by a
more significant shower. At this point we were caught up by Bob -
he'd rejoined the track but missing out our final top had descended
direct through the forest fearing benightment. Quite reasonable
conditions for a wild walk - I remember only one other walker. Thanks
to all those who came - hope you recovered soon.
November 16th - Ramsbottom Walk - Phil Ramsbottom
Members: Dave Wylie, Iain McCallum, Keith Williams, Pete
Walker, Kasia Hoyle, James Hoyle, Chris Thicket, Sandy Gregson, Jim
Gregson, Alan Peck, Bob Kelly, Phil Ramsbottom.
Twelve set off from Ashworth Moor reservoir on a dull morning. After
a good path we took a line directly across a trackless bit of moor to
reach the Coal Road passing very close to our first windtower of the
day. Whilst they are a very long way off pretty I have to admit that
I was surprised that they are relatively quiet - it's a great pity
that they do not produce any significant amount of electricity.
We reached the viewpoint overlooking chez Thickett in time to enjoy
elevenses as the sun came out, Mrs T must have got fed up with
waiting for us as she drove off just after we got there so we were
able to conserve the energy we were all saving to wave to her.
From here the sun was ever present as we continued over Scout Moor,
just before we reached Waughs Well Kasia provided the only excitement
of the day by stepping into a very deep, very muddy hole - I've not
seen knees that black for a long time but she still managed to carry
on smiling. When we reached the trig point at Cowpe Low the views to
the North were extensive, Pen y Ghent was clearly visible and
possibly Black Combe in the Lakes (you did need binoculars and a bit
of hopeful imagination for that one).
Lunch was taken on the edge of the quarry above Cowpe village. Pete
and Keith decided to take a direct line across the moor to Knowl Hill
whilst the rest of us stuck with the Rossendale Way, taking a short
diversion to the Top of Leach trig point.
After a pleasant stroll down Rooley Moor Road, the walk suddenly took
on a more serious character as we struck out directly across the
moor, the low sun made it very difficult to find a good line across
pathless tussocky ground but we finally managed to find a way steeply
down to Naden Higher reservoir. As soon as we got down we set off
straight back up to climb steeply out of the valley and back up to
Knowl Hill where we met up with Keith (Pete having carried on without
stopping).
After this it was simply a case of following the tourists back to the
cars at Owd Betts.
Not a very eventful walk but an enjoyable one with lovely weather and
very good views - thanks to all who turned up.
November 23rd - Lathkill Dale - Brian Taylor
Members: Lorna Marsland, Linda Crossley, Anne Sanderson, Alan
(Liverpool) Jones, Peter Walker, Frank and Margaret Williams, Roger
Dyke, Iain McCallum, Brian Taylor.
Guests: Kamnek*.
I picked up Kamnek at Macclesfield railway station; driving on the
Cat and Fiddle road from Macclesfield to Lathkill Dale encountered
fog, ice and frozen slush so on arrival at meeting place car park was
pleasantly surprised to find a good turnout of 9 hardy members
getting ready for the off!
The walk did not contain any real mountaineering flavour but
nevertheless proved to be very scenically varied. The first part of
the walk was across open fields carefully avoiding cow pats and some
frisky horses. The middle section of the walk consisted of the
descent down Lathkill Dale and then it was along the river Bradford
as far as Youlgreave. The majority of the group stopped for a drink
at the inn in Youlgreave, the remainder skipped the pub stop and made
their way back to their cars via my recommended route.
The final section of the walk took us further up the river Bradford
and then a steep ascent through woodland took us on to open fields
before returning to the cars. During the walk we had been fairly
lucky with the weather only encountering the odd heavy shower but on
leaving the car park to go home the heavens opened.
* Kamnek was a keen guest who had only come over to the UK from
Mumbai in India six weeks previously. He was only used to tropical
conditions and had never seen snow fall. Given the mixed weather and
underfoot conditions my pre meet advice to him not to turn up in
shorts and trainers proved to be sound advice!
December 7th - In Footsteps of Len Stubbs/ "Kind-er Blue" (with apologies to Miles Davis) - Jim Gregson
Walkers: Christine Beeston, Dave Bone, Roger Dyke, Sandy & Jim
Gregson, Kasia & James Hoyle, Alan Liv Jones, Bob Kelly, Iain
McCallum, Phil Ramsbottom, Peter Walker.
After studious map reading and only temporary confusion the Meet
convened at the correct start in a biting hard frost in Valley Road,
Hayfield. The sky above promised a splendid blue day and so it
proved, with very firm if somewhat slippery going underfoot. A brisk
pace took us up past Mount Famine and South Head and on towards Brown
Knoll which is normally a squelchy wade, but today was a crisp
crunch. The pavement was rather slick to get to the gate above
Jacob's Ladder. At this juncture Peter and Alan opted for a dignified
elder gentlemen's diversion to bask in the sun at a gentle pace while
the rest steeled themselves for the glassy descent of the Ladder with
the prospect of a tea stop at Lees House. Amid varied chatter,
covering diverse topics including animalistic climbing wall holds, a
Polish-accented voice was heard to say "You always know what you're
going to get when you grip a frog" - most of us were speechless at
this revelation, which came with no further explanation!
Moving swiftly on we buzzed down to Upper Booth and turned into
Crowden Clough for what is one of the best ascents up onto the Kinder
plateau. There was plenty of ice but not enough to prevent for most
the direct scramble up the water course on dry rock, while others
stuck to the banks to arrive at the sunny lunch spot. Next on the
agenda would be the crossing to the Downfall, and the Meet Leader now
crept to the rear to observe.
Firstly Roger and Christine mutinied and went West to look at masonry
mammals at Whipsnade. Dave struck forth and North, Pied Pipering Bob,
James and Kasia in his wake into the piebald Pennine plains. The rest
strolled on behind. When it became clear that the Dave group was
lasered and locked onto Fairbrook Naze [how often is the going on
Kinder as good as 3mi/hr+?], the more canny rest turned West and
beelined it to the Kinder River, correctly, passing the infant
Christmas tree forest which has established itself on the heights.
The river, a true guide to the Downfall, was frozen and treacherous
to walk on so a flanking progress had to be selected, passing the
Gates to arrive at the edge to pause and wait to see how long it
would take the Dave group to wake up and walk up. They duly arrived
somewhat later looking slightly sheepish.
Onwards past Sandy Heys and round into William Clough, heading down
into glorious sunsetting sky, with more and more ice to be negotiated
nearer to the reservoir. The quarry road was a deceptive trail of
black ice requiring great care but the cars were reached as the light
finally died. Then it was off, home for some but into the Royal Hotel
for others for liquid refreshment at the close of a superb winter's
day of walking over Stubby's happy hunting grounds. And nobody ended
up hurt. Thanks for stimulating company.
On Monday it poured down with rain.
January Newsletter Index.
Copyright © 2009 Karabiner Mountaineering Club
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