Idle thoughts from a new member

I’ve just finished unpacking from my first MKMC away meet and I wanted to share my experiences for all those new members who have not ventured out so far.

I am a relatively experienced walker who has spent a lot of time over the years in Snowdonia and various trips out to Brecon, the Lakes and the Peaks. So when I moved to MK I was keen to find other like minded people to share some of those experiences with and wanted to get into climbing to boot (my 6ft+ arm span had to be good for something!). My search led me to the MKMC. On first look it sounded spot on with lots of pictures and stories on the web site about various mountain adventures and, when Big Rock opened, I took the plunge and joined up.

At first it was a little hard to track down members and if I hadn’t been introduced to Alan by a mutual friend I would have really struggled to find a ‘freindly face’ in the cloud of chalk dust at the wall. The introduction of MKMC t-shirts helped tremendously, but still it was a little daunting to ‘cut-in’ to established huddles of climbers busily climbing in pairs and rightly focusing on the task in hand. I must say that everyone I did speak to was friendly and welcoming but even so as a novice climber, it is easy to feel intimidated by all these people that appear to have been at the heart of the club for years and totally immersed in what that entails.

From the email exchanges via this distribution list, it comes across as if the key focus of the club is climbing and everyone is a seasoned veteran, dashing off every now and again to crack out some E2s on a hardcore trip away. Whilst there was the odd reference to ‘if you are not a climber’ and the suggestion of other activities to undertake, it was easy to take the inference that non-climbers are an afterthought. But I jumped with both feet and signed up for a couple of trips (last weekend in Wye, and the ['non-club event'] one in a couple of weeks in Snowdonia) with a plan that I would meet more members and even if I was too-inexperienced to climb, could amuse myself in two areas I know well. The welcome that I received and the discussions in the pub on the first night prompted me to put these musings down on email.

Alan and Liam I had met before and had some brief conversations with, but everyone else was a fresh face. Without exception, everyone made a point of welcoming me into the group, finding out what my level of experience was and sharing their journey so far. It became clear that most of them were relatively new to the sport (apart from Alan who I think was born with a climbing harness on) and had a variety of other outdoor interests. The outshot of this was that, even though this was my first real experience of climbing outdoors, I got loads of advice when I asked for it, tips when they saw me struggling and patience when I was whimpering half way up a climb needing some ‘belay powered assistance’. Everything was very low key, with some going off for a walk when they didn’t fancy climbing, the ‘lead climbers’ happy to do routes at all levels and others happy to just go along and watch people climbing grades above their own ability. As a novice it was a great, unpressurised introduction to both the club and the joy of climbing outdoors.

There was much discussion around “why don’t people post non-climbing events” and how it is the same old faces at most of the weekend meets. I assume that the answers to both questions may be the same, namely people:

• only see what gets posted and assume that most things revolve around climbing
• assume that regular contributors are old stalwarts, whereas some of them have only been in the club 3 months or so
• think they might be less experienced than existing members and therefore think twice about getting involved
• don’t understand that any club member can post whatever they are doing and invite people to come along to join them (whether that be far and wide or just in the local area)
• might just be interested in the benefits that being a club member gives them (reduced rate BMC membership, discounts etc.)

What I will take away from meeting the guys is that:

• there is a great variety of outdoor interests – in the small group I met I heard people talking about: cycle touring, mountain biking, walking, hill walking, wild camping, canoeing, via-ferrata, fell running, adventure racing, mountain challenges, marathons…etc. – and the club trips away are in areas that cater for all tastes so everyone is welcome whatever their preference,
• without being qualified instructors, or wanting to turn trips into training courses, there is a real desire to help people learn, progress and get involved,
• the next time I am planning on getting the boots/bike/chalk bag out, I will let other members know to see if anyone fancies joining me – if I get takers then great, if I don’t I won’t be offended!

So I hope that for other newbies my musings have been helpful, for the more experienced stalwarts it will have gotten my name known and for everyone I have included my photo, so if you ever see me looking lonely at Big Rock you might come and say Hi and offer a belay.

Have a great week all, see you at the social evening in a couple of weeks.

Mac MacDonald