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About the Northumbrian Mountaineering Club (NMC) The NMC is a meeting point for climbers, fell walkers and mountaineers of all abilities. Our activities centre on rock-climbing in the summer and snow and ice climbing in the winter. Meets are held regularly throughout the year. The NMC is not, however a commercial organization and does NOT provide instructional courses.
NMC Meets The NMC Members’ handbook (available to all members) and the NMC website list the dates and locations of all meets. This magazine lists the meets arranged for the next few months. Non-members: Are always welcome to attend meets.
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BMC Public Liability Insurance for climbing incidents. Discounted NMC guide books. Discounted entry at certain indoor climbing walls and shops. Access to the extensive NMC library.
Join the NMC Download a Membership form from: www.thenmc.org.uk Send the signed and completed membership form with a cheque made out to the NMC for the membership fee (see below) to the Membership Secretary at the address shown on the membership form. Membership Fees •Full £25 •Prospective £10.00
Magazine articles This is YOUR magazine so please keep it running by writing about your own climbing experiences. Even beginners have something to write about. Send Contributions to: magazine@thenmc.org.uk
Note: Winter indoor meets require a minimum of prospective membership (see below) due to venue requirements for third party insurance.
Membership Details Members are Prospective until they fulfill the conditions for Full Membership (see membership form.) Full membership is valid for one year from the end of February. Prospective membership expires at the end of March each year. Membership gets you: • Copy of the quarterly magazine. NMC Quarterly Magazine
taken by the author of the article.
Committee 2009/2010 President – John Mountain Vice Pres. – Peter Bennett Secretary–Caroline Judson Treasurer – John Earl Membership – Sam Judson Access – Richard Pow Hut Co-ord. – Neil Cranston Hut Bookings – Derek Cutts Magazine Ed. – Peter Flegg Social Sec – A. Coverdale Librarian – Sam Judson General: Adrian Heath, Eva Diran, Malcolm Rowe, John Dalrymple, Piotr Bamberski & Ian Birtwistle.
As an affiliate to the BMC, the NMC endorses the following participation statement: The BMC recognises that climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.
Black & White Fotos? If you received this magazine as a paper copy, then you are missing part of the picture as the download version of the magazine is in colour. To arrange for email notification that the latest issue of the magazine is ready for you to download, contact the membership secretary at: secretary@thenmc.org.uk
Photos Unless otherwise stated all photos in this issue were March 2009
Copyright The contents of this magazine are copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the NMC. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the NMC.
Cover Shot Bryn Roberts dry tooling at Cogne, Italy in February 2006 Photo by Tim Catterall
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What’s in this issue?
Wednesday evening meets
Weekend meets............................................. 3 Wednesday evening meets ........................... 3 There’s no place like home........................... 4 5 stars............................................................ 6 Taggers-on to the winter skills meets ........... 8 Wild-bear stories and more! ......................... 9 Too many Kuks: Paklenica for Bumblies... 11 Tophet Wall ................................................ 13 NMC news.................................................. 16 Annual dinner ............................................. 17 I May Cry ................................................... 18 AGM – January 2009 ................................. 20 Financial report for 2007/8 ......................... 21
Outdoor meets start again from early April 2008. No need to call any one—just turn up with all your own equipment. The NMC website has crag location details (www.thenmc.org.uk), also check the website for indoor wall alternatives if the weather is not good. Meet afterwards at the pub shown in italics.
01 April 09
Shaftoe - Highlander
08 April 09
Rothley - Dyke Neuk
Weekend meets
15 April 09
Curtis - Highlander
The following list shows the weekend climbing meets currently arranged.
22 April 09
You MUST contact the meet leader in advance, as any accommodation may be limited or already fully booked.
29 April 09 06 May 09
Simonside - Turks Head
3/4 April 09
Milehouse, Kincraig—Eva Diran 07824 627 772
13 May 09
Peel - Twice Brewed
20 May 09
Wanneys - Highlander
4-5 April 09
Bowderstone Working Meet— Neil Cranston 0191 270 2648
27 May 09
Bowden Doors - Salmon
18 April 09
Northumberland—Ian Birtwistle 07828 123 143
03 June 09
Crag Lough - Twice Brewed
10 June 09
Kyloe Out - Percy Arms,
2-4 May 09
North Wales, Bank Holiday— Peter Bennett 01670 515 263
9-10 May 09
Jack Rock - Northumberland Arms
Bowderstone New Members— Sarah Follmann 07896 305 855
16-17 May 09
Ladies’ Bowderstone Meet— Amanda Trafford 07702 914 045
23-25 May 09
Scotland, Bank Holiday—Bryn Roberts 07921 436 955
4-6 June 09
Peak district—Andrew Coverdale 07502 165 139
27-28 June 09
Annual Dinner, Belford— Adrian Heath 07903 377 012
15-16 August 09
Bowderstone BBQ—Sam Judson 07793 522 261
29-31 August 09
Lakes, Bank Holiday—Piotr Bamberski 07881 658 019
11-13 Sept 09
Skye— Adrian heath 07903 377 012
NMC Quarterly Magazine
East Woodburn / Wolf Highlander
Chatton
17 June 09
South Yardhope / Sandy Bird in the Bush
24 June 09
Callerhues - Cheviot, Bellingham
01 July 09
Simonside / Ravensheugh Turks Head
08 July 09
Kyloe In - Salmon
Deadline for the next issue The deadline for contributions to the June issue of the Quarterly Magazine is 15 June 2009.
March 2009
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There’s no place like home Eva ‘Diva the Ice Queen’ Diran
‘Uh, this looks, er… exciting!’ exclaims my housemate, watching with great interest the sandwich bags filled with bean feast which I’m putting together with military precision in my kitchen. ‘We’re off snow holing’ I reply as I add an extra two hundred calories of instant mash. ‘I’m just preparing dinner.’ A look of disbelief. ‘Why don’t you just let some nice guy take you out for dinner in a nice restaurant, and you can sleep in a bed afterwards, or open the window if you wanna be a bit wild?’ I did wonder what I was doing: Drive for six hours, walk up a mountain for six hours, spend your afternoon digging a hole, and then sleeping in it. What was the point? And why would anyone in their right mind do it? I guess snow holing is just one of the things you have to do if you want to be a ‘proper’ mountaineer. Every mountaineer should have a snow hole story, and here comes mine.
