Reading University Mountaineering Club - RUMC : Forum / topic

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Re:

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:20:09 +0000

18-20th April, Peak District
Accommodation: Fulwood Scout Hut, Fulwood (SW Sheffield)
Not a hut we've been to before. Was very good value and had everything we need. Good location.

Members present:
* Andy A
* Kylie
* Tom P
* Will K
* Cat T
* Matt H
* Matt B
* Katie M
* Simon P
* Lucy
* Nancy
* Dan
* Lauren
* Joanna
* Rich S
* Ben G
* Tess M

Saturday
Climbing outdoors on Stanage. Got out early and had a good day's top roping and lead climbing. Cold but dry. Evening BBQ, with more food than anyone could eat.

Sunday
Too wet for outdoor climbing, so went indoors. One party went to the Works, the other went to the Edge.

Re:

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:41:15 +0000

If you've got random pics you'd like to share that don't really belong anywhere else, stick them in here!

Lovely.

Re:

Tue, 27 May 2008 08:25:49 +0000

23-26th May, Dartmoor
Accommodation: Wild camping at Ger Tor 23/24th, camping at Runnage Farm near Postbridge on 25th.
Wild camping was great fun, though a couple of tents collapsed or suffered leaks due to very high winds. Campsite was nice, with basic facilities. Very high winds on Monday morning lead to some tents being abandoned or needing a bit of repair.

Members present:
* Andy
* Kylie
* Tom
* Darryn
* Natasha
* Nat Van Eck
* Sharon
* Simon
* Bethan
* Dan
* Hishiv
* Tess
* Alex McC
* Nancy
* Tash
* Fiona
* Alex
* Frankie
* Abi
* Will
* Shaun
* Nat R
* Matt B

This trip was slightly different to our normal trips as Tom had organised for us to complete a mini 10 Tors challenge, with a few compulsory tors for the teams to visit each day, a list of optional ones and some challenges to complete at the top of each tor. The members were split in to 4 independent teams and left to do their own thing, with plans to rendezvous at the Friday night campsite again on Saturday evening.

Saturday
After wild camping on Friday night the teams got up individually and set off to complete their challenges, aiming to be back at camp no later than 7. All teams failed to complete the minimum necessary to avoid disqualification, and all teams except one failed to be back at the campsite before the deadline - turns out we might have overestimated how much we could get done in a day! Everyone had a good time and got back safely, sooner or later.

Sunday
Everyone was knackered from the previous day, with some people getting very little rest overnight due to the effect of the high winds on the tents, so instead of completing the second day's challenges we decamped to a pub and most people spent most the day recuperating and sitting in the sun in the beer garden. One team did walk a couple of hour circuit from the pub taking in some local sights. In the campsite we had a BBQ and bonfire on a cool calm evening.

Monday
Woke up to heavy rain and very high winds with tents being given a battering. 2 tents decided to pack up and retreat to the bus at about 7:30, with some people sleeping in for a few more hours. Left at 11am, but didn't get back to Reading until 6 after an incredibly slow journey in heavy traffic. Note for the future - avoid tha A303 on bank holidays!

Re:

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:19:34 +0000

6-8th June, Yorkshire
Accommodation: Camping at Riverside Campsite in Connoley.
Campsite was nice, facilities basic, toilet block a bit small. Charged £10/tent/night, so sharing encouraged.

Members present:
* Andy
* Kylie
* Tom
* Shaun
* Mandy
* Monkey
* Cat
* Matt H
* Matt B
* Honza
* Jana (Honza's wife )
* Bobby
* Will
* Alex Mc
* Rob
* Pete
* Nat
* Ben
* Phil
* Sam
* Luke
* Lucy
* Hishiv
* James
* Christian
Dropping in:
* Adam

Saturday
Went climbing at Birmham Rocks. Weather was cloudy with occasional patch of sun. Had full day out followed by BBQ.

Sunday
Went to Almscliffe. Good climbing and close to the parking, but not very many opportunities for top ropes on Low Man where we went, so some people didn't get as much climibng as they might have liked. Very sunny weather.

Re:

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:18:03 +0000

Please post in here if you have any questions/requests/bug reports about the website, thanks!

Re:

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:01:44 +0000

It's a little bit quiet on here, so I thought I would start a conversation. Basically, what've you all been up to this summer? Has anyone actually seen the sun? I'm not sure I have, and it seems to have been raining all the time. I've barely done any climbing either, which is a little dissapointing!

So... how has your summer been so far?

Re:

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:25:09 +0000

I was thinking about this at work today i fancy a trip sometime before christmas would anyone be interested in going to norway or iceland?

There was apost on ukc the other day about a guide in norway who had offers on at the mo.

Or another location i dont mind i just wanna plan something.

Re:

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:29:13 +0000

OK guys and gals, I'm in the hunt for a new laptop. Having trawled the internet trying to find the best spec, probably for around 700ish (that seems to be where 3/4gb RAM comes in), I've decided I can probably manage to do without a Blu-ray drive(!)

Anyone know of any sites that have a good reputation for this? I assume online is cheaper than the high street, and have been looking at play.com, Dell and various other outlets.

Brand-wise, are Acer actually any good? I've heard HP come with a crap load of bloatware and Vaio batteries suck! It's all getting a bitcomplicated really.

Any ideas?

Re:

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:52:52 +0000

The quotes at the bottom of these pages come from a list I found on t'internet somewhere. Occasionally it throws up some I quite like.. I just got:
"Because bouldering is done without protection, the rule is never to climb higher than you'd like to fall. That is why so many climbers stand around discussing boulder problems instead of climbing them"

which amused me

Any other good ones (from this site or in general - I can add them to the random quotes if they're good) people have come across?

Re:

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:40:11 +0000

Hi, My names suzie and im just about to start my second year at Reading.
I started wall climbing this summer, so am still very much a beginner, but really want to keep it up when i go back to uni and really really want to climb outside!

Any suggestions as to what type of harness i should buy?

Really looking forward to meeting people etc

Hopefully see you soon

Re:

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:35:20 +0000

As a footnote to our climbing grades article I was thinking of adding in a quick list showing which wall is 'hardest' for the same grade - we all know that 6a at Westway is a piece of cake compared to 6a at Craggy, but when you start you don't know if you're imagining it or if different walls really are harder for the same grade.

So, put the walls we climb at in order of toughness for the grade. Is the order the same for bouldering and for top roping/leading? Discuss

Re:

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:04:22 +0000

I have just watched a trailer for a forthcoming film (Onsight - and it looks good!) and was going to post the link in the chatbox, but then realised it would soon get lost so thought it would be a good idea to post links in a more permament place on the forum. So the idea is that this can be a links page to any good climbing related films on the web.

For starters try this http://www.posingproductions.com/video.php?form_action=play&video_id=130

Re:

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:34:34 +0000

ok, my parents and grandparents and rleations etc always nag me about what I would like for christmas, birthdays etc.... (I would imagine this is fairly common to most people)

I already have:
10 quickdraws (5 long, 5 short) which i currently recon is plenty
2 120cm slings
oodles of locking crabs (D-shaped)
a pretty full rack of nuts (1-10 set of wild country, plus another 1-5 set of wild country, plus a splattering of old ones that can be used at a pinch)
a "fun" set of hexes (no other way to describe it really - 6 different shaped and sizes hexes only one fitting the modern standard shape and size (excentric 6))

I was wondering what little bits and peices would be most worthwhile asking for next (ie one item at a time)? probably some more regular hexes, but what sizes are most usefull? also should i venture into freinds? or is it not worth it yet?

Whilst I can borrow all the kit I actually need from the club this year it would be nice to try and complete a rack for when I leave uni

Any thoughts?

Re:

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:16:18 +0000

Leaving Reading at 18:30 from the university area. Well Foxhill Road to be more precise.
Three spaces remaining as currently it's just Beth and I.
Anyone interested?

Re:

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:59:55 +0000

Who wants to go to Craggy?

I'm coming from work, so I'm no good for transport I'm afraid

For the benefit of any new members reading this:
This isn't the club-organised Thursday night climbing, it's a 'private' trip. Anyone is still welcome to attend, but you're generally responsible for providing your own kit and organising your own transport (ie, ask on this thread if you need a lift), and unless you've persuaded someone to supervise you it's really for people who are already competent to climb and belay.

Re:

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:45:30 +0000

Is anyone interested in a trip to Sussex this weekend? I don't have a car but am more than happy to split the fuel costs. Only real flaw in this plan is the likelyhood of it raining lots between now and then, fingers crossed!

Re:

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:33:33 +0000

Hello..

In their infinite wisdom my company have decided to run a charity hike for the benefit of Sue Ryder Care. It's 16 miles (yes, MILES) up Carnedd Llewelyn in Wales in the wind/rain (but I repeat myself). Having worn my RUMC garb around the office a little too often I basically can't get out of this and to top it all I've got to raise some sponsorship too!

Being the wise man that I am I've sussed that my mountaineering friends are unlikely to see a huge amount of sponsorship-worthy challenge in me going out to do the same sort of thing we do every trip anyway. However, my dislike of trudging up hills in the rain is pretty well known. Additionally, we're going to be camping rather than staying in a cushy hut somewhere AND I've got to do this the day after a 2 day residential work conference (implying a significant hangover).

So, who's prepared to sponsor me to spend a solid day doing an activity I dislike in bad weather with a massive hangover? That's got to be worth a couple of quid.

If all the regulars on this site would cough up a quid or two each that will make... some pounds. And it is genuinely for a good cause - Sue Ryder Care look provide care services for people who have conditions from which they are not going to recover.

Please post below and let me know if you can justify my suffering by helping someone else a bit with theirs! Cheers

Update: I now have the obligatory Just Giving page set up at http://www.justgiving.com/andyarbon

Re:

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:22:41 +0000

I'm currently on the scrounge for any computer components (inc. screen) as i'm trying to replace my stolen laptop. Anytjhing would be useful for free or cheep.

Thanks, Matt

Re:

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:09 +0000

Recently joined at the freshers fayre and noticed that on the leaflet there are regular indoor climbing sessions, I wanna come along is there any fee to pay aside from the membership fee? Also where is it that everyone meets up? Is it gonna b top roping most the time there? cos i prefer bouldering

Re:

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:09:25 +0000

Hello,
I have got a job interview for an HR role at BAE Systems, who make defence aeroplanes and things (I think). It'll be for their Military Air Solutions business group, which is based up in Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire. Now, I've never heard of either of these places so thought I'd ask on here if anyone knew about them? They are near Preston - and they are some way above Manchester, but below the Lakes (which doesn't sound like too bad a place to be in terms of mountaineering!)

So, what do people know about this area of the country? Or about BAE Systems as a company?

Cheers
Cat x

Re:

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:57:24 +0000

Hello all,

I was wondering how easy you consider climbing to be for a slightly unsure unfit returning student? I've been a few times as a kid and really enjoyed myself and have read a small amount of climbing literature which i think is fascinating. Naturally by the time I got around to finding out about RUMC this year I realised I'd missed the freshers talk but I'd really appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.

Thanks,
Andrew

Re:

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:00:49 +0000

Hi,
I am new in Reading and Rumc.
Do you know where I can find travellers slide-shows or travellers picture exibitions in Reading?
Kind regards

Re:

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:42:14 +0000

It's the first trip for our new members so they're bound to have lots of questions. Rather than answer them all individually via email I'm making this thread so that everyone can read them. Post any questions you have below.

To start with, here's the Q&As I heard being asked a lot last night.

Signup - The trip is now full, but don't let that stop you putting your name on the reserve list - if someone drops out and we have a space we'll contact you and ask if you want it. Sorry if you didn't get on this time!

Costs - £35. This includes your transport, accommodation, and food for Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday breakfast and lunch. We need to know if anyone has any dietary requirements, so make sure you've let us know.

When - We leave on Friday the 17th of October. We meet in the student union car park at 6:30 - please try and be on time because we have to pack the busses and sort out outstanding paperwork etc before we can leave, and we have a 4-5 hour drive ahead of us! We get back fairly late Sunday evening and we will see that everyone gets back to their accommodation safely.

Essential equipment - You do not need any climbing gear to be able to participate, so don't let that put you off (but if you have it, bring it). You do need various items of clothing/outdoors gear - a more detailed list will be posted on here shortly. If you don't have it, we may be able to lend you it, so do ask.

Essential skills - You don't need to have been outside your front door before, really There will be several activities offered each day and we will cater for all abilities. There will always be a walking option (we're a mountaineering club, not just a climbing club). There will be some climbing offered on atleast one of the days (total novices welcome); whether it's indoors or outdoors will depend on the weather.

Drink - Friday night is fairly low key - we won't arrive 'till late, so we head to bed fairly swiftly so that we can get up and out the next morning. If you want a celebratory beer on arriving that's fine Saturday is our main social night, so if you're a drinker take alcohol. If you don't drink, don't worry, you'll just have an advantage in the games once everyone else loses their balance.

I don't know anyone going - That's sorta the point of the Freshers' trip . Don't let it put you off, you'll know plenty of people by the end of the trip

Post any other questions you have here.

Re:

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:01:32 +0000

Has anyone seen this? http://www.stayontheedge.co.uk/?page_id=8

It looks like fun. We should enter! Any ideas though?

Re:

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:38:34 +0000

Hi,
Spoke to a few of you committee guys last night about offerring myself as a minibus driver. What do i need to do to sort out the test?!

Cheers,
Ian Cook.

Re:

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:35:31 +0000

Andy's requested thread!

Basically I want to know what I can do fitness-wise when I'm not at a wall. (Which is the majority of the time really!)

Are there particular exercises or machines at the gym that I can use to build up the muscles I use when climbing? Is it possible to over-exert yourself in this area?

Or is it better to concentrate on something to complement the climbing, and train a completely different set of muscles?

Also, how important is diet? is there anything you'd recommend to a climber that a balanced diet doesn't cater for?

*disclaimer* I go to the gym less than I climb(!) but i'm interested in what you can do around the sport.

Re:

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:43:05 +0000

Rumour has it that it's actually happening! http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=318422

Apparently it will be in the Elgar Road Industrial Estate.

If anyone hears anything please let us know. Once we have someone to contact we will get in touch and see what we can negotiate with them (you never know, if we can deliver a continuous stream of climbers they might be willing to do us a discount rate or something).

Re:

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:38:29 +0000

Whilst I was Walking Officer last year I predominantly ran my Reading walks at the weekned (normally on a Sunday) as we had a high interest from non-student members compared to student members and I wanted to run walks that everybody could attend. This year we seemingly have a higher number of new members, many of who when talked to have shown great interest in the walking aspect of the club and will hopefully be joining in the club walks.

With this in mind, I was wandering if there would be interest in running occasional Wednesday afternoon walks (dedicated to sport by the university so free for all us studenty types)? My idea is that I would continue to run weekend walks whenever possible, however also provide these Wednesday walks for times when the weekend is not available (for instance there is a weekend trip running, or I am away and cannot find a stand-in). The walks would essentially follow the same structure as standard weekend walks, however they would be likely to be shorter in length due to daylight restrictions.

Anyway enough rambling, is there going to be any interest in this? If so then great! However if there isn't then I might be forced to resort to walking by my lonesome........ (or more likely being lazy and doing nothing at all worthwhile)

Re:

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:46:29 +0000

Hello!!

Anyone interested in going climbing this thurs/fri eve? I have a car and am open to suggestions of destinations (as long as it's not too far and you have directions! I know the way to Swindon and kind of to Craggy) Let me know on here or by phone. My no. is 07851460390. I finish at 5 on a thurs and 4 on a fri but i'm happy to go later on as well.

Ruth

Re:

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:55:16 +0000

Hay guys,

Managed to miss all your freshers socials, but hope to see you on a Monday climb. When can I sign up for next week?

I'm up for any good mission (drinking, hiking, mountainbiking, snowboarding, sailing, kiteboarding, kayaking)- have car will drive.

Tom

Re:

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:19:47 +0000

Like it says in the name this is for the....

Freshers Day Climb!

Destination: Portland
Date: Saturday 25th October
Time of meeting: TBC
Place of meeting: Union car park (where Freshers fayre was)
Cost: £10

Members going:

Jotham Kennington
Celia Meachon
Will Evans
Jonny Muir
David King
Ruth White
Lizzie Ragg
Laura Clarke

+ 2 spaces!!
If you would like to sign up, please e-mail rumountaineering@hotmail.com and we can try to arrange a time/place to collect the money!
(you have to be a member to climb with us)

older members going:

Mandy
Dave (monkey)

+ 3 spaces....

Re:

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:55:22 +0000

Hi everybody...

I'm Sébastien (Seb is easier), French (erasmus student for this year), and I miss the Alps!

see you soon,

Re:

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:52:45 +0000

Along with the RNLI MR services in the UK could be saddled with a hugely increased bill for their usage of the radio spectrum in the UK.

Article here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/10/mountain_rescue_radio/

Petition for MR here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/MRT-RF-licences/
Petition for the RNLI here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/RNLI-RF-licences/

Online petitions don't have a huge reputation for success, but it costs nothing to sign and it might help.

Re:

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:24:23 +0000

As stated above....... I fancy going bouldering before the weather turns, and would like someone to go with/ share fuel costs.

Re:

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:16:48 +0000

17-19th Oct, Snowdonia
Accommodation: Cotemoor Mill Scout Hut, Bethesda
A hut we've used several times before. Nice hut with a good drying room (if you let it pre-heat - turn the heaters on in the morning before you go out). Oven was a bit dodgy, but hobs worked well and lots of large cooking gear in the hut luckily!

Members present: (Apologies if I've spelt anyone's name wrong)
* (Ill) Will
* Angry Andy
* Nutty Nat
* Kinky Kylie
* Mental Mandy
* Shocking Shaun
* Tremendous Tom
* Kant Spell Katie
* Marvellous Monkey
* Mini Matt
* Midget (micro) Matt
* Funky Frankie
* Dangerous Dave
* Super Szymon
* Hardcore Heather
* Peculiar Pete
* Smart Simone
* Curious Cuthbert
* Advantageous Andrea
* Vivacious Vicki
* Relaxed Richard
* Outstanding Oli
* Groovy Glen
* Magical Mike
* Blimey I got them all Ben
* Vicious Vicky
* Barmy Ben
* Naughty Nishma
* Jolly James
* Krispy Khatija
* Angelic Ali
* Ready Ruth
* Silly Seb
* Beautiful Ben
* Pirate Poitr

Saturday
We ran 4 groups. One small group went outdoor climbing on Tryfan Fach (Little Tryfan) and another group scrambled up Tryfan via the Little and North Gullies before doing the scramble section of False Gribin on Glyder Fach. Two groups went up Snowdon - one walked via the Pyg Track to the summit, coming back down the Miner's Track. The other group walked part way up the Miner's Track before breaking off the path to scramble Y Gribbon, then following the ridge to the summit before their way to the summit before walking down the Pyg Track.

We made really good time in the morning, with everyone out on their activity by 9 am and back to the hut early. The weather was cloudy and windy, but not too wet (by Welsh standards). We had epic quantities of pasta bolognaise for dinner, followed by table and sock wrestling (a new addition to favourite club games, I think!). Some rather unusual entertainment was provided in the evening when the hut came under seige from some local chavs who pelted it with glass bottles and clambered all over the scaffolding!

Sunday
Having made not quite such a swift start on Sunday we split in to 3 groups - 8 people went to the Beacon climbing wall for the day, one group set off to walk to Y Garn via the Devil's Kitchen and another group set off to scramble up Tryfan. Due to very strong winds the scrambling group had to change their plans and join the walkers, and in the end nobody even managed to walk to the summit because the conditions were so unpleasant, with winds so strong it was hard to stand up. The climbing group, meanwhile, had very tasty baked potatoes in the Beacon cafe. All 3 busses arrived back home within 5 minutes of each other at about 9:45.

Facts and figures.. (approx)
Bus costs: £730
Fuel: £360
Hut: £300
Food: £200
Dinner!: 6KG pasta, 24 tins tomatos, 7.5KG mince, 3 bags carrots, 1 bag onions, 3 trays of mushrooms, 2 bags peppers, 1 tube puree, 1 pot of Italian herbs

Thanks to everyone who came for making it such a good trip, and congratulations to everyone who achieved more than they thought they could We hope to see you all on a club event soon.

Re:

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:13:44 +0000

Hey all,

I have finally gotten round to joining this forum.

The weekend was absolutely brilliant; can't wait to go on another little adventure.

Re:

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:51:45 +0000

I'll be heading to Craggy from Reading at 18:30.
Four spaces available. Anyone welcome as long as you can already climb as Craggy makes you do a test the first time.
Split £6 petrol between however many of us end up going.
Please post if you're interested.

Re:

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:45:25 +0000

Right guys DRESS UP TIME!!!!!!!!!

The theme is Ghosts from the Past

It is meant to be as broad as you like.

Dress up as a famous person or character no longer alive from fiction or non fiction. You can either come as they died or as they were when they were alive.

For example:

you could come as Nancy from Oliver Twist when she was still alive and singing lol; or you could come as her beaten up and bloody when Sikes killed her.

you could come as Kurt Cobain when he was still alive and rocking; or you could arrive with a massive hole in your head.

or you could come as the Grudge girl, she's dead lol. (although if you come as that I will not be able to talk to you )

So guys, use your imaginations, get morbid and come join us.

I will post the pub crawl route up soon.

Re:

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:35:53 +0000

hi everyone, Glen here

absolutly loved snowdonia (even the chav attack) can't wait for another trip

( p.s sorry I took so long to join)

Re:

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:21:48 +0000

Anyone wanna come to the halloween shop on monday the 27th with me. Gotta buy a costume.

Re:

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:15:45 +0000

is anyone interested in driving to craggy on either of those days?

Matt

Re:

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:32:21 +0000

Just wondering if anyone happens to live near cemetary junction and be planning to meet the pub crawl at the upin?

Reason being that I have a driving lesson 6-8, and while I am willing to drive round reading for two hours dressed as einstein, i think doing so with full-on back combed hair and drawn on eyebrows and moustache may frighten my poor instructor slightly. So i was wondering if I could perhaps finish my lesson at the house of someone who lives near the upin, back-comb my hair and draw on my face, then join the pub crawl from there at about 8.15. I will bring wine/beer as payment...

my number is 079 861 865 27, even if you think I have your number please put your name at the end as my phone decided it was tired of living on the freshers trip and dived into a puddle, hence forgetting all the numbers I had put in it.

If not dont worry, you will find me in the toilets of the upin, making myself look as gruesome as possible!

Re:

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:19:09 +0000

Hello,
I'm going to be in Reading on Monday and Tuesday - does anyone fancy a climbing trip on Monday to Craggy?
Need to be experienced climbers who don't need supervision as Craggy has very strict rules.
Anyone welcome - I can offer up to 4 car spaces from Reading.

Text/ring me on 07988 162031, or write on here, but I won't be able to check it til late Sunday night or Monday morning.

Cat x

Re:

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:54:09 +0000

Hi there,

Ruth and I are going climbing at Craggy on Thurs and there are 3 extra seats in the car if people want to come along...and if you don't mind being slightly squashed in the back...

We're meeting at 6.30 in the Union carpark for anyone interested in coming...

Vicky J

Re:

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:56:17 +0000

me and a few of my friends are going on an adventure up inkpen hill on saturday. I was just wandering if anyone knows any good routes up (and how steep) and any good pubs in the are?

thanks
tes =)

Re:

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:21:01 +0000

hey there

im a bit late in joining the club as i missed freshers fair so just wanted to introduce myself and say hi to everyone

im interested in getting involved in the walking and hiking side of the club mostly but would love to have a go at climbing sometime (although ive never really done any before!)

i saw the info about the christmas trip. it looks really good! does it matter if i havnt met anyone from the club yet but come a long and sign up for it anyway...

look forward to meeting you all at bobs on tuesday.

Re:

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:25:13 +0000

Just come across this..

What do you think?

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/07/1421242&from=rss

Re:

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:54:27 +0000

Hello..

Anybody interested in this? http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=2830

"Sir Ranulph, who describes himself as a 64-year old novice climber with a bad heart and vertigo, will talk with slides about his two Everest attempts (from both sides) to within 400 metres of the summit and his successful North Face of the Eiger climb in 2007 with Kenton Cool and Ian Parnell.

Tickets cost £10 per ticket per BMC members & guests (£20 per ticket for the general public)."

If you don't know him, this is the guy who holds numerous records for unsupported crossings of very cold dangerous things, was thrown out of the SAS for using their explosives to blow up a film set and who cut off 3 of his own fingers in his garden shed because they had frostbite. I'm quite interested.

Re:

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:58:07 +0000

Christmas Trip - 28th - 30th November - Lake District

So.... who's coming on this trip then?!

If you would like to do a particular route or want to scramble/walk/climb (might not be this option), write here and discuss.....also discuss how excited you all are about coming!!!

