Scotland 2021
A short personal report on the Club’s recent adventures north of the border.
First a big thanks to everyone who made the journey to Killin (though this is probably the most southerly of our venues), for making this a most enjoyable trip.
Although we were spread round the town, due the pandemic precluding booking the usual communal accommodation, we all met up in groups for a number of varied days out.
Scottish Winter Trip – Killin
Our trip to Loch Tay was sandwiched between two major storms, Ciara and Dennis and, the wind never really abated. Gary’s mountain weather App was checked religiously every morning. Every morning it stated that the wind speed was between 70-100 MPH on Ben More, Ben Nevis or any other significant summit. However, there was plenty of snow.
Climbing on Southern Sandstone – current situation
Many Club members, particularly those who regularly climb on Southern Sandstone, will be aware of the current situation, but for those who are unsure – those new to the sport – and those who usually climb indoors but want to try outdoors, climbing outdoors is now allowed by government guidelines but not all crags are open. The following is the situation for the major Southern Sandstone crags:
Alpe-Adria Trail
In 2016, when on a family visit to Austria, I spotted a way-marker for the Alpe-Adria Trail, near the church in Himmelberg, Carinthia . I knew then that I wanted to walk some of it.
The entire Alpe-Adria Trail (AAT) stretches 750km, from the Grossglockner, through the mountains of Carinthia, Slovenia and northern Italy, to the Adriatic Coast. It came into being 2011-2012, as part of a central european unity project.
Forward to September 2018, four of us boarded the Euro-star, en-route to a week long walking adventure. 8 hours later and one change of train brought us to Munich, where we had a pleasant over-night stop, including a visit to a bier keller, at the start of Ocktoberfest. There was certainly a very lively atmosphere. A Sunday morning stroll around the beautiful city centre, pre- pared us for further sitting and 2 more trains, down to Tarvisio, a town on the Austro-Italian border. We had opted to do a week-long circular route, taking in the delights of all 3 countries through which the trail runs.
2017 Ladies Weekend
This years ladies weekend took a giant stride away from the usual camping escapades Ruth kindly fell down the rabbit hole of the Airbnb website and found us a delightful moored barge on the River Thames near Chertsey. This particular boat was owned by a delightful host called Giles who it turned out was rather a thespian having performed in theatres around London and on Broadway no less. A select group of five embarked on this luxury weekend away. It wasn’t so luxury that we had a butler and cook however we managed to produce a feast of a barbecue on the first evening. The weather dawned bright and fair on Saturday morning arranged especially for Ruth’s birthday. We enjoyed a delightful walk around the local nature reserve called Staines Moor, sharing it’s neighbour- hood with the runways at Heathrow and the M25. Admittedly this does not sound like an…
Hastings Rock & Fell Peak District Weekend
As always with this popular visit to Derbyshire a good number of people put their names on the list of attendees. However a poor forecast put a few off, so the total putting up their tents (and mobile homes) was a bit reduced.
Of Mountains and Men
A new book, recently published by the Oxford Alpine Club (OAC), may be of interest to club members.
Hastings Rock and Fell in Derbyshire
The annual summer visit to the Peak District again proved popular with members.
Old Man of Hoy
Booking the ferry for the Hoy trip what’s your reg no, read Darryls text; Bugger had forgot all about that. I was midway through my work season in France and sleep and reasoning were in short supply. I’m sure I volunteered myself on the basis of having a car large enough for the mountains of gear needed for the trip and not for my extensive knowledge of trad which consisted of 3 days at Swanage.
Hastings Rock and Fell Trip to the Lake District
A small but enthusiast group camped on the shores of Lake Coniston with a view to exploring the area and climbing and walking in this region of the lakes.