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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. 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:
NMC County Climber
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Copy of the quarterly magazine. 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 £15.00
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
Black & White Photos? 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
July 2011
taken by the author of the article.
Committee 2011/2012 President – John Dalrymple Vice Pres. – John Mountain 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 – Eva Diran Librarian – Sam Judson Web – Ian Birtwistle General: Peter Bennett, Malcolm Rowe, Gareth Crapper, Andrew Shanks & Ian Ross.
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.
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 John Spencer on Quartz Icicle E2 5b, Gogarth, Wen Zawn by Neil Phillips
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What’s in this issue?
Weekend meets
Wednesday evenings meets .......................... 3 Weekend meets............................................. 3 Arco Trad Climbing ..................................... 4 French Polishing........................................... 6 A Beer in Provence by Beta Males............... 8 And then there were none – Mingulay ....... 11 Lost Keys.................................................... 15 Club news ................................................... 18 NMC Annual Dinner .................................. 19 NMC Family Meet ..................................... 21 Double Scoop in Italia ................................ 22
The following list shows the weekend climbing meets currently arranged.
Wednesday evenings meets No need to call anyone—just turn up with all your own equipment. The NMC website has crag location details (www.thenmc.org.uk), also check the website forum for indoor wall alternatives if the weather is not good. Meet afterwards at the pub shown in italics.
You MUST contact the meet leader in advance, as any accommodation may be limited or already fully booked. Note: A deposit may be required to reserve your place on a weekend trip.
16-17 July 11
Lakes—Eva Diran 07824 627 772
6-7 Aug 11
Peak District—Gareth Crapper 07768 464 396
20-21 Aug 11
Bowderstone - BBQ Meet— Sam Judson 07793 522 261
3-4 Sep 11
North Wales—John Mountain 01670 505 202
24-25 Sept 11
Bowderstone - Working Meet—Neil Cranston 0191 270 2648
8 Oct 11
North Yorkshire—Chris Davis 07967 638 826 Kendal Mountain Film Festival Presidents Walk—John Dalrymple 01670 519 629
06 Jul 11
Ravenheugh – Turks Head
13 Jul 11
Wanneys – The Ox Inn
20 July 11
Crag Lough - Twice Brewed
27 Jul 11
Back Bowden - Salmon
17-20 Nov 11
03 Aug 11
Coe – Angler’s Arms
3 Dec 11
10 Aug 11
Kyloe out - Salmon
17 Aug 11
Wanneys – The Ox Inn
24 Aug 11
Bowden doors – Percy Arms, Chatton
31 Aug 11
Peel – Twice Brewed
07 Sep 11
Drakestone – Angler’s Arms
14 Sep 11
East Woodburn / Wolf – The ox Inn
21 Sep 11
Corbys – Angler’s Arms
28 Sep 11
Rothley – Dyke Neuk
05 Oct 11
Shaftoe – The Ox Inn
NMC County Climber
Hut Overnight Fee increase Hut fees have had to be increased to cover operating losses. The new hut fees are: £5 for members £7 for non-members. These increases are effective immediately.
July 2011
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through on the crux pitch which includes a prominent roof at 6+ or 5+, A0.
Arco Trad Climbing Ascent of Cesare Levis on Il Dain, Sarca Valley, 5 stars, 300m V+, A0 Bryn Roberts
As you drive north from Arco up the main Sarca Valley, you are confronted with a mind-blowing amount of rock, with seemingly endless walls between 200-800 metres in height. (There is even one route at 1400m, ie on a par with the Eiger North Wall!). I managed to haul Sarah Follmann away from the delights of Arco sport climbing for a day and convince her to ‘broaden her climbing CV’ on one of the classic trad routes of the valley. Cesare Levis is a striking open-book corner which extends almost the entire 300m height of Il Dain. We headed off to (eventually) find a faint path which rose through the woods to bring us to the base of the route in 25 minutes. Or so we thought… After using up valuable time on the easy but appallingly loose entrance ramp, my suspicions of being off-route were confirmed when a climber abseiled over to our left, in search of a dropped rock shoe. We traversed over to join them at two shiny bolts which marked the route proper. The time, now 1.20pm, and we proceeded with some urgency up the initial two easy pitches to reach the base of the corner. This is where, being canny, and knowing Sarah was going better than me (having already had two early-season boltclipping trips to the Med); I had ‘volunteered’ to lead, so she could follow NMC County Climber
My pitch was long, vertical and strenuous but well endowed with holds and jamming cracks, and was to set the tone for much of the climb. On reaching the belay, Sarah had a worried look, as I fashioned an etrier out of a long sling and handed her some shorter slings, and gave her some rudimentary instruction in aid climbing. I don’t know if it was her lack of faith in my advice but she made a good effort at trying to free the roof, getting herself into a variety of contorted shapes before succumbing and stepping into the etrier, swinging in space and pulling up into the corner above. As her ropes were now dragging, she proceeded to set up a belay above and to the right of the roof in a wildly exposed position and called me to come on up.
I struggled up through the roof (don’t let anybody tell you aid climbing is the easy option!) to reach Sarah and take over the lead. My arms were wasted from pulling on the slings and after only a few moves, I hung on a nut and contemplated the void below. Refreshed, I climbed back into the main corner and up to the belay proper, a semi-hanging affair, in a niche. This, of course, meant Sarah was back on lead and, complaining about me doing July 2011
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short pitches, she carried on, boldly at first up a wide layback crack until a peg was reached, and on up the corner. By now, we were motoring, and we needed to be, as I counted the remaining pitches to do, knowing we had limited time before dark to get off the route and find the descent path through the woods. We shared further long, steep leads at sustained V and V+ up the soaring corner, before I, surprisingly, found a rising traverse which exited into the trees and easier ground. It was 8pm and with some relief, we texted Lewis with our ETA in the valley. A Reggae band was playing outside the bar far below us, and the sound filled the valley; we located the descent track and ran all the way to reach the valley NMC County Climber
floor in the gathering gloom. Kenny and Lewis had finished 4 hours earlier and whiled away the evening with beer, food and music. We celebrated our arrival and toasted a memorable day of Sarca Valley trad climbing.
