Milton Keynes Mountaineering Club

Our destination was the R. O. Downes Memorial Hut, nestling at the foot of Froggatt Edge. Seven MKMC members were booked on the trip. The first to arrive on Friday morning were Mac and Ian, and having bagged their bunks they headed up to the crag. Shortly afterwards Dan and Alan arrived and they followed suit up to the crag. The Edge was generally damp, with snow drifts resting against the base of some of the climbs.  A few easy routes were climbed before heading back to the hut. In the evening Ant and Lorraine arrived.

Saturday dawned promising warm and calm weather, and the final member of our party, Richard, arrived. Climbing Club members, also staying at the hut, had recommended Rivelin, being both sheltered and dry, so that’s where we headed. It was a lovely morning, but by mid-afternoon the weather became colder and more unsettled. By 4:00 pm the rain had set in to a steady drizzle and the group retreated to Hathersage, along with 100’s of other climbers.

Sunday, and Mac made an early start back to MK. The rain had abated, only to be replaced with very strong winds. Ant and Lorraine decided to climb at Horseshoe Quarry as they thought it would be sheltered and the rest of the party decided to give Froggatt another try. Once on the edge the power of the wind was even greater than anticipated, and we battled on to Curbar to check out the climbing there before returning to Froggatt to do a couple of easy routes.

For most of us this was our first trip this year climbing real rock. MKMC members attending: Alan (organiser), Dan, Ian, Mac, Ant, Lorraine and Richard.

For the MKMC May Meet the club will be staying in Malham – Bank Holiday 24-27 May

Club Trip:    Yorkshire Malham    May 24-27 2013 (BANK HOLIDAY)

For the MKMC May Meet the club will be staying in Malham, an area which Rockfax describes as having “the  finest limestone crag in the country”. If you’d rather be walking or running or cycling, you will have plenty of options there too.

Club Trip:    Peak District      April 12th – 14th 

The MKMC April 2013 meet will be at the Downes Hut, owned by the Climbers Club, and located in the woods below Froggatt Edge. The hut is an ideal base for climbing on the gritstone edges and is within an easy walk of Froggatt Edge itself. The club has booked 10 places and the meet will be held during the weekend of 12^th – 14^th April 2013.

Contact Alan Mountford at alan@mkmountaineering.org for more information.

ABMSAC Club Hut – Patterdale, Lake District

Friday 22^nd March – Sunday 24^th March 2013

The club meeting for March was at the George Starkey Hut in Patterdale, near Ullswater in the Lake District.

Most people arrived around Friday lunchtime after battling through blocked roads, snow storms, high winds, overturned lorries and crashed cars. After dumping their gear in the hut Andy R, Mac, Ian, Martin, Chris and Dan went for a short snowy walk up the nearby Grisedale valley to stretch their legs. This was followed by a walk down to White Lion Pub in Patterdale for a couple of pints and dinner.

Later in the evening Kent and Simon battle through the snow drifts growing on the roads to reach the hut near midnight, but Mark and Andy W were not as lucky as the building snow drifts blocked the road. They spent the night at a kind person’s house in Dockray (only 5 miles from hut) who took pity on them and saved them from a very cold night in the car.

On Saturday morning after Mark and Andy W reached the hut everyone headed off to try and climb the peak of St Sunday Crag. They battled deep snow, gale force winds and freezing temperatures up to The Nab on Birks before turning back as the conditions became increasing dangerous. After returning to the valley floor the group decided to try the other side of the valley. From Patterdale they crossed Goldrill Bridge and headed to Broaddale Hause to attempt the walk up Place Fell. Again the MKMC team was battered by high winds and struggled through deep snow before successfully reaching the top of this Wainwright hill.

On Sunday Martin and Chris headed home, while the rest split into two groups. In slightly better conditions Andy R and Dan headed back up to Broaddale Hause and across the increasing arctic landscape to another Wainwright hill called Angletarn Pikes. The rest decided to give St Sunday Crag another go. Again they battled through the winter conditions until they reached the top. On top of St Sunday Crag the conditions were pretty extreme, so they headed on towards Fairfield and then contoured down to Grisedale Tarn, on the way down the snow was up to their waist in places. They then returned via Grisedale valley.

Thanks to all that attended and despite the Arctic Conditions made it a very good meet. MKMC members attending: Andy R (organiser), Dan, Kent, Simon, Martin, Mark, Andy W, Ian and Mac plus guest Chris.

Selection of pictures in the Gallery section. The next club trip is on the 12^th April 2013 to the Downes Hut, owned by the Climbers Club in the Peak District.