President’s Update

Dear Member,

There seems to be a lot going on so I thought an update would be useful. So in no particular order:

1. A new meets list for June and July has just been sent out by Andrew. If you have not received one please contact him.

2. Nepal. The Committee decided to make a donation of £100 from club funds towards disaster relief in Nepal, a country which many of us have visited. The money will go to Doug Scott’s charity Community Action Nepal. Further information on Community Action Nepal can be found at http://www.canepal.org.uk/

3. Meets. The weather has not been kind this spring with some meets washed out or blown away! For the eleven of us who made it to Scotland over the Easter holidays the weather was warm (too warm!) following snow and strong winds earlier in the week which created significant avalanche risk. Winter mountaineering routes were climbed on the Ben and Stob Coire nan Lochan, while various Mamores were ascended in conditions ranging from 10 metres to 100 kilometres visibility! Four of the team spent a day rock climbing on Poldubh Crags in Glen Nevis resorting to shorts and T shirts to cope with the conditions. Anglesey was much colder and wetter with climbing only possible on the Friday. Llangollen was cold and windy with some rain but Linda and I managed to climb for 3 of the 4 days we were there. Five us climbed at World’s End one of the days, a crag giving some of the best clinbing in the area. The walking was also good with a large group of us being led by Josie on the Sunday. This weekend we have an away meet to Appletreewick in the Yorkshire Dales. See the meets list for further away meets.

4. The New Members Weekends/Open Climbing Meets in April were a success for new and existing members alike with the combination of indoor and outdoor climbing working well. Over 20 people climbed on each of the two outdoor days. The Committee have just approved 5 applications for membership – welcome to Ben, Matt, Glyn, Gemma and Sam. Our membership count is now 68.

5. The Annual Photographic Competition was judged by Chris Jackson and won (only just) by Martin Whitaker. We must all try harder to beat him so get snapping! The winning photos will be on the website as soon as I have resolved a couple of technical issues.

6. Training. Linda, Nigel, Jez and I attended a Mountain First Aid course run by member Al Cash in May. An excellent course leaving us all feeling more confident in responding to emergencies in the outdoors. Further details of Al’s courses can be found on his website: http://gritstoneadventures.co.uk/ Our next training session is Marian’s Navigation evening on Thursday 16 July. Marian has run similar sessions in the past with those attending impressed by how it has improved their skills in this vital area. Remember that as a BMC member you can access training courses subsidised by them. Start here to see what is available: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/active-outdoors-essential-skills-for-an-outdoor-life If you are looking to improve your skills in a particular area please contact me to see how the club can help.

7. Guidebooks. The club has a collection of old climbing guides, mainly from the 1960’s and 1970’s covering areas of Scotland, the Lakes, Wales and the Peak. They all show the signs of use. If you are interested in any of them contact me for further details.

8. 50th Anniversary. The club will be 50 in 2017 and we plan to hold a number of events to celebrate this milestone. The Committee is keen to get your suggestions, so get in touch with one of us if you have any thoughts. One possibility is an digital (and possibly printed) publication containing new and old articles by club members together with an extensive collection of photographs, hopefully documenting every year of the club’s history. If you have old photos or articles or wish to contribute new ones get in touch.

9. Stanage. There has been friction between the Peak National Park and outdoor community for several years concernring the management (or lack of) of the North Lees Estate. The Peak Park has now appointed Rebekah Newman as Property Manager for North Lees with control over all issues and budgets. The BMC supports this move and attempts to increase revenue to manage the estate. One approach involves individuals donating £15 per annum to the upkeep of Stanage-North Lees. You get a car windscreen sticker for this which enables you to park in the Plantation car park for free. These are available from Outside Hathersage or the BMC or Peak Park websites. Further details are in the latest BMC Peak Area Newsletter which is accessable from Recent News on our Home page.

David