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A magnificent turnout of 12 climbers graced the Popular End car park, filled with tactical ambition and varying definitions of what a “comfortable baseline grade” actually means.
While some of the 12 attendees chose to take their scores to the grave (or were simply too pumped to hold a pen), we did receive six official submissions.
David Jackson (26 points): A respectable, honest day’s graft. David clearly focused on quality over quantity, protecting his gear meticulously and refusing to succumb to the frantic rushing of his peers.
Kial (32 points): The Unsung Hero. Looking at Kial’s score, you’d think he spent the afternoon asleep under a boulder. In reality, Kial was the engineering engine room behind Gemma’s historic victory. As her designated leader, Kial spent six grueling hours fighting for his absolute life on top-tier gritstone testpieces, sweating through his chalk bag, and placing microscopic gear while shouting encouragement down the rope. He took 100% of the terror so Gemma could hoover up 100% of the points. A martyr for the cause.
Simon (64 points) & Lorna (71 points): The Mid-Table Masters. These two played the handicap system exactly like textbook club members—finding the sweet spot between VDiff and Severe, quietly racking up an impressive haul of stars while everyone else was gripped out of their minds.
Steve & Dave (90 points each): The Vanguard of Fairness. While the committee initially suspected fraudulent accounting or shared homework, it turns out Steve and Dave provided a absolute masterclass in synchronicity. Operating at the exact same baseline grade, they took perfectly synchronized swinging leads all day. For every terrifying, high-scoring lead Steve took, Dave matched it on the next pitch. They climbed hard, protected safely, and shared the physical and psychological toll exactly 50/50. A beautifully executed strategy that proves the rules actually worked—even if it looked highly suspicious on paper.
The Honorary Mentions
Andrew & Leon (0 points submitted): “To me, to you!” Andrew and Leon technically took part in the challenge, but ultimately decided against submitting a score. Instead, they spent the day putting on a flawless live-action tribute to the Chuckle Brothers. To make things even better, the dynamic duo turned up in matching tops—earning themselves an absolute roasting from the rest of the club before they’d even put a harness on. Observers at the Popular End later reported a continuous sequence of handling heavy racks, fumbling rope coils, and trying to maneuver large guidebooks around the base of the crag. While we don’t know exactly how many stars they climbed, they easily scored 100 points for purely theatrical entertainment.Gritstone Jeff & Mate (Unknown points): Jeff and his partner turned up, looked at our carefully crafted handicap scoring sheets, and promptly decided to completely ignore them. Instead, Jeff brought his own personal, mysterious ticklist. The pair vanished into the gritstone ether, and frankly, who knows where they actually got to. If anyone is heading out to Stanage this week, keep an eye out—there’s a high probability Jeff is still out there right now, hunting down obscure three-star cracks by headtorch.
The Undisputed Champion (With an Asterisk)
Gemma (167 points): A score so stratospheric it has been referred to the British Mountaineering Council for administrative review.How did Gemma achieve a score that roughly equates to climbing Everest twice before last orders? Strategic partnership. Gemma cracked the code of the handicap system by recruiting a climbing partner who operates a whopping five grades higher than her baseline.
While her leader was up at the sharp end fighting for their absolute life, sweating through their chalk bag, and placing micro-wires with trembling fingers, Gemma was cruising up behind on a beautifully taut top-rope, casually cleaning the gear, and hoovering up maximum handicap points like a human Dyson.
It was a masterclass in tactical delegation. The leader got the terror; Gemma got the glory, the trophy, and a score that will likely result in her baseline grade being forcibly upgraded to E3 by next weekend.
A massive thank you to everyone who came out, supported the event, and kept the Popular End buzzing. Same time next year—though the math rules will definitely be rewritten to stop Gemma from buying a yacht with her winnings.
You’ll have to get the flyer from WhatsApp – apparently a PDF file is much to large for the website to handle 🤣
7 hardy souls and 2 dogs braved the wind, rain and cold at Millstone with a further 3 heading to Lawrencefield until rain finally halted play at around 2pm.