Kenny struggles with his new day pack
July 2011
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French Polishing New Techniques for Seniors An adult learning special followed by independent report courtesy of Mike Blood Dave Hume
Objective: Fun in the sun, and a change from Spain, Kalymnos and Ratcheugh Location: Cote d'Azur, France. Dates: 9 Days in May 2011 Accommodation: First 2 nights in budget F1 in Nice, then 7 days in Mimi's Gite near Brignoles. Costs: more than you plan for. Concessions: for age, none: for ineptitude, none; for sloth, none; for wine capacity, none. Key skills to be covered: On arrival in Nice, you will learn that some hire cars with electronic handbrakes are prone to stalling; that looking for a hotel sign and reading a map is more likely to find your hotel than following a SatNav. Also, you'll grasp the importance of getting to the "All you can eat for 8 Euros Buffet at Le Tuscan" before 9pm when it closes.
bolt, the absence of hand and footholds, and your first encounter with French Polish. Your feet may well stay on despite what the head tells you. Here you will also reassess your optimistic ideas of French grading, and forget your petty little triumphs in Kalymnos. Afterwards, you will remember that "Quatre pressions s'il vous plait, et vite!" slides easily off the tongue. Day 2: Getting stuck in at Chateauvert, the so-called French Stoney Middleton due to its wooded valley roadside location. You will find that this is far from a good comparison because (a) its warm and sunny and (b) you can really do some of the routes as the bolting is more generous and grades more realistic. As this will be a Saturday you will also learn how to negotiate large family groups, with children hanging from trees in slings to keep them quiet.
Day 3: You will find that when roads collapse in a gorge called Chateaudouble, they don't get repaired quickly. Perseverance and long detours will get you to Les Marinouns, where steep switchback paths along the foot of the cliffs will help you find the starts of the longer routes at this Provençal Tremadog. Later at your gîte, you will Day 1: accept the regional Acclimatisation at ban on charcoal Trevor at Mount Coulon La Turbie, BBQ's as you burn overlooking Monaco. Key skill 1: set food on the electric substitute. Some of SatNav (hereafter known as Dora or you will learn the skill of avoiding Natalie) to quickest not shortest route, but domestic duties, and there will be a nightly the tour of Nice centre traffic will be fun. lecture on benefit scroungers. Warm up at sector La Dalle à l'Oiseau will help you get used to a sportingly high first NMC County Climber
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Day 4: At Mont Coudon, above Toulon, you will learn about French downhill driving on single-track roads, and perk up your grades a bit now that you know it's going to be polished. Here you will also discover that there are routes worth climbing that are not in the Rockfax guide. Day 5: You will visit Mont Ste. Victoire and learn that you cannot rely on Cézanne's topos, which are a mere impression of this giant chunk of limestone. You will also appreciate that you need an earlier start to tackle the 17 pitch Grand Parcours, and that settling for the huge slabs and long pitches will improve your ability to not only climb French Polish to distant first bolts, but also to climb rock with no holds whatsoever. Day 6: Having got hooked on polish, you will be ready for the Mecca of shiny and glossy pinnacles and faces of En Vau in the Calanques, where M. Garçon Rubberfat once strutted his stuff wearing nice pullovers, breeches and big socks. A long walk in will give you an excuse for a brief rest on the beach, and looking without being too obvious at the array of sunbathing beauties. After skating up some single pitch routes, you will tackle the multi-pitches in two teams, one of whom will be set a challenge in finding a survivable descent. Day 7: You will learn that a rest day is easy to survive, but don't say "Oui, c'est buvable" when asked to taste the local wine if you do not want a baguette rammed down your throat. Remember to make it a joke instead. Day 8: By ignoring the Route Barrée signs in the Chateaudouble Gorge, you will be able to reach the crag Rebouillons, where the well-bolted pocketed limestone will see your confidence return, apart from the rounded dusty tufa finishes. A brief lesson in herpetology will help you NMC County Climber
identify the 2 metre snake that is making advances to your rope as an Aesculapian, a non-poisonous constrictor. Day 9: For any of the group who still have a rat to feed, i.e. Trevor, the airport crag (quarry really) of La Trinité in Nice will remind you of Lancashire holes in the ground - gnarly steep cracks, traffic noise,
La Turbie
but with that classy, glassy touch of French polish to remind you where you are. Course textbook: Rockfax Cote d'Azur Course members: Cliff Robson, Trevor Langhorne, Dave Hume, Mike Blood1 Note: All information about Trevor was suppressed in advance.
1
Dave's new pen pal from Bolton, groomed on the Internet and fooled into joining the three NMC members.
July 2011
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A Beer in Provence by Beta Males Mike Blood
Hush, children, and be as quiet as mice. You should have been asleep hours ago but if you listen very carefully and make not the slightest noise – because even tiny noises can be heard on cool, Mediterranean nights like this – you can hear the cars in the Nice airport car-hire compound, talking in whispers to a Peugeot 3008… ‘You’re pulling our wheels!’ ‘I’m not. It was definitely him!’ ‘But what was he doing in France in May?’ ‘He was on holiday.’ ‘Tell us again. Who did you say was with him?’ ‘Well, to be honest, I’m not completely sure. And, obviously, they were all disguised. I mean, you couldn’t have reindeer and elves walking round Provence without attracting attention, could you?’ ‘Why do you think there was a reindeer?’ ‘I think they were training one, possibly to take over from Rudolph.’ ‘Who was it? Donner? Blitzen? Prancer? Dancer?’ ‘Did he have a red nose?’ ‘He didn’t have a red nose as far as I could see, but every evening he kept on emptying bottles in an effort to acquire one. And it wasn’t a reindeer whose name I recognised. I think he was called Staller. He certainly stopped me short a few times. But he did seem to be in charge of finding the way. And he seemed to have two elves to help him. They were weird. One was called Dora the Explorer and the other was called Natalie and I never saw either of them and they both sounded identical and they often seemed really uncooperative NMC County Climber