Re:

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:53:42 +0000

I was wondering if it would be all right if my sister and her friend came along too as shes staying with me that weekend and I really wanna come to the thingy. Wearing suits is always good fun! Also I don't know how to sign up for it.

Re:

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:04:22 +0000

Simon, Bethan and I are off to Craggy. All are welcome to join.

I'm going from work so I can't offer lifts, I'm afraid... not sure about Simon.

Re:

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:51:53 +0000

Here is a map of all the checkpoints so that you can all reflect on those you went to and didnt see or those you didnt goto but guessed anyway. Basically though, what did people think? I admit to some of the checkpoints being a "bit" ambiguous... but the grid references im fairly sure were pretty accurate - the maps themselves being the weakest link in the chain!

For those that went on the previous night nav and this one what the comparison like? I was hoping for something a little less tame and predicatble, though my personal opinion is that the next one maybe we should drive a minibus to somewhere very countrysidish and do the same style thing as this time as opposed to last time

Anyway heres the map, please post your thoughts and comments on all experiences; really fun, good parts and also bad.

Re:

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:19:43 +0000

Bit of a warning for you all, it turns out that Westway now fits right on the edge of the new congestion charging zone (and I mean right on the edge!).

Anyone planning on going during the week will need to pay the congestion charge, if you should miss the fact that it's within the congestion charging area you will be issued with a lovely 60 quid fine (like me!)

Just thought I would stop the government from claiming anyone elses money cos if there's a sign down there then it's definately not obvious.

Suitably annoyed,
Alex

Re:

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:36:36 +0000

hey guys, well the formal is next week friday, so if you haven't emailed me...I really need to hear from you by this thursday to book you a seat for the meal...get bugging your mates who aint emailed me yet either

Re:

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:34:16 +0000

Hi all,

I climbed with you on Thursday at Bluecoats, say hello if you like.

I climb indoors frequently and climb outdoors whenever the weather is good.

Generally up for all sorts out in nature and have car and kit.

Phil.

Re:

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:41:07 +0000

Hi Matt,

I had a very small amount of chalk left in a manufacturers bag and also some more chalk in a small tupperware tub with elastic bands around it.

Do either of these match what you have ?

Phil.

Re:

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:06:05 +0000

28-30th Nov, Cumbria
Accommodation: Bell Cottage, Glenridding
A hut we've used lots of times before. Nice hut which now has very effective heating and an open fire, though the drying room is very small. Several routes accessible on foot from the hut. Advertised capacity, 16.

Members present: (Apologies if I've spelt anyone's name wrong)
* Will
* Andy
* Kylie
* Mandy
* Shaun
* Tom
* Katie
* Monkey
* Matt Hartgrove
* Matt Burton
* Dave
* Heather
* Pete
* Simone
* Andrea
* Lizzie
* Richard
* Ben Oliver
* Ben Gillies
* James
* Khatija
* Ali
* Seb
* Ben Morgan
* Poitr
* Simon
* Helena
* Victoria
* Ben MacDonald
* David
* Ian Cook
* Seonaid
* Paul
* Gary
* Ed
* Tes
* Jotham

Special guest appearances:
* Don Jenkins
* Cat Trebilco
* Tom Hardinge
* Rich Strofton

Saturday
For a second trip in a row we acheived an impressive 9am start, sending 4 groups out into amazing weather - several inches of perfect snow above about 700 metres, with clear blue skies and no detectable wind. One small group of experienced members tackled Pinnacle Ridge, a grade 3 scramble on St. Sunday Crag made slightly tougher by the snow and ice. One walking group did a rather long ridge walk around Hart Crag, Fairfield and St.Sunday Crag and another walked up High Street. Finally, a scrambling group set out up Deepdale for Greenhow End, but ended up changing plans due to the snowy condition of the scramble, walking up to Fairfield and then to Hart Crag and down again.

In the evening we had our usual full Christmas dinner, impressively cooked over several hours with all 36 people sitting down to eat at the same time - not bad for a kitchen with 1 domestic oven!

Sunday
On Sunday we all set out on foot from the hut, with one group heading over Raise and Low Man to the top of Helvellyn before heading down Swirral and the other two heading up Swirral Edge and down Striding Edge (or the reverse), and enjoying much the same good weather as the previous day. All busses left by about 4:30 and got back to the Union around 11:30-midnight.

Please post any feedback you have here along with any photos/stories etc. Also, post if you have lost any gear or come back with some extra and we'll try and get everyone's kit back to them.

Thanks to everyone who came, it was an amazing trip!

Re:

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:19:41 +0000

I'm looking to join the club, as I'm no longer a student how would i do this? I used to be a member of UWE climbing club, although i haven't climbed in over a year I'm looking to get back into it again.

I was also wondering where you guys climb in the week? Also i don't suppose anyone has any up to date info on the possibility of a climbing wall being built in reading?

Cheers

Re:

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:29:11 +0000

Hi will anyone be at BOB on the 23rd December so I can join the club?

Cheers

Charles

Re:

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:03:26 +0000

All,

Term ends today for the students but as I live in Reading I will be climbing over the xmas period.

I am climbing:

Sunday 14th - Westway Opens at 10am gets busy around midday
Tuesday 16th - Craggy Island, Usually leave 6-6.30
Thursday 18th - Craggy Island or Amersham, Usually leave 6-6.60

I can fit 2 or 3 if you don't mind the middle in th back of my car and you are welcome to come along. A small contribution to fuel is appreciated.

If you are driving yourself, see you there !

Let me know if you want a lift, I'm on pmitch@mail.nu or 07800 690197.

Cheers,
Phil.

Re:

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:17:53 +0000

If anyone is not our christmas drinking as my climbing partner is; do they fancy climbing tonight or tomorrow?

Craggy or Amersham.

Chers,
Phil.

Re:

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:07:08 +0000

23-25th January - Breacon Beacons

If your coming on this trip discuss what you would like to do e.e scramble/walk or any particular route you want to do. If your not coming feel free to suggest any routes you know are good.

Re:

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:53:45 +0000

Lead an HVS
A trip to skye
The welsh 3000' challange in under 24 hours

What about you lot?

Re:

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:27:53 +0000

Wasn't sure where to put these but here we go!

Had a really nice walk today heading out from Cotswolds along the Kennet and Avon and then back through some slightly less scenic 'countryside'.
for those who didn't attend here are some photos of our mini adventure!

The first two feature some dead ends that we found.
See if you can spot the 'bridge' in photo number 3.

Re:

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:45:14 +0000

Hi guys,
I am joining a trip with my friend david Ball (who joined us on the Scotland trip last year) and some of his mates in Tulloch near Fort William for a week's mountaineering in February. They are going from the 21st Feb - 1st March, I will be there from the 23rd - 1st, getting the train up, which is only around £30 if you book this far in advance.

They have a few spaces in the cottage they have hired. It works out at about £10 a night for accomodation. Is anyone interested in joining the trip? All experience levels welcome.

Cheers
Cat x

Re:

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:48:31 +0000

I am hoping to join in with some of the RUMC Easter Scotland trip, and have a spare week afterwards before I'm due in scotland again, so was thinking of staying up there to a) learn to ski on Anoach Mor (next to Ben Nevis) if there is enough snow, or b) do some more mountaineering if there isn't enough snow.

Would anyone be interested in staying on? We'll have to find a cheap bunkhouse, or camp somewhere in Fort William. I'll have a car to transport us around while we're up there, but can't offer lifts home as I'm staying up north.

Cheers
Cat x

Re:

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:21:11 +0000

Is there anybody gonna be in Reading in Easter after the Scotland trip that wouldnt mind terribally (or at least not to my face) if I could stay the night so that I can then catch a train home to Sussex in the morning and not have to pay for over a weeks extra rent in halls at vast extorsion? I am happy to buy drinks and dinner that night in return, and I'm more than willing to sleep on the floor, in a broom cupboard, under the stairs, garden shed (tho maybe only one with heating) etc...

(For anyone that isn't aware of the Scotland trip dates, the night in question is Saturday the 28th March till Sunday 29th March)

Re:

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:02:04 +0000

Does anyone have a copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins I could borrow? I'd be interested to read it but don't really want to buy it.

Anyone read it? What did you think?

Re:

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:09:12 +0000

As there are so many people realted to computers and electroincs in this club I thought some people might be interseted in going.

I'm going off to the IET Turing Lecture about mobile robotics, computer vision, signal processing, medical image analysis and artificial intelligence.
It's at on Tuesday the 27 of Jan and starts at 18:00. For more information look at http://conferences.theiet.org/lectures/lectures/turing/index.htm
Its being held at the IET, Savoy Place, London, WC2R 0BL.

Chris West

Re:

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:10:46 +0000

Anyone up for some climbing this weekend, preferably leading, let me know 07800 690197.

Cheers,
Phil.

Re:

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:10:47 +0000

Anyone up for some climbing this weekend, preferably leading, let me know 07800 690197.

Cheers,
Phil.

Re:

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:35:31 +0000

'Ello folks,

Some of us are planning on going to Revs after the pub tomorrow night in a pre-birthday celebration! All are welcome to come with and join in!

Leave your names here if you're interested and then I can pop you onto the guest list for tomorrow night!

Vicky (a.k.a the vickster!)

Re:

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:41:55 +0000

Accomodation - Dol-y-gaer ex-train station turned scout hut

Members present
Tom P
Shaun
Andy
Kylie
Dave/Monkey
Mandy
Katie Miller
Frankie
Matt B
Mark Hammond
Mark
Ben G
Ben O
Ben M
Pete
Vicky Huth
Katie Grainger
Alex
Paras
Alex Mueller
Liz
Ian/Barbie
Jon Hirons
Heather
Alastair Gabriel
Chris Withers

Guest appearances (somewhat unexpected!)
Vicky J
Phil
Ruth White

Saturday
Managed once again to be out of the hut by 9. Sent 4 groups out - one climbing, two doing a walk around Pen-y-Fan and one navigating around the amusingly named Fan-y-big. Beautiful weather and some exciting encounters with film crews, the SAS, mountain rescue, a bog (Liz) and, in the case of Jon Hirons, the inside of the crag he was supposed to be climbing, meant that a good time was had by all.

We were so efficient that one of the groups finished by 2, and the others not long after 4, so some members investigated the local pub while others commenced the peeling of the potatos for dinner. Bangers and mash, followed by liberal servings of cream ensued, with a rather early evening which still managed to include table wrestling, chair wrestling (Ben G), a cheese fight, cards, guessing games, drinking and general fun all round.

Sunday
Another early departure from the hut taking into account the cleaning and also the discovery of some very inconsiderate mice! Approximately half of the group went for a walk up and encircling the Sugarloaf, again finishing fairly early and stopping for food and drink in Abergavenny, whislt the other half took to climbing in Bristol where upon they met with other fellow mountaineers from RUMC. Everybody returned home to Reading early due to much reduced journey times compared to other trips.

Please post any feedback you have here along with any photos/stories etc. Also, post if you have lost any gear or come back with some extra and we'll try and get everyone's kit back to them.

Thanks to everybody who came making this trip enjoyable and double thanks for the increased efficiency by people in the mornings!

Re:

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:11:02 +0000

For anyone that didn't see at the weekend, I thought you might like to see a mouse house made in our club kit...

Cute you might think, but the little b*****d managed to chew his way through the middle of one of our abseil ropes. Even weirder is that he seems to have a taste for labels - he chewed them off nearly all the cams and slings! Fortunately he only damaged a few of them.

Re:

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:37:46 +0000

I've just started reading Touching the void and I can hardly put it down which is rare for me given my intolerance for the written word. Has anyone got one of his other books I can borrow? I'd be most greatful. I'm away this week so If i dont respond on here, sorr but i'm not being rude.

Matt

Re:

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:43:25 +0000

Mowgli, errrr sorry I mean Phil,

Matt is being all secretive about giving me your phone number (no idea why!) so I'm not sure how else to track you down. You still up for climbing Wednesday or has the weather thrown a spanner in the works with respect to that?

Let me know (give me a ring if it's easier - 07725 255367)

Heather

Re:

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:52:36 +0000

I don't know if anyone heard about a recent death in Australia when a brand new bolt failed and the falling climber's rope was cut on a sharp edge, but here is a video of them removing the bolts from the route. Very very scary. And a good lesson in being wary of all gear no matter how good it looks. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xQt4AbQmJjE&eurl=http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/

The original story and report are here http://www.onsight.com.au/news-blog/articles/37/report-follow-up

Re:

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:27:27 +0000

Hey is anyone up for climbing on sat or sun at craggy? I'll be taking my car and have space for three small people or two larger ones...depends how comfy you want to be on the journey I'll also have Alex with me to start training up (he's never been climbing before) so all help appreciated! lol

Da Vickster

Re:

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:34:50 +0000

Hello everybody,

Matt and I are climbing at Craggy tomorrow. 2 spaces in a car, 3 at a squeeze.

Phil.

Re:

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:38:20 +0000

Hi,

I've been a member of the University of London Mountaineering Club for about 6 years and was on the committee for 2 years. Now I've graduated I'm working in Reading and would be great to meet up with you guys. I'll come along to one of your Tuesday evening pub meets soon

Re:

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:18:52 +0000

Hello all,

I am planning on taking a trip to the Snow and Rock Surrey Superstore tomorrow as I want to buy some new boots for Scotland. Would anyone like to join me? Its a really big store so should have all the outdoorsy things you could dream of! If anyone going to Scotland still needs some gear this might be a good place to go.

I will be driving there leaving Reading probably around 11am ish but I'm free all day so the leaving time is negotiable!

Let me know if you're interested either by replying on here or texting me on 07732799875

Thanks,

Kylie

Re:

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:56:35 +0000

Does anyone fancy getting out on some real rock on saturday? Maybe Avon or Swanage or even the peak at a push?

Re:

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:06:12 +0000

Hi,

I just thought it would be good to start a topic introducing each new member of the committee to those who weren't at the AGM or don't know the people personally.

I'm Pete as most of you probably/hopefully know and I’d just like to say that it’s an honour to be on the committee as Vice - President for next year. Hopefully touch wood it'll be a breeze with many laughs to come. Most of the people I know are those who I’ve met on the trips or at BoB's but next term I’ll endeavour to meet everyone from the climbing side of the club when I actually start coming again, obviously more hassle from Katie and Heather is needed in this respect!

Anyway thanks for reading this, if you got this far hopefully I haven't bored you too much. I shall see you guys at BoB's next week or the upcoming Scotland trip!

Re:

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:29:09 +0000

Anyone interested since there isn't a bus going anywhere?

Re:

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:15:38 +0000

Entries are all in now, but just for your reference here's the rules...

There are 3 categories this year, and each person can enter a picture into 1, 2 or all 3 categories. You may enter the same photo in more than 1 of the categories if you think it qualifies.

The categories are:
Scenery - purty pictures of landscape, views etc. It's OK if there are people in the picture (people on a summit, etc), but the defining quality of the picture should be the scenery.
People - pretty much the reverse. Pictures where people are the subject of the photo, even if they're somewhere scenic.
RUMC - This is a special category for photos that have 'RUMC' in them somewhere. Could be the back of a hoody, could be alphabetti spaghetti, could be a lucky cloud formation or a troupe of performing squirrels - doesn't matter as long as it spells RUMC.

The photos can come from any club event this academic year (ie. from Freshers' week onwards) including club trips, weeknight climbing, walks, socials, night nav or even BOBs.

You submit your photo by emailing it to the committee at rumoutaineering@hotmail.com. The deadline is the end of the day on the 23rd of February - deliberately chosen to give you time to get any photos from the February trip in. You can email large size pictures in - I will resize them all to the same size so that any less technical people aren't at a disadvantage. At some point on the weekend before the AGM the photos will go up on the website (anonymously!) and everyone will be able to vote on their favourite in each category by emailing in to the club account. Voting will close at midday on the day of the AGM (6th of March, for those not paying attention).

Re:

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:17:49 +0000

These are photos that must feature 'RUMC' in them somewhere.

Full size picture: here

Re:

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:27:01 +0000

First entry

Full size copy: here

Re:

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:35:12 +0000

First

Full size copy: here

Re:

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:49:44 +0000

What do you think of the entries then?

Re:

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:13:37 +0000

Thought I'd get the ball rolling. What would people like to do?

I'd like to give the Carn Mor Dearg arete a go, Curve ridge and perhaps a couple of climbs in Stob corie nan Lochan.

Hopefully we should get a bit of feedback on conditions from ben on his return but for the time being here's a link to one of the better forcasts: http://www.mwis.org.uk/forecast.php?area=2

Matt

Re:

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Hi all

I've been climbing now for a good 6 years and i've moved down to Reading with work, I wasn't on the club exec when I was at Uni (I ran the surf club instead) but I used to teach a bit on club trips. It'd be great to catchup with you guys and get out on the rock alot more. I'll head down to one of your pub socials soon.
M

Re:

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:06:58 +0000

OK so because Comic Relief is today (and a huge chunk of the forum has disappeared) does anyone have any jokes? They don't have to be good, just shortish and clean. I've stolen some that I saw on Twitter:

Did you hear about the two peanuts who were walking round a rough neighbourhood? It's a sad story really: one was assaulted

A dog puts advert in a paper: "Woof woof woof woof." He's told he can have an extra woof for free. He replies "But that'd make no sense."

There's bad news in the world of finance: the Isle of Dogs Building Society has collapsed. They've called in the retrievers.

A chicken walks up to a duck standing at the side of the road, and says 'Don't do it mate, you'll never hear the end of it!'

Well I said they didn't have to be good...

Re:

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:27:37 +0000

!!

have been avoiding work this afternoon by spending time on the rocks on campus with ben mcdonnald and re-had an idea that i had last summer to set some boulder problems and create a mini guidebook for the university campus (mainly focused on the rock pile which has now been named "the grotto area" which turns out to be supprisingly dry atm)

anyway we came up with 2 decent routes so far and have plenty of photos to build up a proper description (also already started eying up a third route as we were leaving but not actually climbed it yet...) thing i was wondering is - how to go about grading them? i would figure the closest there is in terms of style in this country is southern sandstone so which grading system does that use? plus is there a reliable way to tell what grade they would be?

here is one of the reasons i was having problems trying to grade it:
if for now i call the 2 routes a and b, then route a is nicely the same hardness all the way up so long as you know where the holds are - if it were a sport route then i reckon itd be f4. b however has a comparitivly very tricky starting move followed by an easier middle and topout so how would that compare on grades? does it get an easier grade with a + for being mainly easier except the starting move, or does it get a harder grade because the routes arent very long anyway so the starting move is a large majority of the route... tis confusing!

all in all this is probably a pointless but amusing venture which will quite satisfactorarily use up a lot of my time when i should be working... plus i get to look weird wlaking onto campus with a bouldering mat! (any tips on cleaning it? - wait for the mud to dry and brush off im guessing...)

Re:

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:51:30 +0000

Does anyone want to get out for some real rock on saturday? I know most of you are off to Scotland though....

Re:

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:00:31 +0000

Accomodation - Malham Parish Hall

Members present
Tom
Shaun
Andy
Kylie
Matt B
Will
Heather
Luke
Simon
Pete H
Ian
Katie G
Seb
Alex Meuller
Ben Morgan

Saturday
With a reasonably timed start the day was split into either climbing at (?) or a walk and scramble around Malham and (?) gill which included a famous section of limestone pavement. Had chilli con carnee with jacket potatoes for dinner which prooved extremely easy and sucessful and was followed with reaction tests, drinking, poker and cards.

Sunday
All went up Penn y gent which is an enjoyable and easy mountain with a return route through fields and along the cannal (which also presented several bridge traverse opertunities!) Was very windy but otherwise good, finishing at a reasonably early time to get an early start home.

Please post any feedback you have here along with any photos/stories etc. Also, post if you have lost any gear or come back with some extra and we'll try and get everyone's kit back to them.

Thanks to everybody who came making this trip enjoyable.

Re:

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:46:46 +0000

Heya - long long time since I tread on these boards - I like what you've done with the place.

I was wondering if you had any of the old galleries and photos still up on the site? I was looking for some images I took a while back for a halloween party.

Anyway - hope the club is still going strong - I had some good times out climbing, hiking and drinking with RUMC.

Re:

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:34:22 +0000

Accomodation - Glen Coe Bunk House

Members present
Andy
Kylie
Tom
Pete
Ruth
Vicky J
Luke
Matt B
Chris W
Cat
Ali
Karim
Ben O
Simone
Seb
Mark
Ben M
Vicky H

Guest Appearance
Rich Stroften

Saturday
A senic 10hr adventure of the motorways between Reading and Glen Coe, particularly the M6...

Sunday
This began with the first of the early mornings out on the hill, ice axe arresting and playing in the snow on Stob Corrie Nan Lochan. Though there wasn't a huge amount of snow about these slopes provided ample playing ground with plenty of steep sledging opertunities. Kicked and followed steps to the top of the ridge then descended to the Clackaig Inn for a pint amid the sounds of lots of Scots and a live band. Had jacket potatoes and chillie concarne for dinner which was by far the least complex meal to prepare.

Monday
Performed a bus swap at either end of the Lairig Gairtain Valley (between Buachaille Etive Beag and Buachaille Etive Mor) with one group summitting the saddle of Buachaille Etive Beag and playing / practicing with crampons and axes and making snow seats. Very tiring day made harder by extremely indecisive weather (which also prevented the summiting group from reaching either of the peaks of Buachaille Etive Beag). Did the club shopping in Morisons (Fort William) and had bangers and mash for tea

Tuesday
A very early start and the goal to summit Ben Nevis from both the tourist track and also a group doing the CMD arrette. Neither group summitted due to horrizontally flying ice, strong winds and reduced visability, however the CMD group did summit Carn Mor Dearg before turning tail. Tuna / vegetable bake for dinner followed by certain members locking a sleeping Tom in the drying room after much port and cheese...

Wednesday
This was a rest day with a "no alarms set" lie-in though everyone still managing to get up at 8.30/9am with some people going to the Ice Factor in Kin Loch Leven to climb or sit in the cafe and others spending the day in Fort William and visiting the local distillery. Annoyingly this was also one of the better weather days even though the forecast had predicted the opposite! Did the club shopping again whilst some returned to prepare a dinner of curry and chips with crumble for dessert. Made far far too much crumble!

Thursday
Returned to Buachaille Etive Beag this time passing the lead / navigation to some of the less experienced members and summitting Stob Cor Raineach despite the wain and spindrift. Whilst the majority of member descended to the pub a few remained and managed to also summit Stob Dubh. Had spagetti bolegnaise for dinner followed by the same certain members picking on the same sleeping Tom by playing noughts and crosses on his arm!

Friday
The group split into three with one group attempting a grade one gully but backing out due to an injury and weather, another group spent the day in the Ice Factor having a go at Ice Climbing, kipping in the cafe and finishing with standard climbing, and the third group (entirely "inexperienced" rumc leaders) performing their own route in the surrounding hills of Kinlochleven acheiving the Na Gruagaichean summit. Thius was a very useful experience for them to get used to route planning and leading in a "safe" but wild environment. Had fish-fingers and chips for tea with bread and butter pudding. Ended the night by performing as much as possible of the cleaning and clearing up.

Saturday
Up at 6.30am to finish packing, cleaning etc and managed to leave the bunk house before 9am. Because we enjoyed it so much on the way up we decided to include another senic motorway adventure, this time in reverse!

Please post any feedback you have here along with any photos/stories etc. Also, post if you have lost any gear or come back with some extra and we'll try and get everyone's kit back to them.

Thanks to everybody who came making this trip enjoyable, especially those who gave their time to help lead and who lent their gear / equipment for others to use.

Re:

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:15:02 +0000

with many thanks to shaun i have become muchly adicted to using spotify to listen to music when im at my computer (see http://www.spotify.com/en/about/what/ if you haven't heard of it - basically i can listen to nearly anything imaginable for free)...

now with an inexhaustable choice of music at my fingertips i find it impossible to choose what to actually listen to and always listen to the same few artists so my quest is to find some new stuff to listen to any suggetsions?! (preferablly for now something that is going to be good background music to work to so not too distracting, but if theres something really wrothwhile educating me with then go ahead!)

Re:

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:14:05 +0000

Ok so I'm not actually homeless at all but I thought I'd just try and get your attention. Sorry.

I'm hoping to move out of my flat in the next month or so (more pennies to spend on mountaineering gear and weekends away!) and move into a shared house. Does anyone currently have an empty room in their house that they are looking to fill with another tenant? Or is anybody needing another person to house hunt with? I don't have many demands apart from that I would like to be fairly close to uni since I walk everywhere and I don't fancy too much of a hike in every morning. Oh and I probably don't want to be in a house with ten undergraduates. No offence meant but I was thinking of something a little more sedate

Anyway if you know of any rooms available please let me know.
Many thanks

Heather

Re:

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:35:04 +0000

My laptop is running really slowly. It's about 5 years old with 512Mb RAM running windows XP with Novell Netware on top (from when I used it at work).

