Happy New Year! Admittedly greeting you later than normal, but as this is the first newsletter issued this year, I hope you accept the belated good wishes. The first of the traditional winter climbing trips to Scotland has taken place - you can read the report from James Tubby, below. More trips are planned, and I think winter climbing trips in Italy are also being mooted - keep your ears and eyes open for information. Our meets' calendar still has opportunities for meet leaders - please talk to Neil and volunteer! Reuben has done a stirling job of organising membership renewal. If your membership was not renewed at the end of December the traditional grace period is ticking away: we are sure you don't want to loose your membership. Finally, the programme of Winter meets is drawing towards its close - February is upon us, and the March event is the last of the season. So far no-one has volunteered to take over from Tim who will finish organising the programme with the March lecture. The move to Summer Time signals our Wednesday evening meets and of course the AGM which is an important event where all members contribute to the running of the club. Please read Derek Pike's notice and attend this meet to have your say and vote accordingly.
First, I neglected to inform you of the mid-week meet John Green is planning to Bishops Scale in the Lakes in the 2007 meets list. The dates are Tuesday 4th to Thursday 6th September. Second, Keith Gregson appeared to become superhuman by planning to be in two places at once. To correct the error, in July (23rd to 27th) Keith is running a mid-week Golden Oldies meet in Tan-yr-Wyddfa and in August (25th to 27th) he leads the traditional Bank Holiday meet in North Pembrokeshire. Please insert both of these items on your meets list.
The Committee has decided to ask the Membership at this year's A.G.M. to vote to delete Rule 12 so that all members are 18 years of age or over.
At present Rule 12 states:- A person may be elected as associate member if under 18 years of age and a minimum of 16 years old (they should have permission from their parents). Associate members shall not be eligible to vote at any official meeting, nor lead official Meets.
This proposed alteration has been brought about because the B.M.C. advises all affiliated Clubs to have a Child Protection Policy. Derek Pike, Hon. Sec.
Last year we enjoyed a real Alpine weekend, the type of mid winter weekend we seemed to experience before the onset of global warming. As far as this year is concerned - well I'm afraid you will have to decide for yourself!
I'm sure this area of the Lakes will not need any introduction as its virtues and opportunities for climbers, mountain walkers and bikers have been extolled in many previous newsletter articles for this traditional meet.
We've booked all the beds in the George Starkey Hut again this year so 28 beds are available, although at the time of writing 20 beds have already been taken so it's a case of book early to avoid disappointment.
Andrea and I intend to arrive mid evening, hopefully in time to meet everyone at the White Lion. However other members have already indicated that they intend to travel early on the Friday so the hut should be open late afternoon. Stuart Haywood
Thank you if you have already renewed your membership. Subscriptions were due on 1 January. The AGM on 24 March is the final deadline. You should have already received an individual request, but in case your's has gone astray, here are the charges for membership:
There are still places left on this meet. This is the best time of year for winter conditions, but there will be plenty to do regardless of the weather. Please contact me by phone or email to reserve your place(s) or combine transport. Reuben Dakin.
The slide show in February will be a talk by Rock Hudson on a trip he made to the Butterfly Mountains. As butterflies are pretty I am hoping the butterfly mountains will also prove to be pretty spectacular too. Be there! (I am due to finish organising the Indoor Meets after the March Indoor Meet: I've done it for 3 years and it needs a fresh mind to keep the meets up to date. Would you like to organise the meets? please come and talk to me.) Tim Cairns
We have 14 places at the SMC hut at Lagangarbh (Glen Coe) for Fri 9th & Sat 10th. The hut is situated north of Buachaille Etive Mor near the River Coupall (NN 22072 55970) and is reached via a footbridge. It is better to park next to the main road rather than on the dirt track as you could easily get you car stuck on ice overnight if you did attempt to drive to the footbridge (as happened to an unfortunate Oread last time we used the hut). The hut is a typical crofters style cottage and has good facilities, including mattresses, stoves, fuel, cooking pots/pans, crockery and cutlery. Obviously the hut's excellent location provides a multitude of outdoor options within the Glen Coe area; keep fingers crossed for good winter conditions! The cost is £14.00 each for the weekend, also see the SMC website for further details of the hut (http://www.smc.org.uk/huts/lagan.htm). Neil Weatherstone
An error crept into the provisional meets' list. I have booked the Coruisk Memorial Hut for the nights of 5 - 11 May. Many of you will be familiar with the amazing location of this hut belonging to the JMCS. Those on SAS training may want to walk in via Camasunary and the Bad Step with provisions for a week, but for the rest of us I intend to hire a boat to carry us from Elgol into Loch Scavaig for disembarkation almost outside the front door of the hut. The launch will be booked for the 5th and again for the 12th when we sail out. NOTE: this is not the half term week (Roy's Cornwall meet). Skye should need little introduction. It is almost my all-time favourite place. The hut puts us in a unique position for attempts on the main ridge without the huge walk in from Glen Brittle. Also highly accessible is the simply beautiful Dubhs ridge as well as the less accessible rock climbing areas. I have booked NINE places; Jane and I have already taken two of those places. I will accept bookings on payment of £7 deposit. The balance of £28 will become due in March.