and sent Staller through city centres or up goat tracks but he didn’t get very cross with them and always found some reason to explain their behaviour. ‘And there were two other elves. One was just a Kitchen Elf who knew his place and stayed there, whilst the other was a real character. He was called Benny FitzCrowndger, although sometimes the others called him Howmuch!?! I think Benny was a carpenter elf because he often talked about French polish. He might have been an artist, too, because he was certainly an in-pressionist. ‘And of course, there was Father Christmas.’ ‘That’s what you say. Where did they go, what did they do?’ ‘The first day they went to La Turbie. Natalie took them through Nice. They practised climbing up rock shaped like 15 metre roofs (called slabs), Benny found some nice polish, and Father Christmas took photos of Prince Rainier’s palace chimneys. They went to a café and quickly reduced a couple of beers to ex-pressions and then went home. ‘The next day, Saturday, they changed accommodation. On the way they stopped at a place called Châteauvert, sector Technogène. There were loads of people there but nobody recognised them. Father Christmas nearly did his elbow in again on a stiff pull, and Benny did a 20 metre F5 that would have been sustained 5b at home which made his day, plus he found even more French polish than at La Turbie. So they drove to Carcès and kept their repressions down, deciding that Châteauvert was even better than La Turbie, and then bought loads of food and drink at a supermarket and on to Pimaquet and Mimi the Landlady. Father Christmas cooked everyone a blooming good meal, despite his worsening chest infection and everyone had loads to eat and drink and plans were laid. ‘Pimaquet withstood the sonic assault from the snorers in the twin room and Sunday, like everyday of the trip, dawned July 2011
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with clear blue skies and unremitting sunshine. Still, it was nearly a disaster because the road to Châteaudouble had been washed away two years ago and the French had done nothing about it (except to bar the road) and nobody had told Dora / Natalie and a lot of rude things were said about a Plagiarist - some rocking faxing author called Crass Cloggs whose GPS wasn’t the same as Staller’s, and they went backwards and forwards until they drove me down a very rough track and left me in the sun to climb more slabs at Un Point de Vie at Marinouns. Apparently Marinouns was even better than Châteauvert and there was yet more French polish so Benny insisted they stop at a bar but their visit led to de-pressions and they had to drink Leffe instead; but nobody complained. More cordon bleu cuisine from Father Christmas, despite being barely able to string a couple of ho’s together without coughing. ‘The first long trip was a visit to more white slabs and stunning views at Sector Baudouvin at Mount Coudon, outside
Toulon. By now they all thought they were coping better with French polish and certainly climbing at consistently higher grades – the first F6a, a truly deeply French grade. Father Christmas seemed to be climbing as well as anyone but it was clear that he had not fully recovered from his winter job. So, a non-stop return to a restaurant in Carcès where the proprietors were able to bring a light to Father Christmas’ eyes by bringing, alight, his crème brûlée. Apparently, it was blooming délicieuse. ‘Next day they drove me to Aix-enProvence and the huge, stunningly beautiful Mont Sainte Victoire. Although attracted by the shapely contours of Le Grand Parcours, for once they acted with good sense and settled for the less imposing Sector Plates Dalles; anyway, they would never have found their way up the mountain because they had left Natalie / Dora in my glove-box and they never found the way anywhere without Natalie / Dora. I think they knew enough French to
Santa, Staller and Benny
NMC County Climber
July 2011
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understand that Plates Dalles means flat slabs. I got the impression that they didn’t expect them to be flat but that they did expect there to be holds. I don’t think they could have been all that familiar with the idea of friction climbing because they seemed to be ice-skating at times rather than climbing and they only climbed their hardest route because they mistook the line. After Plates Dalles, Benny didn't mention French polish ever again - he was speechless. Nevertheless, they seemed to have enjoyed their day and were clearly impressed by Mont Sainte Victoire, stopping to drool over the immense expanses of soaring white limestone (although, given the age of the party, the drooling was just normal). Despite the long day they were able to squeeze in a couple of com-pressions each outside a bar-tabac in Puyloubier. They re-stocked supplies and once again Father Christmas prepared and cooked another fantastic meal, despite the assistance of the blooming Kitchen Elf. ‘The final long trip was to the calanque of En Vau near Cassis. It was easy to miss the unmarked side-road which led tortuously to the car park, but Staller found it first time, thanks to the effect of red wine. The walk down to the beach was at a deviously deceptive gradient, enabling them all to feel they were striding out manfully, even Father Christmas. Barely distracted by the bathing beauties strewn upon the pebbly beach they split into two pairs. Staller looked after Father Christmas and pushed him up La Petite Aiguille and led him up La Saphir, coaxing him with promises of drink across the endless plateau to my hot welcoming seats. Benny and the Kitchen Elf headed off for one of the classics on the soaring Face du Grand Rappel, high above the coruscating sea, turquoise and aquamarine in the spring sunshine. Benny led the phenomenal layback crack with minimum fuss and maximum exposure and, once the top had been reached, Kitchen Elf led an alternative to the normal descent route with minimum efficiency and maximum incompetence. Imagine: abseil to an unstable pinnacle, NMC County Climber
missed bolts, jammed ropes, retrieval, escape – and nothing to eat since breakfast. Poor Benny. Homewards for diesel for me and food for them at a cosmopolitan restaurant where the chef with culinary flair and Mickey Mouse hair, submitted the second entry in the crème brûlee challenge. ‘Everyone was knackered on Thursday and after breakfast a grumbling consensus was reached that this be deemed a Rest Day. And so it proved. ‘All fired up after a rest the team returned to Châteaudouble (Rebouillons) where they completed a number of pleasant routes, had one very lame attempt at F6a+, saw a big snake and then returned to Pimaquet to prepare for their farewell meal. Fine dining, fine wine (How much?!) more crème brûlée and home for a final night-cap together.’ ‘So, on the basis of that, you expect us to believe that it really was Father Christmas?’ ‘That’s ridiculous!’ ‘You’re off your cylinder head!’ Well, children, I think we should leave them to their chat, don’t you? Whoever was driving around in that Peugeot certainly had a blooming good time. And now that you’ve seen the pictures which the other cars haven’t seen, what do you think? Was it really Father Christmas and his friends?