Has anyone got any tips for speeding it along, over and above defragging etc?

And buying a new one is not what I want to hear.

Thanks

Re:

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:24:10 +0000

Hi Guys,

I met some of you guys in BoBs last night and thought I'd get round to posting on here.

Re:

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:22:43 +0000

Me, Ben and another friend are off to craggy on thurdsay at about 18:00. I have one extra space if some one would like to come but you will have to be able to get your self to Worplesdon Rail Station just outside of Guildford,‎ I'll can pick you up from there and then I'll drop you off in Reading.

Re:

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:31:09 +0000

Leave Reading 18:30ish. Currently we have:
Simon/Me (driver)
Bethan
Sian (driver)
Nicky (one of Beths Met friends) (driver)
Claire McConnell (picked up en-route).

Obviously if no-one else wants to come we'll just take one car but if anyone wants to join us we have plenty of potential space.

Who's interested?

Re:

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:52:45 +0000

I'm off again to craggy and I know it's short notice but if anyone wants to go climbing and can get to guildford train station for 6:10 I can pick you up from there and drop you back home.
I'll need to know by 4:50 on thursday.

Re:

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:54:19 +0000

Totally last minute and not really definite... but is anyone around and fancy some trad tomorrow?

Re:

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:57:03 +0000

Hi, must have been several hundred years since I was last on the site! But some of us oldies have been going to craggy on Wednesdays and have a couple of spare seats in the car this week if anyone wants to join us? I think Chris G who came with us last week wanted to come again? So may only be one seat? We usually leave Reading about 6ish. If anyone is keen let me know, my email is sianre@hotmail.comThanks, Sian

Re:

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:46:59 +0000

Hi guys and girls my names jack and i started climbing this easter, i'm itching to get back on the walls and get the new skin off my hands. A whole week of not climbing is far too long!

I did bouldering so we didnt use any ropes, all we needed was shoes (can i hire them?) Do i have to bring any special equiptment or can i just keep doing it my way?

Cheers, look forward to meeting you all.

Re:

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:57:27 +0000

24-26th April - Peak District
Fulwood Scout Hut

Well we don't have long to gossip about this but if your coming on this trip discuss what you would like to do i.e which crags to climb at or if you'd like to do some walking rather than climbing. If you're not coming feel free to suggest any ideas.

Re:

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:07:52 +0000

Hello everybody, my name is Yani, new to the club. I have always been interested in climbing and all the other outdoor activities, however did not have the opportunity to really get involved properly, and now I am ready to give it a proper try. Found this club online so just signed up. A bit comprehensive about starting up as I don't know much about climbing, the club or the events it runs. Can anyone tell me what should I do next? Can't wait to meet you all and learn more about climbing and all the rest of events you do!

Yani

Re:

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:10:24 +0000

Hey everyone, I seem to have been infected with the climbing bug this weekend and would like to go to Craggy on wednesday evening as there's no climbing this thursday (SOCIAL IN JONGLEURS INSTEAD!!) I'll be driving there and have a car with 3 spaces left. If you'd like to come too please post on this page. I'm pretty flexible about times...

Re:

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:22:31 +0000

24th - 26th April 2009 - Sheffield
Accommodation: 142 Fulwood Scout Hut, Sheffield
This is a hut we have used on previous trips, fairly well facilitated for a summer bbq trip and one big room style (with an extra room for kit).

Trip Members present: (Apologies if I've spelt anyone's name wrong)
* Tom Perrin
* Ruth White
* Katie Grainger
* Heather Campbell
* Tes Matthews
* Luke Vincent
* Matt Burton
* Ben Gillies
* Ben Morgan
* Christian Vogl
* Ben Oliver
* Chris Whithers
* Mike McLean
* Ali Gabriel
* Karim Chenouf
* Kate Schofield

Special guest appearances:
* Andy Arbon
* Kylie Richards
* Phil Mitchell
* Matt Clifford
* Don Jenkins
* Matt Hartgrove
* Dave Finch
* Random Sam
* Rich Stroften
* Becky

Saturday
An early start arriving at Burbage North at 8.45am! Began the day at Ash Tree Wall moving on to Billberry Wall in the afternoon. Had a mixture of top ropes and leading / seconding plus some bouldering with everyone having the opertunity to climb at a range of grades. On return to the hut we had a 101 climbing training session kindly provided by Don followed by a generous amount of food which was eventually BBQ'ed. The end of the evening saw some people sleeping after a long days activities and a much smaller contingent sitting outside in the cold by the fire happily drinking till the early hours.

Sunday
After a lie in till approx 8am we got the first ferry load of people to the crag - Dover's Wall, Stanage - by about 9.30. Set up a top rope and got people from sleeping to leading by the afternoon. Monkey and Matt H arrived in the afternoon to have a bit of a climb and then drive all the way home again the same evening in a nice new minibus.

Please post any feedback you have here along with any photos/stories etc. Also, post if you have lost any gear or come back with some extra and we'll try and get everyone's kit back to them.

I hope everyone enjoyed the trip as much as us, we would also like to give special thanks to all our car drivers, Phil and Tes for spending so long searching Sheffield, Don for his help at the crag and his teaching session, and also a massive thank you to Monkey and Matt for driving up from Reading to rescue us!!!

Re:

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:33:05 +0000

For the attention of all new members or those interested in joining:

Please have a read of our welcome page; http://rumc.co.uk//page.php?3 and / or our "should I join" page: http://rumc.co.uk//page.php?4. These pages contain a lot of information about the club in general, our activities and the best ways to find us. You can email any specific questions to rumoutaineering@hotmail.com or ask in this thread where we will be happy to reply

In terms of joining the Reading University Mountaineering Club you have already taken your first seps by registering on the forum - most of our organisation happens through this website and forum so it is important that you are registered. To officially register with the club and have access to our equipment, transport, insurance etc it is essential that you complete a RUMC membership form (there is one attached for download below) and hand this in person to a committee member. Club membership costs vary throughout the year and are detailed on the rules page here: http://rumc.co.uk/page.php?18 This must be paid in full upon joining.

Please use this forum board to introduce yourself and say hello, and we hope to see you getting involved soon!

The RUMC Committee

Membership from download:
RUMC Membership Form

Re:

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:19:30 +0000

Hey Everyone, I'm Hamish, i'm into music, history, hockey and huge monolithic mounds of rock what can be scaled.

Used to climb alot but my boots have, alas been collecting dust for far too long. I mainly scaled mediveval buildings but the great outdoors put a smile on my face just as much!

Hope i'll see some of you whenever your next gathering is!?

Love and Stuff, Hammy

Re:

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:46:09 +0000

In a shameless effort to avoid revision I thought it would be a nifty idea for RUMC to go web 2.0.

Since Spotify is becoming increasingly popular, and as a result of Tom's muscial education thread, I've used it to create a collaborative playlist. This means we all get to contribute (as long as you have Spotify) to the content, and we can build up a diverse and representative list of all the music that members like listening to. I'm not entirely sure what practical use this has, but it's fun. Honest.

To get things going Tom and I have amassed a few songs that we like; take a look and add some of your own.

http://open.spotify.com/user/srlowman/playlist/1Au6BLYWzIHuTVUs2z4WpF (this link is also in the menu system under Resources\External Links\RUMC Spotify Playlist)

Re:

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:47:07 +0000

Hello

Is anyone up for a potential trip trad climbing to the Avon gorge on saturday?

Weather looks nice

Re:

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:21:07 +0000

I will be off work Tues/Wed next week and Kylie is otherwise engaged in exams/revision..

Anyone want to go climbing? I'm open to any suggestions as to venue (can do an overnighter or day trips, don't mind).

Re:

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:35:04 +0000

This is quite an interesting list, might warrant a link on the website somewhere?
http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/Mistakes.htm

This would be a good place to discuss the list in that article, if anyone disagrees with anything there/doesn't understand why it's bad/thinks it requires expanding on.

Re:

Wed, 06 May 2009 06:07:44 +0000

Have 2 spaces in my car, 3 if you like to be cosy.

Leaving Union car park at 6.30pm.

Phil - 07800 690197

Re:

Thu, 07 May 2009 16:21:47 +0000

Anyone interested in some potential cragging at the weekend?

Avon? Swanage?

It turned out that 4 in a car is actually cheaper than going to Craggy by quite a long way!

Re:

Fri, 08 May 2009 16:51:53 +0000

As I can't climb on thursday I was wondering if anyone wants to climb on sunday afternoon? I'll be driving my car and have 2 spaces free... Location is flexible if anyone has other suggestions...

Re:

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:19:22 +0000

So... a few people said they might be free this weekend for a daytrip somewhere for some climbing.

Obviously this is weather dependant, but who's up for it, which day/s is/are best and where do you want to go?

Re:

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:36:10 +0000

Just thought I'd let people know there's a bunch of us heading to Amersham tonight.
I'm afraid I can't offer lifts as my car is already full but if anyone is interested in joining us
and has their own transport we should get there around 19:30.
Already going are:
Simon
Bethan
Sian
Nicky
Mark
Chris
Claire McConnell
Matt Clifford
Debbie

Re:

Wed, 13 May 2009 16:04:35 +0000

22nd - 24th May
Cornwall
Trevaylor Campsite

If you're coming on this trip please feel free to discuss what you would like to do. I know quite a few people have expressed an interest in walking so we can certainly think about this for one (or both if there's demand) of the days.

Re:

Mon, 18 May 2009 10:07:15 +0000

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven , God went missing for six days. Eventually, Archangel Michael found him on the seventh day resting. He enquired of God, 'Where have you been?'
God pointed downwards through the clouds. Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, 'What is it?' 'It's a planet,' replied God, 'and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance.' 'Balance?' inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing down to different parts of the Earth. 'For example, North America will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while South America is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot, and Russia will be a cold spot. Over there I've placed a continent of white people and over there is a continent of black people.'
God continued, pointing to the different countries.
This one will be extremely hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.'
The Archangel , impressed by God's work, then pointed to another area of land and asked, 'What's that?'
'Ah,' said God. That's the North of England, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful people, seven Premiership football teams in the North West alone, and many impressive cities; it is the home of the world's finest artists, musicians, writers, thinkers, explorers and politicians. The people from the North of England are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found travelling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hard-working and high-chieving, and they will be known throughout the world as speakers of truth.'
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, 'What about balance God, you said there will be BALANCE!'
God replied very wisely,

'Wait till you see the bunch of tossers I'm putting down South!

Re:

Mon, 18 May 2009 14:44:04 +0000

Anyone up for some craggy action on wednesday morning? My brother and I are heading up from sussex, anyone fancy meeting us there?

Re:

Tue, 19 May 2009 11:47:28 +0000

I shall be thoroughly bored of revision and have not been to cornwall so fancy doing something.

Tom suggested Dorset. I would be happy to drive there. Perhaps Hedbury Quarry? Am happy to take advice as I don't actually know anything about the climbing there.

Obviously all depends on weather. Plus, i realised it'll be a bank holiday and therefore quite possibly full of tourists, particularly on the roads, which may influence location. I don't like traffic jams!!!

Anyone interested?

Re:

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:27:21 +0000

So has anyone got any plans for this weekend then? Looks like the weather should be pretty good. Anyone doing anything exciting?

Re:

Thu, 21 May 2009 13:15:46 +0000

Does anyone have ay of the following that are available for the cost of a pint (ie pretty much just junk parts):

computer power supply
graphics card
ram (ddr or sdram)
hard disks (make sure its formatted and never contained anything sensitive tho)

Re:

Tue, 26 May 2009 11:15:55 +0000

22nd - 24th May 2009 - Cornwall
Accommodation: Trevaylor Campsite, St Just
Same campsite as used previously. Good showers, nice pasties and only minimal telling off for being rowdy!

Trip members present:
Luke Vincent
Katie Grainger
Tom Perrin
Pete Holman
Matt Williamson
Heather Campbell
Vicky Jessup
Ben Gillies
Ben Oliver
Ali Gabriel
Karim Chenouf
David Fairbairn
Mark Hammond
Seb Foli
Simone Holzer
Emily Palmer
Piotr Abramczyk

Saturday
We had a not so early start due to arriving at the campsite around 2am. Harnesses and shoes were kindly loaned to us from the very generous University of Kent Mountaineering Club (yes, we left the bag behind in reading but at least we didn't lose a minibus!) A large group went climbing at Sennen Cove with a smaller group walking to Land's End. An 'interesting walk in was followed by climbing around the Sunday/Monday Face area.A mixture of top roping and leading/seconding was combined with a large amount of sunbathing. A successful BBQ offered a large selection of cremated food with in roads made into experimental halloumi eating. This was followed by an evening of drinking and mingling with fellow climbers fromt he aforementioned Kent Uni.

Sunday
A bit of lie-in took place on the Sunday but tents and kit were eventually packed up quickly and efficiently. After an unintelligible conversation with a car parking attendant we finally ended up in the same car aprk as on Saturday. A small group of dedicated walkers headed off to Cape Cornwall for the day. the rest of the trip members took a gruelling hike across the beach to set up camp for the day. Activities included; rock pool exploration, paddling, getting disciplined by a lifeguard, burying the president, sunbathing, digging excessively large holes and cream tea/ice cream/chip eating. The hard core climbers undertook an excusrion to the Demo/Central Area of Sennen where the new high adrenaline sport of extreme paddling was invented. A small amount of leading/seconding also took place. Everyone was returned to Reading slightly sunburnt - helmet tan lines are soooooooo attractive - after a happy journey involving two and a half hours of overyl enthusiastic karaoke.

A HUGE thank you to the University of Kent Mountaineering Club for lending us kit on Saturday. We couldn't have done it without them.

Please post any feedback you have here along with any of your stories and photos that you'd liek to share. If you've mislaid anything or seem to have accumulated soembody else's kit stuff then let us know and we'll try and make sure it gets back to it's rightful owner.

Thank you to everyone for making this an awesome trip. Hopefully you all had as much fun in the sun as we (your loving committee) did

Re:

Wed, 27 May 2009 13:05:35 +0000

Hello

At the moment we are planning on making a daytrip to dartmoor (or possibly the peak) on saturday for a relaxed day climbing. Does anyone fancy joining us (although you may need another car) either for the day or overnighting it and we can join you or meet you down there.

Re:

Sat, 30 May 2009 16:43:54 +0000

Hi all,

Would any of you be up for a day of trad tomorrow - maybe heading west eg Wintour's Leap/Wye Valley? I've unexpectedly got the day free, so it would be good to make the most of it (was previously going to have to work).

I'm not at the Uni, but am Reading-based and it would be good to find someone local to share the petrol cost with. I'm happy to drive, and have all the required gear. Or if there is a pair of you who want to climb on your own, I'm happy to spend the day soloing and meet up for the drive home later on.

UKC profile is here:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/profile.php?id=13246

I'll be online for about the next hour, but I don't have access at home at the moment, so later than that it is best to text or call me on the mobile: 07879-601683.

Cheers,

Chris

Re:

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:10:51 +0000

Ok I'm heading to font in a couple of weeks for the first time any advice on stuff i need to take with me or the best places to camp and climb?

Re:

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:45:00 +0000

Hi, was wondering whether anyone wanted to go indoor climbing Thursday evening and if they do if there is space in anyones car?

Re:

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:29:22 +0000

I'm looking at buy a new tent as my old one has bitten the dust. I would like to know what people would recommend.
It should sleep 1-2 people, I will be using it for camping in Europe from the spring though to autumn.
Weight is a factor it would be likely that I will be flying to the destinations.

Thanks
Chris W

Re:

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:40:11 +0000

Hey Everyone, been way too long! I'll be back soon though

In the meantime I've got a friend at Dance Umbrella who is looking for rock climbers to take part in this years London Urban Bodies

Application need to be in by June 9th, check out info at http://www.danceumbrella.co.uk

The performance itself isn't until October, spread over 3 days.

Looking forward to climbing with you guys again
Love
RSJ

Re:

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:15:05 +0000

I wanted to say thank you for everything and to say goodbye !
I am back in France (south), trying to fill the emptiness before going on the road again. So if one day in the near or distant future you feel the urge to climb real mountains (I did Scafell pike, nice hill ) and you want advice, translations, help of anykind, just contact me :
benjamin.bigben@hotmail.co.uk

Arrivederci

Re:

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:01:19 +0000

I'm hoping to head to craggy tomorrow. Leave Reading about 18:30. 4 spaces. Who's interested?

Re:

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:43:33 +0000

19th - 21st June
Snowdonia
Gwern Gof Uchaf Campsite

If you're coming on this trip please discuss what you would like to do. Does anyone have any particular walks/scrambles that they're interested in?

Also this is a camping trip so you will need a roll mat and sleeping bag. Let us know if you don't have these and we will see if we can find stuff to lend you. In Cornwall everyone managed to organise themselves quite nicely into tents so if you want to do a similar thing again then you could post that info here as well.

Re:

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:34:57 +0000

London & South East Summer MeetHarrison�s Rocks

11 & 12^th July 2009

Aim

This is an opportunity to meet with other BMC members and clubs from around the London & South East, climb some fantastic sandstone routes, socialise and enjoy a world class BBQ! We have chosen the weekend of the 11^th& 12^th of July as the Met Office has guaranteed it will be sunny!Why Harrison�s?Harrison�s Rocks is a sandstone crag about a mile and half from the village of Groombridge in Kent. We�ve chosen this location for the meet as it is one of the most extensive of the sandstone crags and is relatively easy to get to from central London. Harrison�s has over 330 routes and provides some challenging climbs. The routes range in height between15 feet to 30 feet. Who is it for?Everyone! Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.Access by carHead south from the village of Groombridge (approx 4.5 miles West of Tunbridge Wells) past the triangular village green. At the first fork in the road turn left onto Station Road which becomes Eridge Road. Harrison�s is down a small driveway about 200 meters down Eridge Road on the right hand side, a sign will be there all weekend. Continue down this track/road for a few hundred meters and you should reach the car park & campsite (OS Ref 532 355). From the car park head south though the woods to the crag. Access by trainThe nearest train station is Eridge. Trains leave from London Bridge for Eridge at 8 minutes past the hour and the journey takes 55 minutes. Eridge Station is located approximately 1 mile south of the rocks. From Eridge station, turn right and, after a few yards, turn right again along Forge Road. Follow the road until the railway crossing, head over the crossing and you will reach the southerly point of the rocks. ProgrammeSaturday 11^th JuneMeet at the crag from 11am, organisers will be wearing red T shirts.Climb all dayBBQ at 6pm, some food will be provided but you are advised to bring your own drink.Camp at Harrison�s Campsite � bring your own entertainment (fire juggling provided!)

Sunday 12^th June

Climb all dayDepartFor those of you who don�t know it, Harrison�s is a great place to climb and a fantastic place to spend a weekend. If you have any questions or require any additional information please email:

Contact: Liam Hughes on liamphughes@yahoo.co.uk

Martin Kocsis
Volunteers' Officer
The BMC
177-179 Burton Road
Manchester
M20 2BB
www.thebmc.co.uk
Switchboard: 0161 445 6111
Direct Line: 0161 438 3336
Fax: 0161 445 4500
Registered in England and Wales
A company limited by guarantee Number 2874177

Re:

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:05:56 +0000

I got an email about this today and thought it might appeal to some people on here. Its a team competition thing to win a trip to antarctica by doing some osrt of sustainability project.

Not sure I've explained that very well but read the website!

http://www.npower.com/FutureLeaders/

Re:

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:30:29 +0000

Has anyone ever been to Alton wall?

I went last night and think it would be ideal for the club (although a little pricey perhaps for freshers).

It is in Alton, and it took me just under 45 minutes to get back last night (and I was stuck behind a granny for half the way, and a tesco lorry for the other half so I wasn't going faster than a minibus).

It's a pretty reasonable wall, although it is about the same price to get into as craggy. There are 26 (ish) rope lines, divided between top rope and leading, with a good spread of grades, and 2 autobelays. So bigger than Oxford but smaller than craggy.
Then there is a bouldering wall which is about 4m high and 10 long. THere are a lot of problems on here, again at all grades and angles.

So... not bad but you are thinking that the price is putting you off. Craggy is bigger for the same price.

However, Alton has one thing going for it that no other wall round here offers....

I was there from about 6.30 to 8.30 last night and after the youth climbing group (about 8-10 of them, mostly not getting in the way) had gone there were 4 people on the bouldering wall, and eventually 4 more people on the roped walls. So, a massive 8 people climbing on a thursday night.

It may not be an ideal regular haunt (although it costs the same as craggy and is bigger than Oxford), but I would definitely recommend visiting it every now and again as a change from craggy. It's only the same distance as craggy and oxford.

Re:

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:27:42 +0000

Leaving Reading at 18:30. Who's interested?

Re:

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:16:58 +0000

If anyone would like to share a lift down to Portland on Saturday, myself and a climbing partner are aiming to head down there from Reading for the day (we haven't decided which area yet). Preferably if two of you want to climb together and would just like a lift down there, although you could probably twist our arms if you can't find anyone to climb with...

Drop me an email or call if you're interested in coming along. Mobile number is 07879-601683, and email is chris_sansum@hotmail.com.

Cheers,

Chris

Re:

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:21:24 +0000

Hi all,

Bit short notice, but just in case any of you are not heading to Snowdonia, but would like to do a day trip climbing, three of us (Reading locals, not club members) will be heading down to Portland from Reading tomorrow (Sat 20th June). We could do with an extra person to even up the numbers, so if someone is interested in coming along, give me a call on the mobile (07879-601683). If I don't answer, send me a text msg, as I'll be at a gig later (& I'll call you back).

Cheers,

Chris

Re:

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:48:10 +0000

My name is Evan Owen
i moved to the UK about 8 months ago..from Medford Oregon in the US..
i love the out doors, Climbing especialy!
but wile i have been in the UK i havent climbed much at all
so im deffinatly stoked to get back in to it!

I work at work house coffee shop in reading (on the Oxford road)
so if you are in the area stop in...
and im going to try and stop by Bobs some time very soon.

thanks for reading,
-Evan

Re:

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:09:39 +0000

Hi all,

This is a bit of a test of the water, i've got 2 climibng films i want to watch:

The North Face: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844457/
Verticle Limit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190865/

And a big TV, so hand wavey plan is to have a film night at mine on Wednesday the 1st of July, and hopefully fewer than about 10 people will want to come else we can't all fit into my flat. So just for starters who'd be interested? First film will be The North Face with Verticle limit after if there's time.

Also just to a warning, i'm on the dark side of Reading... but i have parking permits aplenty and its on the Number 17 bus route! http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=rg302sp&daddr=A327%2FShinfield+Rd&geocode=%3BFejvEAMd3HPx_w&hl=en&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=51.450637,-0.974607&sspn=0.027868,0.077162&ie=UTF8&ll=51.449835,-0.977526&spn=0.027868,0.077162&z=14

Mikey

Re:

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:15:58 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U0tDU37q2M - climbing the north face of uxbridge road...

Re:

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:27:42 +0000

RIght i have a car for 2 weekends of use.

so i thought why not go to the peaks for a weekend.

either weekend of 3-5th or the 10th to the 12th. (or both).

possibly staying at hope hardhurst campsite whihc is 4quid a night with free hot showers... and a pub next door (Y)

any one want to come ?

Portland on sunday, most likely blacknor

Me (driving)
Heather
Tes
You?

Re:

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:45:37 +0000

Hello island climbers

My name is Luka and I'll be in Readind for three months (September-December) - studying.

I am trying to find out about boulder or a lead wall gym in Reading or in vicinity.

As I understand there isn't one in Reading but in vicinity?!

When I arrive who should I contact first etc.

Best wishes to you all

Luka

Re:

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:44:04 +0000

Leave Reading 18:30ish

So far I believe we have:
Simon
Bethan
Chris Gawthorpe
James
Alex
Frankie
Jon Hirons
Olivia
Caroline (Olivias sister)

Anybody else interested or that I've forgotten?

Re:

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:25:06 +0000

The clue's pretty much in the title with this one.

I'm off to Chamonix next week with my family, so it's unlikely we'll be doing anything too adventurous, but does anyone know any good walks, places to go etc?
Keeping to the weight limit seems pretty tricky too, so is there any gear I can't do without (apart from the obvious?). Any websites/guides I should check out before leaving?

A quick check of the weather sees that I can look forward to temperatures of 20C and light drizzle. Super.

Re:

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:52:29 +0000

Feel free to add any other remarkable tales of adventure, ineptidue and stupidity you think of from the gloriously sunny week in Wales....

Tale One - Pulpit route:

Once upon a time not so long ago there was a week in north wales in which it was actually sunny! On one of the days that week Kylie and I were following Matt and Heather up Pulpit route (V Diff?, 4 pitches) on the side of Tryfan. The route started with Kylie taking the lead on a pleasantly easy first pitch unfortunately however even at the first pitch there were signs of iminent adventure as Kylie managed to stray dramatically off-route whilst providing herself a lovely long run-out (which did at least mean that I could second the route up its orriginal course). We stopped and switched leads at the first convienient looking belay disapointed to find that the gingernuts promised us had not been left by Matt and Heather.

