News Letter 2014

Everyone knows that 2014 was a mix of fortunes for this news letter I wanted to focus on the

positives of the year. There was a lot of great things done by people in the club this is just a small

section that people decided they wish to share.

Newlands 18th – 20th Oct Meet report

On Fri evening John McMullen, Cath and Norbert were picked up at various locations by Dave in his

superb battlewagon. Following the curious incident of the doggy do in the night we took to the

Swinside to try and sooth our soles, scraping them on any gravelly, mucky or damp surfaces to try

and rid them of some pre-loved dog food.

Beers were good and helped somewhat– except for the Suffolk Slop that was bought to relive old

times and when drunk made us wish that time had been called earlier.

At the hut Helen, Ruth and John Nightingdale had stoked up ‘the bomb’ and the hut was cosy as

anything you could hope for. We went walking and riding the next day…

Dave – a Newlands Horse shoe at high speed; Ruth and John McMullen – another horse shoe at a

slightly lower speed but with a swim in Derwentwater; Cath, John N and Norbert – didn’t do a hill

but somehow managed to get knackered missing summits and looking at rivers; Helen and Andy –

cycled ‘50 miles’ as measured on Helen’s computer meaning Andy had to use beer therapy to

alleviate a sore rear.

That night we had a feast. What a feast it was! Mash, glazed carrots, gently steamed broccoli, leeks

in cream, Cumberland sausages of wonderful variety and taste and homemade onion gravy. And

more wine than we could drink. Double helpings of Helen’s cake with toffee and custard made us

feel as round and hot as the pot bellied ‘bomb’. Conkers painstakingly prepared by the resident

cabinetmaker (Andy) were twirled. Cath and John N took the record for the most rounds (at least

200) but Norbert took the title of the Conkerer whilst almost braining Ruth!

Sunday was as wet as Saturday and Cath didn’t ‘feel inspired’ enough to escape the clutches of the

sofa but her ‘upward trajectory’ soon had a team marching up the valley to Dale Head. At the top

Helen proceeded to ‘debag’ John Mc whilst he tried to wriggle off to munch his wagon wheels in

peace. They set of Eastwards whist Cath, Dave and Norbert went West. Andy had left the hut early

as he needed to be back in Leeds, Ruth had gone off to do a walk over Raven Crag (not sure which

one) while John N did a grand tour of most of the connecting valleys in the area. We saw him striding

back late in the day as we drove away!

Thanks to Helen for leading a tremendous trip and cooking an incredible meal.

Kevin First two Munros - New Year Trip

As a complete novice to winter walking, I was a little apprehensive when presented with the

opportunity to join seasoned mountaineers Mark and Vicky on a hike in Glen Nevis which involved

1200m of ascent, and required crampons and ice axes. Vicky was full of cold though, and assured me

that they would be taking it easy, although with a guidebook time of 6 hours and only 7 hours of

daylight I took this with a pinch of salt. A few years ago I attended a winter skills course which was

arranged by the LMC, so after a quick refresher on how to do an ice axe arrest, I decided to go for it.

We left the hut in Kinlochleven at 8am and

drove up to Glen Nevis. Vicky wasn’t feeling

any better, which was encouraging. The first

hour was the steepest section of the walk, so I

was confident that once this was done I’d be

able to relax and enjoy bagging my first

Munros. We set off at a reasonable pace,

although this inevitably slowed as we decided

to deviate from the path to avoid an iced up

section. 40 minutes in and Vicky was

struggling, but Mark told us that we’d done

almost 50% of the height gain to the first

Munro. At this point I felt good, but a quick

glance at Vicky was worrying as she had that

stubborn “not giving in” look I’d seen before.

We completed that section and stopped for a short break - I ached but easier ground awaited, and

Vicky was still struggling. I was optimistic. Then she should took some magic pills. Within minutes

Vicky was leading us at a reasonable pace, whilst I was getting increasingly slow and stopping for

regular breathers. By now we’d gained around 600m in height, and with relatively clear skies the

views were breath-taking. We were above the snow line so had to kick steps, but even using existing

steps I was finding it tough. No problem though – it wasn’t that far to the first peak, there’d be

relatively little height gain afterwards, and the promise of a horizontal section buoyed my

determination. By this point Vicky was her normal hyperactive self.