The Cliff July 2011
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And then there were none – Mingulay 2011 Extolling the virtues of social media John Spencer
The problem is, we were spoilt in 2010. We had smooth crossings and generally good weather, there was only one accident (see the scar on Neil’s forehead!); we saw eagles, basking sharks, dolphins, and a whale, and helped a party of birdwatchers strike camp in a hurry (see: www.youtube. com/watch?v=XxOEutyMa0k); the climbing was immaculate and the craic second to none; a testament to it all was that 16 of the two dozen 2010 ‘Mingers’ signed up for the return trip. The early omens for 2011 were good, not least the unprecedented warm and dry Spring weather – and as everyone knows, the weather in Scotland in late May/early June is always really good. Enthusiastic and increasingly excited emails (@), texts (txt) and Facebook (FB) messages circulated. Technique and muscles were honed on wall and crag. Shiny items of new gear purchased. But then a malevolent depression swung in from the west. Gales and rain battered Scotland. Power lines were downed, roofs blown off, trains and ferries cancelled. The first concerns began to surface... Monday 23rd Neil, FB: (re ferry cancellations) ”Worrying.” John Vaughan (JV), FB,
NMC County Climber
”Have faith”. Me, FB, ”We survived The Rapture, we’ll survive the storms.” Wednesday 25th In spite of a deteriorating forecast, optimism reigned, for example, Craig, FB: “Two more days at work then off to the Outer Hebrides... getting excited now!” , and in response to a few gloomy FB comments about the weather, a posting from Me, FB: “Pull yourselves together Mingers - the N in NMC stands for Nails. You can still climb on gneiss in the wet... the weather will blow over us (emphasis on the word Blow, mind!)”. Albeit tempered with cautious note: Craig, FB: “A word of warning for the Mingulay crew... it’s raining for the next 12 days according to the latest forecast. My advice is bring plenty alcohol, cards, a board game, a novel or two and maybe a dirty mag as we have the potential to be bored as f@ck!” JV and I were the advance party. Our plan was to cross to Barra on Thursday,
The crossing on the 26th
climb on the recently developed sea cliffs on the island – in blazing sun of course – welcome the rest of the crew off the Saturday evening ferry, and head down to Mingulay later that night... the heavy rain and gusting winds on the drive to Oban on July 2011
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Wednesday night gave a taste of things to come, however. Thursday 26th The day dawned grey and dry and the crossing was initially, deceptively, calm. Me, 08.35, FB “Message to all Mingers: Heading up the Sound of Mull, cool and cloudy but patches of blue, calm waters, albeit terrible forecast!” However, once out into the Minch, things became decidedly rougher, and since we were on the longer passage, via Coll and Tiree, the agony was prolonged. Although the evening in Castlebay was fine, forecasts (Met Office, BBC, MWIS to name three) were looking distinctly bad. Concern was beginning to rumble.
the present forecast travel down to Ming on Sunday is unlikely,... Monday is looking better. It’s a forecast though and things can change! Part of the adventure is getting things that might be unexpected!” We issued a ‘bulletin’ at 22.03: “The reality is that it looks like we're not going to be climbing in shorts and T-shirts every day - in fact we're probably not going to be climbing in S&TS any day - and may end up with a shorter than hoped for sojourn on Mingulay, or even no sojourn at all but as Tim says, there should hopefully be something. I've watched the forecast change virtually by the hour over the past 48, so impossible to call.”
But alternatives were John and I went already under for dinner at the consideration. excellent Cafe Philippa, Kisumul, where we 22.46@: fielded a couple of “According to phone calls and the 6-13 day sundry texts with forecast on the cautious optimism. Met office However, now back website you guys at the hostel, the should all come trickle (the phone & down to London! text joined by FB Hoping to see postings and emails) you all soon, but turned into a steady afraid it is stream. Some looking less Mingers held their likely.”, and nerve, e.g. Craig, Richard, 22.51 19.59 FB: “Are @: “Ummhhh!! people seriously What to do. I dropping out of have never been Ming? I’m going 100 to Portland, JV optimistically packs his new static line percent.” For others, Torbay etc and rationality overcame there is a better chance of Eva wearing a hope. bikini if we go there!! We’ll decide tomorrow.” Will, 20.23 @: “Oh dear- forecast not looking too great! Stu has decided to cry off- he has already spent a week of his life storm-bound in a small tent on Pabbay and does not want to repeat the experience on a neighbouring island!” Captain Catterall tried to calm the crew’s nerves: Tim, 21.37 @ “Hi all, Here’s the score, I have just spoken to Donald, he thinks that based on NMC County Climber
Finally the network fell silent as the sound of rain and wind rattling the Dormer window in our room serenaded us to sleep. Friday 27th We woke to a rallying call from the Captain (Tim) 07.42 @: “Hi all, Let’s not July 2011
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get too stressed by the forecast as it has changed significantly since yesterday. The wind on Sunday is now significantly lower on met office site. Will talk to Donald again tonight.”
Hotel. We alighted and set off across soggy fields and a beach, making a rising traverse in the general direction of the headland. Spots of rain turned to mizzle, which turned to drizzle, which turned to, well, rain, driven by blustery southerlies. The sea was choppy and it was bloody nippy. We slipped and scrambled along the cliff tops, peered into geos, tried to identify features from the increasingly soggy topo, failing completely to do so. We saw some impressive bits of rock but none of it seemed to fit the descriptions, and in any case everything was dripping wet, including us. There’d be no climbing today. So we retreated, tails between legs, to the Barra Hotel, where cheered up by tea and scones and a chatty barmaid, we took stock.
Hmm, we weren’t convinced, what with grey skies, low cloud and white horses out to sea. Nonetheless we set off to sample the delights of Barra’s climbing, the reason we were there in advance in the first place, and something of a personal pilgrimage for me. On a family holiday in 1991 I traversed Doirlinn Head on Barra’s west coast, intrigued by a cryptic comment in the SMC general guide to the Islands which hinted at hidden treasures: “On this west coast, southwards from Doirlinn Head, are several interesting arches and coves sculpted by the wind and waves...”. Well, suffice to say I was very excited by what I saw (the entry from my diary reads: “Wed 14/8/91. I cycled to the West Coast and [excitedly] circumnavigated Doirlinn Head, lots of potential – deep zawns of black gneiss.”) But, I never returned, and for some reason never told anyone about it, either. I was surprised as the years rolled by that noone else had been to sniff out the potential, Failing to match Moody’s topo with reality particularly as the The forecasts were universally awful Outer Hebrides started to gain notoriety as and messages were rolling in again. Craig, a top venue in the late 90s. Well 12.39, FB: “John and John, what’s unsurprisingly someone eventually did happening with Ming? Are we still a sniff out the rock, as we discovered after goer?” to which I replied “Weighing up Ming 2010, when Kin Choi chanced upon options. Forecast is crap++. Will be in Colin Moody’s website. In the past few touch later.” Quick as a whip, Craig came years Moody and friends have put up back with “What happened to 'nails'?”... dozens of routes around the headland, my reply “Nails are rusty!”. varying in height and quality, but with some good looking stuff in there. Having missed the bus, we trudged the 3 miles back to Castlebay, checked out of So it was clutching Moody’s topo, rain the hostel and moved our kit down the road gear at the ready, that we caught the No to a B&B, Tigh na Mara, our new HQ. By BA1 bus for the 5 minute ride to the Barra NMC County Climber
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now there were two more dropouts: Neil, 14.15 @: “Guys, I am totally gutted, but I can't go until Wednesday earliest. This being the case it is virtually pointless for me to go. I am working on a crucial project... My decision doesn't have much to do with the weather.” followed by Phillipa 14.48, @: “Hi Everyone. Well, after several hours of vacillating this morning I have made a decision to book a flight to go and see my brother in Singapore, and not to come to Ming this year.”