Not long into my first lead of the route I came accross a substantial ledge and some very inviting biscuits - it became clear that we hadnt reached the first belay point when we swapped... still the next pitch couldnt be too long and i decided to just keep going. once round the back of the pulpit and starting up the slabby face with a not too friendly holy bush i began to realise that i had been a bit too eager with my gear placements and was now lacking many of the more useful components of our not-very-tom-like-rack. Just at the line of the bush the route switched place between two slabs with a minimally overhanging move between the two and already a moderate runout below - this prompted me to place a very solid no. 5 nut and having performed the move i looked down to be scary witless when I noticed the extender quickdraw looking very odd as though a fall would unclip the sling - on top of the the lovely pulpit boulder from earlier was now causing substanitial drag... with a hasty downclimb and a quickening of the heart I replaced the quickdraw and double / tripple checked it before once again proceeding. I was then leading my way upto and through the lovely looking square trough beyond which was the beckoning belay stance but to my misfortune my rack was now seriously deminished so I was working with runouts longer than I'd normally expect to see (though I do admit here to a slight bias due to the fact I enjoy placing gear every one to two feet!) I did very fashionably at this point manage to find a solid thread through which I could feed and clip both ends of a wire nut which pleased me greatly! Just as I was moving through the trough I received a most worrying radio message to the effect that I only had 2m of rope left and I hadn't reached the belay point, to this end and after conversing with matt who was in sight ahead I set myself up in a most uncomfortable and arkward belay right in the middle of the trough. Unfortunately when Kylie had finally managed to free the stuck no. 5 and reach me it transpired that infact she had said 10m not 2m and I would have made the belay point with ease!

Putting this behind us Kylie began the short lead to the belay stance without swapping gear due to the shortness of the pitch, once there she set up a temporary belay given the odd assortment of gear available and I followed her up then continuing with another very short lead to the foot of the third pitch (a short way behind - essentially a scamble but with a desire for protection) however again due to not being very far we didn't spot the need to swap gear and so once in possition I found myself lacking all the necessary gear to set up a belay - with an extended quickdraw round a tree and a bit of clovehitching I rigged a very temporary belay for kylie to meet me and help set up the belay properly (which involved a bit of climbing and downclimbing in a confined space to reach placements).

Once finally set up kylie led the third (or by this time fifth) pitch with a most exhilerating overhanging finish over the edge of a very large drop but no unnecessary or fafftastic mistakes other than to perform a perplexing piroette, on following her the very well choosen single shoulder ropebag prooved most inconvenient for the finishing move and many feet got stuck (in the same places as Kylie's had before hand - I just failed to take heed!) The final pitch lead by myself and described in the book by a dyslexic or at least someone with no sense for left and right turned out to be a wonderfully easy and event free pitch finishing at the top of Little Gully which was bearing tat and looking prime of an abseil or perhaps possible as a down scramble.

The book however had other ideas as it describes to us an easy descent so we ignored the tat laden scramble and headed up tryfan and off to the right looking for an easier descent which Kylie thought she had spied. On reaching the next gully (our planned descent) we discovered another tat filled descent but the route looked a fair bit more iffy in terms of downscrambling so unpacking our nicely put away ropes and tieing them together we then threaded the krab on the tat, coiled the ropes and threw them down the gulley. It was an almost immediate disaster as the ropes had not fallen very far before stopping on a ledge below and one of the ends was sitting in a tree above! Despite this I affixed myself to the rope and began the descent, pulling the rope out of the tree was fairly straight forward but re-throwing the ropes only ended in another ledge a little further down, the game proceeded in a series of short descents between sharp drops and wet ledges until I reached a second ab-point and a knot in the rope (luckily I had a nice big ledge to stand on and some more tat to clip into at this point!) After much unknotting and another rethrow I possitioned myslef to drop very arkwardly down a slippey green waterfall and hopped / bounced / slipped / pretended to abseil properly to the path at the foot of the gully passing my foot under many waterfalls on the way...

Once at the bottom and the ends of the ropes (they reached down both pitches with about a meter and a half to spare) I then signalled up for Kylie to follow who then underwent the same treatment minus the continual rethrowing of ropes. Having remember to check which rope to pull down we began only to find our knot got stuck in the rocks / trees not far from the top. Much pulling and flicking in both dirrections eventually freed the knot and allowed it to temporarily get stuck again further dow the route. Eventually though we retrieved two once new but now fairly damp / soggy half ropes and made a final stumbling descent to the waiting crowd (Andy, Matt and Heather) having increased the number of pitches for pulpit route to 6 and also setting the record for the longest / most entertaining descent.

Needless to say it was mighty good fun!

Re:

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:07:55 +0000

19th - 21st June 2009 - Snowdonia
Accommodation: Uchaf Campsite, Base of Tryfan
The weekend was generally wet, with low cloud covering tops of the surrounding mountains.

Trip members present:
Luke Vincent
Ruth White
Tes Matthews
Matt Williamson
Shaun Lowman
Ben McDonald
Ben Morgan
Ben Gillies
Ben Oliver
Ali Gabriel
Karim Chenouf
Catherine Plondon
Dave Finch
Mark Hammond
Mikey
Christian Vogl

Guest Appearance
Matt Burton
Bethan
Olivia
Jon
Simon

Saturday
Woke up, could barely see tryfan, not the start we wanted.
1 group went scrambling up tryfan
1 group went for a short walk around a lake, but ended up on top of tryfan through navigational errors through fog.
1 group went climbing on little tryfan and found the film set for 'clash of the titans' in a slate quarry
BBQ in rain finally found a place in car park which was "dry" chicken was perfectly cooked.
went to the pub which was lovely and warm.

Sunday
slightly less wet, group went for walk around lakes
group went climbing a idwal slab
group went up glyder fach in fog, thought they had ended up on krypton
came home

Please post any feedback you have here along with any of your stories and photos that you'd like to share. If you've mislaid anything or seem to have accumulated soembody else's kit stuff then let us know and we'll try and make sure it gets back to it's rightful owner.

Re:

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:55:27 +0000

I have a vague recollection of something going on in August (hut might have been booked or similar)

Mid August I think like the we 15/16 or 22/23

Am I mad ??

Re:

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:09:07 +0000

Ok so as wisely suggested by Kylie I thought I'd start a new thread since the last one was quite confusing.

This coming weekend myself, Luke and Tes are heading up to the Peaks to either get eaten by midges if its sunny or sit in the pub if its rainy. If we have some magical inbetween weather we'll be climbing!

As far as I know Matt H and Katie are around for bits of climbing and bits of Cliffhanger. Matt B is about for climbing on Sunday.

Kylie are you still thinking of coming? I know Dave faribarin was interested in coming if he could find a lift up so if you're trying to fill a car then he'd be worth try. Ruth were you contemplating joining us?

And Luke what on earth is the plan? When are we leaving? Where are we staying? I assumed I got to share your tent but does Tes have one? Otherwise we'll need to source something so we all have somewhere to sleep. Let me know

Re:

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:40:59 +0000

Hey guys,

Anyone planning on heading down to Craggy later?

Re:

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:08:17 +0000

Does anyone want to go for an evening at craggy on weds?

Re:

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:23:08 +0000

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about hatfield uni climbing wall? as in is it any good / expensive / worth it / not worth it etc? other options I can think of and have as a comparison amount to amersham (bit further to drive), london walls (expensive and again further but probly much better) and craggy (quite a lot further but no more than it is from reading, pretty good for climbing and theres the potential for people i already climb with / know)...

I have heard theres a couple of people in the place im working that climb (and i think go to hatfield) so am now on a mission to track them down and just talk about climbing options in the area in general (i think the hertfordshire mountaineering club was a bit of a drive from st albans so am kinda hoping theres somat closer)

all in all this might be a futile question as many people in the club havent really been that dirrection but i know theres a few who have so was wondering in hope...

Re:

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:01:16 +0000

Christian and I are heading to either Westway or Craggy tonight so will have 2 spare seats in my motor, any takers? Leaving about 6:30 from somewhere on campus.

Re:

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:12:01 +0000

I think I did mention this elsewhere but in case you didnt see it there is a group of us heading up to the Peaks on the 24th for the weekend. There will be about 8 of us in total.

The plan is to camp on the Western side of the peaks near the Roaches (http://www.roachestearooms.co.uk/camping.html) and climb nearby.

At the moment we've got a couple of cars going but I think they are both full so if you would like to attend then you will need to arrange your own transport or if there are a few people who want to join in then we do have a third driver who may be willing to drive if enough people want to join.

You will need to be able to bring your own gear or arrange to borrow club gear if needed (we wont have any spare gear for people to borrow).

Re:

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:26:15 +0000

HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"

Re:

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:12:50 +0000

This sounds like it might be interesting if you can get yourself to Taplow

Doug Scott Lecture – “The Three Peaks” This is a visual presentation given by Doug Scott about his adventurous challenges climbing the worlds three highest peaks; Mount Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga

Wednesday 16^th September 2009 – 7:30 start

Venue: SGI-UK, Taplow Court, Taplow, Berks SL6 0ER.

Tickets: £15 (£12 for students and over 60s) available from Anne-Marie Rogers 01753 848944 anne-marie.rogers@thameshospicecare.org.uk

Money raised from the ticket sales will be shared between Thames Hospicecare based in Windsor/Ascot and Community Action Nepal.

Re:

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:32:36 +0000

Would anyone be up for a day of trad on Sunday? I don't mind where, although Wintour's Leap would be good. Forecast seems ok in that direction - mainly dry but with the chance of a couple of short showers. I'm happy to drive, and don't mind climbing at any grade (except stupidly hard).

Mobile number is 07879-601683. I'm unlikely to have web access before Sunday, so if you're up for this, send me a text or call me on the mobile.

Cheers,

Chris

Re:

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:08:05 +0000

Seeing as Mandy is due to finish the 9 month baking process any minute now i reckon its time to start the baby bingo ball rolling. Although i wanted the winner to be able to name the baby Monkey arranged a different prize for the winner, a choice between baby sitting or a hand shake from the parents. So its all to play for. Closest person wins!

To level the playing field a bit the doctors predict that its a girl, due on the 5th of August. We all know that both Mandy and Monkey aren't the biggest of people so it's going to be light for baby, which is great to know if you know what your standard baby weighs...

Only rule is that you can't choose a date or weight that someone else has chosen.

I'll set the ball rolling with: 9th of August and 5lb.

Re:

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:05:29 +0000

Does anyone know why BMI is still used for anything, given that it seems to be so inaccurate for so many people? I've just been playing with the NHS online 'target weight' calculator:
http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx?Tag=Calculators

According to this thing I would need to lose about 7kg to put me in the centre of the 'healthy' band. To put that in perspective, that's marginally under 10% of my body weight, or a whopping 54,013 calories worth of body fat! I'm pretty sure it'd be impossible for me to lose 7kg without either dessicating myself or amputating a large apendage (snigger).

BMI is famously innacurate for muscular people - rugby players apparently tend to come out as obese (and I mean proper brick shithouse rugby players, not a fat bloke in a rugby shirt), but I'm not in that category.

So if BMI is complete fiction for an averagely healthy person like me, who is it good for?

Re:

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:52:31 +0000

Hi all

Seeing as we have plenty of computer types in the club, I would appreciate a bit of advice. Last night Mandy accidentally opened a trojan on her laptop. It appears to be called banker 5, and AVG caught it virtually instantly, however it didn't seem to catch all of it. It created a new file in C: called Winnt_ and started running loads of files winnt1, winnt2, ... winnt6 and winnt R1, winntR2 etc.

So we turned off the wireless, deleted the files that AVG caught, ran a full scan that came up blank, ran spybot that found an altered registry key. Then I realised that I had perhaps made an error and we tried to repeat that this morning in safe mode. THe spybot came back with nothing, but midway through the AVG scan, the laptop turned off. She started it again (in safe mode) but it turned off again. Has anyone got any ideas?

And yes, we checked that it is plugged in!

Oh yeah, she's running vista and the latest versions of AVG etc.

Re:

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:45:48 +0000

Hey,

Anyone fancy heading down to Craggy this evening?

I'll be driving one car down at around 18:30 from College Road,

So far I believe I've got

Simon
Luke
Me
(maybe house mate Will)

might be one squashed or two seats going depending on house mate - or more if someone else can drive?

Re:

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:23:36 +0000

So we (the committee) were wondering if anyone misses having a club newsletter? How do people feel about it? Is it a good thing to have or are people glad to see the back of it? Should we try and resurrect it but maybe just put it up online in PDF format? Or should we just try and increase the content on our website and include more articles/in depth information? Would club members be willing to help write bits to go in a newletter or is that realistically just too much work?

Obviously people will have different opinions so we won't be able to please everyone BUT all thoughts/comments/suggestions etc. gratefully received

Re:

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:37:51 +0000

does anybody fancy a climb or two at amersham on any evening in the next fortnight?

Re:

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:29:23 +0000

No hard set plan yet but am begining the plans for a camping-climbing trip to dorset for a mix of sport and trad (depending on who goes) on the 22nd/23rd august
whoever comes would need to be self-sufficient or arrange for themselves borrowing kit from the club and i shall look into campsites once i have a rough idea of how many show interest (if its a reasonably small group my gran may be willing to let us pitch up... failing that there are lots of nearby campsites)

anyway any takers? so far its me and ben mcdonnald

Re:

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:39:28 +0000

So it will be last night in the pub until 29th September (which sounds like a scarily long time). Anyway my friend is playing at an open mic night at the Oakford. I know it's very controversial and it may be a lost cause but I wondered if people fancied a change of venue for tonight? If not I'll probably just go see my friend play and then join you guys later but it just seemed like it would be something fun and different to do.

I'll be there from 8ish. For anyone who hasn't been it's opposite the side of the train station. The bit where the Heathrow coaches go from.
See you later

Re:

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:22:56 +0000

Hi all

The weather looks pretty good on Sunday, so does anyone want to go climbing. My only proviso is that it isn't too far away and I may need to dash back home at very short notice!

So, sandstone is closest and safest bet (and i know there are converts out there) or Bristol area maybe.

Re:

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:49:49 +0000

Hello!!

Anyone up for some outdoor climbing next sunday (weather permitting)? The guy I'm working for at the moment has a family friend who is coming down next sat eve and climbs but has no-one to go climbing with normally. I've never met her, but spoken on email and she sounds quite experienced - more than me anyway!! lol

She has stuff for sport but no gear for trad, so sport might be better..... unless anyones happy to share gear.

I'm not too fussed about location - as long as it is within a day's drive and I have my car so can offer lifts.

Re:

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:46:04 +0000

Monkey says:
"After a fast and intense labour, our daughter was born at 6.49 weighing 6lb 8. She's gorgeous! Mandy and baby are both doing well"

He's also said it's OK to distribute the news.

Re:

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:56:59 +0000

Ideally looking for WEdnesday or Thursday evening, Craggy or Oxford Brookes.

I'm happy to drive and pick people up on the way...

Re:

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:45:00 +0000

I'm heading to Font. between 3rd and 10th of October with some Sheffield mates and the doors are open to one and all to join in. Font. is one of Europe's best bouldering locations, with loads of different areas and all grades to keep you going for decades.

Plan is to rent a Gite and book it some time very soon, so I need to be able to tell my friend Andy numbers etc. Cost will be about £50 for the Gite and once people have raised interest we'll have to sort out transport separately.

I'm not promising everyone who's interested can come but will try my best to include every one that wants to come.

Re:

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:24:49 +0000

Hi,

I'm looking for climbing partner(s) for Saturday 15th or Sunday 16th Aug (or both). I'd be particularly up for some multi pitch trad at Wintour's Leap, or anywhere really. Have full rack, ropes and car.

UKC profile is here:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/profile.php?id=13246

Cheers,

Chris
07879-601683

PS if you are replying on Fri evening, call or text me on the mobile, as I don't have any web access at home.

Re:

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:34:19 +0000

just thought I'd let you know I'm climbing at Craggy tomo from about 7, would love to see you there if you can make it unfortunately I can only offer lifts home....

Re:

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:07:07 +0000

Anyone up for Craggyness tomorrow evening?

So far I count myself and Chris West.

Lifts offerred from and back to Reading

Re:

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:47:17 +0000

There is currently a vague plan for some of us to go to South Wales for the bank holiday and do some climbing.

So firstly if anyone would like to join us then please feel free.

Secondly we haven't really got any further in our planning yet than deciding we want to go to South Wales - quite a big place! So could anyone enlighten us as to good climbing areas to go to either around Pembroke or Gower and any good but cheap (good = running water and a nearby pub) campsites around those areas.

I have looked at ukc and there are a lot of climbing areas around but I'm finding it hard to search through as a lot of the crag profiles are incomplete and we could do with lots of fun nice looking stuff in the below HVS type grades.

Any advice welcomed

Re:

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:11:44 +0000

Last minute plan! Who wants to come to Portland this Saturday?

Currently myself and Rob want to go. Rob will be travelling by train from bristol and I'll pick him up in Weymouth on the way through. So I've got up to 3 spaces in my car

I am driving from Woking but am happy to go via Reading or anywhere else that is vaguely on the way!

Re:

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:38:05 +0000

As of Monday I will be working in London, joy of joys. I will be armed with a travelcard, so if anybody fancies a bit of evening/weekend climbing at Westway, Castle or Mile End my number is 079 861 865 27, would be great to see a familiar face!

Re:

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:51:30 +0000

Phil and I are heading to craggy on wednesday, anyone else coming? there'll be space in the car leaving about 6ish if anyone needs a lift.

Re:

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:16:29 +0000

Craggy on the 20th, so probably tonight, leaving Reading about 6/6:30, i'll check the forum at 5:30 when i get home from work. Me and christian are going so have 2 spaces in the car, 3 if your small.

Re:

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:11:16 +0000

A bit last minute, but just in case any of you want to grab a lift to Cornwall to climb this weekend, I'll be heading down there to meet up with the club I used to be a member of (Reading Mountaineering Club). The chap I'm getting a lift with has a camper van, so there are a couple of spare seats going, with plenty of room for gear. If anyone wants to grab a lift they'd be more than welcome. We'll be staying at Trevaylor camp site, near St Just:

http://www.cornishcamping.co.uk/

This is close to Bosigran and several other classic areas.

We'll be travelling very early tomorrow morning, and returning on Sunday evening.

Give me a call if you want to grab a lift down there.

Chris
07879-601683

Re:

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:54:21 +0000

I've just been reading about the A level results, and it got me thinking. Do you all think that A levels are getting easier?

I think that, on balance, they are. I only did one modular A level (maths) and it was undoubtably easier to get a good grade than my other A levels (with exams at the end of 2 years). If I got a bad/not good enough result in a module, I just retook it. This is one of the arguments being put out now - with 50% of an A level being made up of AS level, if you retake the AS in the final year, it will be a doddle as you have already studied the A2 section that builds on it. This seems to make sense to me.

One other thing that all the old folk moan about is that lots of subjects that are currently in A level used to be O level subjects. I actually agree with that, as I was given some O level revision guides when I was doing A level biology and they did actually cover quite a bit of the same stuff.

Anyway, can a system really differentiate between people when 25% get the highest grade, and only 25% get below a C. Shouldn't there be an even(ish) spread? Are pupils getting cleverer (i seriously doubt it. Surely we are no more intelligent now than 40 years ago)? Is teaching getting better? Are exams getting easier? Or are people getting to learn the tricks to pass exams?

And how can do public schools always get better grades than state schools? Surely being rich doesn't make you clever.

And can I claim that my A levels are better than newer A levels? Maybe UCAS should adapt their system to incorporate a score for the year they were taken.

Re:

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:24:11 +0000

In case anyone is interested, the Oxfam Bookshop in Market Place, Reading have a large selection of classic mountaineering books on sale, by authors such as Cassin, Desmaison, Bonington, Doug Scott, Buhl etc. There are also a number of Alpine Club journals. This might be of interest to some club/forum members.

Cheers!
Chris

Re:

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:38:18 +0000

Hello everybody,

Thinking of a weekend in Font early November, probably 2nd weekend.

2 nights 3 at most.

Let me know if you're interested.

Phil.

Re:

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:50:08 +0000

Weather's looking reasonable for Sat, so Kylie and I might head to Avon.

We have to pretty much pass through Reading, so any climbing pair that want a lift can probably have one. Anyone interested?

Re:

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:31:39 +0000

Hi Guys,

An e-mail will go round in the next week or so for those who don't use the forum, but we will be running a walk to Pangbourne for members old and new on Sunday 4th October, meeting at the station around 11am. This has been in the calendar for a while, so some of you may already know. The walk is around 7 or 8 miles, traversing both sides of the Thames. Of course, there will be a pub visit on route. More precise details of train times etc will be given closer to the time. The following week will see our traditional Freshers' ramble to Sonning.

I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible as we begin yet another action packed RUMC year.

Regards,

Phil Whitby
RUMC Walking and Safety Officer 09-10

Re:

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:20:21 +0000

Guys, sorry for opening new thread but I didn't know what else to do.

I 've been in Reading for 3 days now and I would like to go climbing.

Is anyone who has a car interested in going for a training to Alton or Guildford tomorrow?

Also, if anyone knows the way to get to those gyms with bus/train from Reading I would appreciate any information

my number is 07556164846. Feel free to call/text me anytime tomorrow ))

Thanx

Luka

Re:

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:13:51 +0000

Jon Meikle is planning to drive down to craggy on Thurs 8th Oct to go climbing. Leaving Reading, the Uppin Arms between 6 and 7. £1/2 in petrol. 3 spaces available

This is for experienced climbers. The club is running a freshers climbing trip that day to Guildford Uni - sign up at Freshers presentation on Tuesday 6th Oct

Re:

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:15:33 +0000

For the last couple of Sundays, and on the coming Sunday, the road below the cliffs in the Avon Gorge has been/will be closed to traffic (for rock clearance etc.). We climbed there last Sunday and unusually for Avon were able to hear each other! Anyway, just a tip that it is a good time to climb there. We'll be heading back there this Sunday (as long as the weather is ok).

If anyone wants to grab a lift with us let me know (email or text is best). We'll be going for the whole day, from Reading.

Cheers,

Chris
07879-601683
chris_sansum@hotmail.com

Re:

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:59:20 +0000

Hi there,

Im a thrid year student and have been meaning to join the club ever since first year but never got around to it. im keen to get some climbing in this term. ive done a fair bit at home and i am just trying to build my confidence leading sports roots at the moment. dont know if there are many around or not but im keen for some indoor climbing aswell. cant really get down to the pub on tuesdays as i have to be away with army every tuesday evening. will get the forms filled in and get a cheque sorted if you could just tell me where to meet someone.

look forward to climbing with you all.

Duncan

Re:

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:13:11 +0000

Hey,

im off for a days walking in wales tomorow. just wondering if anyone might have any suggestions in terms of where is good for a day out.

Cheers.

Duncan

Re:

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:12:57 +0000

Hey I’m is planning to drive to craggy on wed 14th oct to go climbing. Leaving Reading in the afternoon / evening (I’m flexible). I’ve got 2 spaces in my car and petrol would be aprox £1.50. if anyone’s interested give me a call on 07525921177. Experienced climbers only pls! Max Stovell

Re:

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:47:13 +0000

16th - 18th October
Snowdonia
Yr Helfa Bunkhouse

I know it's a little late but if you're coming on this trip please use this thread to discuss what you would like to do. Does anyone have any particular walks/scrambles that they're interested in?

Also although we are staying in a bunkhouse I would recommend that you still bring a roll mat and sleeping bag, just in case.

Can't wait for Friday . See you all soon.

Re:

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:05:40 +0000

Hey
I'm a 1st year, doing environmental science, I love walking, and climibing was fun at one of the fresher's sessions though I'm really new to it
I'm going to Snowdonia tommorrow....Hopefully meet loads of you there Should be great!!!!!!
Maddi

Re:

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:17:52 +0000

I'm new at the club, so just wanted to say hi hopefully I'll get to know you all at the pub tonight!

Re:

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:34:42 +0000

Friday 16th - Sunday 18th October 2009
Snowdonia, North Wales
Yr Helfa bunkhouse (the bunkhouse itself was pretty nice but parking was way too far away and the kitchen was almost non-functional so I don't think we'll be staying here again!)