After numerous cups of tea and breakfast we set off, posing with a happy (forced, anxious, worried, I wish I’d never said yes to this) smile for the photo. It was actually a beautiful day as we started making our way towards Derry lodge. The sun was shining, there was no wind, and the mountains were covered in pretty show flakes. You could have thought you were somewhere in the Alps, and I wish I’d taken sunglasses. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. The walk in proved quite tough though. The freezing level had been quite low, icing up the path, making walking with large heavy packs cumbersome and hard work. After a few hours of sweating the corrie opened up in front of us, and we started thinking about a suitable location to build
We were nearing the Linn of Dee car park near Braemar, Adrian, Jon, Eva, John, Anna & Piotr (aka Peter Pan) which was to be our destination for our home for the night. There was plenty Friday night. Our small group consisted of of snow about and after a few attempts and Adrian Heath, Jon Trafford, John Flitcroft, much poking of large snow piles we found Peter Pan (aka Polish Peter), Anna Foxon some deep, drifted and compacted snow and myself. The plan was to camp at the which the engineers in the group after car park on Friday night, set off in the much deliberation approved as a suitable morning up Glen Derry towards the location. We split into three teams to dig Hutchinson memorial on the east side of three entrances, and then tunnelled through Ben MacDui, Scotland’s second highest the inside to create a large open plan studio mountain, find somewhere with enough with six beds, two storage areas, two snow to dig a hole and survive the night. cooking corners and a fenced in front yard. It was a cold and crisp morning. In fact, Food was next on our minds, at least on it had been a cold and crisp first night, and mine. As usual I had brought enough to that was the night before the snowhole! NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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feed a small country. We weren’t going to be on a diet this weekend. (or ever for that matter). But with all the good will and healthy cold-fuelled appetite, half our dinner remained uneaten as the cold slowly took over from hunger. We crawled our way into our cosy sleeping bags, which in itself was a bit of a mission. Anna and I shared the large bedroom with John and Pete, and it was rather cosy (as in er… coffin style).
trace in the snow. It was John who came to our rescue. He selflessly offered to eat it so that we didn’t have to carry it out with us. Apparently for men, a pre-cooked breakfast is better than having to cook your own, even if it’s yesterday’s bean feast. We watched with amazement as he finished the entire pot. We then made our way to the outside world, by digging the entrance out from inside which froze solid during the night. Amazingly it was another beautiful day so we decided to leave the bags and explore higher up the mountain and practice our
Adrian and Jon had the bedroom across the corridor, which was a little more spacious. Despite our proximity, having a conversation through layers of woolly jumpers and sleeping bags was pretty impossible, and apart from occasional hysterical laughter (at least we weren’t crying!) there was nothing much to do (What else did I expect?!?). I rested my head on my pillow, Coffin-style cold cosiness which was my winter skills. Somebody built a snowman, walking boots carefully wrapped in my we ate more food, and threw ourselves belay jacket, and around 8 o’clock most of down the mountain practicing what was us were asleep, not waking until 8 the next meant to resemble ice axe self-arrest, and morning. I couldn’t believe I was still then it was time to head back. alive. I couldn’t believe I had actually slept! But I had, and so had everybody My housemates were amazed when I else! Apart from Pete, who was still came back in one piece. Had we actually laughing hysterically at that point. built a snow hole and slept in it? Yes (and I even had photographic evidence). I was Getting out of bed and cooking officially declared mad, but who wants to breakfast was another mission all together sleep in a comfy bed and eat out in and took up most of the morning. The restaurants when you can go for a small fridge that Anna had built in the evening to adventure in the snow. So next time a nice store our remaining dinner had turned into man asks me out on a date, I’ll suggest a freezer overnight. The bigger problem of course is how to dispose of the previous going snow holing. Any takers? night’s dinner. No bin, no fire and leave no NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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5 stars Bryn Roberts & Peter Flegg
where we could lay our sleeping bags out on the sand and for some dead wood to burn for cooking.
We started climbing at 9am and carried 3 lites of water each, food and bivvy gear for a 2 day/1 night trip on Rum mountain. We were following an easy Bedouin route up a gully that leads to the large flat area on the summit plateau, some distance from the actual summit of Jebel Rum in Jordan.
The day had been spent in the shadows of the gully, which as it turned out luckily meant we had drunk very little of our water. As we drank some tea, and while I cursed Tony Howard and Bryn muttered about what a great 5 star bivvy site this was, we suddenly heard voices. From the top of a rock we could just make out the You have to feel sorry for poor old silhouettes of three people. It turned out Tony Howard—every climber at Wadi they were a French couple with a local Rum cursed him for his guide book, and in guide, with no warm clothes, no food or our case the guidebook states that it takes water and one head torch between them. about 1.5hours to complete the main part The woman, now in hysterics, wanted of the climbing. Now Bryn and I are both them all to spend the night at our bivvy site relatively experienced climbers and neither but there was no (easy) route over from of us particularly slow but we took a their ridge to us. Bryn advised them to stick with their guide who would get them safely down. We watched their slow progress down and away from us until they got a fire going. 30 mins later their guide suddenly popped in Bryn belaying in the gully on the ascent for a geriatric 7.5 hours to reach the top of the visit—he wanted to get some hot tea to gully! Ok we did get lost once or twice and take back down to his clients. We gave we were slow on the crux—a short him a kettle full of our precious water. undercut step, up something resembling an overhanging sand dune, with no protection It was a windy night but the views at and the potential to take both leader and dawn were worth the experience. We set belayer into the abyss below. off before 7am and with some complex We pulled out of the gully at 4.45pm just 15mins before darkness fell, and rushed around to find a sheltered spot NMC Quarterly Magazine
contouring and a few difficult climbing sections we eventually abseiled down to a sandy desert area close to the summit of March 2009
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Rum. It was still only 11.30am so we breathed a sigh of relief knowing we would ‘easily’ make it down that evening. As we munched on a pack of dried apricots Bryn mentioned an old wives tale about them giving you diarrhea—but we carried on munching.