the Lakes. Gail phoned to discuss and expressed serious doubt. John and I finally faced the facts, or rather I did – John had decided a couple of hours ago but was just being polite. This trip was not going to happen. We needed to make a choice while we still had a
The rain fell and clouds hung low over the hills; even the Castle had its own cloud formation! We issued another bulletin: “One line of thought has been that Another Hebridean front blows in it's not the crossing choice (even if we managed to get across that matters - we'll get down to Ming there was always the possibility of being eventually... it's the prospect of simply not stranded on Mingulay itself.) getting anything, or much done, when there might be better opportunities The dropouts continued - Richard 18.58 elsewhere. On a completely selfish note, @ “Me and Eva have decided to cut loose this is my climbing week for the summer and head south too.” But positive thinking and I'd like to do something... flurry of still shone. Dan and Si remained “80%” phone calls to come later, doubtless….” committed. Tim emailed @ “Hi all, just spoke to Donald who is far more optimistic And come they did, but first some more about the weather and now reckons on emails including Nigel @ 15.09 taking us down Saturday evening.” and “Completely concur with what you mean Sarah said that she and Craig were heading about valuable holiday and spending week north. And so it went. The Yes’s and hanging onto tent and watching big swell Maybe’s slowly dwindled, the No’s grew. smashing up cliff... Kenny and I are going Even Craig had surrendered. to look again at outlook tonight. Then decide whether to cut our losses” The Finally, the good Captain threw in the stream of messages via all media became a towel, exclaiming in a 22.28 email “Arse!” torrent. We sat on our beds, me receiving followed an hour later by “The boat has phone calls, texts, emails, John quietly sunk – give us a text where you are reading his book, and keeping a tally: Yes, heading. A gutted captain, who has sunk No, Maybe, Unknown. Outside the rain with his ship.” continued. Al and Kat texted to say they were heading south after a wet weekend in The subject heading of Will’s final email was “And Then There Were None”. NMC County Climber
July 2011
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Well, there were actually still two of us, stranded now on Barra until Sunday, having missed the Friday evening sailing. Saturday 28th A pre-breakfast email from me: “Mingers... we slept reasonably well despite a merry (i.e. pissed) band of revellers passing under our window (the B&B is on the main drag; our room is at the front) at some god awful hour - a motley, generally tuneless but very happy choir with slurred accordion accompaniment;... and also I had to get up in the small hours to shut the window as rain was slashing through it onto my head! Anyway this morning dawned bright and sunny... and windy... and rainy... and bright again... and rainy again... and windy... and rainy... and sunny... you get the picture. White horses cavorting in the bay...” We now had to find accommodation for the night – not an easy task on Barra since holiday lets are Saturday to Saturday, yet there is only a ferry in and none out. Thus B&Bs tend to get booked up ages in advance. It took several phone calls to uncover the last room in Castlebay, a double room. However Mrs MacNeil of Grianamul B&B did not sound too happy at letting the room to two men, but Mrs McLean at Tigh-na-Mara talked her round – she obviously thought we were suitable thank goodness John wasn’t wearing his Village People outfit!
Hotel with a crowd of locals rooting for Barca and a good day was had by all. Postscript We had a fairly smooth crossing on Sunday, although the sea was high. We saw gannets and a pod of dolphins. We drove back to Newcastle for an overnight watering then headed off to North Wales first thing on Monday. Eleven Mingers finally showed up and 5 days of glorious weather was enjoyed. Our Big Tick was Quartz Icicle in Wen Zawn. Not Mingulay, and not a substitute either, but a decent alternative. There is no punch line. Our experience illustrates the benefits of social media. However, in the ‘old days’ I guess we would all have pitched up in Castlebay and made the most of it. Who knows? The last words go first to another guest at breakfast in Grianamul: “Ach well, Mingulay will still be there next year”, and to Captain Catterall @. “Hi all, have just spoken to Donald and he would not dream of me sending him any money. Called it an act of god. What shall I do, book for the same time next year?”
Magazine Deadline The next issue of this magazine will be issued in mid-September.
How would we spend the rest of the day? Me again, late afternoon: “We've just got back to the B&B after a wonderfully atmospheric afternoon walking on a beach & up a hill at the north end of the island (after watching the afternoon Twin Otter flight to Glasgow take off - runway is the beach)... fabulous Hebridean weather, with fronts racing through, 15 mins of driving rain followed by 15 mins of bright sun, windy++ and crashing waves - more convinced than ever it was the right decision...” Later we watched the Champions’ League Final in the Castlebay NMC County Climber
Articles for inclusion need to be with me before the end of the first week of September. Send photo files and text separately. Send text only in DOC, RTF or TXT format. Send to: magazine@thenmc.org.uk
July 2011
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Lost Keys At the last committee meeting a couple of stories emerged from our President and Vice-President (er… those two esteemed fellows to whom we have entrusted the running of the club!) concerning problems with car keys.