Trip roll call
Happy (not heavy!) Heather Campbell
Terrible Tes Matthews
Shoddy Shaun Lowman
Articulate Ania Wronski
Bendy Ben Oliver
Long Luke Vincent
Kinky Kylie Richards
Persistant Phil Whitby
Evil Emma Wall
Ruthless Rachel Allen
Crazy Carla Hampson
Mad Maddi O'Brien
Raunchy??? Rach Campbell
Enormous Evan Hopkins
Pubman Pete Holman
Super Sonja Carter
Righteous Rich Thomas aka Donkey Dick!
Loopy Lottie Faulkner
Kind Katie Grainger
Snazzy Shiv Burk
THE Tom Perrin
Barmy Ben Morgan
'On It' Oli Donaldson
Angelic Alex Leishman
Juvenille James Mangat
Random Rob Lee
Jealous Jeanne Louise Moys
Ridiculous??? Ruth White
Aromatic Andy Arbon
Geoff White
Marvellous Matt Williamson

with special guest appearances from
Midget Matt Burton
Tyranosaurus Tom
Curvacious Cat Trebilco

I don't think I missed anyone but I may have got some of the adjectives wrong. It's hard playing the name game two days later!

Friday
Arrived at the car park around 1ish and then had a very interesting hike in the dark to our hut! After the scrabble for beds we settled down to sleep fairly quickly ready to prepare for our nice early start (athough I still think it was a lie in!)

Saturday, otherwise known as Snowdon conquering day
We woke up to beautiful weather, which meant a fantastic days walking with great visibility for all the stunning scenery. We split into three groups who all made an ascent of Snowdon. Two groups took a route along the Miners track and then turned off to go up Y Lliwedd. They then summited Snowdon and investigated the shiny new cafe they've built up there. One group descended by the Pyg track, whilst the other returned along the Miners track (I think?). The third group went over Crib Goch to reach the summit of Snowdon and then returned to the hut on foot by the Llanberis Pass.
After an interesting version of the name game we kept ourselves entertained by various other activities involving brooms, cereal boxes, scrabble and trying to cook potatoes in a cold oven. We eventually ate some particularly spicy chilli and the hardcore drinkers partied into the night (whilst those with Freshers flu snuck off for an early night).

Sunday
The weather wasn't quite so kind to us on Sunday with patches of drizzle and the obligatory wind that tries to knock you off the top of Tryfan. We had four parties of adventurers on our final day of the trip, three who went up Tryfan and another walking group who decided to stay in the valley. Again two groups actually took the same route but split up for safety. They went up the North Ridge of Tryfan and had some fantastic scrambling fun along the way. The downward route was via the South Ridge. The last group of the four went up Tryfan via Nor' Nor' Groove at a rapid pace enjoying a slightly harder grade scramble and a bit of warm time in pinicle cafe.

This was such an amazing trip. It was great to meet so many enthusiastic new people. Thank you to everyone for making it so fun and exciting. I think we all achieved a lot and can be super proud of our mountaineering exploits from this weekend. Hopefully we'll see you all again on our Lake District christmas trip in November

Please post any feedback you have here along with any of your stories and photos that you'd liek to share. If you've mislaid anything or seem to have accumulated somebody else's kit stuff then let us know and we'll try and make sure it gets back to it's rightful owner.

Re:

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:18:47 +0000

Due to popular demand, the third local walk of the year will take place on Sunday 8th November. The route is Henley - Remenham Woods - Aston - Hambleden - Greenlands - Henley. There will be a pub stop at Hambleden and possibly at Aston if we have time. The train fare is £4 return or £2.65 with a railcard.

Due to the shorter days, we'll be getting the train at 10:18. The walk is 7 miles and should take 3.5 hours. Allowing time for a pub stop, we should be able to get either the 16:03 or 17:03 back to Reading.

If you could reply below if you want to come, that would be good as I'd like to have a rough idea of numbers. A packed lunch is advisable as I was envisaging just a beer stop at the pub. The pub seems to have lots of beer tables outside and I enclose a sample menu so you can step back in horror at those South Oxfordshire beer prices.

http://stagandhuntsman.co.uk/c/pages.asp?page=23

I hope to see lots of you there.

Re:

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:56:35 +0000

It's back!!!!

The ORIGINAL, the BIGGEST and STILL THE BEST - LASS LATIN PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DATE: Friday, November 13th

VENUE: 3Sixty Nightclub, Reading University, Student Union, Whiteknight Campus

START/FINISH: 9pm to 2am (NO ENTRY AFTER 11pm)

MAP: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

PRICE: £5/£4 LASS members (with the new white card) in advance and on the door

MUSIC: DJ Freddy Vaca (Venezuela/London) - Salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton, Spanish...
'Los Dos Gringos' (live acoustic duo singing in Spanish, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94988716007)

SPECIAL OFFER: 1 x party ticket and LASS membership for £7 (normally £9)

ADVANCE TICKETS:

Graham Young (LASS Spanish conversation and La Tasca meetup groups)
George Gibbings (LASS Cineclub/School of Biological Sciences, Lyle Buiding, Reading Uni)
Cid Ramon Ganzalez Gonzalez (Food Sciences, Reading Uni)
Tomas de la Torre

Hasta la fiesta.....

LASS (Latin American & Spanish Society)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2340977506

Re:

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:52:11 +0000

This could be a good pre-BoBs activity for people.

Surprisingly well adapted: Darwinism and human affairs in Darwin’s 200^th year
Professor Mark Pagel, Biological Sciences
Tuesday 24^th November 2009
Drinks 1845hrs, Lecture 1930hrs
Business School Lecture Theatre, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading

This event is open to all and is free of charge. To register, please email events@reading.ac.uk or publiclectureseries@reading.ac.uk We look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be an informative and entertaining evening to mark this special anniversary.

There will be a special exhibition in the Business Centre featuring items from the Cole Museum and Cole library to accompany the drinks reception and the Cole Museum will be open to the public from 5.30-6.30pm that evening.

Re:

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:56:19 +0000

Seeing as its pissing it down with rain this weekend Christian and I are heading indoors on saturday, heading off lunch-ish. We'll have 2 (3 if your small) seats going in the motor if anyone fancies it, wack something up here and we'll sort out a time + place for collecting people.

Indoor options are between Oxford Brookes, Craggy and Westway, not decided yet.

Re:

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:05:21 +0000

I'm sure you'll all have heard the rumours, either over summer or more recently, that the university is creating a naked calendar using all the sports teams as models. And as one of the biggest and most successful clubs on campus mountaineering are signed up for their place in the calendar. And the best bit is that all the profit made is going straight back into the clubs involved in taking part so this means more money for RUMC to run lots more exciting events for you.

Details are still being finalised of the photo shoot but it seems likely that it will take place at a climbing wall. Of course you won't actually be expected to be fully naked. There are plans to have some appropriately placed chalk bags/helmets/coiled ropes etc to cover all the naughty bits that you don't want anyone to see. My favourite suggestion so far is a bra created from some (reasonable width) slings. How can anyone not want to model that fashion statement?!!!

So I'm sure you can guess where I'm going by now.......our photo shoot needs lots of willing models to take part. This is a great opportunity to join in, raise the profile of RUMC and at the same time prove that mountaineers are the hottest club on campus. I should make it clear that the calendar will be double sided so one way round it will have photos of guys and the other way round photos of girls. This means that the photo shoots will be done seperately so don't worry about having to get your kit off in front of members of the opposite sex.

All I need now is an expression of interest so I know what kind of numbers we need to cater for when planning our photo shoot. Please put your name down and then I can start a list of who wants to get involved. Exact details will follow soon but the pictures will be done in the next few weeks as we need to get the calendars printed and out in time for Christmas (surely this makes an ideal stocking filler for your gran!).

RUMC Models

Girls
Heather Campbell
Katie Grainger
Tes Matthews
Kate Schofield
Frankie Pedley
Siobhan Burke

Boys
Luke Vincent
Phil Whitby
Matt Hartgrove
Dan Miles
Jon Hirons
Ali Gabriel (?)
Richard Thomas
Evan Hopkins (?)
Andy Arbon
Alex Leishman
Shaun Lowman
Christian Vogel
Phil Mitchell

Re:

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:17:57 +0000

Anyone know of somewhere in Reading that holds a big bonfire and fireworks display? All my research keeps leading me to events in Newbury, Pangbourne, Slough, Ascot, Woodley. Where are the Reading ones?!

Actually I found this one but it's on this week and clearly it should be next week;

Lions Club of Woodley & Earley is staging their annual charity fireworks extravaganza on Saturday 31 October 2009.

The firework display, at the playing fields behind Laurel Park in Rushey Way, Lower Earley, is accompanied by music and there will be hot food and beverages on sale.

All Proceeds donated to local deserving causes.

Details: Gates open at 18.00, fireworks at 19.00. Tickets cost £6 for adults, £4 for children under 14, infants have free entry.

Re:

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:34:28 +0000

For all you budding photographers out there;

8th Annual Meteorology Department Photography Competition Autumn 2009. The Department of Meteorology's Weather photography competition takes place in the Autumn term each year, and is open to all members of the University.
Two entry categories:
* Weather & optical phenomena
* Sunsets & dawns
Photo Requirements:
* Not framed or mounted
* Digitally captured photos accepted only if unedited, and must be printed out and handed in as hard-copy
* Standard photo size (i.e. 6x4)
How to enter:
* Open to all members of the University
* 1 entry per person per category
* Put the photos in SEPARATE envelopes for each category. Include the following information:
- Category
- Name
- Email address
- Department
- Room no. (if applicable)
* Please also indicate whether you would like your photo(s) to be returned to you after the competition.
* All entries to
- Laura Baker, Room 1U08, Department of Meteorology

Closing date:
* FRIDAY 20th November

* After closing, photos will be displayed in the Meteorology Department and members of the department will vote for the winning photo in each category.
* Winners will be announced on Friday 11 December
see last year's winning photos at
www.met.reading.ac.uk/~swr07lhb/cgi-bin/photowinners08.html

fro more information email l.h.baker@reading.ac.uk
Laura Baker

Re:

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:35:31 +0000

Tom and myself have tentative plans to go scrambling in Snowdonia the weekend after next (13th-15th).

I had hoped to go somewhere closer but it has been pointed out that there's a distinct lack of decent scrambling anywhere closer than the Lakes or Snowdonia.

Anyone else fancy coming along?

Andy will be impressed that this plan has only taken me a week to devise.

Re:

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:59:44 +0000

I have more details if anyone is interested;

Re:

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:54:34 +0000

There's a bunch of us heading to Craggy tonight. If you're a competent climber and would like to join us, express your interest and we'll see if we can rustle up enough cars to get everyone there. So far I believe we have:

From Reading @ about 18:30
Simon (driver)
Bethan
Olivia
James
Space?

Phil (driver?)
Mikey
Christian
Chris

From Woking @ about 19:15
Andy? (driver)
Kylie

Re:

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:36:49 +0000

20th - 22nd November
Lake District
Striding Edge Bunkhouse

If you're coming on this trip please use this thread to discuss what you would like to do. Does anyone have any particular walks/scrambles that they're interested in? The bunkhouse is basically at the foot of Helvellyn so that's definitely an option for one of the days. Then again all the oldies probably fancy a bit of change so let us know what you have in mind and hopefully we can accommodate everyone.

As this is our Christmas trip we will of course be having our traditional Christmas dinner. We're also going to be doing secret santa so everybody has a little present to open. All we ask is that you wrap up a little gift (with a value of up to £2) and bring it along on the trip. You're not allocated a particular person and we'll just put all the gifts in a sack so you can select your present. If you're feeling a bit Scrooge like that's fine and don't want to join in that's fine. If you don't put a present in then you just won't be able to take one out! As the budget is tiny you may have to get creative about what to buy, or at least make a visit to the pound shop .

Any questions you have about the trip please feel free to contact the committee or post something on here and hopefully we can help.

Re:

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:53:01 +0000

I am planning on coming up to reading this weekend and would like to know whos up for climbing I have a car and it will be about £1.50 for fuel.

Anybody who is interested in climbing let me know, equipment can be hired from craggy (cost £5) if u dont have your own stuff.
I would say that this has to be one of the best climbing walls around!

Will leave Reading at around 12 noon. can pick you up from where ever!

Re:

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:07:38 +0000

Hi, my name is Arun, just signed up online today. Im a first year undergrad at uni studying WPIR. Ive been meaning to join since the beginning of term, but its taken that long for me to get my bearings in uni life! Might pop down to Bobs tonight andintroduce myself in person, if not I hope to be at mondays climbing session. I'm not sure what to do next with regards to membership so Id be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

And btw, where exactly is Bobs?

Thanks v much

Re:

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:00:37 +0000

Hey Guys,

Although I won't be on committee then, I'm planning to organise a crack at something a little bit challenging for June next year, after my exams and to take advantage of the long daylight hours.

My first idea and a project that I'm dying to complete is the Welsh 14 3,000ers in a day. For those that don't know, this is an ascent of the 14 3,000 ft peaks in Snowdonia (but apparently there areactually 15), spread over a distance of 50 km and involving 13, 000 ft of ascent in under 24 hours. This is a serious undertaking and anyone participating would need to be in excellent physical shape. I have my doubts as to whether we have yet reached the point as a club where there are enough people willing and able to attempt this feat successfully.

Therefore, my second proposal for an easier but yet still very much worthwhile challenge is the 3 Peaks of Yorkshire, comprising the ascents of Pen y Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough ( not necessarily in that order!).

As planning is at a very early stage, I'm just looking for some feedback on whether people are interested in either of these two projects.

All comments are actively encouraged.

This could be a great way for club members to bond more closely and also perhaps raise some money for the club or a charity. It goes without saying that you could put something on your CV to make you stand out from the crowd.

Regards,

Phil
Walking Officer 09-10

Re:

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:41:29 +0000

Hi,

I am growing a moustache this year for Movember. I have decided to put down my razor for one month (November) and help raise awareness and funds for men’s health – specifically prostate cancer.

What many people don’t appreciate is that one man dies every hour of prostate cancer in the UK, more than 35,000 men will be diagnosed this year and that prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved and I am hoping that you will support me.

To donate to my Mo, you can either:

•    Click this link http://uk.movember.com/mospace/463761/ and donate online using your credit card, debit card or PayPal account
•    Write a cheque payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity - Movember’, referencing my Registration Number 463761 and mailing it to: Movember - The Prostate Cancer Charity, First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London, W6 0LE.

Movember is now in its third year here in the UK and, to date, has achieved some pretty amazing results by working alongside The Prostate Cancer Charity. Check out further details at: http://uk.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

If you are interested in following the progress of my Mo, click here http://uk.movember.com/mospace/463761/. Also, http://uk.movember.com has heaps of useful information.

Thank you

Above is the official bit from the website, my bit is: "As its Movember i'm embarrassing myself by growing what is widely regarded as a Freddy Mercury Mo in the fight against prostate cancer. If you laugh then you have to donate. Thems the rules."

Please donate what ever you can to this cause, and although it looks like I have a tickler in the photo below i can assure you i do not. I'll be at the pub to receive insults and witticisms alike.

Re:

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:32:29 +0000

My house are having a party on the saturday after the last day of term!
If anyones interested in coming post below

Re:

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:51:27 +0000

Hi everyone, well although I kind of joined two weeks back and have already been to the BoB meetings and even survived my first ever indoor climbing experience, I thought it might be nice to say hello. I have just started a PhD in Roman Archaeology at Reading. Aprt from that I've always been quite an outdoorsy (does that word exist?) person who loves hiking (having grown up right next to the Alps made it impossible not to love hiking). So looking forward to many fantastic hikes, trips and climbing experiences in general! Hope to see and meet you all soon!!

Re:

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:20:40 +0000

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to heighten awareness of our Navigation Challenge coming up on Sunday. Meeting outside the Palmer Building at 11am and heading to the Toby Carvery at Caversham Bridge for Sunday lunch, possibly visiting the Wetherspoons in Caversham afterwards for a few after dinner drinks, before heading home. This will be a team challenge and involve you visiting a number of checkpoints en route to our final destination. Remember your cameras as you will have to photograph each checkpoint as proof that you've been there. There will be a small prize for the winning team. Further details to be revealed on Sunday. Miss it, Miss out!

Re:

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:15:49 +0000

Dear Mountaineers,
Just wanted to say goodbye and thank you for all the fantastic time I spent with the RUMC. It was great meeting you, climbing, traveling and drinking with you! Hope there will be a chance to repeat it in the future
And if you would ever like to visit Poland - let me know!
All the best,
Piotr
pioabr@gmail.com

Re:

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:40:02 +0000

Hi Guys,

The time has come for our last local walk of the Autumn term. We'll be meeting at Reading Station from 10 am in order to get the train to TWYFORD at 10:18 am. This is 5 mile linear walk to WARGRAVE, from where we'll get the train back. Reading to Wargrave is £2.30 return with a railcard, so probably the cheapest option, even though the Twyford-Wargrave portion of your ticket won't get used on the outward journey. It would be good to see as many of you there as possible. Santa hats are an optional accessory to make it a more festive ramble. As always, bring waterproofs, water, food and beer money for the obligatory pub stop. If you have any queries you can always get me on 07747174826.

Please note the new date as the original walk was cancelled due to lack of interest.

Re:

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:12:26 +0000

Hi Guys,

The traditional night nav is back for 2010. If you've never done this before, then it's a really fun activity and is a chance to hone your navigation skills for the other amazing events that we have coming up such as the Brecon Beracons weekend, Scotland and The 3 Peaks Challenge. Those who are old hands at it know how good it is and will not want to miss out. I want to see a good turnout, so stick it in your diary now. You can't say you weren't warned early enough!

Sign up is now open. There are currently 14 places available. Additional places may be offered depending on popularity. There may be a small fee to cover fuel and vehicle hire. More details to follow in the run up to the event.
Date: Saturday 23rd January Meet: Union Car Park at 6.30 pm. Sign up below per climbing. It goes without saying that it's dark at 6.30 pm in January in the UK, bring a torch!

Members Attending:
1. Phil Whitby
2. Alice Kiely (driver)
3. Matt Williamson (driver)
4. Sarah Haswell
5. Geoff White (driver)
6. Maddi O'Brien
7. Ali Gabriel
8. Andy Harvey
9. Catherine Plowdon
10. Ben Morgan
11. Tom Perrin (driver if needed)
2 places left as now taking 3 cars. (6 places left if needed, 4 cars) Each passenger pays £1 to driver for British Petroleum (other oil suppliers are available!)

Who has the biggest car? I'm not sure Shaun is coming now so that would leave four people in each vehicle.
For planning purposes only:

Car 1:
Geoff
Phil
Catherine

Car 2:
Matt
Ben Morgan
Ali
Andy

Car 3:
Alice
Maddi
Sarah

Tom is making his own way there.

Re:

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:59:04 +0000

So we've been approached by this guy a few times and I don't think there's ever been any interest in taking him up on his offer. Mainly because people feel they could plan holidays cheaper and more conveniently themselves. However I just thought I'd put it out there and see what people thought about this as an idea. Here is his email with a link to the website with more details.....

Hi Heather,
Hope that you are well?
Not sure if you ever managed to discuss Freedom Adventures with the club however we are now starting to do University trips so just wanted to give you an example of an offer that we have on at the moment. This is Based around march when most universities are in their Easter break.
SARDINIA CLIMBING 7 NIGHTS http://www.freedomadventures.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=57
£399- (Based on current flight prices and exchange rate. This package is based on a group of 20 people.)
·         Flights
·         Foregin Transfers
·         Full Trasport whilst Out on resort
·         6 Days Guided Climbing (800 routs avalible)
·         Accommodation in private cabins where you take over your own village!
·         Equitment should you require it
Hopefully we can have the opportunity to meet so we can also discuss other avalible deals for Reading University. Look forward to hearing from you!
Kind Regards
James

Re:

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:54:24 +0000

Just thought I'd say "Hi" to you all.

Been climbing and mountaineering for a few years now, though mainly the latter more recently.

Currently I'm leading the Reading BC DofE Gold group, so have come here for some sanity!

Re:

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:43:52 +0000

Thought I should make a thread just so everyone can appreciate the newly formed RUMC arts and crafts club. This is what happens when nobody comes on our walks and we end up in the pub all afternoon!!!! Apparently they were going to auction this off to raise money for charity. I'm sure it went for a huge sum of money........

Re:

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:04:25 +0000

The student union has just employed John OBrien, as their sports development co-ordinator. He's basically there to support the development of sports clubs at the university so he'll play an important role in helping the club run smoothly. I'm meeting with him tomorrow to discuss the 'development needs' of the club and also just to brief him on our events and activities.

As members of the club I was wondering if anyone thought there was anything that we should be bringing up as potential issues for the club or anything that he could help us with (aside from day to day tasks that the committee handle). This is a really good opportunity to get someone from the union prioritising the clubs needs. Any feedback/ideas welcome.

Re:

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:02:04 +0000

Hi All,

They've just opened a new Go Outdoors shop in Basingstoke (where the old MFI store used to be for those who know B'stoke).

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/basingstoke

They appear (according to their website) to have a good range of climbing, running, cycling, walking etc kit and the prices look fairly good. You have to buy a membership card which lasts for 1 year at a cost of £4, but with the couple of things I spotted on thier website, I'd be saving about £18 so I'll probably get one and anyone else can use it and pretend to be me!

If it looks like a good source of cheap/decent kit, I might even speak to them whilst I'm there about a club discount - you never know!

I'll be driving down and can pick you up and drop you off if you can't face the walk to/from Three Tuns crossroads, where my flat is.

I'm aiming to leave Reading at about 10.00 on Saturday morning and returning whenever I/we've had enough unless people want to go into Basingstoke itself for some Christmas shopping.

If you want to come (I have room for maximum of 4 passengers) text me on 07723 602683 or post a reply on here with a contact number and I'll call you.

Geoff White

Re:

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:29:35 +0000

Would anyone be up for a day climbing somewhere this weekend? I'm not bothered where (although not Southern Sandstone as it is unlikely to be in good condition). I'd planned to go to Wintour's Leap tomorrow, but my climbing partner has backed out at the last minute. Bit disappointing as it is looking like being the first decent weekend for quite a while!

Mobile number is 07879-601683 if this is any good to you. I'm based in Reading. I won't have internet access after 6pm today, so it will be best to contact me on the mobile if it is after then.

Cheers,

Chris

Re:

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:06:40 +0000

I'm back in Farnborough this week so if anyone fancies meeting up at Craggy on weds let me know unfortunately can only offer lifts home, not there, but am happy to collect from train station

Re:

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:41:04 +0000

So it's not quite the New Year yet but you can all have a think about this over the holidays and come back with some brilliant ideas. Personally I'm not doing any work today I'm just dreaming up plans for all my mountaineering type things I'm going to fit in next year!

Re:

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:27:08 +0000

I was typing up the most epic chatbox post ever in response to Shaun's question about how Aviemore was, and then decided it might be better as a thread instead so that Mikey, Kylie, Heather and Luke can post their reports too.

Shaun's question was, "How was Scotland apart from the odd bit of snow you encountered? productive?"

Actually, not really.. It was very pretty and quite a cool experience to see THAT much snow but the problem was that there was too much to be able to do anything that impressive.. I've been skiing in the Alps 5 times and I've never seen that much snow anywhere.

Aviemore in Dec only gives you 6 hours of proper light a day so doing anything big involves having to drive fairly high before you start (ie, ski centre, etc), and there's so much snow that the road was shut until 9/10 each morning while they cleared it enough to get cars up - and then you have to deal with the massive crowds that are trying to get to the ski centre - by the time they opened the road the queue was back in to Aviemore some days - that's 10 miles!. The avalanche chart was slowly turning entirely red during the course of our stay, too ( http://www.sais.gov.uk/page_Northern%20Cairngorms.asp ), which limits your options a bit.

Then, assuming you did go walking the powder was literally between knee and mid-thigh level the moment you went off a windswept/cleared path, and unless you've walked in that before I can guarantee you however hard you currently think that is, you're underestimating it! We were originally planning an attempt on Ben Macdui, which is the second tallest peak in the UK and was always going to be quite a big hard day since it's not conveniently located next to a road like Ben Nevis/Snowdon, etc. It was only after we went for a fairly short best-make-something-of-the-day walk that we realised quite how unrealistic that was in the conditions, given than a few K in a sheltered wood (and therefore deeper snow, granted) took us several hours and nearly killed us, with emergency treatment in a pub being necessitated. BMD would have been a 16k round trip on wind exposed terrain and considerably tougher.

However, if you sat the queue out for the couple of hours it took to get to the ski centre the skiing was amazingly good. They were claiming the best conditions in Europe while we were there (they've now upgraded that to the best conditions in the world!) and I can believe it, there's just so.. much.. snow... Only problem is I can never go skiing there again now, as this winter is the best conditions they've EVER had and it's never going to be as good again!

