So what did you do at the MKMC Christmas meet?

Answer.  A great deal of eating and drinking, some scrambling and a bit of climbing.

Friday night, and the journey up was uneventful, which is how I like my car journeys. With Alex at the rudder, we were soon pulling into our parking spot at Caseg Fraith, our accommodation for the next two days.

After a good night’s sleep, ten of us set off to scale Tryfan. The weather was unsettled, but that wasn’t going to deter our hardy group from their day’s adventures. Sadly, after a short distance, Karen decided to turn back. Now we were nine.

As we pressed on Nick, the new boy, found the pace too fast and dropped back. Steve M kept him company. We summited in the biting wind and had a short refreshment stop. (Nick and Steve followed in our footsteps sometime later, and then made their way back to the hut). Now we were seven.

Once we had descended to The Saddle, Steve D, Constanze and Graham M decided to head back to base camp. Now we were four.

Gary, Alex, Kent and I set off to climb Bristly Ridge, a grade one scramble. The going was at times greasy, damp and cold, but not a problem for four enthusiastic mountaineers. At the top we re-grouped, had a summit meeting regarding our next goal; eventually agreeing to descend back to Caseg Fraith. We decided to take the ‘valley route’, avoiding Heather Terrace, which was fine except that at the bottom we had to negotiate a swampy terrain.

And then there was one – safely back at the hut and luxuriating in a hot shower. Oh, the simple pleasures of life!

All ten reunited to enjoy the Christmas festivities with the rest of the group. After a few rousing carols to get us in the Christmas spirit, everyone lent a hand preparing carrots, potatoes for boiling and roasting, Brussels sprouts (with the obligatory kiss on the bottom), pigs in their blankets, opening tins of sweet corn, and all the other chores that have to be done. It was a real team effort. The dinner was a great success – well done everyone.

Sunday arrived cold, wet and windy, and having had one day of such ‘pleasures’ I felt I needed a change. Somewhere warm, dry and calm, and where better than The Beacon? Six of us were interested, but we only had one car, so Constanze nobly made the sacrifice, and elected to climb Snowdon instead.  I enjoyed the indoor experience and decided the key for a good day was not to burn out too quickly. So I gradually worked my way up the grades. Midday-ish we stopped for refueling, and in the afternoon I had an appointment with the “tufa”. Last attempted, and failed, in August 2008 (during a wet climbing holiday with Keith) I wanted to see if I had improved. Sadly the answer was no.

We rendezvoused back at Caseg Fraith, and after juggling possessions between cars, we were soon rocketing back to MK. It was a brilliant weekend, and I’m looking forward to the next trip away.

Alan Mountford