It reminded me of Bryn Roberts’ similar problem some years ago. These three stories are worth telling… John Dalrymple’s story…
I drove into Steel Rigg at about 6pm and parked up next to a car, from which emerged Adrian and Martina. I got out for a chat, then grabbed my sack and set off for the crag with them. After half an hour or so at the crag, I saw a figure approaching from the bottom of Peel and another heading back over the fields. “Have you lost your car keys?” shouted one of the figures. He hadn’t, but I bloody had. So I jogged off towards the approaching figure, who turned out to be Simon (Mooney). “Have you got a grey Toyota Yaris?” “Yes”. “Well you’ve left your keys in the ignition with the engine still running”. Good grief. With my anorak flapping about like the wings of a deranged pigeon, I ran/jogged/power-walked/gasped back up to Steel Rigg praying that there’d be a heart specialist to treat me, because I’ve not run for over 40 years, 30 of them supporting a 20-a-day-habit. At the car park, two genteel old ladies met me, “Is that your car? We turned the engine off for you – isn’t the price of petrol awful?”. I managed to splutter, from my knackered lungs, “Thanks, I must be getting old.” It still turned out to be a decent evening’s climbing with Simon after all NMC County Climber
that, I even managed a rather flaky ascent of a greasy Pinnacle Face and Simon did what must be a very rare ascent of Ash Tree Wall. (The ash tree is dead and has been replaced by 40 foot of gunge.) Bryn Robert’s Story…
Bryn had been out for a weekend of winter climbing in the Northern Corries with Andrew and Sue. Getting back to the car on a dark and freezing Sunday evening at Aviemore, he discovered that the car keys were missing. There was no other option but to spend the night at the YHA. Because Bryn’s car required a transponder to open and start it he was unable to get any local help with out having the necessary paperwork and transponder numbers so the ‘party’ returned to Newcastle by train – Sue had even to leave behind the pupils’ homework that she had been marking. Bryn headed north again on the following Thursday. His brother towed the car to his house in Inverness, where Bryn, now armed with all the relevant paperwork and numbers, managed to get the car going again. John Mountain’s story…
Back in 1995, I still had Vector on my hit list. A gaggle of us were ensconced in the Clogwyn MC hut at Tan Lan (away meet plug: see details elsewhere in this issue!!) This being an annual gathering of geriatrics—laughable now, as we are all 16 years older! The weather was superb (honestly) and I felt that Vector could be within my grasp. Well, Deg (ie Derrick Bolger of Nottingham Wall) had a cunning plan to get me up Vector, and with some style. The problem on Vector, as everyone knows, is that although the 2nd pitch (the Ochre Slab) is the crux, the pitch that everyone falls off is the last pitch; that horrendous holdless corner, often damp, with the jugs so near yet so far! Deg’s plan was that I should do a ‘lowly’ E1 5b, July 2011
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before tackling Vector at E2 5c. The ‘lowly’ E1 would be Diadic, the crux of which shares that nasty Vector corner! “Just get on Diadic, youth. You’ll be fired up for that last pitch, as it IS the crux. The when you then do Vector, you can forget the top pitch and focus on the Ochre Slab”. Simple eh? Well it worked. I did Diadic on the Saturday and led the top pitch comfortably. Snod followed, and as is often the case when seconding, did not find it easy. Deg had also advised to try wide bridging to get to the jugs. That too was good beta (but not for Snod who is vertically challenged). On the Sunday, I set off to do Vector with Snod and the Shot-Blaster. The latter shot his way up the first pitch and handed over to me. I was really fired up for this pitch. Some steep wall climbing using a finger width slanting crack was exhausting and an awkward shuffling balance move got me into a standing position above. The step left into the corner which bounds the Ochre Slab was delicate, but the siren call of the jams in the corner ensured success. The Ochre Slab/ corner itself did not prove as difficult as what had gone before. I sorted myself out on the belay. The sun was shining, the audience was in place below and at Eric’s Caffi. The final pitch held no fears, especially as Snod was going to lead it. Life was never so good! Snod and the Shot-Blaster arrived. It has to be said that Snod did not feel so relaxed (not having found the corner to his liking the day before). He set off, without much resolve. The route finding seemed to baffle him and he quickly returned to our eyrie. So, I would do the last pitch after all. To be fair, the route finding was intricate and I did have to back-track at one point. However I was soon in the final corner. I bridged like a demon and shot up the corner like a rat out of an aqueduct. Banging my head on something, I realised I’d bridged a bit further than was strictly necessary and the jugs were now at waist height. Sitting on top, in the sun, bringing
NMC County Climber
up the lads, was great. Nothing could spoil this day! Or could it… Attempts to banter with the gang below were a tad tricky. It was clear that they were trying to tell me something. Eventually I gathered that my brother, who was in charge of my car keys, was about to depart homeward. I was fairly sure that he said that he had given my car keys to Keith for safe-keeping. On getting back to the sacs, I discovered that not only had my brother gone home, so too had Deg and Keith. Urgent mobile calls ensued. My brother was ‘fairly certain’ that he HAD given the keys to Keith, or was it Deg. Keith was ‘definitely’ certain that he did not have the keys. In fading light, the residual geriatrics started to search for car keys among the boulders at Bwlch y Mot. There are quite a lot of boulders there and the keys were not found. Following further communication with my brother and Keith/Deg, we conceded that Britannia Rescue would need to help. They attended; my car was opened but could not be started without the key. So began a long journey back to Derbyshire with the car on the back of a rescue vehicle. Meanwhile, wives (who sensibly decline to attend ‘geriatric’ meets) had been reluctantly informed of this farce. Keith and Deg, got home ahead of me and at some point soon after, Keith’s missus found my car keys in his car. She advised my wife and thus I finally got home to the happy news that my keys had been located. The following morning, Deg couldn’t find his house keys… Deg had taken these with him to Wales… and left them hanging up in the hut! He set off and drove back to Wales, on the Monday morning, to retrieve the keys. His wife had some colourful and not inappropriate things to say about the geriatrics, which could best be summed up as: “You bloody lot should not be going off on your own (ie without a woman) again!!” July 2011
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Club news
turns out who has often won UKClimbing photo competitions. You can see the photo at:
Hut Update John Mountain
You’ll recall that my report for the Spring issue of County Climber said that we were about to send in details of our sewage plans to the Environment Agency (EA) for their approval. Well, the good news is that we have indeed done this although it has taken rather longer than I predicted. The paperwork proved to be somewhat involved and David Ladkin has done a tremendous job in sorting out both the technical aspects of our proposal, and the documentation required by the EA. The EA office that vets the applications has asked for clarification on three points. These have been dealt with, though we may yet have to provide more evidence to support our figures for projected discharge levels. David Ladkin has now emigrated to Australia for 4 years! My initial thought was that this was a fairly extreme way of avoiding further work on this project, but David assures me, that thanks to the wonders of modern technology, he will keep in touch and continue to help us with the application. The Club is indebted to David, and we wish him all the very best for his new job in Perth. The next stage will be to communicate our proposal to the planning departments at both the Lake District National Park Authority, and Allerdale District Council. I look forward to the arrival of more paperwork! In the news…
ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.html?id =175635
Bowderstone hut – as art If you happen to be in Harrogate and have time to spare then pop in to the Mercer Gallery on Swan Road (centre of town.) The Gallery currently has an exhibition of work from the 1800s by John Atkinson-Grimshaw and includes one particularly interesting picture for NMC members – a painting from 1865 of the Bowderstone and the Huts – the whole area was then treeless and shows the river and mountain scenery behind.