As the height increased ice axes were required for a

little more stability, and Mark had moved to the

rear to ensure I didn’t fall too far behind. The

exposure had increased and an icy breeze had

picked up, given me a good excuse to stop regularly

to admire the views/rest. The clouds had kept

tempting us with brief views of the summit, but as

we reached it we found ourselves with little

visibility. Nevertheless, I’d done it and couldn’t

resist a celebratory climb on top of the summit

marker. We could have backed off at this point,

but with Vicky now singing to herself and

proclaiming it the best weather in three trips we

pressed on, taking the opportunity for a quick break using Mark’s emergency shelter to escape the

wind.

The second Munro loomed over us, and as we began another 200m metres of ascent some doubt

crept in. There was no backing off by now though, and once again we were given tantalising

glimpses of the summit with a backdrop of clear

blues skies, but as we reached it the cloud had

surrounded us once again. Nevertheless we had

been treated to some fantastic views of Ben

Nevis. We began the long descent which I knew

would finish me off completely, but the views

more than made up for it along with the

satisfaction of having reached both summits - I’d

completed my first proper winter walk and

reached the summit of two Munros. Plus, there

were pictures to prove it and cement the belief amongst my fellow students that I’m an uber-fit

athlete. Maybe I’ll retire at just two Munros…unless I can get hold of some magic pills.

We arrived at the hut tucked in the middle of the glen early Friday evening. Me and Simon excitedly

investigated the hut whilst Ruth was drawn to the babbling burn and our water source for the

weekend. We set out our sleeping bags, unpacked our food and set some water boiling. It felt like a

Famous Five adventure but due to the small car and only mild notoriety, we were left with a bad

simile instead. We lit a fire in the stove, opened a beer and sat and enjoyed finally being there. Over

the evening the rest of the group arrived, car by car with most then following the same process as

us, ending by the fire.

Glen Etive Meat for Ticks - Rob Chuter

All of us woke to a beautiful day which showed the glen, mountains and peaks in their full

magnificence. Some went to Stob na Broige, some to Buachaille Etive wall but we headed to Ben

Starav which also shows one of Simon slightly confused by a rock). The climb was relentless but the

views made it worth it, getting better with every step. The weather was so good that we applied

some sun tan lotion which did the trick as it instantly got cloudier. We reached the top, all 1078m of

it and celebrated with some

lunch. An apple, cheese sarnie

and flapjack made us excited to

head to the next peak, Glas

Bheinn Mhor. Between the two

peaks was a nice narrow ridge

which gave us the chance to get

our hands on some rock and take

some pictures that made us look

more like proper mountaineers.

The walk back to the car from the

2nd peak seemed to take a

decade but a can of Irn-Bru at the

car made time travel possible as it

had only been 2hours. Back at the hut I quietly - and without any fuss - debated a wash in the river.

After almost an hour's pondering I boiled some water and headed like Bear Grylls to the river. I did

not want to bear my grylls so I only had a slight splash with some biodegradable soap. Suze cooked

us all some pasta which gave us a good excuse to start the red wine flowing which was then joined

by a trickle of mead and an ooze of whisky. People wandered one by one to bed, only to be woken at

4am by the love child of a foghorn and a jackhammer. I will not name the snorer but you will hear his

distinctive call one day, no matter where you are and where he is.

The Sunday morning started

slowly partly due to the broken

sleep but also due to the less

than inspiring weather. We

headed to Loch Etive and

wandered along its northern

shore. The clouds clung to the

sides of the mountains in thin

lines, like they were all wearing

large white fluffy sweat bands.

The loch was mirror like still and

made the photogenic vista

impossible to resist and very easy

to simply stare at (see Pics). After a stop for lunch on a well placed log we returned to the car and

headed into Glencoe. The rain was getting heavier so we called into the cafe for a snack and the Nisa

store to stare at some in date cans of fruit, however this only delayed the inevitable for an hour or

so. Try as hard as our will power would let us, the gravitational pull of the ale in The Clachaig was

just too massive. Three glorious ales in and a game of pool down we left the wonderful little pub to

head back for some veggie chilli. Unfortunately for me I still had to make this but a helpful glass of

wine lubricated the cooking juices and before long we were sitting with a mountain of food. By now

we had gotten bored of hearing what E's the climbers had done, especially as it later turned out that

it wasn't a hedonistic story about a drug and Haribo filled night, so we started on the bored games.