nowhere more difficult than Severe. To cut a long story short, several attempts, three short abseils, and hours later, I was back on a ledge about 20 ft above Pete. It was roughly the size of a door with a great view of the lights of Rum village almost directly below. I brought Pete up. ‘I hope you weren’t too attached to that Friend, Pete’ ‘What Friend?’ ‘The No.3 that’s buried in that crack up there that I’ve just abseiled off!’ To be honest, as forced bivvies go, this one was pretty good (Ed.— he means 5 star); we had space to lie down (see foto on back page), it was a calm night and we had down sleeping bags. But by now we were down to a cup of water between us and an apple each and were
But we were soon lost in the midday heat of this high desert—the guide simply says ‘descend from the north east dome’, the trouble was there were about 500 domes visible. Next came the diarrhea. Eventually we started the descent at 2pm. The first 4 abseils went ok then we found ourselves in a narrow corridor-like area, we both separately checked every exit from the corridor but could not find any abseil tat to indicate the route. Finally Bryn discovered an old water bottle and we choose to follow that, which lead to the open cave at top of the ‘Eye of Allah’ route. We were continuously slowed by the ropes tangling and catching on the rock. The next descent tat was soon located and Bryn descended fast with his head torch on as it was about to get dark, but it was Morning after—on the final night bivvy ledge 20mins before he finally called for me desperately thirsty. So we gulped two to descend, as I approached him he told me mouthfulls each when we really needed to start looking for the next abseil as he two litres, slipped into our bags and settled hadn’t found it yet. When we attempted to in for the night. pull the ropes we found them firmly jammed. Shortly after dawn we abseiled into the Great Siq, a gorge which cuts through the Bryn takes over the story: massif still well above the desert floor. We traversed along the sidewalls above gaping It was my turn to recover the ropes, but chasms before finally climbing up through in the dark, 700 ft above the desert floor a narrow slot canyon to reach the ridge that with no rescue service in sight, this was no would take us back to the valley floor. But place to mess it up… this brought us out into the full heat of the I fixed two prussicks and slid them up sun and, with a raging thirst, we descended the rope as I climbed; luckily it was NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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Taggers-on to the winter skills meets
long rough slabs and corners to reach the desert floor shortly before midday. Salvation came in the form of a water pipe leading from an aquifer which serves the settlement of Rum. We met some Muslim women herding goats and one of them had pulled the pipe apart leaving the water gushing out. We indicated our need to drink and, with absolutely no decorum, stuck our mouths under the pipe and gulped in the water. The woman was smiling before, regaining her modesty, she drew her scarf over her face and withdrew a safe distance from us. Not long later we were back in the village and spent much of the afternoon drinking water and fruit juice outside the village shop and gazing across to the scene of our adventure.
Adrian heath
There were empty bunks going cheap at the hut that Tim had booked for the Beginners’ Winter Skills meet, and this seemed like a good excuse to get up to Scotland for the first winter trip of the season. Unfortunately the hut filled up, so Bryn, Kenny, Robin and I stayed in a bunkhouse in Kinlochleven On Saturday Eva, Andy, Robin and I headed up to Stob Coire Nan Lochan hoping there would be something worthy up there. The day had dawned clear and calm with a hint of sun in the air, and remained very pleasant all day, with fantastic views over Rannoch Moor and out over the coast to the west.
We won’t go into detail here about the police involvement/diplomatic incident the next day… Suffice to say that the Bedouin are making significant sums of money from transporting and guiding tourists and climbers these days and it seems that the moment you speak to one you have, in their mind, contracted to use their services for the remainder of your stay! It also seems the days of climbers being able to head off for adventures without leaving a full itinerary with the police or even without a guide, may be numbered…
We were getting excited by the large volumes of water ice oozing out of the hills as we climbed up to the coire, however when got there we were a bit disappointed with the conditions: lots of black rock, and only a couple of gullies filled in. The only good options were NC gully and Boomerang, so we set off up NC first and at least found pretty good solid neve most of the way up (see photo.)
Eva Diran showing the way NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
Great gully was also well filled, and made a good descent route before we headed up Boomerang. Turning the corner we found a completely bare section with only a wee smeer of ice on it, after which the climbing was straightforward again on good neve. The second time down Great Gully was a tad harder on the thighs, and we duly called it quits for the day and slogged back to the road, arriving just after dark. Not a day of remarkable climbs, but a page 8 of 22
remarkable day of climbing considering the perfect calm weather with the temperature lingering just below zero all day. While we had kept our carbon miles down to a minimum, the rest of the taggers-on had roared up to the Ben for what was by all accounts a superb day up on the north face. Bryn and Kenny went up something on the Ben and reported excellent conditions and enjoyable climbing despite a bit of ice damage to Kenny's face. They swore upon their rather late return that they had been sitting in the pub, and not having and epic. Graham, Nick and Howard did North Gully and likewise were stoked by the conditions up there. On Sunday Richard, Craig, Eva, Andy, Robin and I headed for the easy-uplift onto Aonach Mor. Unfotunately after buying our tickets and waiting in the queue, the gondola could manage no more than a few short hiccups before tripping out. We hedged our bets on the engineer fixing it, having by then missed the chance to walk in with time to climb. Of course that never happened, and by 10:30-ish, after a few free cups of tea we headed up Glen Nevis for a walk up Stob Ban. It turned into a very enjoyable walk/scramble as we completed a loop up a coire onto the north ridge and down the east ridge. There was an abundance of water ice lying everywhere—including in great sheets over the track, often hidden by a thin dusting of snow, with comical consequences for everyone but the person in the lead. The ice on the road up the very frozen glen on the other hand nearly had Craig and his passengers changing their pants at the car park. It was a shame not to get any climbing done on Sunday, however the walk was a good substitute, and finished off a pleasant weekend, whetting the appetite for the rest of the season to come. Fingers crossed for a good one.
NMC Quarterly Magazine
Wild-bear stories and more! Clive Goodwin
Peter Bennett’s account of the June Dinner and weekend meet brought back many happy memories. I recall that one of the older named members accidentally damaged copper pipe work in the Gents toilet at our first dinner at the Borrowdale Hotel and this, along with ice cubes down the fronts of the ladies dresses by even more esteemed members, helped to produce a ban on NMC Dinners there for the next few years! Dinners were then held at the back end of the year when rain, cold and snow were not uncommon. Sleeping in distant climbing huts, for example on Dunmail Raise for Keswick, and needing wellies to protect suits and dresses on muddy tracks to their car parks were all part of the traditional formality of the annual dinner and this obviously still applies at the Bowderstone and Borrowdale Hotel. As an unofficial guest at a North London Climbing Club dinner at Trefiw in North Wales, I was therefore shocked at the predinner drunkenness, a cricket sweater wearing president and members who threw Brussel Sprouts (when they were still fashionable) at him when his speech lasted more than five minutes! Once, when we stayed a fair walk away at the Tranearth Hut, near Torver and below the Walna Scar Road, belonging to the Lancashire Caving and Climbing Club, we had to push our cars in the snow to get to the Sun Inn at Coniston. We were none too pleased when the dinner was delayed nearly an hour because Donald Campbell’s ‘Blue Bird’ racing team and guests, who were resident, had not finished their meal on time! We had several well organised dinners at the Royal Oak in Keswick where eventually most of the committee succumbed to the favourable residential rates they began to offer. The trek back to a tent or hut afterwards and changing was forsaken for the comforts of afternoon tea, March 2009
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hot baths and comfortable beds. Alec Muir, who organised our last dinner there that I attended, asked me to introduce two of his guests (who were North London Climbing Club friends) to the nearby hills. A brisk afternoon walk around the Grisedale Pike horse shoe nearly ended in disaster when one of them ‘lost his legs’. With arms around our shoulders and feet trailing, as the other man was shorter, we eventually got back to our car at Braithwaite. We just made the dinner by twenty minutes where he sat barefoot and, much to the annoyance of Alec’s wife was unable to get as far as the dance floor. The next day I remember well, climbing with his friend, a meat humper at Smithfield, on Gillercomb Buttress. He didn’t bother with footholds when there weren’t any obvious ones but simply used his upper body strength to overcome any ‘difficult pitches’ we encountered. My dinner as a newly married President was at the isolated Shap Wells Hotel where my best man’s wife nearly gave birth during the speeches after a Hillman Imp car accident on the road outside. Luckily all was well but I do remember how well we all scrubbed up, entertained guests of clubs with whom we had reciprocal hut rights, and the good times we had afterwards. I had been at the Shap Wells Hotel the year before as a guest of the Cleveland MC with whom we had close ties and their dinner ran on similar lines. As a guest at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel of our ‘Tranearth’ friends of the LCCC I saw that they even had Toast and Speech order cards as well as menus. The surprise was their Madam President in climbing britches toasting the Queen and the Duke of Lancaster.