The actual ski resort is pretty small, and they don't have any very hard runs - I was skiing everything that they have labled as 'experts only' within a couple of hours of warming up, and I'm not that good - and nothing with the heart stopping gotta-have-a-go-on-that gradients you get in the Alps. The skiing is very varied though as they don't seem to groom all the individuality out of their pistes like the European resorts do, and you do have to watch out for the occasional boulder/stream poking through. I thought there was much more of a sense of having to actually ski the snow instead of just pointing where you want to go and taking for granted that it would be a good line. Presumably because they don't have the money to develop the resort as heavily there's a lot more accessible and fairly easy off piste skiing too - in Europe anything easy seems to have already been turned into a piste.

You do still have to deal with the schitzophrenic Scottish weather (ie, flipping between clear and virtually zero visibility) and windchill in the -25 to -30 range at the top. There's also much evidence of the British health and safety obsession - they shut the top stations in conditions that I've skiied in in Switzerland without so much as a warning sign being displayed.. either that or I couldn't read the signs . We were on the funicular one day and they announced that they were going to try opening the top station and we'd be the first train load to go to the top, but they were warning us all that it was very bad conditions, children weren't allowed up there, only go up there if you can ski blindfolded (that was literally the announcement) etc.. Obviously you can't pass up a challenge like that, so we went anyway, and it really wasn't that bad. You could ski just by standing with your back to the wind and being blown across the mountain though

In all it was very strange to be hindered by the amount of snow rather than wind and rain like normal, but it was still an excellent trip. I'm now hoping that a) the conditions stabilise and last for another 6 weeks until Kylie and I go back there for our winter skills course, and b) the level of snow picks up in the Alps, since I'm off skiing there in 3 weeks and currently they've not got as much snow as Scotland has!

Re:

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:52:44 +0000

There's an opportunity to get involved with this:
http://www.wateraidmunrochallenge.org/

Team's from all over the country will be scaling all Britain's 3,000ft peaks on the same day. Just a week away from the 3 peaks of Yorkshire Challenge it would be amazing training so I strongly advise those interested in that, to get interested in this but of course there's no obligation to do so and if you only want to do one event that's fine. This is not definitely happening and will be organised by those participating, not the committee. Register your interest below and let's get high on yet another occasion this year.

Re:

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:43:59 +0000

Quite a few people have been asking about the RUMC photo competition. You might want to hold off sending in your entires for a while as we have a few more events before the deadline. In the meantime if you're desperate to show off your photos UKC and the Llanberis Mountain Film Festival are running a photo competition. The deadline is 1st Feb and the categories are

Mountains
To The Limit
Mountain Flora/Fauna

More details here;

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=2382

Re:

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:33:03 +0000

The club has had this email through regarding volunteering at a BMC event. It does clash with our trip but we thought anyone else who is around might be interested. Anybody who'd like to get involved can email Ruth Gibson directly at r.gibson@gold.ac.uk

Dear all,

I have a great opportunity coming up that may appeal to your Climbing / Mountaineering club. I am one of the volunteer organisers for the BMC Youth Series and the first round is in Alton on 30th January. This is close to your institution and would be a great opportunity for your students to get involved with, and also for them to see the next wave of excellent climbers from our region. I realise this is short notice, but I'll be honest, I only got the information sent through this week!

We are currently looking for people who will be available on the day to supervise and ensure a smooth running of events, including registration. We are also looking for judges and route demonstrators. We would need the volunteers to be at Alton Climbing Centre for 8:30am on Saturday morning and stay for as long as possible, but ideally the whole day. Last year the event finished at 4pm, however the ultimate finish time depends on how well the day runs.

More information can be found here - http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=2802 If you have anybody who would be interested in helping out on the day, I would greatly appreciate it if they could email me at this address.
Many thanks
Ruth

Re:

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:55:32 +0000

29th - 31st January
Coniston, Lake District
Coppermines Yorkshire Mountaineering Club Cottages

If you're coming on this trip please use this thread to discuss what you would like to do. Does anyone have any particular walks/scrambles that they're interested in? Anything in mind for the mountains you'd like to conquer whilst we're there?

A bit of information about the hut;
the ground floor comprises a large cooking/dining area and a separate small social area. The first floor is divided into three dormitories providing a total of 20 bed spaces. There is NO heating upstairs. To the rear of the cottage there are separate male and female toilets and showers with hot and cold water. There is also a drying room. Website is here; http://www.theymc.org.uk/hutbook.html

SO there will be a scramble for beds meaning you will probably want to bring a roll matt and definitely a sleeping bag. As there is no heating upstairs (eek!) I would recommend also bringing plenty of warm clothes as it could get pretty chilly.

Any questions you have about the trip please feel free to contact the committee or post something on here and hopefully we can help.

Re:

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:30:57 +0000

So UKC don't get much stufff right but I am enjoying the progression of this thread today (especially some of the photo's going up!)

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=390961&v=1

I like the last bit about Leeds Uni having a 'tight and bright' weekend when they were on a trip. First climbing trip of the year I reckon we should do the same. We've got the awesome hut to stay in...now we just need awesome outfits.

Right I'm off to buy the zebra print leggings I saw at the weekend.....

Re:

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:27:52 +0000

Hi All,

So sorry for shamelessly grabbing you on your forum! I hope it is OK.

I tried to find an email address on your website, with no luck, so thought I would try getting in touch here. I am from King's College London's MC committee. We're organising a new bouldering comp called LUBE (London Uni Bouldering Events) and my partner in crime, Ollie, has been emailling rumountaineering@ hotmail.com with details but has had no response. From your website, you guys look like an active club, and are close to London, so I wondered since we had had no responses from you if it was dud email address.

Anyways, my email is jennieoliver16@ yahoo.co.uk - we'd love to hear from you. I can email you all the details asap. Salient details are: Only 1st 2 rounds are concretely organised as yet - the first is at the Arch on 30th Jan (soon!!) and the cost for the 1st 2 rounds is £91.

Even if it's to say "no", please give us a shout!

Again, many apologies for invading your forum with this!!

Best wishes,

Jen Oliver.

Re:

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:47:44 +0000

Hey guys, my name is Jack. I was hoping to go to the climbing session on monday to sign up but obviously didn't realise how fast places fill up. So hopefully i will be able to go to next mondays (31st?) and sign up there. I saw people talking about buying ropes and stuff, will I need those for idoor climbing or is that mostly outdoors?

Thanks, Jack

Re:

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:53:15 +0000

I'm looking for a house for next year! Anyone help me out?

Re:

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:57:29 +0000

Hi. I’m Andrew. I recently moved to the area (I’m in Bracknell) and I’m hoping to meet some local climbers and do some local(ish) climbing. My climbing experience so far (about 8 months) has been weekly evenings at the Castle or Westway and a few other indoor places, and I’m climbing around a 5+. I want to improve both by climbing more frequently and by climbing with a wider group of people – perhaps this is where you can help!

Looking forward to meeting some of you in the pub tonight for a better introduction.

Andrew Bangs

Re:

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:12:39 +0000

It's a bit of a way off but I thought I'd put this up since we were just sent the email. All the money raised goes to the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust so it's for a good cause too.

Sir Chris Bonington CBE
Thursday 3 June 2010 7pm – 8.30pm
Lecture at The Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR
BOUNDLESS HORIZONS
Great first ascents achieved beyond Everest in the greater ranges
Tickets £10 Admits ONE
Bar open 6pm – 9.30pm

Please send SAE with name/email/telephone contact details to: Melissa Kay C/o JCMT, Titchbourne Barn, Redlynch, Salisbury,Wiltshire, SP5 2JX

Cheques made payable to Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust

Telephone 01794 884118

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS SINCE THE TRUST’S CONCEPTION
Funds raised will go towards subsidising young people on our Scottish and Alpine courses

Re:

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:56:56 +0000

Hi, my name's Oscar. I'll be honest and say i haven't really done any real climbing before but its always been something i've wanted to do try and in the spirit of new years resolutions, here i am! I put my name down for this monday's climb but i haven't payed any club fees as of yet. Is that something i can do on the night if i bring the membership form along? Many thanks

Re:

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:41:31 +0000

has anyone been to one of those indoors ice climbing walls? i heard theres one in london but dont know of any others. I was also thinking about how you ACTUALLY do it. are you just supported by the old crampons and one ice pick? cus it sounds shizz scary if you are.

Re:

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:05:48 +0000

Friday 29th - Sunday 31st January 2010
Coniston, Lake District
Coppermines Yorkshire Mountaineering Club Hut

This was a really fantastic hut, especially since the kitchen came so well equipped which made cooking really easy. We squashed in 14 more people than there were beds so it was pretty cosy and for some reason the lights didn't work upstairs. BUT they have perfectly sized tables for a spot of table wrestling and you can walk straight out of the hut up the Old Man of Coniston so it's a great location.

Trip roll call
Luke Vincent
Ruth White
Phil 'the Lake District's for Grandma's' Whitby
Matt Williamson
Pete Holman
Katie Grainger
Heather Campbell
Daniel Miles
Ben Morgan
Chris Withers
Hannah Brackstone
Mark Roca
Siobhan Burke
Shaun Lowman
Charlotte Faulkner
Ania Wronski
Alice Kiely
Julia Michel
Ali Gabriel
Karim Chenouf - aka MIRAK!!!
Catherine Plowdon
Ben Gillies
Sophie Clarke
Lewis Wyatt
Maddi O'Brian
Rob Lee, James Mangat, Oli Donaldson - collectively referred to as 'the Wantage posse' or simply 'the kids'
Ben 'the Bruiser' Oliver
Alex Leishman
Kate Schofield
Kylie Richards
Clara Bovingdon
Jon 'minibus wrecker' Hirons

with special guest appearances from
Noone - we were already far far too squashed

Friday
Arrived at around 1ish (some vehicles earlier than others!) after a nail biting drive up a very bumpy track. Phil's minibus had a rather embarrassing briefing read out to them (that was for committee eyes only). After discovering the lights didn't work upstairs we all bedded down for a rather short nights sleep.

Saturday = awesome weather day number one
The weather could not have been more perfect. Fantastically blue skies, crisp cold weather and snow on the fells. A rather efficient start saw us all up and out nice and early with both minibuses heading off towards Langdale. Two groups conquered the Langdale Pikes (including Jake's Rake) with one group completing in record time and another taking a more leisurely approach. The other bus had two groups making attempts on Crinkle Crags in opposite directions although neither made it that far. One group went up the Pike of Bliscough, whilst the other did Esk Pike and Bowfell Crag. Everyone agreed it was an amazing day out and we couldn't have asked for better conditions or camaraderie.
The evening got off to a good start with dinner served by 6.30pm. Ok, so chilli with pasta may be an odd combination but eating so early gave us plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the evening. Our enthusiastic social secretary helped begin with various games including buzzwords and something involving a bomb? But general chaos put pay to anything so intellectual. We then had some table wrestling of epic proportions with almost everybody having a go at bashing and bruising themselves and some new variations invented. Then the cereal (or in this case cracker) box game came into action. No winner was declared because everyone was too good, although Pete came close to having his head bashed in by an overenthusiastic Whitby!

Sunday = awesome weather day number two
Again we were met with bluebird skies and more unbelievable Lake District conditions. A small group took on a gully on Coniston Old Man, with two other groups taking a more conventional walking option to the top. A minibus went off somewhere but I don't know what you did?

This was such a great trip. Thank you to everyone for making it so fun and exciting. We had a great atmosphere with everybody pitching in to help and getting involved. I think we can all be pleased with what we got up to and happy with the many new friends we've made. Here's to many more adventures like this

Please post any feedback you have along with your stories and photos that you'd like to share. Personally I can say it was an absolute pleasure.

PLEASE NOTE THESE MINUTES ARE UNFINISHED SO AMENDMENTS/UPDATES WILL HOPEFULLY BE MADE SHORTLY.

Re:

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:49:35 +0000

Hey,

I'm Ben, I've done some indoor climbing before but not for a few years now so I need to dust off the cobwebs

Hopefully I'll see you guys Thursday if there is room on the minibus and I can get my sports fed insurance sorted tomorrow!

Re:

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:36:33 +0000

We have just received an email from the organisers of the event, it looks pretty good and is right here at our own University, wahey

Doug Scott's 'The Big Three' lecture @ Reading University (Palmer Building)

Wed 3rd Mar 2010

Famous mountaineer Doug Scott, will be giving a lecture at Reading University (Palmer Building) on his experiences on the three highest peaks in the world - Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga.Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest mountaineers of all time, Doug Scott has made numerous significant first ascents in the Himalaya. In a brand new and stunningly illustrated talk, Doug tells of his adventures and insights on the world’s three highest mountains.Entertaining and informative, Doug's lectures are always well received and his "Big Three" lecture will be helping to raise funds for Community Action Nepal, funding sustainable health and educational programmes in Nepal.

"Himalayan Climber" & "The Shishapangma Expedition" and a new selection of Doug Scott Mountain posters will be on sale at the event.Doors will be open from 6:30pm with the lecture starting at 7:30pm.Tickets are priced £15 and can be booked with the Box Office on: 0844 870 000

http://www.rme-events.com/whatson_detail.php?id=23&start=1

More information on the lectures is on Dougs Website here http://www.dougscottmountaineering.co.uk/lectures/the-three-peaks.html

Re:

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:38:13 +0000

It's that time again, the biggest Latin Party in town.

Featuring DJ Jorge (Ecuador) - Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Spanish, Reggaeton...

Price: £5/£4 LASS members (advance and on the door) - NO ENTRY AFTER 11pm.

Start Time:	Friday, 19 February 2010 at 22:00
End Time:	Saturday, 20 February 2010 at 03:00
Location:	3Sixty Nightclub, RUSU, Whiteknights Campus, Reading University
Town/City:	Reading, United Kingdom

Advance tickets available from:

Graham Young (LASS Spanish conversation and La Tasca meet-up groups)
George Gibbings (LASS Cineclub/School of Biological Sciences, Lyle Building, Reading Uni)
Ana Rodriguez Mateos (Dept. of Food Biosciences, Reading Uni)
Cid Ramon González González (Food Sciences, Reading Uni)

A donation from ticket sales will go to charity.

All over 18s welcome.

¡BAILA, BAILA, BAILA!

Re:

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:44:54 +0000

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/811546-officials-want-to-ban-festival-of-boobs-topless-sledging-tournament

Re:

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:35:22 +0000

Hi everyone

I'm Chris and i'm looking for some new people to climb with in the Reading area. I'm not student anymore and have let work get in the way of getting outdoors so am looking to turn it around! I have climbed on and off since about 2003 and particularly like scrambling and winter mountaineering, and have just got back from a week climbing in scotland! I am hoping to maybe get to the alps this summer as well as lots of climbing and am aiming to climb alpamayo in peru in 2012, so need to get on it!

Will anyone be around in bobs this tuesday? Looking forward to meeting you all,

cheers

Chris

Re:

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:08:46 +0000

Taking advantage of the BUCS Bouldering event in Sheffield, we're filling the bus up with my 3 peaks posse to go and get some mileage under our belts in the Derbyshire dales. The walk is 15.5 miles (but nice terrain) and should take 6 hours. Bring all the usual gear and enough food and drink for a full day. This will be a full day, leaving Reading approx 6.00 am (Not for the faint hearted). We also need a driver between us.

17 seats
BUCS team 6
BUCS line judges 2
BUCS driver 1
Myself
3 Peaks driver
6 places left (maybe one more!)

SIGN UP NOW AND LET'S GET WALKING!!!

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

N.B Not exclusively for 3 peakers although aimed at this group. It's simply first come, first served.

Re:

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:55:12 +0000

Ok guys since the discussion was getting quite in depth in the chatbox I'm attempting to move it to here! Let's see how successful it is.....

Re:

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:03:35 +0000

I thought i would post a link on here in case anyone is looking for an adventure in the summer or after they finish uni.

There starting a tour from Jordan to South Africa this in a couple of weeks. I'm gonna be on the trip from cairo to nairobi.
http://www.climbhotrock.com/hotrockroot/africa10/africa2010.htm

Next year they are going to do South America where they are hoping to climb 70% of the time.
http://www.climbhotrock.com/hotrockroot/southamerica/South-America.htm

You can go for anything from 3 weeks to 10 months. The prices include acommidation, food and transport while your there.

Re:

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:37:18 +0000

26th to 28th February
Brecon Beacons, Wales
Glasbury-on-Wye Scout Hut

If you're coming on this trip please use this thread to discuss what you would like to do.

Does anyone have any particular walks that they're interested in or hills that they'd like to tackle? As we've designed this as a kind of training weekend is there anything in particular people are hoping to learn or certain skills they feel they need to develop?

Any questions you have about the trip please feel free to contact the committee or post something on here and hopefully we can help.

Re:

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:28:06 +0000

Hello all, If anyone wants to join me for a climbing session in London on friday please let me know.

The plan is to arrive in the afternoon, then climb until it we're all tired and then come home by train.

Re:

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:17:08 +0000

20th - 27th March 2010
Glencoe, Scotland
Inchree Hostel, Onich

If you're coming on this trip please use this thread to discuss what you would like to do.

Are there any certain mountains or specific routes that people want to do? Are you interested in hill walking or would you prefer to do more winter mountaineering? In particular are you hoping to learn or practise certain skills or would you rather just be taken out on adventures?

We're very lucky this year that we have Don (an ex-RUMC President) with us for four days of the trip. In addition we also have plenty of experienced people, including a number who have been on training courses recently that are spcifically aimed at scottish winter mountaineering. So there is opportunity for people to really learn new things such as how to use crampons and an ice axe, how to ice axe arrest, navigation skills, avavlanche assessment and mountaineering ropework/belays. Many of these things are not covered on any other trips we run due to the time of year and location of trips so this is a one off opportunity. However if you prefer we can just arrange for you to be taken out and guided on routes. You'll still need to learn some basic skills but the emphasis will be less on taking responsibility for the day out yourself and more on being dependent on a guide.

Please post on here an idea of what you are hoping to get out of the trip. It doesn't matter if you don't know the area or names of mountains/routes, it is more important that we know what you'd like to do.

We're staying here if you want to check it out;

http://www.inchreecentre.co.uk/inchreehostel.htm

Any questions you have about the trip please feel free to contact the committee or post something on here and hopefully we can help.

Re:

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:19:46 +0000

Since I'm not aware of anyone else in the club having done a course at Glenmore Lodge I thought I'd write a review of the course Kylie and I have just done. The website is http://www.glenmorelodge.org.uk/ .

We did 'Further Winter Skills', which is basically aimed at people who want to go hillwalking in Scottish winter conditions. It's not intended to cover any rope work though they have other courses that cover that. The 'Further' in the name is because it's intended to follow on from one of two introductory courses that they do, or you can go straight in to it like Kylie and I did if you have a suitable level of experience. Basically, if you've done summer navigation, spent any time in the mountains in winter doing some walking in crampons/ice axe and do a bit of preparatory reading of the suggested material then you wouldn't be out of place on the further skills course. We chose this course because we thought we'd get a dual benefit from it - a good foundation of winter skills on which to base a technical winter course in future (possibly abroad) as well as improving our all round hill skills for the walking and moutainous climbing that we do all year round.

After a discussion of what objectives everyone in the group had we spent most of the time in our week concentrating on navigation technique, including more static skills like more advanced map interpretation (every tiny little deviation in a contour line on a map is there deliberately, and corresponds to a real recognisable feature on the ground) as well as movement technique like moving blindly on a bearing, determining distance based on pacing and timing and tracking progress along a navigational leg by comparing what the ground is doing under your feet with your expectation based on the map.

Aside from navigation we covered various snowpack/avalanche related skills including tap tests, shear tests and hasty pits as well as theoretical and practical examination of how snow is moved around, why different layers in the snow are created and what effect they have on the snow pack strength. We covered cornices and related issues and also discussed snow holing and emergency shelters and spent some time building various examples and examining the ones we found in common snow holing locations.

Our instructor for the week was a very pleasant Scottish guy who had a seemingly limitless knowledge of everything relating to the local area and mountains in general. As well as the stuff on the syllabus above we probably learned almost the same amount again in general background chat during the course of the week.

The Lodge itself is a very pleasant place to stay. The course fee includes cooked breakfast (and cereal/toast/porridge etc), 3 course dinner, an assemble-yourself-from-a-table-full-of-options packed lunch and afternoon cake when you get back. Hot and cold drinks are free in the canteen. We took some extra food with us because we weren't sure whether we'd get enough but this proved to be a bit unnecessary - we actually came away with more food than we arrived with. The portions were enourmous mountaineer sizes and all very tasty - the food is served en masse canteen style but it's all cooked on site by the cooking team from locally sourced ingredients (the Lodge is very big on environmental issues and has information everywhere about their ongoing projects).

The Lodge also has a climbing wall, pool, sauna and bar (including local ales) which are free to use for any resident, though TBH you have to be pretty keen to find the time.. Kylie and I did manage a couple of saunas while we were there, but you'd need to be particularly energetic to want to climb in the evening. Speaking of evenings, Monday and Tuesday had both a before and after dinner lecture in their dangerously comfortable and wam lecture theatre (topics - winter hazards, avalanches pt. 1 & 2, winter navigation) and on Wednesday they had a 'general interest' talk, which this time was one of the instructors talking about his summer holday ice climbing in Zulu land - I thought that sounded like it might be less interrresting when he came on but it was actually possibly the best of all and had the requisite slide show of awesome photos.

The general timetable says days start with people by the busses and ready to go at 9am and get dropped off back at the lodge at about 4:30, but we had one 8:30 start to give us a longer day and I'm not sure we were ever actually back on time since our days generally overran. A typical day involved getting one of the Lodge busses to the location for the day (in our case it was either the top or bottom ski centre car parks or on a day when the road was closed we went over to Glen Fleschie (probably spelt wrong)) and then following a pattern basically like a walk on one of our trips, but with various bits of practical navigation or snow education mixed in whenever the terrain made it appropriate.

Having made it to Thursday without succumbing to exhaustion we had our night nav day which we naively thought might involve a lie in and a late start. However, we started at 9am as usual with a classroom session discussing snow shelter theory (building them as well as identifying good sites for them from the map) as well as taking us through online resources like MWIS and SAIS forecasts - both of which I was familiar with but in both cases still learned a few things about how to better interpret the information provided and in the case of the SAIS, how to interpret the raw snow pit data (eg http://www.sais.gov.uk/profile_flash.asp?id=1555) and correlate it with the practical tests we'd been doing.

After that we walked out to a popular snow holing site on the plateau and investigated the many examples we found there, most of which I thought were pretty impressive but our instructor turned his nose up at - we did eventually find one to his satisfaction which we adopted as a base camp while we spent the next couple of hours building our own emergency shelters (in the course of which I got a little carried away and didn't notice my hands going numb until it was too late, then suffered the worst case of the hot aches I've ever had ever.. I actually felt sick and light headed. Fun!). We then sat in the snow hole and our instructor made soup while we waited for it to go dark so we could night nav a roundabout route back home, getting back to the lodge about 9:20 that night to the dinner that the chef had kindly stayed late to warm up for us. He then gave us a bottle of wine as he said he thought we looked like we needed it, which was rather nice of him!

On Friday we started as usual at 9am after having semi-packed - they keep your room available for you to shower and change in on the last day, but ask you to pack as much as you can so that they can change the beds etc. while you're out. Possibly sensing that we were almost completely broken by this point our instructor took us to comparatively low level corrie and we did some steep movement skills stuff which was useful. Again, it was stuff that I already knew the theory of and to some extent had done before, but you learn a lot by going through it with an expert. Also included some more exotic stuff like running in random patterns across the face a relatively steep 6-8m ice slope, two footed jumping face first down the same slope and hopping like a frog back up it - hard not to have confidence in the crampons after that. We then found a steeper slope and did the obligatory ice axe arresting from all the usual postures (lying down on your back/front feet first and then head first). Lying on your back being dangled upside down head first by your feet on a 45 degree slope that vanishes into a cloud below you waiting to be dropped is quite exciting.

After getting back to the Lodge there was just time to get showered/changed and finish packing before catching the free bus back to Aviemore where we had a 2 hour wait for our coach. Fortunately there was a pub opposite with a nice ale so the problem solved itself. We'd elected to travel on the overnight coach because it was cheaper than the sleeper train (coach was £155 for 2 adults return) and picked up from Woking station (with 2 changes in London). I'm not sure that I would say it was definitely the wrong choice but we'll probably try the train next time to see if it's worth the money, as the coach was not very restful.

The course cost us £550 each which includes accommodation and all food for the duration with the only exception being the night you arrive - you get accommodation but you have to sort your own food out (though they sell food in the bar on site). That cost also includes use of all their facilities including the huge drying room and any of the equipment they have in their stores (which are very extensive). I consider myself pretty well kitted out these days but I still used their ice axe, avalanche probe, helmet, shovel and snow saw. The kit on offer also includes rucksacks, waterproofs, even mugs - basically anything that doesn't wear out too quickly to be viable (ie, you can't borrow maps, though you can buy them onsite). For comparison that's about £100 cheaper than P-y-B (although to be fair their courses' syllabi aren't a direct match) and P-y-B obviously aren't based in Scotland so the facilities are a bit smaller scale.