Anna annihilated everyone at connect 4 with a few of the slower members loosing in only 4 moves.

The next morning people headed

their separate ways, we cleaned up

the hut and bid it farewell, sad to

leave it and the charming glen. As

Simon had never been to Scotland

we decide to go home via Edinburgh.

It was the perfect place for a coffee

and lunch and displayed yet another

of Scotland's great attributes. It was a

great long weekend in Scotland and

reminded me how much I love it up

there.

Western Oberland Ski Tour March 2014 - Paul Lucas

Paul Lucas, Mark Robinson and Torquil Clyde(a friend from Glasgow Tri Club)

After a fabulous week of downhill with friends from the Eagle Ski Club in Grimentz I travelled by train

to meet Mark at his winter residence in Chateaux D’Oex. Later that day we met Torquil at the station

to complete our team.

For the first day we planned a day tour on the Giferspitz (2542m) overlooking Gstad for a warm up

skin and ski and to practice with ropes and tranceivers. Summit fever got the better of us however

and we ended up skinning nearly 1300m to the summit along an exposed ridge to a wonderful little

table top of a summit. The only way off was to either retrace our steps or ski down a very steep and

narrow couloir. After checking with Torquil, whom we hadn’t seen ski before we went for the latter

option and discovered that Torquil was a much better skiing than either of us.

Mark on The Giferspitz summit (the

skinning track in the background

indicates the unsuitability of this as

a place to fall)

On the second day we did get to

practice some crevasse rescue and

tranceiver finding at Les Diablerets.

Using the lifts and also allowed for a

bit more downhill action. The start

of the off piste descent also proved

as exciting as the previous day with

falling not being a good option.

Day 1 of the tour - Les Diablerets to the Geltenhutte via the Arpelistock (3035m)

Using the same lifts of the previous day to the Sex Rouge (saving 1270m of skinning) we descended

the Tsanfleuron glacier to the Col du Sanetsch. From the here we donned our skins to ascend the

Arete de L’Arpille.

We also met a Swiss team of 4 including a guide who we would cross paths with several times

throughout and were the only other skiiers we met until the Wildstubel 3 days later.

From the Arete we then climbed steeply up the SE face to the summit of the Arpilestock, the only

issue caused by Torquils lack of Harscheisen (crampons for skis). There then followed a wonderful

descent down the NE flank into the Rottal valley and to the Geltenhutte(2002m).

Total Ascent 915m, descent 1885m, duration 6hours

Mark on the Arete de L’Arpile

Day 2 Geltenhutte (2002m) to

Wildhornhutte (2303m) via the

Wildhorn(3247m)

An early start dictated by the

guardian, 6am and no arguing,

turned out to be a good call as

this became quite a

challenging day. We first

retraced our steps of the

previous day up the Rottal

valley before turning left to

ascend steep slopes to the Col

du Brochet. Strong winds, a

hard packed surface covered

with spindrift made for difficult skinning and again Torquils lack of harschiesen led to more

difficulties and he had to don his crampons and walk for a while. I also managed to fall during a very

badly executed kick turn and slid down about 10m before arresting, fortunately not popping over

any of the numerous cliffs.

The next difficulty was finding our way from the col du Brochet to another Col which led onto the

Wildhorn Glacier. We had no sooner set off in the wrong direction when the Swiss team appeared

and pointed out our error saving us from a

very steep climb up to the Wildhorn

Glacier.

The final ascent up the Wildhorn was fairly

straightforward and offered spectacular

views of the loftier summits to the South

East.

Total Ascent 1405m, descent 950m,

duration 7.5 hours

Me and Torquil on the Wildhorn

Day 3 Wildhornhutte(2303) to Wildstrubelhutte(2791) via Schnidehorn(2937)

Today gave us the opportunity to remove skis and don crampons and axe for the final ascent of the

Schnidehorn (PD). On the way down we stopped for lunch in a lovely spot but with hindsight we

should have continued as the day was very warm and we had a tricky steep descent on very soft

snow before we reached easier ground and the start of the ascent to the Wildstrubelhutte.