many people could imagine how much blood was spilt at committee meetings and AGMs to introduce music and dancing at the request of the ladies, but eventually they did get their wish at the Royal Oak. Finally, the climbing hut at the Knowe did feature numerous celebrations after nights at the Bowes at Bardon Mill and Bowderstone, when it was still a shell, hosted a candle lit New Year’s Eve party after a night at the Old Scafell bar with its Youngers beer in glasses with handles! From our winter camping snow and ice days in the 60s in Borrowdale to the endless weekends spent fitting out the Bowderstone Cottage and later the Hermitage, the Scafell bar with its coal fire was our second home. On modernisation they kindly donated their bar table to us for the hut dining room that immediately became part of the Saturday night traverse around the upper walls and furniture! Competitions were held to see who could record the earliest footsteps on the Bowderstone ladder on a Sunday morning and charge the most for using our toilet! I even convinced a curious but gullible group of passing adults that the wood and wire cage I was making for the rubbish sacks to go into back at the Quayfoot quarry near the car park was in fact to catch a wild bear in! One member stirred up even more public interest that summer by offering to sell non-existent toffee apples to them. As traditionalists we were truly shocked when a new breed of younger members chose to go back out to put up extra routes on the Bowderstone Crags after 6 o’clock instead of walking to the pub as we had always done!
A short spell of Northumberland dinners never seemed quite the same as it was easier and less costly to return home after the dinner and miss the after dinner jollities. Mind, the President’s walk was often better attended and the guest speaker was often shown a previously unclimbed route on places like Bowden Doors on which to apply their skills! I don’t suppose NMC Quarterly Magazine
Happy memories.
March 2009
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Too many Kuks: Paklenica for Bumblies David Hume
Long ago on a website far, far away, the word Paklenica crept into my consciousness. Go there, said the Web Joda, so last October I packed my son Ross and my wallet (he rarely seems to have one to hand) and off we went for a week. Sport climbing has only recently appeared on my agenda, and being an ageing bumbly didn’t help my confidence, even though I did have Ross to lead the hard-for-me bits. What do those grades mean exactly? What would a Mild VS be worth in French? (Less than in Croatian as it turned out). However, the promise of some multi-pitch trad alongside the sport routes allayed a few of my worst fears. That brought another common problem for flying bumblies—sharing the ropes and rack between us to get as much as possible into the hand luggage. Fine on leaving the UK, but I had to give public demonstrations of screwgates, friends, belay device and headtorch to the armed Croatian airport SWAT team leader on the return leg. Sympathetic? Convinced? Sense of humour? It seemed not. The attractions as we saw them in advance were: concentrated climbing area, mix of sport and trad, reasonable chance of warm dry weather, cheap living, and a decent multi-lingual guidebook with tasty photos. We were proved right, and there were some other good bits too—more of which later. Downsides were limited choice of cheap flights as late October was past the holiday season, and nothing from the North East. But pensioners like me don’t let such things get in the way of my desperation to cram in, belatedly in life, as much experience as I can stretch to (take that how you want). Paklenica is a limestone national park just outside the coastal village of Starigrad in the north of Croatia. The climbing is mostly limited to the main gorge area, but NMC Quarterly Magazine
this includes some sizeable cliffs on either side, of which the biggest and best known is Anica Kuk, a complex 350m high crag. Then there’s Veliki Kuk, Debeli Kuk, Mali Kuk, Kuk Tisa (honest)… Kuks everywhere. There’s a climbing permit to pay at the entrance—free on Sundays— 120 Kuna or £14 for a 5 day permit. There’s a car park at the entrance to the gorge and you can be on the first route within 5 minutes walk, just like Bowden. It ceases to be like Bowden soon enough— for a start there’s a shop and toilets carved out of the gorge walls, and no flatulent livestock or boulderers. The main gorge has a wide tourist path, and there were a fair few strollers, even in October, especially at the weekend. The climbing was well worth the journey. Sport routes are generously bolted, and you’ll need 60m ropes at least, and a kilo or two of quickdraws. The multi-pitch was more sparsely bolted, sometimes only at stances or at a crux. A basic rack proved enough. The limestone is incredibly sharp—not only the fingershredding holds, but the very surface has razor sharp ripples, easily forgotten on a long descent gully. My favourite all-day Montrail rock boot soles looked like they’d been attacked by piranhas by the end of the week, and the stitching had been sliced apart, turning them into flippers. As for the fingers—at last I had a part of my body I could call ‘ripped’. We alternated between sports days and multi-pitch days. The multi pitch routes we tackled were between 5 and 8 pitches long, a good quality one being Sjeverno Rebro, a 5 pitch classic on Veliki Kuk, about UK 4b/c at most, with great positions high above the gorge floor. We were joined at the foot of the first pitch by a German couple with 3 small kids in full body harnesses, who were totally unfazed by an unprotected and unroped scramble to reach the start above a 100 foot drop, taking care to avoid the sleeping black horned viper. We met many nationalities here— Germans, Slovenians, Serbs, Italians and Croats, many with babies and dogs in tow. March 2009
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There were a few Brits—one group of Saga louts with an obnoxious and loud leader, and a chance encounter with a NMC member on a route led to my decision to join the club on my return. He shall remain nameless so he can stay blameless. The Croatian equivalent of Wallace Arnold Tours trickled out dozens of OAP tourists at the weekend, who ambled up the easy gorge path and became a pointing audience as I struggled up a 5b (in Croatian money). I couldn’t understand their noisy interest, until my helpful son explained that they probably thought I had escaped from their group, there was an abandoned zimmerframe, and what the hell did I think I was doing at my age? Oh yes, the grades— they are definitely on the stiff side, and it wasn’t just me saying so. A Croatian 5a usually felt like a UK 4c and so on. I’m told that the grades in the 7’s and 8’s are more accurate… must go back to test that.
your meal. The local fish is excellent, mostly caught by one-man boats in the eerily calm sheltered Adriatic. German is the second language in Croatia, but it’s geared for tourism here, and Euros are widely accepted. There’s a climbing shop, a couple of small supermarkets, and plenty of restaurants. Ask for a Mr. Marasović, and there will be one nearby.
