Members: Emily Pitts, Emma Timmis, Mark Garrod, Michelle Harvie, Meirion Tanner, Dave Wylie

Guests: Torr Pitts, Charles Kelly

To ensure that there was a proper mountaineering end to 2018 and that 2019

started in true KMC style, a small team assembled at Ty Powdwr on New Year's Eve.

En-route to the hut from a 10am rendezvous outside the house of the meet

leader (who was still asleep in bed at that point!), Meirion and Dave broke

the journey with a final ascent for the Old Year. They went up Moel Wnion from

Abergwyngregyn. Unfortunately, at only 580m (1900ft), it may not actually qualify

as an official "mountain" by UK standards. Its name (or, at least, the presumed

pronunciation) does, however, make it a worthwhile summit. It was then on to

Ty Powdwr, where Mark and Michelle arrived next, with Emily and co. completing

the team a few minutes later.

With everyone assembled, there were still a few hours left before the new year

was due to arrive. It would have been remiss of a the club to waste these, so

the meet leader had come prepared with a set of suitable mountaineering activities.

These were as follows:

1) Launching marshmallows across the lounge floor, using a catapult-like

   device made from the end of a balloon and a part of a plastic cup.

   A score of 10 points was awarded for each marshmallow that landed in

   the target bowl.

2) Moving M&Ms from one bowl to another, by sucking them onto the end of

   a straw. Points were awarded for each sweet successfully (suck-sessfully?)

   moved, but deductions were made for any that were dropped.

3) Stacking satsumas, in a single column, using a pair of spoons to handle

   the fruit. Ten points were given for each satsuma in the stack.

4) Carrying grapes between bowls using just a spoon held in the mouth.

   Each grape was worth two points.

5) Completing a jigsaw that had been made by cutting up a box that had

   held camomile tea bags. Each correctly joined piece would get five points.

6) Manoeuvring a chocolate from the forehead into the mouth by use of

   only head movements and face muscles. Success would earn fifty points.

Emily was, of course, adjudicator and Meirion was elected as Official

Photographer so neither of these two competed. The other six mountaineers

set to with exceptional levels of skill and enthusiasm.

Mark proved to be the best shot with the marshmallow catapult, beating

Emma and Dave into joint second place by one mallow.

Mark also turned out to be the biggest sucker of the evening, transporting

the most M&Ms - though Torr and Emma were not too far behind him.

The maximum satsuma stack height was three, achieved by Mark, Torr, Emma

and Dave. Local seismic disturbances may be to blame for preventing any

higher achievements.

Dave just managed to beat Emma in grape carrying, getting all of them

from one bowl to the other. Emma's selection of a spoon with a plastic

coated handle may have helped her, while Dave's use of a wad of kitchen

paper round the handle of his spoon (ostensibly to protect his teeth)

was tantamount to cheating.

There was some controversy in the jigsaw section. Had some of the

contestants seen the results of the attempts of others? How should

Michelle's layout be scored, when she had assembled several

separate groups of pieces? Did the adjudicator actually know the

correct solution? After a stewards' enquiry, Charles and Dave were

given joint first place in this event with Emma following on closely.

Everyone managed to get the full 50 available points for the facial

chocolate manipulation, but the real winner here was the amusement

value for everyone else seeing the attempts.

The final scores were as follows:

Event             1         2         3         4         5         6          Total

Dave W.        60       23       30       86       110    50       359

Mark              70       37       30       74       60       50       321

Michelle         0         12       20       80       20       50       182

Torr                10       32       30       78       25       50       225

Charles          30       -2        10       64       110    50       262

Emma            60       30       30       84       90       50       344

No prizes for guessing that there were no prizes!

Most of the survivors of the above trials stayed up to midnight and

migrated to the outside of the hut to see out the Old Year and welcome

in the New. Although the KMC now abstain from any pyrotechnic displays

at Ty Powdwr, there were plenty of fireworks visible in the area to

brighten up the skies in celebration. Happy New Year!

Tuesday, New Year's Day, dawned damp and drizzly. This would not, however,

put a damper on the enthusiasm of the KMC. Mark and Michelle headed off

with a plan to go up Moel Siabod. The last that was heard of them was

a 'phone message to say that the weather was better in that part of the

world. Let us hope that they did at least reach their summit, which at

872m is worthy of the "mountain" classification.

Meet dates: Monday 31st Dec - 2nd Jan

A group of intrepid KMCers and friends will be convening on the afternoon of New year's Eve at the Hut to bring in 2019 with 90's dance tunes, board games, cards and other similar frivolity. 

The Plan

Arrival

Any time from now onwards. I will be arriving a small band of merry men and women in the afternoon of NYE and staying until 2nd Jan.

Walking/ Climbing

Bring a harness (and some gear) and maybe we can get in a cheeky trip to the Beacon or even outdoors if the weather stays this mild and gets a bit dryer. Most likely is a gentle walk to Llyn Ogwen on New Year's Day. 

Food

Bring your own.

Join us

Contact me for more info if needed.