It was definitely a wise decision not to head to Dovestone’s.
Thanks to everyone that attended
KialThe weather doesn’t look reliable enough to make the long walk to Dovestone, best to save it for a sunny day.
But it’s still looks good enough to risk a venue with a shorter walk in.
So tomorrow’s meet will now be at Millstone, I’ll get to the crag around 10am and head for Cioch Bay area.Reminder for Sundays walk and scramble. I’ve attached maps of 3 versions ranging from 12 to 23 miles to the walking WhatsApp group.
Don’t forget the clocks go forward on Sunday.
We’ll meet outside the visitors centre in Castleton at 7.30am (I’ve made it half hour later with the clock change).
Let me know if you are coming so we don’t set off without you
KialHi Paul,
Sure that will be fine although I’m not 100% sure on the club rules now – is it still the case you have to fill in a prospective member form before attending an official meet?
Either way it is fine by me for him to tag along.Six Humans & 1 Dog departed Birchin Clough car park on crisp frozen ground and headed up Fair Brook, scrambling up frozen rocks and waterfalls to emerge on the Kinder plateau. Following the edge round to the top of Upper Red Brook the party then split in two, with Kial & Mike opting to descend the brook to the fence line to the bottom of Nether Red Brook and making the accent back to the plateau. The rest headed cross country to Kinder Downfall and we all re grouped along the Pennine Way while heading to intersect with Ashop River.
We all then enjoyed a sociable stroll back down the river, through woodland and back to the carpark. See the walking WhatsApp group for photos.Thanks to all that attended.
KialHi All,
Slight change of plan. Having spoken with Ali we have decided to make this a combined meeting. We will start at approx. 6.30 to arrange meets from January through to March. Mainly walking but I’d like to get at least one scramble in per month.
Then from approx. 7.15 we will start the climbing meets planning from April onwards.
All welcome but feel free to just attend the session you are most interested in getting involved with.
Again, if you can’t make it on the night can you let myself or Ali know what meets you’d like to see on the 2024 calendar and any dates you can coordinate.
Thanks
Kial8 members stayed at the Gwern Gof Uchaf campsite at the base of Tryfan, (Eryri). We were blessed with good weather over the weekend. Activities were all climbing based, myself and Andy Ward, Leon & Andrew tackling Direct Route on Glyder Fach whilst Mary & Geoff climbed Slab Route alongside us. Julian & Marcelina opted for a day on Little Tryfan joined by a passing visit from Pete Hammond. The following day we decided to keep low down for an easy retreat before the forecast rain rolled in; Geoff and Mary heading to Milestone Buttress, Leon & Andrew going to Little Tryfan with the rest of us heading to Bochlwyd Buttress.
Best achievement of the weekend goes to Mary for getting a crane fly out of her tent all by herself.
Best gear rescue: came from a couple from Sheffield following myself and Andy up the last pitch of Direct Route.
Thanks everyone for another great away meet.Photos can be found in MeetUp with the following link (Can other attendees add their pics to the album? It would be good to have them all in one place).
https://www.meetup.com/castle-mountaineering-club/photos/33920394/Have people managed to get booked in at the campsite?
I’ve had a couple of people saying they can’t get through on the phone.
Who is going that hasn’t managed to get booked in yet? If there is a few then we need a concentrated effort from all and whoever gets through first should book everyone else in at the same time….I have two more dates to fill, we should have a local climbing venue during the Torridon away trip on the 15 & 22 Oct. If anybody can fill these dates please message or call me directly.
Thanks
KialOriginal message with info for this meet can be found here:
Hi Dick. No you don’t need to download any software, you can join via the web as you mentioned.
I think (not 100% sure) you will have to sign in with a Microsoft user name i.e a .hotmail or .live account. Free to sign up to if you don’t already have one.
You can try joining the meeting now, its a live link. Obviously no one will be in the meeting but at least you can check you are able to log in ahead of time.Kial.