Accommodation in Starigrad was easy to find in October, and cheap. We asked at the Hotel Rajna, a supposed climber’s Third pitch (of 6) on Nosorog, Kukovi, Paklenica meeting place, and the owner was soon on the phone to his brother Milan (his sons and That was it. Apart from one day of nephews own cafes and restaurants all violent thunderstorms, we had warm, dry around Starigrad—it’s a Marasović weather, and loads of varied climbing. You monopoly), and we were fixed up for £6 a could do worse than Paklenica, if you want night with breakfast. At the road junction something new, with easily accessibly to the park entrance you’ll find the Buffet climbing at all grades, from 15m clip ups Paklenica ‘Dinko’, a sort of Paklenica to 350m epics. Even a bumbly can have Pete’s Eats, with a good value menu fun here. I know. including huge plates of fresh squid and chips, good beer and free schnapps after NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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Tophet Wall Martin Cooper
How I love the climbing wall. I just love it. Well, I do like Burnside a lot; by far the best indoor climbing venue the club has ever had. It’s sociable. There is a high enough level of challenge and it’s big enough and high enough, just. If you get there early. So why the hint of sarcasm in my first two sentences? Easy. The wall is indoors. Many people start their climbing career on a wall these days, and then progress to the crags. Nothing wrong with that. Except some never make that progression. Nothing wrong with that either. For me, the wall is a means to an end. I started with hill walking and mountains, then outdoor rock climbing. Walls came later. So the wall is training. But training for what? In my case, the wall is training for Northumberland crags (of course). But I need to go higher - mountain routes. I first climbed Tophet Wall on Great Gable in August 1983. I had done very little climbing by then and considered it some achievement. It is a tremendous route. Until 1985 I did n ’t have a car, so getting out to climb anywhere required a bit of an effort. I also had two young children, so my time was also limited. Those two reasons meant that I mostly climbed in Northumberland and only slowly ticked off some of the routes I wanted to do in the Lake District. But they were definitely what I aspired to. I did Tophet Wall with my sister in law, Hilary. Previous to that, two years earlier, I had done my first route in the Lakes, Needle Ridge, with Stephen. I thought it was brilliant. A sunny day, high on the Napes ridges, watching climbers teeter up Napes Needle, the climbing easy, the situation magnificent. Eighteen months went by until the next route, Gillercombe Buttress, which I had attempted before Needle Ridge, but had failed on, at the steep second pitch (another story). In January 1985 I climbed Gillercombe NMC Quarterly Magazine
Buttress with Robin and a woman whose name I now can’t remember. It was bitterly cold but bright and sunny. We carried ice axes, which was a little over the top, although they certainly helped on the icy descent to Honister Pass in the dark. That September I did Corvus with my brother, Niall. More of him shortly. In 1986, things really got going. A day trip in June saw me on Zig Zag, Castle Rock and later that month I returned for three days with Niall on an NMC Wasdale Meet. We warmed up on the Friday with Little Chamonix and arrived at the Wastwater Hotel some hours later. Saturday was grey with cloud down on the higher summits. Plans for Scafell Crag were abandoned by everyone. Niall and I decided to go to Esk Buttress via Mickledore. We started up Bridges Route at about one o’clock with me in the lead. Niall was fit and enthusiastic but had little climbing experience. What a fantastic route it was. One pitch in the middle was quite steep and needed a little care but with me leading the whole route, it took a long time. I seem to remember quite a queue forming behind us. By the time we finished the route and scrambled down to our sacks we thought it must be about four o ‘clock. It was seven! Weary from a long but excellent day, we did Kern Knotts Chimney on the Sunday and drove home. In the autumn of that year I did Gimmer Chimney, and Middlefell Buttress with Roman Ivanec. At last I felt like a proper climber. For some reason 1987 was a bit thin, a day at Shepherds and one day climbing on Pillar Rock. That day, however was memorable for more than one reason and I bet Roman hasn’t forgotten it either. Another NMC Wasdale meet, but this time the weather was perfect; blue sky, no wind, hot and sunny. Roman had hurt his hand the previous weekend at Causey Quarry and he didn’t really want to climb. He persuaded me that the Slab and Notch scramble onto the High Man of Pillar Rock would be enough for the day. I persuaded March 2009
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weekend in North Wales with my brother him that we would take a rope and a small saw us on the Ordinary Route on the Idwal amount of climbing gear anyway. It’s a Slabs. What a fantastic place to climb. long walk to Pillar but the weather was Sadly, I have never been back. 1989 made superb. We duly did Slab and Notch and I up for it with a bang. The year started with suggested a scramble down to look at the an unlikely few routes in the sunshine in West Face of High Man. I couldn’t resist January, at Gowbarrow Crag, Ullswater, it. There were one or two parties on Rib followed by some energetic early season and Slab, which looked superb and the first days in Northumberland, including a fall, pitch of the classic Diff, New West Climb, from not very high up Crescent Wall, at was bathed in the afternoon sunshine, right Bowden Doors. I landed on grass, unhurt, in front of us. Roman agreed to give it a go but I didn’t heed the warning. In early May and I quickly led the first pitch and Roman I was very keen to be on the NMC Meet at ran out the second to the foot of a deep Coniston. I had ambitions to climb on Dow chimney. The guidebook said to climb up the chimney and then traverse out of it to the right. I had probably gone too high and I could not see a way to the right and I couldn’t get out of the top of the chimney. Whoops. Roman came up, climbed the top of the chimney and continued steeply to the top I was later reliably informed that we had done the last pitch of Sodom, VS. Roman kept his feelings reasonably under control but I hadn’t finished with him yet, insisting on taking in the summits of Steeple and Yewbarrow on the way back. We got to the campsite at nine thirty. The next day we went Niall Cooper at Shepherds Crag 1986 for a walk. Crag. For some reason I cannot recall I I didn’t climb much at all in the Lake couldn’t get away on the Friday night so I District the following year. Perhaps I had drove frantically to Coniston on the run out of climbing partners. A long NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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Saturday morning, leaving at six, listening to Dire Straits all the way. I arrived just in time to find everybody departing for Wallowbarrow Crag in the Duddon Valley, having decided that it was too windy for Dow Crag. I quickly transferred into a different car and arrived ready and eager at a crag I’d hardly even heard of. We quickly teamed up, Nick being very keen to do the VS, Kestrel. I opted to climb with Giles Cooper (no relation). We chose a one star Hard Severe, Malediction. The guidebook we had with us said, ‘A fine little climb with some steep moves.’ Giles did the first pitch, an easy angled rib to a good stance and I set about pitch two. One of my occupational hazards is an inability to read and comprehend accurately. I haven’t been found out, yet. The pitch description says, ‘Surmount the bulge and gain the groove line on the left. Follow this until it steepens, where an awkward traverse leads onto a good belay ledge.’ I ignored most of that, climbed past the bulge and began to climb straight up, well off route. This line is now an alternative second pitch, given 4c in more recent guidebooks and making the overall grade VS. That is some comfort. It certainly felt steep and after a few moves upwards I became just a little bit anxious or, more accurately, pretty well terrified. I placed two nuts and continued, there was a small ledge not too far above me. But it was too steep and the ledge too far away. I knew I was going to come off. Fighting the rock for a few more seconds was to no avail. I hoped my placements were good enough and accepted the inevitable. I suppose you have to expect some falls in this game, and to get anywhere near the highest grades it is part of what you have to do (so that ruled me out long ago.) A fall while leading, over a hundred feet up on a Lakeland crag had not been part of the plan. Looking back, I had made an elementary mistake, had at least placed some reliable gear and was uninjured. For the rest of that day I was a trembling wreck, chose not to climb the next day and NMC Quarterly Magazine
struggled with any exposed moves while leading for a long time after. Thinking about it, it took four years to regain my confidence to lead happily on mountain crags. It marked the end of the first stage of my climbing education. I climbed Tophet Wall again in May last year. As we walked up to Sty Head Tarn, with Trevor relating an amusing story of how he and the Yorkshire Cave Rescue Team had taken six hours to release his climbing partner’s knee from a crack on Gimmer Crag the previous week, it dawned on me that it was twenty five years since I had first done the route. In 1983 I had alternated leads on Tophet Wall with Hilary, me taking the first steep pitch and the hand traverse, Hilary leading the crux second pitch and the final pinnacle and crack. The route ascends via a clever combination of pitches that weave their way up one of the steepest pieces of rock on the crag. The exposure of the last pitch is magnificent. Looking back, I had a few nuts and hexagonal nuts and two or three slings. It seemed to be enough. I was stronger and more confident, less aware of the penalties of failure. Last May the first pitch, which I had previously led, felt steep, off balance and decidedly difficult. Trevor ran the first two pitches together and, again. I found pitch two quite awkward. I had a go at the hand traverse but didn’t feel in the mood. Trevor led the rest and I just enjoyed it. What a brilliant route. Looking back, my climbing ambitions haven’t really changed. There are plenty of mountain routes I still want to do, in the Lake District and elsewhere. My fall on Malediction slowed me down but, in the long run, probably made me a safer climber. I’m lucky to have enjoyed some fantastic days. You seem to appreciate them more as time goes by. I’d better stop here because you don’t want to read my philosophical meanderings. On reflection, I do love the climbing wall. I need it!
March 2009
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NMC news
New hut keys
Dorothy Hall obituary Dennis Hall
Don’t forget the keys currently used to access the Borrowdale huts are to be phased out in 2009.
Dorothy Hall died peacefully in Hexham General Hospital on 18th September 2008.
You can exchange your old key for a new electronic key fob free of charge from Neil Cranston of the Hut sub-committee.
Dorothy was a founder member of the NMC as well as having been a member of the Fell & Rock and the Ladies Pinnacle Club.
Give him a call on 07966 284 433 to arrange the exchange.
Membership News New Handbooks The 2009/10 Handbooks have now been posted out to all members. If you have not received your copy, please ask yourself this question... ’Have I paid my subs (£25) for this year yet?’ If you can answer 'yes', then get in touch with Sam Judson (07793 522 261) regarding the non-arrival of the handbook.
NMC Subs Membership expired at the end of January 2009 and became lapsed at the end of February if you have not paid your subs.
This will be your last copy of the NMC magazine unless you renew your membership NOW. So…
Handbook entry Please take a look at your handbook entry in the Register of Members section (pages 26-48), verify that the details we show for you are correct—if anything has changed please contact Sam Judson with the correct details: sam@wackylabs.net Membership cards All members who have paid their subs should, by now, have received their new membership card (red in colour) and payment receipt. Please contact Sam Judson (see above for contact details) if your card has not arrived yet. NMC Quarterly Magazine
Contact the Membership Sec. ASAP with your £25 membership payment: Sam Judson, 31 Kenmore Close, Wardley, Tyne & Wear Ne10 8WJ
Note: If you haven't renewed by end of February, you are not an NMC member and thus will not be covered by the BMC 3rd party Insurance, nor be able to take out BMC Travel Insurance at Members' rates!
Renew your membership— you know it makes sense!
March 2009
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Annual dinner This year, the annual dinner will be held in 'the Coonty' on Saturday 27 June 2009! Several members have suggested that it would be a pleasant change to have the Dinner on home ground, so, following the success of the joint BMC/NMC weekend last April, the Committee has decided to hold this year's Dinner at the Blue Bell Hotel, Belford. The menu will be: Choice of starters: •
Melon Balls, served on Fruits of the Forest Coulis
•
Home Made Pate, served with homemade Oatcakes
•
Traditional Prawn Cocktail, served with Brown Bread and Butter
Choice of main course: •
Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, served with Seasonal Vegetables and Potatoes
•
Chicken Prince Charlie, served with Seasonal Vegetables
•
Lamb Shank, served with apricot barley
•
Red Snapper, served with Red Onion and Butter Sauce
•
Vegetable Lasagne, served with Baked Potato
Accommodation in Belford The Blue Bell is also offering the NMC a special rate on accommodation: Bed, Breakfast and the Dinner all in for a price of £60 per person. Book with the NMC President, John Mountain (01670 505202 or elgobbo@btinternet.com) There is currently a fair amount of accommodation available at the Blue Bell Hotel, but June is a busy month hence contact John ASAP if you wish to stay at the Blue Bell. It will not be possible to camp in the grounds of the Blue Bell Hotel (as in April last year), but there is the Blue Bell Caravan Site adjacent, which caters for Touring Vans, Camper Vans and Tents. The Meet Leader for the weekend is Adrian Heath (07903 377 012 or aheathnz@yahoo.co.nz ). Adrian will be planning the weekend programme, including any entertainment for the evening of the Dinner. If anyone has any bright ideas, please contact Adrian—all legal suggestions will be welcome! Adrian will also be checking out all Camping options. So, get the date in your diary for a great weekend in 'the Coonty' at the best time of the year!