We were greeted at the Wildstrubelhutte by the lovely Daniella and enjoyed a stunning sunset.

Another note of interest here, the guidebook (by Bill O’Conner) described this as an easy day with

643m ascent and 2-3 hours. It was in fact 1150m and 6 hours!

Sunset at the Wildstrubelhutte

Day 4 Wildstrubelhutte to Lammerenhutte via Wildstrubel West summit(3244m)

Another day and another summit with the approach across the spectacular Plaine Morte glacier only

slightly spoiled by the cat tracks from the nearby resort of Crans Montana.

This is also a more accessible peak and for the first time since the start we didn’t have the mountain

to ourselves. At the Lammerenhutte we also met up the Eagle Ski Club team who we had originally

intended to ski with and

had been doing the same

tour 1 day ahead of us.

Plaine Morte glacier, the

SW ridge of the

Wildstrubel on the left.

Day 5 Lammerenhutte(2501m) to Kandersteg via Rotor Totz (2848m)

The final day we joined forces with the Eagles for what turned out to be the best downhill skiing of

the week with a sustained descent down the spectacular Uschene valley to Kandersteg.

We had 5 minutes to say cherio to the Eagles group before our bus arrived. This was followed by

three trains to get to Gtsaad where Mark was then able to get the bus to Les Diablerets to retrieve

his car.

With Eagle ski club group on Rotor Totz summit.

Robertson Lamb Meet Langdale - Vicky Lisle

Some of you may know that it was my birthday the weekend of this meet so Mark and I took the

Friday off (the day of said birthday)in the hope that we may get a day's climbing or at least a nice

walk. We woke up on the Friday morning to find that the cloud outside was all the way down to the

valley bottom so quickly decided that climbing was out of the equation, instead we settled on a

route up to Stickle Tarn over to High Raise, onto Pike O Stickle then descended via Mickledon Valley.

Despite not seeing much the whole day it was dry and the cloud lifted just in time for use to arrive at

the pub. People started to arrive at the hut and the typical catch ups were commenced with many a

questions regarding this mythical 'chippa' bread, out of the corner of my eye I caught the glint of

candles. Mark had secretly arranged for Holly to make me a delicious chocolate orange cake which

was three tiers high and tasted as good as it looked.

There were 18 people on the meet plus three extras who due to them being members of more than

one club and were able to stay in the hut or just over the road. As some of you will know the

Robertson Lamb hut is a owned by the Wayfayer's club which is one of the few all males clubs so

unlike many huts we stay in there is a male only dorm upstairs and the girls have to stay in the nicely

converted barn outside, which is often referred to as the wenches barn (this may explain some of

the comments below). I though the easiest way to write a meet report would be to ask people to

write in the meet book this was done on the Saturday evening after a few drinks which lead to the

below reports.

Paul Spinks, Genveieve, Gemma, Ruth and Becky

Mr Spinks said 'a potter, a teashop, nothing too strenuous'. He had four 'keen' participants of the

female persuasion - they hoiked up their petticoats, bonnets ahoy and off they galloped. Albeit a

slow gallop.... they picked up some gingerbread, and some bone china tea to fortify themselves for

the ordeal . Notwithstanding their perspiring backs they bore their ordeal with stoical fortitude.

upon returning to the "sexist" hut they went their separate male/female ways. Mr Spinks returned

to his quarters, the butler bought him his wares, the ladies unfastened their stays in the cellars and

proceeded to sweep the chimneys.

Ken & Norberts

I came on the meet to gain some guidance from Mr Mappy (Norbert), he kindly offered to use his

wealth of experience (none) to help me practice my navigational skills (none). The weather was

miserable (like Norbert) but we managed to navigate through rain, hail, sleet and snow (kidding) the

rain was relentless (like Norbert's moaning). His weakness was on his endless ramblings (discussing

education) he managed to miss the correct path leading down to Stickle Tarn, which resulted in us

having to backtrack to find the correct path. the decent from here was fairly straight forward all the

way back to Sticklebarn.