Cotswold Outdoor Newcastle Offer Cotswold Outdoor Newcastle has an extensive range of outdoor clothing, rucksacks, footwear, camping products, travel accessories and climbing equipment from all the leading brands. The store also has an extensive travel library with over 1000 books, map and DVDs. Cotswold Outdoor Newcastle would like to support the local climbing community by a 15% discount on all full priced items (including books, maps and DVDs) to NMC members with a current membership card. Find out more from: Community.cotswoldoutdoor.com/store s/newcastle
John Spencer has pointed out that our very own Neil Moreby was featured in UKClimbing.com photo of the week in late June. The photo was taken by Dan Arkle, one of Neil’s mates from Devon, who joined the Mingulayers in Wales (see John’s article elsewhere in this magazine.) Dan is a gnarly climber but also an excellent photographer, a professional as it NMC County Climber
July 2011
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NMC Annual Dinner President, John Dalrymple
This year it was my call as to choice of hotel. The Bluebell in Belford has been pretty good for the last couple of years, but there were a couple of issues last year so I thought we could give The Riverdale Hall Hotel in Bellingham a shot. The accommodation in Bellingham was plentiful - camping, bunkhouse, B&B's and of course the hotel. Also there is also plenty climbing in the area, not up to Belford standards maybe, but good enough. We had 27 attending, which was a pretty fair turnout and a lot better than it had looked with two weeks to go. A few of
the dinner regulars were off climbing abroad - the cheek of it, you'd think it was a climbing club! In the event it absolutely tipped it down, no-one camped and no-one got any climbing done on the Saturday, although Adrian Wilson, Caroline and Neil Cranston NMC County Climber
and Andrew Shanks braved the elements and hangovers on Sunday and, amazingly, got a full dry day on Curtis Crag. Some others headed up to Bowden for the Sunday where the weather forecast looked better. The meal was off a good menu, much better than the arrangement at The Bluebell where you chose your meal beforehand and then watched the chaos as trainee staff tried to match dishes to people. When the food arrived it was as good as I've had at a do like that and from what I heard everyone else enjoyed theirs. They even managed to get everyone served at the same time which is no mean feat. All in all, a top performance from the restaurant staff.
John Mountain was particularly pleased to be able to get a bottle of his favourite wine, Chateau Musar from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. We had a bottle of Bellingham, probably from the North Tyne Valley.
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For the post meal drinking we managed to get the entire hotel bar area more or less to ourselves, and that was without me playing the guitar.
All in all it was a fine evenings eating, drinking and socialising, with a few hardly souls ending things off at about 1am. A shame about the weather, but it'll be sunny next year in Bellingham, honest...
NORTH WALES MEET 2 - 4 September 2011 Summer is here and that means the annual Welsh meet in the Croesor valley! As usual, we will be staying at Tan Lan, which is the hut belonging to the Clogwyn MC. The hut is very cosy and will sleeps 10 comfortably. Sleeping accommodation is altogether, Alpine Hut style (we do have an exclusive booking!). You can check out its charms on www.clogwyn.org.uk. Cost is only £6 per person per night. Looking out of the hut window, half a mile away, is Carreg Hyll Ddrem, a crag primarily for thugs, but also housing the Joe Brown classic, ‘Hardd’. The many brilliant routes on Tremadoc (from Hard Severe to E big number) are only 10 minutes drive. There is easy access to Snowdon, particularly Cloggy. There’s excellent walking too, with Cnicht and the Moelwyns accessible from the hut (ie you don’t need to get the car out). There is of course excellent climbing in the Moelwyns, and never crowded – a bit like up here! There are some excellent gems there, with crags having routes suitable for a first trad lead, all the way up to more serious fare, such as Fawcett’s ‘Crimson Cruiser’ at E5. Please give me a call if you want more info on the routes on these crags, or further afield (eg Glaslyn, Tryfan, Llanberis etc) For those seeking respite from the rigours of Northumberland, very close attractions include: - Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways - Portmerion (remember ‘The Prisoner’?) - Black Rock Sands (where you can teach your 12 year old to drive, &/or boulder) - RSPB Osprey hide Given the distance from the North East, I personally will be making it a long weekend ie travelling down on Thursday 1st. Should anyone wish to stay beyond the weekend, that also should be possible. Anybody wishing to book a place, get in touch. John Mountain 01670-505-202 07811-240-766 Elgobbo@btinternet.com
NMC County Climber
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NMC Family Meet Peter Flegg
Could we have had better weather? Definitely not! There were 9 adults and 8 kids at the hut for the first weekend of July: •
The Cranstons: Neil, Caroline, & George
•
The Catteralls: Tim, Francis, Rowan & Jura
•
The Wilsons: Adrian, Sarah, Natalie, &Elliot
•
The Wombwells: Phil, Caitlin, & Rebecca
•
Pete Flegg, Liz & Gary Copeland (Pete's cousin’s son)
On the Saturday we headed to Brown Crag at Shepherds. Pete and Caroline took Gary and Caitlin up a couple of Diff and Vdiff routes, with an abseil off. The pair of them had competed in the Penrith and Newcastle BMC competitions earlier this year - Gary coming in third and Caitlin second in their respective categories. The weekend before the Family Meet they had both competed in the BMC Youth Finals in Wolverhampton where Caitlin came in 16th and Gary came in 30th.
got a text from Tim saying their hut key had been left at home so they were down at the river below the hut. We all headed down there to join them – the kids were soon in the river having fun. We had a barbeque that evening with the table outside the hut, enjoying the warmth of the evening sun and plenty of wine – Tuscany comes to the Bowderstone. On Sunday morning we walked down to Woden's Face – we found a learners’ party taking all the shorter routes on the left of the crag but Tim and Sarah still managed to take Gary and Caitlin up Wimpey Way and Woden’s Face. Adrian set up an abseil in the quarry area nearby to occupy his own kids. After that we split up – the Wilsons carried on climbing, the Cranstons went back to the river, the Catteralls to Shepherds for lunch, the Wombwells back home, Pete, Liz and Gary into Keswick for ice cream.