Choice of dessert: •
Homemade Apple Crumble, with Vanilla Pod Custard
•
Strawberry Cheesecake with Cream
•
Spotted Dick, with Vanilla Pod Custard
•
Mixed Cheese Board £2.95 Supplement
REMEMBER Blue Bell bookings (Dinner/ accommodation) to John Mountain ASAP. All other input/comments/questions to Adrian Heath.
Cost of the dinner will be : £19.20 per person NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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I May Cry Jim Rigg
Lurking in the archives of my mind was the thought that somewhere to the north of Barcelona was an area viable as a location for summer rock climbing. John’s response to my email was simple and direct: Cavallers? Research indicated the area was right up our street—granite climbing comprising anything from single pitch sport routes to multi pitch ‘semi equipped’ alpine climbs. The relevant Spanish guide was duly purchased and the fly-drive package booked. We were ‘off to the races.’ There is much to commend the fly-drive modus operandi. The long drive to a channel port, followed by an even longer drive through parts of Europe is avoided. However, one has to travel light. Years of practice, together with a liberal interpretation of what constitutes hand luggage, has enabled us to carry camping and climbing gear and weigh in at less than 20Kg. (I even managed to find room for my goose down pillow!) Barcelona is the largest airport we’ve been through in a long time. It took ages to organise the car but, once on the road, the drive to Val de Boi passed without incident. The last section from Lleida up the valley is spectacular and after about four hours we reached Taull where we pitched camp. Most of the climbing is to be found about 10 Km further on up the road above the Embassament de Cavallers. We started on the sector ‘Afrikan Wall’ which hosts an abundance of routes across a broad spectrum of grades. In due course we found the splendid ‘Piskinaries’ (6a+, V+, V+). Pitch 1 offers elegant climbing up a series of ramps. Technical, thought provoking moves, avoiding the occasional damp patch, lead to a stiff pull on small holds giving access to the first stance. Pitch 2 is a trad’ laybacking/jamming crack. Natural gear placements yield good protection and the corner leads to a bolt NMC Quarterly Magazine
belay at the bottom of a ‘roof of a house’ slab. I do like these bolt protected V+ slabs. All too soon, precision padding, supplemented by the occasional positive hold, leads to the end of the climbing and an abseil descent. A 90-minute, arthritic knee-trembling uphill walk from the car park just below the dam leads to the climbing on the Agulles de Comalestorres. This has an alpine ambience and climbers are encouraged to start early in order to avoid afternoon storms. El Pistacho Asesino—a route name to inspire. Arrow straight in terms of line, beautifully exposed and demanding the use of a variety of techniques, it is a route of quality. It starts with a 6a slab that seemed quite trying. John’s good at this sort of pitch and he managed to get his feet to stick in places I found insecure. I envy his meticulous footwork. The belay allows access to a series of cracks, bulges and corners that lead to the sky. Never hard, but always interesting, the climbing just ‘kept coming’. The stance below the last pitch was located at the top of a small pinnacle. This made changing leads complicated bestowing upon John the privilege of leading the final 6a pitch. An awkward start and exposed, delicate moves around an edge led to more amenable climbing and the top. From here, a 40m abseil down the back of the Agulles led to slanting ramps and an easy, but hard on my knees, descent. Local Spanish climbers congratulated us on our ascent and recommended the somewhat harder ‘Blue’ as well as ‘Elena’, a climb on the Pared del Enanito Duro. It was at this point that the rot set in. Gut rot to be precise. Whilst John made the best of a bad job and partook of some splendid walking, I was confined to the tent on a diet of bread and water. After three days of listless misery, something had to be done and that something was Elena. The strategy to be employed was simple—John would lead and I would follow, as best I could, carrying the sack. We were familiar with most of the March 2009
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approach but failed to find the peg that supposedly marked the start of the route. We negotiated some introductory slabs but failed to follow the topo with sufficient accuracy. However, the conspicuous halfway terrace was merely a pitch away and access was soon gained after a bout of ‘off piste’ action. A thorough inspection of the area revealed an attractive line of bolts to the left of a prominent corner crack that might have been our route. There being no evidence to suggest that the corner had ever been climbed, we took to the ‘bolt highway’. Superb wall climbing with a series of tricky, balance moves towards the top secured the stance. What next? Onwards and upwards to another stance below an area of rock that exuded a certain menace. John went this way and that. Unsatisfactory, unprotected climbing led worryingly upwards. He went right, I said left—I could see a distant bolt. Somehow my concern was transmitted up the rope and after several runout, testing moves, John reached a secure belay. The climb was taking its toll, and dehydration, as well as a lack of food, began to render my decrepit state even worse. A rope from above works wonders and I am sure the reader can imagine my relief when I reached the stance to see a line of bolts marking the way up a straightforwardlooking final pitch. John sped off and was soon ‘taking in’. It is at this point that I should mention the fact that we were using two 9mm ropes. No problem you might think but, one was 60m long and the other 50m. A few feet below the stance there lurked a small but stubborn tree root just waiting to entrap the unwary. I was unwary—at least until the rope went tight to reveal a hopeless entanglement with the offending obstacle. Communication was impossible and the rope well and truly stuck. Having just completed the better part of a 1000 feet of climbing with sustenance amounting to a few mouthfuls NMC Quarterly Magazine
of water and one half of a ballisto bar, I was in no fit state to cope with such aggravation. Bollocks! What to do? Think! The obstinate root was but a few easy feet below but, above a huge drop, an unprotected descent was unthinkable. Just as I successfully completed an autoblockprotected abseil to free the rope, a thoughtful leader appeared from above to enquire as to my general state of well being. After this minor epic, the last pitch was a cruise. All I can remember is reaching John and saying ‘I may cry if this isn’t the top.’
John leading pitch 1, El Pistacho
Back at the camp, we decided that we had followed the upper pitches of ‘El rap del niño’ which gave brilliant 6a+ climbing. Some day! During our stay in the valley, we visited other climbing areas. Only one route disappointed. In every other case the quality of the varied climbing was superb and there is something for everybody. As well as the climbing, the region offers fine walking in dramatic surroundings. Whitewater rafting and canyoning are advertised by outdoor pursuits companies. Finally, for those interested in the local culture, Val de Boi is a world heritage site and the Romanesque architecture is described as ‘exceptional, thanks to the concentration of such a high number of churches in a limited area’. March 2009
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AGM – January 2009 John Mountain, President
The Club held its AGM on January 28th last, with a goodly turnout following a goodly workout on the Burnside Wall. As in the past, Club Officers gave reports of activity over the past 12 months, all of which were accepted by the meeting.