Only fifty yards from the Marisco Tavern, the Barn will be our home for a week of climbing, walking [though not far as Lundy is only three miles long], idling, snorkelling, seal watching, feeding the ducks or just exploring. The Barn accommodates just fourteen people so this early notice will enable you to book your holiday early and get your name down on my list before the rush starts. The cost of the accommodation and the boat to get you there and back will be around £95.00. More details on this nearer the time,Derek Pike
It is a long while since the Oread had a meet for climbing and walking in the upper Ennerdale area. It is ideal for the classics routes on Pillar and Engineers Slabs on Gable. The classic walk is the Ennerdale Horseshoe, an ideal shortened version of which can be done from here. The hostel does meals if you require them and has showers and most conveniences. It is the nearest thing we have to an alpine hutte in England. I think that alcoholic beverage is also available if required. (The nearest pub is rather a long way off!!) I have booked 8 beds for this meet at the Black Sail Youth Hostel. Non members are welcome but have to pay a supplement of £3 per night. For 2006 members pay £10.95 per night. If you would like to go please let me know ASAP. I have already had 4 bookings and if the demand is there I will try to book a further 4 beds if possible. Please let me know if you are interested. It will be on a strictly first come first served basis. A deposit of £8 per person would be appreciated.John Green.
A combination of sickness, lack of snow and closeness to the new year holiday meant that only 2 Oreads (James Tubby & Neil Weatherstone) made the trip to Aviemore for the first winter mountaineering meet of the year. Given that these two members are in the 'youth' wing of the club aged in their twenties and early thirties respectivly it must have been the lowest average member age on an Oread meet for many years. Much searching for reports on climbing conditions yielded no information. The decision on whether to try to climb was finally made on Friday night when the comment 'main gullies incomplete' was read on the avalanche forecast . Instead of climbing a long walk was called for. We set off at 8am from the edge of Glenmore forest. We made good time to the top of Braeriach and were there for 11:30. The conditions on top at least resembled winter with snow and ice (albeit thin) on the ground, cloud cover and high winds. Nonetheless we decided to continue our route on the summit plateau to Angel's Peak & Cairn Toul. Conditions on the top had made for slower than planned progress and Cairn toul summit was reached at 2pm. Rather than retrace our route we headed down into the Lairig Ghru and out of the wind and cloud. Sadly the path through the Lairig Ghru was not as easy as it looked on the map, the middle kilometre comprised a boulder field which took time to negotiate in the dark. After a couple of stops to change headtorch battries we headed back through the Chalamain gap and got to the car for 8.00 p.m. Luckily the weather forecast for Sunday was not good. We decided that our 12 hour walk was sufficient for both days and that the best plan was to spend the night in the Glenmore lodge bar and help the local economy by sampling various beers from the Cairngorm brewery. On Sunday the weather was as bad as forecast (thankfully) so we were able to begin the drive home, knowing our night's drinking had not caused us to miss out on a potential good day on the hills. We stopped briefly in Aviemore to further support the local economy and export some good local haggis and bottled Cairngorm beer.
The usual bunch of reprobates gathered in the Golden Lion on the Friday evening, joined by a few Bullstones virgins. A couple of wise old heads took notice of the poor weather forecast for Sunday and parked in Settle, taking the train the rest of the way. After inoculating ourselves with several pints, the party wove its way north out of Horton. The evening was perfect - a bright moon and a frost. We found a nice bivvy site on the edge of a wood, a thick bed of vegetation to lie on and the hoar was soon settling on bivvy bags. Saturday dawned clear and cold, but the walk up onto the ridge between Littondale and Langstrothdale soon warmed us up. This ridge continues for 12 miles or so, maintaining a height of 2000 feet. I believe only James and Neil made it to the end, near Kilnsey. Everyone else broke off early, either tempted by the pub in Arncliffe, or concerned about the distance still to go. The latter group were right in their concern. No-one arrived in Malham before dark. The lead party (Pike/Hayes/Heys) arrived just in time to catch a bus for the last couple of miles along the road; the rest of us had to walk.
We were staying in the village hall in Kirby Malham. Good facilities - not many Bullstones have provided hot showers. Radcliffe's GPS claimed we had walked about 23 miles (the battery ran out just outside Malham and the operator couldn't always tell the difference between distance and time), but luckily it was only another 23 feet from the village hall to the pub. The pub had been fore-warned and made us very welcome with a warm fire, reserved tables, good food and beer. The stragglers "made the most of the day" and had arrived by 8.00 pm - just as people were starting to go to bed! Sunday was wet, very wet. The two wise old heads sat smugly in the cafe, knowing they only had to walk to Settle. 3 others took the walk to Settle/hitch to Horton option. The rest of us walked the whole way. Things were reasonable up through Malham cove (devoid of climbers despite the overhangs), but then things got gradually worse. The rain reached horizontal and only Gill's heavy rucksack stopped her blowing off Fountains Fell. Strangely, no-one was tempted by a detour over Penyghent! Eventually, the party managed to re-group in the Golden Lion and another Bullstones passed into history. The wise old heads assure me it won't be so far next year!
A sad postscript. Larkam's cagoule has seen its last Bullstones. He was spotted in Outside a couple of weeks later looking for a new one, muttering about the cost of modern gear!