Brief A.G.M. news

Committee:

Subscriptions:

The following persons were elected as officers, amongst them John and Sarah who were welcomed onto the committee for the first time:

CHAIRMAN: Chris Barber                    VICE CHAIR: Robby Crocker

SECRETARY: Kay Beechey                    TREASURER: Ian Tucker

BMC REP: John Moore                           PUBLICITY: Sarah Kirby

EQUIPMENT OFFICER: Colin Powell

PROGRAMME SECRETARY: Ted Bumford (Hugh Woodford is prepared to be co-opted)

Linda and Trevor who have stood down were thanked for their excellent contributions to the running of the club.
The annual subscription, which is now due, was agreed to remain at £13.

Half rate concessions still apply.

Many points were discussed at the meeting but it is inappropriate for them to be listed here.  Full minutes can be seen at the next AGM.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENNING!

The last N Wales trip of 2001:

- Dave Bingham reports on a good trip

Oct 13/14

Six members came on the weekend travelling up under a deep blue sky, a welcome change after a few days’  “mizzle” during the week and the tents were pitched in the dry.  The Prince Llewellyn was the venue for drinks once again and plans for the Saturday were made in earnest.  The morning dawned dry with patches of blue sky.  3 members went for the Nantlle ridge starting at Rydd Ddu and making a western traverse of the half dozen peaks and then returning via  Cwm Pennant and the forest.  Clouds occasionally immersed the tops but generally the party were above a sea of cloud and enjoyed some atmospheric scenes.  The day remained dry!

 

Nantle Ridge from Snowdon (photo: Terry Delbridge)

The other three members parked near Dinas Cromlech in the Llanberis Pass and did the Clogwyn Person Arete, a grade 2 scramble, on to the ridge of Crib y Ddysygl.  At the foot of the scramble we put on harnesses just in case, only to discover, (after chat about the wisdom of safety in the hills), that all the quickdraws were left in the car!  Fortunately the scramble presented little difficulties and we had plenty of screwgates to extend the odd bit of protection we placed!  After the scramble we made most of the good weather (being above  layers of cloud) – headed for Snowdon, Y Lliwedd and returned to the car via the miners track and Pen y Pass. Both parties were out for 8 to 8½ hours and could just about stay awake as  a blues band played their set in the Llewellyn that evening.

When Sunday dawned the rain had already been falling for about an hour and persisted for most of the morning.  It was down to the Pinnacle Café in Capel Curig for a second breakfast!  At noon an improvement in the weather saw four members heading for a short walk on Pen y Ole Wen and Carnedd Dafydd for just over 2½ hours. 

The Committee been so busy on programmes this year, but I managed to grab a few moments with our Weekends Superstar.…

Hugh gave the following thoughts via his typewriter…...

“Having lost so many of this years local walks to foot and  mouth it has been encouraging to see numbers on recent Sunday walks up on the same period last year.  There were 12 out in the Elan Valley, 23 on the annual waterfalls walk and 15 in the Carmarthen Fans.

 A suggestion put forward on Mark’s Elan Valley walk was for a weekend meet in the area, possibly next Autumn, staying in a Bunkhouse and this can be looked into.

 The January to March programme, out now, has been compiled with two main factors in mind – more moderate and intermediate grades to ease members back into the swing of things and to  encourage more people to particpiate.  

Dave’s walk on February 10th from Pont Cadwgan will be the first Club Sunday walk in the Black Mountains for a whole year (371 days)!!  With many areas now re-opened it is hoped that next years Summer Programme will be back to it’s usual 6 month coverage.”

                                                                                                                HW

The Beacons and the Blacks open bit by bit………. Including Pen y Fan

…….It’s time to enjoy those walks again as Dave reports 

At last it’s happening; things are opening, bit by bit!  And the club and the committee, who have had a troubled year organising programmes, can give a collective sigh of relief.  Pen y Fan and her immediate satellite peaks of Corn Du and Cribyn were opened at 8am on the 16th November from certain approaches.  Of course the Carmarthen Fans had been opened a few weeks ago and a little more recently the northern parts of the Black Mountains, but the opening of South Wales’ highest peak will be very symbolic in the minds of many hill-goers.

The committee have been able to put on a series of walks in what remains of this year (and for the months January to March)  which are possible to walk at the moment.  As all venues and routes have been researched by the members involved, members can come along with confidence that walks will be happening.

THERE’S PLENTY TO DO WITH THE G.M.C. IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS !!

Walks:

There’s plenty of those, approximately one every two weeks, in known open areas.

Club Dinner:

We can look forward to two great weekends between now and the end of March.  The “Legendry” Club Dinner on January 26/27/28 hardly needs an introduction.  This year’s guest speaker is John Ellis Roberts BEM, retired Head Warden of the Snowdonia National Park and Mountain Rescue team Leader.  The Chairman’s speech always raises plenty of laughs as well.  So there’ll be plenty of good cheer  and maybe classic winter conditions too!

Chris’s concern:

The bookings are coming in very slowly.  Chris wants to tie it up by Christmas.  If the cost is a problem please note that the cheque will not be cashed until the end of January.  We are very privileged to have the use of Plas y Brenin for this function, but only 26 members have booked at the time of writing (Dec 1) and there is a danger of the Dinner being cancelled if the minimum target of 50 is not met!  Please contact Chris (01873 856114) as soon as possible if you wish to attend.  Thank you.

 Cost: £42 with meals in the main building, £27 self catering in the Bunkhouse.

(Full details on the form which can be obtained from Chris)

Caban Cadair Bunkhouse:

Mar 1/2/3 will see us at the Caban Cadair bunkhouse beneath the northern slope of Cadair Idris.  This proved very popular 3 years ago and the bunkhouse was comfortable.  Clearly there’s lots of scope for walking, scrambling and climbing, and pubs near or in Dolgellau . Hugh is organising the weekend (01633 862481)

Llangorse wall:

2 meets at this wall which is ideal for experienced climbers or beginners.  One is Dec 9 (Sunday – around 10am) and the other on Dec 13 (Thursday evening –  around 7-7.30pm), the contacts for these being Colin and Keith respectively.  The club has a small amount of gear (helmets, harnesses), so if you don’t own such items do not hire them immediately at reception, but find Keith or Colin and see if there are some items left.  Obviously, these will be given out on a first-come first-served basis.   Failing this, gear hire is quite cheap.  There is no time limit to the session.

Scotland:

A week-long adventure in Scotland awaits (Feb 16-23) .  Contact Keith Anderson (01495 304412).  A venue will be decided soon and will be in one of the main climbing areas.  Keith has asked me mention that everyone interested in the winter mountains is of course welcome.