If this sounds like a rabid endorsement of Glenmore Lodge it's because it is.. I really can't find anything to criticise them over. Before we got there I was wondering what we'd actually get for our money and whether it might just be a bit half assed and like a B&B with a guided walk each day and a couple of lectures, but it was the total opposite - we had an amazing week where we literally did not have 10 wasted minutes. Our instructor was excellent, God knows what hours he worked because he was doing preparation before he met us each day and other stuff when we got back to the Lodge at night but he always seemed totally committed to helping us get the most out of the week and as enthusiastic as if it was the first time he'd taught the course. The food was good, the accommodation was good, the facilities were good, the staff were all very helpful.

Kylie and I are now hunting through the rest of the courses they offer to decide which one we want to do next.

Re:

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:55:31 +0000

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/calendar-of-events/fundraising/freedom-trail

basically lots of big peaks, glaciers, old british army WWII escape route, 50 miles, 2600+m peaks.... I really want to go but cant get the gear together in time might of interest to other people tho

Re:

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:57:57 +0000

There’s something I would like to practice indoors before doing it outdoors on a sport climb: threading a belay at the top of a climb so that I can be lowered off without leaving a krab behind. I’ve done this at ground level, and I think I understand how to do it, but that’s not the same as doing it higher up with your weight on your harness etc, and doing it indoors (perhaps even with an additional top rope for safety) seems more sensible than doing it for the first time outside.

Is there someone who has done this before who would be willing to show me how to do this properly, perhaps at one of the regular weekly climbing nights? I’ll buy you a beer.

Approximate plan of action (which may be dangerously wrong, so needs input from experienced people)…

Equipment needed:

Venue where the staff will allow this. Last time we were at Alton there was a group doing just this, so presumably they’re okay with it.
Wall with top rope already in situ, and with bolt hangers up the route (might as well practice placing quickdraws while going up, too). Preferably one with a low-grade route (or climb it rainbow-style) since there’s no point arriving at the top too pumped to tie a knot!
A second rope for leading. Should be a different colour to the top rope to minimise risk of the wrong rope being untied.
Some quickdraws. Enough for the climb, and extras for securing the climber to the belay.
Slings and screwgates. For securing climber to the belay (an alternate method to using quickdraws)
Additional screwgate (for clipping the threaded and tied rope back to the harness)
Additional screwgate (spare, for use when fumbling and dropping the previous one)

People needed:

1 experienced climber who has done this before, to supervise/demonstrate
1 climber who is practicing this technique
1 belayer for the top rope.
1 belayer for the lead rope.

Method:

all people involved discuss over a beer in BoBs :)
all people involved practice at ground level at the wall
person who has done it before climbs first
both belayers must assume that they will have to hold a fall by themselves
climber climbs to the top
apart from using the top rope as an additional safety line (which is probably only needed the first time or two while making sure the climber understands the process) the method is roughly as described in either the BMC Climbing Outside booklet (pages 11 and 12) or in the UKC article How to Thread a Belay. (There are some variations in there, and the exact detail also depends on the chain/rings/hangers used at the wall, taking into account that there is also the top rope threaded through something up there.)
ideally the top rope doesn’t get weighted – lowering off is done with the lead rope once it has been successfully threaded and tied. (but the top rope belayer still needs to be paying full attention etc in case the climber did something badly wrong)
Possibly strip the quickdraws on the way down.
Discuss what went right or wrong.
Swap places and let someone else have a go.

So, is there anyone willing to show me how to do this? Is anyone else interested? Do any of you experienced climbers have suggestions for how best to learn this? My suggestion above may be way off the mark! Luke, please can we use some club equipment for this?

Thanks,
Andrew

(edited to fix some formatting, since the preview doesn't really match what you get)

Re:

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:55:13 +0000

Friday 26th - Sunday 28th Febuary 2010

Black Mountains/Brecon Beacons

An easy accesible hut from the main road but being just a scout hut the floor was a little hard and theb only heating was a large fire and the oven in the small kitchen. Other than that it was in a good location for both the black mountains and the brecon beacons, and within walking distance of the pub!

Trip roll call

Phil Whitby

Tes Matthews

Pete Holman

Matthew Williamson

Tom Perrin

Kylie Richards

Andy Arbon

Ben Gillies

Shaun Lowman

Matthew Hartgrove

Sarah Haswell

Carla Hampson

Mark Ferrey

Victoria Huth

Ben Morgan

Ruth Toward

Tom Cammann (TC!)

Maddi O'Brien

Sophie Clarke

Alastair Gabriel

Gerda Pociete

Ania Wronski

Andrew Harvey

Friday

Both buses got the hut around 10.30/11ish after an unusally short drive, a few people went off too investigate the pub while the others made the fire and got comfy. Everyone then settled down for a colds night sleep

Saturday

The main aim off this weekend was to improve navigation skills so we split into 4 groups, 2 beginner and 2 intermediate, each with 2 navigation experts. All of the groups head out into the black mountains where we worked on our skills and had a good days walk.

In the evening we got the fire going well and a dinner of bangers, beans/spagetti and some tom perrin mega mash! A group went off to the pub with the rest staying behind by the nice warm fire

Sunday

This day was mainly walking based after the navigation the day before, one group headed up the Pen y Fan horseshoe taking in all of the peaks and the other group went up the sugar loaf and down via a very brambly route with some navigating thrown in so we didn't forget anything!

This was a great trip with everyone learning new skills and a really nice laidback attitude

If iv missed anything off feel free to correct me or post any feedback/stories you have

Re:

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:12:20 +0000

Bit of a long shot, but if anyone is up for some outdoor climbing tomorrow and/or Thursday, I'm quite keen to get out and take advantage of the good weather forecast. I'm posting this on a few forums.

I'm thinking of heading west - probably the Wye Valley or Avon. If you're interested, let me know - my number is 07879-601683. I don't have regular web access, so it is best to text or call me. I'm climbing at up to HVS (and the odd E1 now & then), but am happy to climb at a lower grade too.

Or if any of you would just like a lift to the crag, I'm happy to solo - it would be good to have someone to split the petrol with.

I'm not a club member - just a local (Reading-based) climber. UKC profile is here if you want more info:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/profile.php?id=13246

Cheers,

Chris

Re:

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:03:56 +0000

ok, i havent climbed indoors / or maybe even at all in an unlawful length of time now (to an extent that even my physio suggested i should do more today which is way more encouragement than i need!) but what i wanted to know is this:

in the absence of going to a gym or climbing wall, not buying any equipment and even more importantly not going real climbing outdoors because it is too cold and im a pansy in that respect i want to know what the "best" way of regaining / maintaining / improving my climbing strength and balance etc would be... i have some ideas as starters for ten but am hoping for some more!

- standing on one leg then lowering and raising myself in a controlled fashion

- using a powerball (which i have, not sure if this is cheating the rules though as it maybe classed as specialist equipment)

- press-ups / sit-ups / bench-steps / pull-ups on a door frame

- lying flat on stomach, bending leg back to thigh and raising knee (recommended by physio but hard to explain)

to make it a bit clearer i do aim to combine this with indoor bouldering / swimming combination but dont think i'll be able to go regularly enough for this to make the impact i want... oo and on a very slightly related note i have been informed that it is just as good or better to do some lesser routes as a warm up when climbing as it is to do stretches beforehand, however apparantly the importance of stretches afterwards cant be stressed enough....

Re:

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:26:41 +0000

Hi everyone

Basically I have discovered my weekend is looking quite empty, and I want to buy some boots on Wednesday which will need to be broken in. So I'm thinking of going for a walk either in the Wokingham area or near Donnington Castle. I have a 'book of walks' that show either of these is accesible by public transport. This isn't an official club walk by the way but if anyone wants to join me they'd be welcome! No idea if the walks are any good , I haven't done them before I'll probably aim to leave sometime in the morning, not sure exactly what time yet, but I'm open to ideas if anyone does want to come.

Re:

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:54:11 +0000

So at the handover meeting on Tuesday I realised that the beer festival coincides with the Roaches trip next term. Both are on the first May Bank Holiday.

I've been diligently collecting stamps for my ale trail booklet so that I get VIP entry into the festival so I've started getting excited about the beer festival already. However I don't like to miss a climbing trip. Especially one where we're staying in such an awesome hut.

Is anyone else having the same dilemma or are you all firmly decided whether you love beer or climbing more?

(p.s. I just miss the discussion board so I'm making up threads to keep myself busy!)

Re:

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:20:15 +0000

Hey, if i want to come along to the weekly climbing from now on, do i have to pay the full membership for the year. (its about 30 pounds right?)

I was a member last year, and can lead or belay confidently, but just never got around to joining again, and quite want to get along on the weekly climbing! (scared of getting fat)

Re:

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:24:42 +0000

As I'm suffering from decision board withdrawal symptoms like Heather, I was thinking it would be good to start a travel section, where people can talk about their upcoming plans and get information from people who've already been. Also, once you've gone you can write up your itineraries and give your verdicts. I'm going to start the ball rolling as I'm going to do a week in the Polish Tatra in the summer.

Re:

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:52:47 +0000

Hello everyone

This is a bit of a random question really, but does anyone know if there is a way of getting the Union to pay for students involved in societies etc to do 1st aid training? I'm been wanting to do it for a while and was reading some of the older threads earlier and it reminded me about doing a course. Obviously I don't want to pay if the Union will, so any ideas?

I'm not sure if this is the right place for a thread like this lol but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else!!

Cheers

Re:

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:19:01 +0000

Last night was fun, and educational. Thanks everybody (especially Ben for not dropping me even though I left him suspended off the floor).

Re:

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:42:59 +0000

As you may know the Reading half marathon takes place on Sunday. If anyone is not either in Scotland or running in the marathon I have appointed myself head cheerleader of the RUMC cheerleading squad. As far as I know Dan, Phil and Matt H are taking part. Not sure of anybody else doing it?

Anyway I'll be there watching it and Shaun has also agreed to be part of the support team (although we all know who can shout loudest!). So if anybody would like to watch it with us they'd be most welcome. I suspect we'll watch it somewhere on campus.

Right I'm off to make a banner....

Re:

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:07:11 +0000

Well I have been really bad at getting these photos up but I'll have a go now.

We had 1 team consisting of Bethan Harris, Tom Perrin and Matt Burton. We also entered 3 individuals - Kylie Richards , Frankie Pedley and James Stickland.

I couldn't climb at the time, note the very baggy t-shirt so I was a route judge along with Alex. Monkey came along too.

I think it is fair to say that a good time was had by all and all the climbers were fantastic.

(A quick apology for some of the photos may have what looks like little bubbles all over them but there was so much chalk flying round the centre if you used the flash, that was the result!)

Re:

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:06:47 +0000

This is in response to Monkey's link in the chatbox. I tried to post it there, but it was apparently too long.

Quite an interesting piece but having paid for him to travel up there to do the interview, I'm amazed he couldn't hire an ice axe and crampons to summit the thing. I don't like the "Millets culture" that seems to be very prevalent every time mountaineering gets media attention. Why does the interviewer always have to be a Julia Bradbury/ Fred Talbot type buffoon who says "Ooh this is really difficult, I know nothing about mountains but if I can do it, so can you but you'd better head to Millets and buy some crap boots and a set of leaky waterproofs first."?
Mike Harding and Stuart Maconie for example have been keen walkers for years and know their stuff. They'd be much better presenters of such programmes if it really has to be a media type person. It would be good to see Cameron McNeish do some television work again, I seem to remember he had a series on the Munros way back in the '90s but as I was about 8 or 9 at the time, my memory is somewhat sketchy.You can't say I'm not providing you all with discussion points today!

Re:

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:48:20 +0000

I was just going to email this to Andy but figured it might one day be of use to other people too - it outlines the areas on dartmoor that are open access, firing ranges etc and most importantly the areas where wild camping are allowed

Re:

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:56:56 +0000

Ok, so I have embarked on the long road to getting my summer ML... So far I have used the lovely club walk log to log all the routes I led or assisted with as walking officer in the club (well those that were actually in mountains anyway!). Probably won't put under the "personal walking" log other trips (eg previous to walking officer) where I was just a "member" rather than in a leading capacity but I haven't actually decided on that yet as it may be that it would be good just to show lots of "mountain time" in the same way filling out the climbing ones will show a rounded experience, but then at the same time its only as part of a group not actually structural in anyway...

Anyway the point of this post was actually to throw into general debate the difference between all of their different log types... they have the following:

- Personal mountain walking

- Leading or assisting with the leading of mountain walking groups (including remote supervision)

- Personal winter walking

- International personal walking - summer conditions

- International personal walking - winter conditions

- Personal single pitch rock climbing

- Personal multi-pitch rock climbing

- Personal snow and ice climbing

- Alpine climbing, overseas mountaineering and rock climbing, skiing, ski touring, mountain rescue, orienteering, outdoor leadership experience

Now initially this all seemed straight forward enough and they seemed logical groups, but when it actually came to logging I have gotten unstuck with some of them (as an aside what is remote supervision?!) my issues - or those in this context anyway - are:

- what constitutes the difference between winter and summer conditions? is it simply the presence of any snow / ice at all or is it more complex? if it is the former then literally 2/3 or more of my experience has to go into the winter log and then doesn't officially count!

- where does scrambling (grades 1-3) fit? is it walking (I think and hope), climbing or alpine climbing?

- does a multi-pitch route up tryfan count as multi-pitch (my guess) or alpine climbing?

- where's the line between winter mountaineering and "snow climbing" - do grade 1 or 2 gullies count as a "snow climbing"? (Im not even gonna dream of having done an ice route mind!)

Anyone got any ideas on this?

Re:

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:04:08 +0000

Accomodation - Inchree Centre Hostel

Members Present

Luke Vincent
Kylie Richards
Andy Arbon
Ben Oliver
Ali 'The Crumble Fox' Gabriel
Ben Gillies
Julia Michel
Christopher West
Ben Morgan
Geoff White
James Mangat
Ania Wronski
Tom Cammann
Richard Thomas
Evan Hopkins
Rob Lee
Oli Donaldson
Pete Holman
Simon Baker

Ex RUMC Presidents/Mountain Leaders present

Don Jenkins

Saturday

A lovely bus journey up to Scotland, featuring a roadside chicken and M6 road works

Sunday

A basic intro to ice axe and crampons with Don up on Stob Corrie Nan Lochan followed by an impromptu avalanche assessment pit lesson.

Monday

Supposedly bad weather day, the weather proved to be quite nice, we went on a relatively lowland walk summiting Meall an Doire Dharaich at 469m and some micro nav practice with Don, followed by Andy losing his map in the loch but it got rescued by Rob and a walking pole, proving that map cases are indeed waterproof! Finished the day in the Ice Factor with cheesy chips

Tuesday

The group split into two, Ben Gillies, Kylie and Andy went up to Stob Corrie Nan Lochan with Don for some more advanced winter skills and a grade 1 gulley (the grade 2 gulley was too corniced) The rest of the group went up to Am Bodach and went eastwards across the ridge and then off to the Clackaig Inn before heading back to the hut

Wednesday

The group split in two again and Ben Oliver, Simon and Luke went up to have a go at some advanced winter skills on Stob Corrie Nan Lochan while the rest of the group went over to the beginning of the pony track up Ben Nevis and did a grade one and a grade two scramble. The weather was pretty wet which resulted in short day out and a lot of time spent in the pub.

Thursday

The weather report (which had been wrong all week) finally informed us that today would be the best day to do Ben Nevis. After a long trudge up the pony track we got to about 900m and we had to get our crampons on as the top was completely iced over we reached the summit roped to Don who thought that he might have been walking over a cornice fortunately we weren’t! It was a complete white out at the top and very cold but people were very happy as this was a first ascent for most of the party due to bad conditions on previous Scotland trips. In the evening there was some caterpillar cake for the president’s 20^th birthday

Friday

Everyone was very tired and the day turned into a rest day, some more ambitious people did a spot of ice climbing but the rest of us went to fort William for fish and chips and a pint

Saturday

We all set of at 9 and as we got further away from Scotland the MVF bus began to degrade, it finally gave out on the M40 when we got almost all the warning lights coming on. We were half rescued to the oxford services by Andy’s AA cover (Thanks Andy!) where we became stranded thanks to MVF and their lack of breakdown cover. Geoff came to the rescue with the Union bus and we got back to reading at about midnight!

Thanks to everyone for an enjoyable trip and a special thanks to Don for doing a great job of teaching us all winter skills

Re:

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:17:48 +0000

Are there any places to go aid climbing in the UK? I've seen the odd short route here and there (Avon, etc) but I've never seen anywhere with many routes in one place.

Anyone know of anything?

Re:

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:54:55 +0000

Well basically me and Ania are looking for some people to accompany us for a couple of days walking in the Lakes or Wales. Ania's car fits 5 so theres space for three more people if anyone is interested.

Currently plans are very basic but will most likely involve some kind of camping (if sites are open yet) or youth hostel stay as its cheap.

Super flexible on what we do, so if anyone has any ideas etc.. post away!

Re:

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:09:44 +0000

Anyone got any plans for this nice long weekend?

Kylie and I were hoping to go away climbing for the whole 4 days but have backed off our plans a bit on account of both needing to get over the Scotland disease. I'd still like to get away for a couple of days if we can find somewhere that's going to be dry...

Anyone else got any plans?

Re:

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:24:41 +0000

Well, the new doctor took to the screens on saturday, what did everyone think?

Personally I think it was really good Good bit of humour, well paced and ultimately that new assistant is pretty hot!

Can't wait for next week!!!

Re:

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:29:52 +0000

Kylie and I are planning to go and have a look at the Wye valley this weekend, possibly stopping off in Avon for a route or two on the way home (I have unfinished business to attend to there ). It'll be about 2-2.5 hours drive from Reading, so nice quick journey for once.

We might be in a position to give transport to 1 or two people from Reading, if anyone wants to come, since we have to drive right past Reading anyway.

The only 'catch' is that it's all likely to be fairly long multipitch trad, so you have to be up for that! If you're interested then let us know here and we'll get a plan together.

Re:

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:33:57 +0000

Hello,

Had such a good time this weekend we're going back again next weekend, weather permitting.

Luke and Tom are provisionally in, so our car is full, but if anyone else wants to come and join us they're welcome..

Re:

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:52:47 +0000

Anyone fancy going to the beer festival on the thursday for an RUMC gathering?

Re:

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:07:03 +0000

Kylie and I are climbing on Guernsey at the end of June, and its occurred to me that we currently have very few routes on granite (which is what the cliffs on Guernsey are) to our names. Subsequently I think we should get some experience quick

A quick UKC search seems to suggest that the most accessible granite from here is in Devon, and I do recall having done a day trip there with Monkey before (though it looks quite a long way on the map?!). I also recall thinking that I didn't like climbing granite much and it was like gritstone but so painful you can't jam in it easily - I'm hoping that I'll take to it better this time

Anyone interested in getting a trip sorted?

Re:

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:24:09 +0000

This email was from Simon Mee, it might be relevant to some of you

I have two places on my next SPA training on the weekend of May 8^th & 9^th. The course will be running in the peak district. Details can be found at http://www.mlte.org/content.php?nID=66 Or www.simon-mee.co.uk
Regards Simon Mee Outdoor Pursuits Instructor C.I.C. M.I.A. Winter Mountain Leader, International Mountain Leader, SPA Provider, Level 2 Canoe & Kayak Coach C & G Further & Adult Teachers Certificate Level 2, Qualified youth worker. rockman.outdoors@virgin.net

Re:

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:06:49 +0000

Thinking of heading to Guildford uni to check out their new wall on wednesday. Will be driving down, space for 3 more in the car. contributions to petrol accepted

Luke would like to be picked up at half 5 in Bracknell, so this means leaving Reading about 5.15pm, however this could possibly be open to negotiations.....

this is prone to be changed at the last minute however i'm afraid as I have a bad tooth and might have to go home to see the dentist!

Re:

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:47:27 +0000

not got a date in mind yet but is anyone interested in this:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=3658

it has 4 x F4/F4+ grades and 9 x F5/F5+ as well as some harder stuff but given last weekend I don't think I'm in shape enough to look beyond F5+ atm...

its in the black mountains just 5 or so min west of Abergavenny so i figure a day knocking of some sport climbs followed by some of the hills to top up my ml logbook... if theres a couple of people interested then I could happily leave everyone else at the crag on the second day while I amuse myself in the hills then return and pick people up after

anyways would anyone be interested? tis a couple of hrs drive from reading so bout 25 pounds total for the petrol and I ought be able to get a cheap campsite with some family too

Re:

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:55:33 +0000

We are planning a trip to Thorpe Park on Thursday the 10th of June!

(*UPDATE* this event has moved from the 9th to the 10th in order for us to go and meet the reading climbing wall people and possibly arrange a discount etc)

Put your name down here if you are interested so that we can get an idea for vehicles etc

List so far (19/05/10)

1). Phil Whitby
2). Maddi O'Brien
3). Pete Holman
4). Sophie Clarke
5). Geoff White (maybe)
6). Hannah Brackstone (maybe)

If we can get 7 people, we can get a 39% discount (i.e. £23 each rather than £38 each) and fast track entry when we arrive.

If we can get 10 people, we can get a 50% discount (i.e. £18.50 each rather than £38 each) and fast track entry when we arrive.

Re:

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:28:22 +0000

We have a trad climbing training day in the peak district booked with Alec Berry

This will be a good chance to learn trad climbing or to improve your skills, it is aimed at begginers but is open to everyone.

Comment below if you are interested or if you have any questions

People coming:

1) Sophie
2) Maddi
3) Ania ?
4) Tes
5) Andrew ?
6) Heather ?
7) James ?
8) Katie?
9) Matt W ?
10) Andy
11)
12)

Re:

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:09:25 +0000

Phil you mention a place we could go on Sunday. Care to share your thoughts?

Re:

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:39:49 +0000

If anyone's up for Shorn Cliff on Sunday, we'll be heading down there. There are 3 of us, so it would be good to have an additional person to even the numbers up. We'll be climbing VS & above.

We're driving from Reading, in case that helps. Let me know on the mobile if you're interested as I don't have the internet at home.

Cheers,

Chris
07879-601683

PS I'm posting this elsewhere too, so let me know soon if you want to come along!

Re:

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:09:30 +0000

[this is long so for my question please skip to the end!]

ok, so im finally buying a new phone, i have spent a couple of days trawling the net and shops etc to find the best deal on a htc desire. my wishes are for unlimited internet, a few txts (<300) and a few calls (<300min, mostly landlines) so from this i derived the following spreadsheet (including all deals such as 5 months 1/2 price etc):

provider contract phone monthly total min txt inet bonus 3 18 230 15 500 75 100 unlimited orange 24 100 25 700 orange 24 240 20 720 orange 24 70 20 550 100 unlimted 500mb 241 Wed vodafone 24 80 25 680 orange (mobileuk) 24 0 25 525 300 unlimited 500mb 241 Wed tmobile 24 160 15 520 100 100 unlimited free landlines orange 18 150 25 600 tmobile 18 30 30 570 600 500 unlimited tmobile 24 190 15 550 300 300 unlimited tmobile 18 120 20 480 100 100 unlimited tmobile 24 0 30 645 vodafone 24 210 15 570 100 500 unlimited vodafone 24 0 25 500 300 unlimited orange 24 100 22.5 640

now to make it more complicated i havent included 3mobile and o2 (my current provider) because they havent released their final web pricing yet and o2 dont even sell it yet but from going to the shops and asking lots i have determined that the pricings (even with my loyalty discount) arent competitve with the best in the spreadsheet

this means that basically on paper tmobile have the best deal at 160 pounds upfront then 15 per month with unlimited free landlines and unlimited internet plus 100 min any network and 100 txts... this is seconded by orange with a free handset, 25 per month, 300 min any network, 500mb internet and unlimited texts...

so my question is does anybody know of the quality of tmobile and orange's network and 3g network coverage? particularly when it comes to mountaineering / climbing venues? i have lots of experience of o2 being generally very good and excellent in all populated areas but no idea how this compares

Re:

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:15:21 +0000

This is a link to the Rockfax guide Western Grit.

http://www.rockfax.com/databases/results_area.html?id=7

Might be an idea to consider which routes you want to do. If you want to do something popular then bear in mind when you're going to do it and the fact that it is BH so it will probably be quite busy.