Luke, James, Adrian & Dave Curtis

Four scramblers set off from the RLH Luke, James, Adrian & Dave. The plans was to stick to the plan,

which was very vague. They set off dry but within 20 minutes were getting damp. Resisting the urge

to stop in the ODG for a pre expedition drink, they continued to Raven crag for the start of the first

scramble. Ascending Raven Crag they encountered a tough step down, JR & Luke went first but Dave

and Adrian decided to rope up; a necessary precaution for the next section. On topping out they

walked to Thorn Crag. Lunch was consumed with much gusto and discussion of eggs. The

continuation of the route took them up the crag and a short walk and scramble later they arrived at

the top of loft crag. The decent proved interesting as a party of lost walkers were very lost,

assistance was given. following their good Samaritan effort Luke, James, Adrian & Dave descended

Mickledon to the ODG where pints and warm fire was consumed before the short walk to RLH was

done.

Holly & Dave

Dave and I had big plans to do get the outdoor climbing season well and truly underway in Langdale,

but our big ideas gradually dwindled as the week wore on and the forecast worsened. To the point

where we got up on Saturday, donned all our waterproofs and went out into the mank for a walk.

We still hoped we’d be able to scramble, so we headed up to Pavey Ark to do Jack’s Rake. We took a

quick detour to look at Tarn Crag on the way, but it was way too wet and slippy and apparently

stumping up the aisle on crutches isn’t a good look… We carried on to Pavey Ark, but there was a

slight snag – we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us and had no idea where we were. We were sure

we’d gone in the right direction, but the fog can be very disorientating. After deciding that a

compass wasn’t going to help us, we used the GPS and realised we must be close – we started

walking and only when I was about to put my foot in it did we realise we were about 20m away from

the tarn! We did Jack’s Rake, which is always fun, and then went on to Harrison Stickle, where we

saw some crazy fell running types and couple of bedraggled groups looking for the way down. By this

time we were pretty wet so we carried on to High Raise, over to Langdale Coombe and finally found

the path and squelched down to Mickleden and back to the hut. Our gear was still wet on Sunday so

we decided to stay dry and go to Kendal wall on the way home!

Mark, Vicky, Tom and Alex

The four of us set off Mark, Vicky, Tom and Alex. the initial section being done by car after Alex

showed his bulk load of walkers crisp and granola bars in the boot. We initially set off for crinkle

crags. All was going well (if wet) on the initial climb. Many a story was exchanged over Norbert's

nocturnal flatulence, an (unidentified) Wayfayer's dream cries of a women called Sarah and of

course the snoring that accompanies a night in a hut. After some time it was decided that the

conditions where just not fun. As such a shortening of the day as decided upon and a slightly

different route with a descent via Bowfell. After a short stop for food near the top the four began

their descent. This consisted of a number of National Three Peak Walkers and two very friendly

Geordies. After the final couple of hours a welcoming valley was reached and the four very soggy

walkers headed home.

Everyone made it back to the hut so the feast commenced with starters three curry's and three

cakes.

Norbert's curry recipe for the veggie curry is below.

half a 500g bag of red lentils and two cans of chopped tomatoes - add a can's worth of water and set

to boil and let it boil till the lentils have broken up.

Grate a piece of ginger about as long as your thumb into it (but not your thumb) Maybe add some

more water if its drying out.

Peel lots of cloves of garlic chopping the big ones into half.

Peel 4 onions and chop into segments (like oranges)

Chop two aubergines into 1inch sized chunks

Chuck into an oven tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast at high heat.

After 20 min add chopped peppers (one of them value bags) and continue roasting.

Stir a few times so things char slightly but don't get too bad. You can add things if you like, e.g.

cumin, coriander seeds and nice vinegar.

About 1kilo of sweet potatoes - peel and chop and add to the lentils when they have broken up.

Cook till the sweet potatoes are soft.

Add the roasted veg, salt and spice to taste. Some lemon juice would be good but I didn't have any.

Continue heating for about 5 min so flavours mix then take off the heat.

The weather was not on our side however all managed to get something done on the Saturday and

one hardy group went out on the Sunday while the rest (including myself) ran home to dry their

boots. It appears that there were quite a few calls for mountain rescue in the Langdale valley on the

Saturday so well done everyone for not getting lost.