Phil and Neil got the 4 year olds, George and Rebecca, on a top rope on a couple of short routes. Adrian and family turned up as we headed down to the cafe for lunch in the sun (and kids playing on the assorted bikes, toys etc.) We NMC County Climber
Photo by Neil Cranston
July 2011
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Double Scoop in Italia Ligurian sea-cliff climbing and Arco’s Sarca Walls Lewis Preston
Take 13 people of differing personalities, climbing aspirations and cultural interests and throw them together for a fortnight mountaineering expeditioncum-camping holiday in northern Italy and you have a sure recipe for a lot of fun. Let me give you a vignette of campsite life ‘Arco style’, character by character. •
Serious Guidebook researching; Kenny,
•
Back to back Novel reading; Nick,
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Crossword cracking guru; Patrick,
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Yoga exercising, skateboarding ice cream shopping-queen; Sarah,
•
Master of miraculous self-cures; Graham,
•
Resolute occupation of comfiest camp chair award; Howard,
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Most motivated at getting going; Carolyn and Mike,
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Most amazing come-back after 20yr lay-off; John and Maggie,
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Reversed-capped, total chilled dude award; Renge,
•
Undercover Carlo Scarpa masterpiece-finding detective; Lewis,
•
And perhaps the most un-believable trip revelation... the
•
‘Not putting a tarp-up or firing-up a BBQ for 2 weeks’ award goes to Bryn!
Before all that, the advance party of 5; Bryn, Kenny, Nick, Patrick and Lewis arrive at Bergamo, take one look at the NMC County Climber
storm clouds over the Alps and duck into the hire cars as the first lashings of downpour force a re-think; we need a Plan ‘B’ for Week 1. We speed south, cruising Italian autostrada engineering across and through the Appenine chain via viaducts and tunnels, to pop out onto the coastal plain of La Spezia and down to the very end of the peninsula of Porto Venere jutting into the Mediterranean. Our first surprise was in the Cinque Terre UNESCO World Heritage area we’d pitched up in, there would be no pitching of tents. Frustration quickly turned to delight with the
discovery of Rifugio Muzzerone with hand-built stone terraces balanced between heaven and earth offering a heat-haze view over the dazzling azure of the Golfo de Spezia and the Islands of Palmaria. Over the following days we explore a series of steep limestone cliffs, some dropping straight into the sea, other set back in tiers connected by paths buried in undergrowth. At the weekend a carnival atmosphere prevails at the easier access extreme sports crags with families, indeed 5year olds, speed-climbing past Kenny and hordes of (non-climbing?) teenage cheerleaders screaming encouragement to the exuberant machos attempting gravitydefying antics designed to impress.
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After the bustle of the weekend ‘cattle market’ mid-week calm returns; we have the place almost to ourselves save for two lean sun-tanned retirees, silently going about a systematic cruising of route after route where previously the circus had applauded every move. We try to emulate them; and with Kenny’s encouragement, I find myself taking to this one pitch ‘sport’ activity, managing leads of ‘Count of Montepisto’ at 6a and ‘Abu Dibi’ 6a+. When the 70year olds move into the ‘7’ grades, however, we call it a day! We had earlier that same day plucked the classic multi-pitch ‘trad’ route of Muzzerone, ‘Excaliber’ a 200m 5c/6a, rising straight from the dazzling Med in the Merriviegli Sector, (see photo of us at top). Our one rest day we devote to pure delight, taking the pleasure cruiser up the coast, (past the cliffs we’ve climbed, including the classic 200m ‘Pilaster di Bunker.) We are able to hop on and off to explore the ‘Cinque Terre’ (the five villages) including pizzas in harbour of Vernazza, ice creams in Manarola, (built straight out the cliff) and beers on the terrace overlooking Riomaggiore, all UNESCO listed for their historic and cultural significance to the planet.
we meet a local looking at the cliff and stop to chat. ‘It’s a great route’ he agrees, ‘provided there is no racing event today’. Almost as he speaks, the roar of a dozen motorcycle engines starting drowns further speech. Our new friend, David, a climber based in Sarca and Zurich, offers suggestions for alternative quiet crags in the valley and a lift in his car. En route we persuade him to join us on his proposal, (an unknown gem, not in the definite guide) called ‘Via Le Scalette dell Indria’ on the Coste del Anglone. An ingenious discovery of vertical exploration by his partner Heinz, (a modern-day Rudolf Steiner of holistic well-being), it offered 10 pitches of sheer delight. One mid-way pitch is a giant detached flake which gives the ‘rush’ experienced once before leading CB on Scafell Buttress. John gets a series of steep walls and great airy ramps which he cruises in style and David romps up the final pitches; a magnificent climax the athletic and aesthetic exertions and pleasures of the fortnight.
Each evening we return to the rifugio and Ettore’s multi-course culinary wizardry, washed down with local vino and insights into the part his father and family played in the resistance of the April 1945 retreat through the area of defeated Nazis and Facists. All too soon it is time to head back north to meet those arriving in Arco. En route we overnight in the Shakespearian city of Verona in a luxurious 16th century town villa in its own landscaped gardens, (that has become the Roman Catholic run youth hostel for impecunious young travellers like ourselves). Last day in Arco
Lewis and Kenny at Muzzerone
John and I cadge a lift from Bryn and Kenny up the Sacra valley to Il Dain to attempt the great line of Cesare Levis. On the walk-in (past the moto-cross circuit) NMC County Climber
July 2011
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The website includes various discussion forums, a photoarchive for members’ climbing photos, online guides for most Northumberland crags.
Indoor climbing: £1 off the standard entry price at: • Sunderland Wall. • Durham Wall. • Climb Newcastle (Wed. nites only). • Newcastle Climbing Centre (Byker) • Morpeth Bouldering Wall Also winter season Wed. nights at Burnside college, £4 entrance fee, open to NMC members only.
NMC Website The NMC has a very informative website
NMC Guidebooks NMC members pay a discounted price for any guidebook published by the NMC. Currently available are the following guides: • Northumberland Climbing Guide Definitive Guide to climbing in Northumberland. £12.50 to members (RRP £18.95)
For the above 2 guides add £2 P&P if required. Contact John Earl on 0191 236 5922 • No Nobler County A history of the NMC and climbing in Northumberland. Now ONLY £2.00 Hurry while stocks Last!!! Contact Martin Cooper on 0191 252 5707
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.
• Northumberland Bouldering Guide The new guide, £12.50 to members (RRP £19.95)
www.thenmc.org.uk Shadow man climbs at Shaftoe, June 2011
NMC County Climber
July 2011
by Bryn Roberts
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