Also, thanks to those stepping forward to take on new Officer roles, in particular to John Earl who has taken on the Treasurer job at short notice! Thanks to all. Three items came up in Any Other Business, which I guess are probably in many people’s minds: 1. The need to make Committee Minutes accessible on the Website. 2. To consider ‘upping’ the spend on the winter socials, to keep in line with inflation, thus allowing a fuller programme. 3. To try to get the routes at Burnside changed more often.
This year, there was a special motion from the outgoing Committee, proposing the replacement of the existing Club Rules with a new Constitution and revised Rules. After a short discussion, this motion was carried with overwhelming support. The outgoing Committee’s recommendation for election of Officers and Committee Members also was accepted by the meeting. Your Officers for 2009 are: President: John Mountain Vice-President: Peter Bennett Secretary: Caroline Judson Treasurer: John Earl Membership Secretary: Sam Judson Magazine Editor: Peter Flegg Access Officer: Richard Pow Hut Bookings: Derek Cutts Hut Coordinator: Neil Cranston
The Committee for 2009 comprises: Piotr Bamberski Ian Birtwistle Andrew Coverdale John Dalrymple Eva Diran Adrian Heath Malcolm Rowe
The outgoing President, Peter Bennett, voiced well deserved thanks to the retiring General and Membership Secretary, Carolyn Horrocks, and also to retiring Committee Member Ben Gilbert. The meeting echoed these thanks. A warm welcome is proffered to the enthusiastic new faces on the Committee ie Piotr, Ian and Eva.
NMC Quarterly Magazine
The new Committee will certainly be looking at all of these items early in 2009. Finally, please note that Sam Judson is the new Membership Secretary, so all those of you yet to pay your subs for 2009, please send your £25 to Sam ASAP!
Archive for sale The Club Handbook lists a vast range of material (maps, old guidebooks etc) in the Club Archive. The committee has decided to slim down our archive holdings, and thus 'selected' items are being offered to members. Take a look in the handbook and if there is an item that interests you, then contact John Dalrymple (07976 276 464) and make him an offer.
NMC website Committee member Ian Birtwistle is currently planning a new look for the NMC website. If members have any suggestions on content and design then please contact Ian on: ianbirtwistle@gmail.com
March 2009
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Financial report for 2007/8 John Mountain, as out-going Treasurer
Income and Expenditure The bottom line looks very good with an overall profit of nearly £7000. This is our best year since 2004/5, when the 2004 Routes Guide was launched. Subscriptions were well up, expenses were down. The Hut made a small loss, but actually had an increase in income almost paying for the very significant uplift work undertaken during the year. The guidebooks returned a profit of nearly £7500 before tax, and that includes writing off the residual stock of the 2000 Bouldering Guide, at a value of £1222. I know what you are thinking: One Committee member has already voiced your thoughts. £7000 profit divided by 200 members comes to £35 per member profit. So did we really need to put the subs up last year? The rationale for putting up subs was that subs should pay for the day-to-day running expenses of the club, including the two big items of BMC affiliation fees and our winter socials programme. In the last year, we did make a surplus of £968 on these lines on the account, so with the benefit of hindsight, we could have deferred the subs rise last year. The reasons for this unexpected surplus are: 1. Membership increased with the amount coming in from subs nearly £600 more than projected. 2. Expenses were down, mainly due to reduced costs for the Magazine. Thanks is due to those of you receiving the Magazine electronically. (Please help save costs and elect for the download version of the mag.) 3. We were below budget on the winter Socials Programme. So far as 2009 is concerned, the main increase in our costs will be BMC NMC Quarterly Magazine
affiliation. The financial impact of our growing membership will be felt with fees that continue to rise ahead of inflation. It is likely that we will be paying £2500 to the BMC in 2009, as opposed to £1647 in 2008! I do not expect a massive surplus on Subs—(Expenses+Socials) in 2009! One comment about the Hut; you may recall that the National Trust did not bill us for rent in 2007. Belatedly, they advised us that a rent review needed to be done. I put a provision of £2200 in last year’s accounts to cover the unbilled rent. Matters were sorted; the new rent is £2000pa, which is less than I expected. In 2008 we paid rent for 2007 as well as 2008. This did not adversely affect the accounts due to the provision made in 2006/7’s accounts. You will see references to the £2200 provision on both the I&E sheet and the Balance Sheet. There is a tax provision of £1710 on the I&E, also shown as a liability on the Balance Sheet. This in the main reflects the good profits made on our guidebooks. It is to be regretted that we were unable to attain CASC registration with the Inland Revenue; a significant benefit of which would have been no liability for Corporation Tax, hence our 07/08 outturn would have been even better. Balance Sheet The main changes are to do with the Bouldering Guides status. The 2000 guidebook was withdrawn as the new 2008 edition came on sale. We wrote off the residual stock of the 2000 guidebook (£1222). The 2008 guidebook stock now appears on the Balance Sheet ie £15057 at year end. Conclusions 2007/8 was a very good year, with both guidebooks (2004 and 2008) delivering good profitability. The gap between subs and expenses has reversed direction into a healthy surplus. 2007/8 will be a hard act to follow! Contact me if you would like want a copy of the audited financial figures. March 2009
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NMC Guidebooks
Indoor climbing: £1 off the standard entry price at: • Sunderland. • Durham. • Climb Newcastle (Wed. nites only).
NMC Website The NMC has a very informative website
www.thenmc.org.uk The website includes various discussion forums, a photoarchive for members’ climbing photos, online guides for most Northumberland crags and you can also buy from a large range of climbing books available.
NMC members pay a discounted price for any guidebook published by the NMC.
• No Nobler County A history of the NMC and climbing in Northumberland. Now ONLY £2.00 Hurry while stocks Last!!!
Currently available are the following guides:
Contact Martin Cooper on 0191 252 5707
• Northumberland Climbing Guide Definitive Guide to climbing in Northumberland. £12.50 to members (RRP £18.95)
• Climbing In North East England A guide to the best climbing in South Tyneside, County Durham, East Pennines and North York Moors £17.95 (incl. P&P)
• Northumberland Bouldering Guide The new guide, £12.50 to members (RRP £19.95) For the above 2 guides add £2 P&P if required. Contact John Earl on 0191 236 5922
Contact Steve Crowe on 0191 584 3361
T-shirts and Fleeces Various styles of T-shirt with printed NMC designs and fleece tops with embroidered logo are available. Order direct on the website (www.thenmc.org.uk) or contact Ian Birtwistle 07828 123 143.
Lewis Preston in February this year Ascending Windy Gyle, by Graham Williams NMC Quarterly Magazine
March 2009
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