Re:

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:25:41 +0000

Hi everyone

We've had an offer of discounted tickets for a lecture by David Hamilton about 5 of his Everest expenditions, on 8th May.
I'm not expecting this to be very popular due to exams, etc, but if anyone wants the discount, we get 30% off normal price, which is usually £10 for an adult.
The poster is attatched to this post. If anyone wants more info either email the contact on the poster or the club

everest_handout-clubs_final_w03.doc

Re:

Wed, 05 May 2010 10:22:31 +0000

Accomodation:
Don Whillians Memorial Hut, The Roaches

Members Present:
Andy
Kylie
Perrin
Luke
Andrew
Phil M
Ben M
Ruth
Maddi
Sophie
Ania
Mikey + Christain
(+ guest appearances from old members)

Friday

An uneventful journey to the Roaches in cars, and a nice walk up a wobbly path to our hut in the crag
After the usual fooling around and Perrin suspending himself from a cam in the kitchen everyone bedded down for the night

Saturday

Pretty great weather this day, a little bit cold, but a fair it of sun too
Luke was up and out uber early, climbing before most of us had got up!
Everyone sort of split up to do various climbs or teach new people various things, and we all congregated back at the hut around lunchtime for a very sophisticated meal, freshly made and eaten from plates!
Then more climbing until it got cold and the midges started to arrive (someone else can put up details of what climbing actually occured - my head was too full of new things to take note of where people were!
After a bit of a trial of Luke trying to light a barbeque with a firestick, and failing, someone got it going, and proceeded to cook far too much food, which subsequently was enjoyed both by humans, and when the humans had gone away, our resident rodent friends
Most people took an early night on Saturday, some stayed up to drink and play cards in the nice sitting room

Sunday

Well, it was a lot colder than the day before and not entirely dry all day but there was not enough moisture to stop anyone climbing, so no harm done
Again, everyone was climbing in seperate places doing separate things, so post your own memoirs!
Just before lunch Sophie managed to get stuck in a tiny little hole in the lower Roaches, guided by Perrin, and eventually was retrivied by Mikey
I think it's fair to say everyone had a good day again and most, if not all new people had done their 1st leads by the end of the day - well done all!
BBQ again for dinner, followed by an altogether more social evening involving card games - Yanif (?) and Cheat and drinking
Luke was set on bivying outside, so left to make his home for the night near some boulders rather late and was back in the hut the next morning no worse for wear

Monday

The final day of climbing
The morning begun with somone realising he'd misplaced his rather important warrant, and so a bit of search of the hut happened before we all went out for the day, which also served to get most of the tidying up done
Again, everyone was climbing different things, the weather was less pleasant - there was a short burst of nasty hail that made some holds a bit slippy, but it wasn't going to stop anyone!
By lunch the warrant had been recovered and the hut was more or less tidy, so some people went down to the tea rooms for a posh lunch
After an unwelome intrusion by some rather brash tourists, the hut was clean and tidy, the cars were packed, and we set off back home, returning to Reading about 7pm

What a lovely trip! Hope you all enjoyed it

Re:

Fri, 07 May 2010 08:17:15 +0000

On Sunday 30th May so after everyone has finished all their exams, we are planning on going for a walk on the South Downs, along the South Downs Way. This is a walk for everyone it runs along the Seven Sisters, Beachy Head, Cuckmere Haven. Mostly flat once on the cliffs.

We would leave early on the Sunday, the drive is about 2 hours. Lunch in the pub and a swim in the sea in the arvo, if the weather is good.

To get an idea of numbers for transport, let me know if your interested.

Thanks,

Rob
Walking Officer

Attendees so far

1. Rob
2. Phil
3. Shaun
4. Kate
5. Ali
6. Ben O.
7. James M

8. Alex L.

9. Pete

10.Karim

11.Ania

12.Lottie
13.Tom
14.Frank Huang
15.Jack Wright

16. Victoria Jessup- Meeting us there

17. Ben M

18. Ruth?

Re:

Mon, 10 May 2010 09:10:08 +0000

A bit early, I know, but Kylie and I have just decided we might be able to tag along for part of this - we're probably going to go down Thursday evening and come back Saturday night or possibly Sunday morning, so should overlap with you guys as much as possible.

Can you let me know what if anything you've worked out about the trip? Which camp site, where you're planning to climb, etc..

Re:

Wed, 12 May 2010 19:23:23 +0000

Hi Guys
Hope the exams are all going well and that everyones excited for the upcoming RUMC events.
On the 28th we'll be having our Summer Formal (yes that does mean FORMAL).

The plan is to meet at Bobs at 7ish then head over to La Copa which is just down the road from Bobs for 8pm. After the meal we'll all head over to a free entry night at The Afterdark!

The meal will be £12.50 per person
We need to let the restaurant know before hand what everyone wants to eat as a main course, starters are already included.
the options are:
1) Beef Burger
2)Chicken Breast Burger
3)Cajun Chicken Burger
4)Red Leicester and Spinach Burger (v)
5)Lamb shank
6)Mushroom and Grlic Penne(v)
7)Mushroom and Garlic Penne with Fresh Chicken Breast
8)Suffolk Sausages and Mash
9)Curry of the Day
10)Cauliflour & Cheddar Cheese Tart (v)
11) lasagne Al Forno
12)Hand Battered Fish and Chips
13) Pie of the Week
14)Chili Con Carne
15)Chicken a la Creme

If you would like to come could you please reply to the thread and let us know what you want or alternatively come to Bobs next Tuesday - 18th

The deadline for letting us know will be the 18th and we will require a £7.50 deposit then you can pay £5 on the night.

Cheers, hope to see lots of you there!!! + Good luck with all the exams!!

Re:

Thu, 13 May 2010 12:47:58 +0000

anyone climbing tonight (thurs 13th)?

Re:

Wed, 26 May 2010 18:56:28 +0000

Anyone want to climb on Thursday evening? I'm thinking of going to Craggy.

(I can drive if you're in Bracknell... which probably isn't much help.)

Re:

Thu, 27 May 2010 09:53:57 +0000

For the first time in about 20 years I'm going on a summer holiday with my parents, and we'll be staying near Criccieth in north Wales. I'm hoping to persuade dad that we can spend a day climbing. Ideally I'm looking for somewhere inland with a choice of trad routes from Diff to Severe and preferably single pitch. Can anyone suggest a venue?

Re:

Sun, 30 May 2010 10:27:42 +0000

Hey everyone,

We are trying to arrange "accommodation" for the campsite next week in Cornwall. If you have a tent that you are willing to use on the trip please can you post it up on here asap. Please can you also let us know how many people it can sleep so we can begin to work out if we need club tents or not. Thanks guys. So far:

Tent for single use unless things get desperate lol:
Maddi
Pete
Andrew B
Phil Whitby

Tent and tent buddy sorted:
Dan and Heather
Bethan and Simon

Tent + Spaces- Please check who your tent buddies are so we are organised when we arrive at the campsite!! (email if any problems or alterations)

Ania - Tent 1 = Ania, Ruth, Sophie, Hannah
Ania - Tent 2 = Shaun, Jon Hirons, Tom Perrin (if he wants)
Ali's tent = Ali, Ben Oliver, Mirak
Ben M's tent = Ben Morgan, Phil Mitchell
Geoff's tent = Kate Schofield, Alex

So we're sorted! If everyone who has said they've got a tent could bring it please

Re:

Wed, 19 May 2010 10:55:01 +0000

Hello

Does anyone know much about bikes?

I have had loads of crap bikes over the last few years for getting about town on and getting to work. However, my new commute is properly off-road so I am thinking of getting a new bike. Trouble is, it is ages since I have paid any attention to what is good in the world of bikes, and I don't want to spend loads of money on a higher end bike.

Basically, I am looking for a hardtail cross country bike but it doesn't have to be fancy - I'm not going to be racing and I don't want to spend loads of money. Does anyone have any tips?

On a related note, if anyone is interested, I may be selling my current bike very cheaply soon. It's an Apollo FS26 from Halfords - they say it's over £220 RRP, but it's usually around £120. I bought in a hurry so I could get to the pub a couple of years ago after my 2nd or 3rd bike in a year got stolen in Reading. It's been ridden pretty hard since then and basically the components can't handle being ridden on rough ground every day. It's good enough to get to the pub/shops/uni on, but not a lot else.

Re:

Wed, 19 May 2010 12:34:05 +0000

Anyone fancy going to this?

http://www.cliff-hanger.co.uk/

July 4th and 5th.

Would be interesting to watch the internation bouldering championships.. and it does look like lots of fun!

Re:

Thu, 20 May 2010 17:39:38 +0000

mostly im just interesting but also because its local to my parents:

whats involved with dry tooling? for instance i cant help but assume its gonna ruin whatever axes and crampons you use so would a sensible way in be to get some second hand cheap and pretty rubbish ones to try it out on a dry-tooling slab or short traverse as shown in the pics (brigton)?

also from everything i am aware of chalk is pretty nasty fally-downy dangerous stuff to climb on; is this as true as i think it is? am i likely to die if i get round to trying it?

next along the line of questioning is what other rock is suitable? am i right in suspecting that this type of climbing is gonna be frowned upon everywhere that has nice rock and so actually everything that exists is really nasty rubbish stuff?

also how does it work???!!! the little ice climbing i have tried (admittedly a little ungracefully ) basically relied upon the picks and spikes digging into the ice, im assuming however that dry tooling is more about hooking it over features than hitting it into the rock - if im right then how come it doesnt just keep slipping off when weighted?

right thats probly enough questions for now....

Re:

Fri, 21 May 2010 12:58:16 +0000

it has somehow only just come to my attention that i get to have the 1st of June as a holiday which means that i get a 4 day weekend next week ordinarily this would be cause for a weekend away but given there is a formal and walk and alsorts of other bits i have now crammed into sat and sun i think i shall just treat the 31st/1st as a new weekend conveiniently tacked onto the back of another one...

so...

does anybody want to come with me to dorset? Im thinking more the 1st since a bank holiday will be heaving and nasty roads (not sure how that pans out with exams and im sure other workers will be busy so im not expecting a big response)

currently im think of the west coast of my favourite portland (infinitely better than the cuttings for those who only have a tainted experience) so that i can climb out above the sea in the sun and wind on lovely rock and sport routes... though i am also quite tempted by anything in the region so long as it is by the sea

any takers? any preferences?

Re:

Sat, 22 May 2010 13:39:09 +0000

I'm going to extend my stay in Cornwall and walk a section of the SW coastal path from St Ives to Newquay over 3 days (43 miles). 18 miles (12 if you do the first 6 on the Sunday evening), 12 and 13 miles. Getting the train back on Wednesday evening ready for Thorpe Park the next day, which is currently the bargain price of £8.90 with a railcard. Anyone who cares to join me is more than welcome but be aware it'll be full packs and you'll need a tent. If anyone has a bigger tent than my one man, we can think about splitting the poles from the flysheet/groundsheet etc to reduce weight etc. Might be good prep for anyone thinking about the 3 peaks challenge. Anyone if anyone fancies it let me know, I'll be booking the train on Monday.

Re:

Sun, 23 May 2010 14:43:45 +0000

Accomodation -
North Lees Campsite. Very nice indeed, good facilities, cheap rates for students. No good for weekend trips though, as no BBQ policy

Roll Call -
Sophie
Matt
Carla
James
Andrew B
Andy
Maddi
Tes
Katie
Bethan
Simon
(+ Mikey was about)

Friday night
Off we went, very much on time, for non-eventful journey to Hathersage. Aside from a very slight mis-turning in Hathersage we found the site fine, and pitched up with no hassle.

Saturday
We were all up nice and early to leave the campsite at 0815. Blue skies and a weather forecast of hail meant we were prepared for all weathers - turned out blue skies and hut sun was more the case than hail
There was a slight misendevour with another minibus on a bendy road resulting in a minor delay, but we arrived to meet Alec with time to spare. After introductions and a quick stop to replenish rations, we followed him up to Stannage - our bus struggled to keep up on the (fairly gentle) slopes!
The training kicked off with a bit of a chat about safety, and some practise at bouldering and (can't remember what this is really called) staying behind the boulderer ready to steady them if they fall from a low height
Then we went up a bit higher to the crags and had a chat about belay devices, gear, etc and spent some time placing gear in the cracks and Alec giving guidance/checking/etc.
Some poor climber meanwhile had the air ambulance out - saw it land not very far from us at all!
Just before lunch we all praticed setting up would-be top ropes from low lying boulders just using the rope, and a bit of peer evaluation and constructive critism ended the morning.
Lunch under a tree gave everyone a well deserved break from the sun, and soon enough we were back up at the crag for the afternoon.
Teaching was more focused on setting up top-ropes in the afernoon and saw everyone divide into groups and practise setting ropes up using rocks or gear or a combination of both, and then subsequently climbing on the ropes to test their effectiveness. Needless to say, nobody died as a result of shoddy top-rope anchors!!!
The day concluded with a bit of a demonstration from Alec of how you use the same principles of setting up top-ropes when you finish leading a climb to make yourself safe and ready to belay.

Overall I think it was a really good trip, Alec was very enthusiastic and professional, took some awful photos (hopefully some good ones too) - he is going to email them to us soon - and everyone learnt at least something!

Thanks to everyone who came and made it a great trip, and especially to the drivers, and Ania and Geoff for the use of their tents

If anyone has any comments they'd like to send to Alec I'm thinking it might be nice to just send an email to say thanks and remind him about the photos

EDIT: no need to remind about photos - he's quick! Not sure how they can be displayed in the post so for now:
http://www.facebook.com/maddi.obrien#!/album.php?aid=182500&id=620743087

Or we can email them to whoever wants them

Re:

Mon, 24 May 2010 08:45:59 +0000

I don't want to hijack the trip minutes so thought I'd start another thread.

Did everyone have a nice weekend? Be hard not to in that weather. What did you get up to?

Monkey and I went to Avon and climbed a couple of routes in the Ampitheatre area and got completely roasted on the way up. We left the ground before 9 (up Fossible) when everything was still in shade expecting to return to our bag of food and water after the first route, but after we got to the top we couldn't find anything decent to ab down from, so we ended up doing a steep and exposed traversing scramble to get from one side of the area to the other to get to the bottom of our second route. All covered with loose rock (the 'solid looking stuff breaks off in your hand' kind as well as loose choss on top) and, bizarrely, dog crap. Either there are some mountain goat style dogs in Avon or some idiot must have thrown it off the top!

Anyway, we did our second route (Giants Cave Buttress) which was a very nice line right up the nose of the buttress and finally topped out as withered and burnt husks of men right next to the ice cream shop at the observatory at about 3pm.

Re:

Mon, 24 May 2010 10:28:27 +0000

OK, students! I need some guidance about the various pubs, bars and clubs in Reading.

I'm organising a stag do for this Friday that will be in Reading and it's been quite a while since I've been out for a night there. I expect things will have shut down or changed a bit since the last time and I could do with some up to date information.

I need suggestions for pubs that serve decent beer (like the hobgoblin, retreat etc), and bars and clubs that play decent music (the harder rock the better, but I recognise this is a bit unrealistic for Reading on a saturday, so anything indie or better will do). Also, if anyone has actually been in to the 'gentleman's club' I could do with any info on that too (did you know they do catering? Mmm. Appetising)

Does anyone know what the purple turtle does on a Saturday night? Last time I was in there it played rock, it's near our hotel and if I recall it's open late, so I'm considering that as the mopping up venue at the end.

Any suggestions very gratefully received!

Re:

Mon, 24 May 2010 19:32:55 +0000

Hello, firstly hello all, I am planning on coming to bobs tomorrow, I'm no student and I have a car and a lead rack would be nice to meet more people to climb with

ok my news! I have just been up to the industrial unit and work has BEGUN! i have a photo on my phone to prove it, first days work today, lots of steel girders have been bolted together and stuck in the ground. no roof raise as yet but things are really happening!

I am so excited...

anyway look forward to beers tomorrow peoples

Duncan.

Re:

Tue, 25 May 2010 18:35:43 +0000

Hi all,

I'm looking for a climbing partner for this Sunday. My usual partners aren't available, so it would be good to find someone up for climbing. I'm hoping to find someone relatively local so we can share transport there (I have a car, but it is expensive driving to the crags on your own!).

I'm thinking maybe a day at eg Wye Valley, Avon, Swanage, Portland or anywhere doable as a day trip. I'm climbing up to about HVS at present, but happy to climb a bit easier or second a little harder.

I'm likely to have to work Sat & Mon, but hopefully not Sunday, so if anyone's up for this, get in touch!

Cheers,

Chris
07879-601683

Re:

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:10:35 +0000

Okay thus far we have the following list of people coming on this trip:

1) Ben Oliver

2) Ania

3) Maddi

4) Rob

5) Ben Gilles?? (i think, i can't really read the hand writing of the person who wrote the sign up list )

6) Pete

7) Mirak

8) Philistine

9) Andrew Bangs

10) James Robson

11) Shaun

12) Perrin

13)Andrew Harvey

14)Luke

15)Alex L

16)Kate S

17)Lewi

18)Hannah

Re:

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:28:35 +0000

well since my last extreme paddling adventure i have been thinking somewhat on a problem:

is there a way to use a single dynamic to (safely and independantly) link 3 anchor points AND be used as the ab rope without using slings or a static - ie just gear placements and one rope?

any pictures most apreiciated!

Re:

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:13:42 +0000

4th-6th June 2010 - Cornwall
Accommodation: Trevaylor Campsite, St Just

Trip members present:

Ben Oliver

Maddi Obrien

Sophie Clarke

Hannah Brackstone

Ania Wronski

Tom Perrin

Pete Holman

Kate Schofield

Alex Leishman

Mirak Chenouf

Ali Gabriel (aka crumble fox)

Ben Morgan

Ruth White

Andrew Bangs

Phil Whitby

Daniel Miles

Heather Campbell

Luke Vincent

Shaun Lowman

Jon Hirons

Simon Perkins

Bethan Harris

Saturday
We set off at around 9am and made our way to Sennen Cove. The day consisted of top roping and lead routes and a little extreme paddling. The walking group got as far as the pub and gave up but I hear they also got some sunbathing in so at least it was a varied day! That evening we had a 'bourgeoise' BBQ in the drizzle but luckily the drizzle cleared up and it was quite a nice evening of merry making.

Sunday
We had rain forecast for Sunday and it definitely started off that way resulting in a very slow start to the day but it began to clear and we all became more optimistic. We set off to Trewavas with the weather constantly improving, on arrival we split into a walking and a climbing group. The walking group led by Phil had great intentions of walking the costal route but only got as far as Praa Sands where we ended up playing on the beach in what turned out to be glorious sunshine. (It turns out the climbers ended up walking further than the walkers did). The climbers had a very succesful day of lead climbing that involved much less ice cream that the walkers day did.

Thanks to everyone who came and made the trip such fun!

Re:

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:50:04 +0000

Hey hey!
I'm thinking of going walking somewhere at some point this Saturday. I'd like it to take up a substantial portion of my day, but I don't know where I intend to go/how I'm getting there/ etc yet. If anyone fancies joining me then great, but I expect most people will be recovering from the Summer Ball Like I say I don't really have a plan yet but if anyone is coming then I'm open to suggestions!

EDIT: I went to Pangbourne in the end. It was lovely

Re:

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:59:32 +0000

Hey hey

Basically the same deal as for Cornwall - do you have a tent - if so - how many bodies can you put in it - and are you willing to share? Please bear in mind this time we want as few tents as possible owing to different arrangements for paying - so if there are spaces in the bigger tents we hope 1-man tent people will be happy to share the bigger ones

I'll start it off - I have a 1 man but will go in a bigger one if it works out

Re:

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:33:38 +0000

Right, I fancy some more climbing

Don't really mind what, where, when (within the weekend of 26th - could be all weekend or just a day) or how (though I do have a car, so that's probably the best option)....

Who's in and what exciting ideas do you have?

Re:

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:15:36 +0000

so... its not very mountain-like and at £15 (or £20 for 2 in a row) its probly also above a modest student budget... oh and its in london so bit of travelling too :s but it does look like awesome fun so by any slim chance does anyone want to come along to one of these?

http://www.film4.com/minisite/summer-screen-somerset-house

Re:

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:56:29 +0000

Hey everyone,

Unfortunately with this campsite we have to pay extra for each tent we pitch. Therefore our aim is to take as few as possible. Please can you check who your tent buddies are so when we arrive late at night we can put them up quickly and efficiently!

Andrew Bangs = Andrew B, James R
Ania's 3 man = Ania, Maddi, Hannah
Ania's 4 man = Phil, Rob, Shaun
Ali's = Ben G, Andrew H, Lewi
Club tent 1 = Ben O, Pete, Mirak

Club tent 2 ( If bivvying "prohibited") = Luke, Perrin
Geoff's tent = Alex, Kate

So those whose tents we need please can you remember to bring them!
Let me know if there are any problems.

See you friday

Re:

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:56:37 +0000

Hi guys,

You may have spotted that the calendar has changed. Ben's request to get the club info into his Google calendar got me thinking about how lame our old calendar was, so I've replaced it with a google calendar instead.

Let me know if you see any problems. The only thing I'm aware of is that the upcoming events box isn't quite as well integrated presentation wise as it could be. I will try and look at that in due course.

Re:

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:58:46 +0000

so i realise as stated in the title that i may be a bit late on this one; but im gonna be in reading on weds which lends itself nicely enough to being able to go out on tuesday... anyone up for such a thing?

Re:

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:31:40 +0000

Hey all!

I'll be coming to Reading to do an MA this coming year - I'm actually on a climbing trip in Spain at the moment, but I've got an afternoon off (thanks to the rain, would you believe...) and just got my results to meet my conditional offer, so I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself. I've been climbing for ages now, I climb around 6b and lead 6a... Outside, my trad is questionable (I can build belays but I don't have much practice on gear placement under pressure), but I can lead sport no problem, and have a rack and rope for that. I've also got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to scoop a job at the new Reading centre, but that's only a dream for the time being!

I'm a Reading local, so I'll be around this summer and hoped that I might catch some of you if/when I manage to get some time back home - let me know if any of you are local or sticking around! Luckily I've been at Royal Holloway so I've got a few local(ish) partners, but I'd very much like to meet some new people too, whether it be for London, Craggy, outside, or just a pint and a chat about this or that route... It's always nice to see some fresh technique!

If not, I'm looking forward to meeting you all next year!

Re:

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 09:06:11 +0000

Hi.

Kylie and I have decided that we want to make another big push to actually get a Lundy trip organised for next summer. As our plans are to move to the peak district some time next year this is likely our last chance to organise the trip with lots of RUMC people, and by happy coincidence the current crowd has more trad climbers than we've had for a few years.

For anyone not familiar, Lundy is a very small island off the north Devon coast which basically contains about 6 buildings (one of which is a pub ), a campsite, a load of wildlife and a HUGE amount of comparatively unpolished cliff climbing (all trad). UKC logbook here (it's not exhaustive, there are a lot more lower grade routes than it shows) http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=1113 .

I'm asking about this now because as its cliff climbing it's not entirely straight forward - you will need to be competent to abseil, ascend ropes and generally have a slightly higher level of trad skill. However, with a year's notice there's plenty of time to learn this stuff and get happy putting it in to practice if you're not already - quite happy to help anyone that needs some instruction.

We own the guidebook and can bring it to the pub next time we're there.

So as a first impression, who's interested?

Re:

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:57:22 +0000

Hi everyone,

A few of us thought decided it will be great to go to Portland this summer. We discussed availability and 7th August seems the best option. This is a bit in advance but a date to put in your diary. Let us know if you're interested!!

Re:

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:59:26 +0000

in the spirit of organising my weekends I have found one coming up which i think is free and helpfully just after getting paid (though the cheaper the better still)...

would anyone be interested in a weekend away? preferably climbing but scrambling or mountains for a change of scene could be tempting too. Am entirely open for suggestions as to where; N Wales, Avon, Wye Valley, Portland, Swanage, Southern Sandstone, Peaks, Lakes, Brighton (dry tooling), Brecons, Pembrooke, dartmoor, chedar....

anyone up for anything?

Re:

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:28:22 +0000

While everyone's getting their dates in the diary I'll throw this one in to the mix.

Trad cliff climbing in Pembrooke, South Wales. Lots of rock with amazing texture - one of my favourite climbing locations and probably the highlight of last season.

Anyone interested in coming?

Re:

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:52:24 +0000

Well seeing as there's a plethora of plans being plotted at present, I thought I'd get in on the act. Following the success of the weekend and the ease with which the 3 peaks were conquered, I feel the time is right for a crack at thr big one, namely the Welsh 14 3s. 14 peaks over 24 miles and 13,000 ft of ascent under 24 hours. Who fancies it? We would also need support for this as it's a linear route so any volunteers to form a support team would also be appreciated.

Re:

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:44:58 +0000

Just wondering if anyone wanted to go out on some rock on this fantastic three day weekend?

Haven't really done much in the Peak this year, would anyone be up for that?

Re:

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:47:16 +0000

Anyone about for some leading?

Phil

Re:

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:07:48 +0000

Well it seems a long time ago....

Roll Call:

1) Ben Oliver

2) Ania

3) Maddi

4) Rob

5) Ben Gilles

6) Mirak

7) Philistine

8) Andrew Bangs

9) James Robson

10) Shaun

11) Perrin

12)Andrew Harvey

13)Luke

14)Lewi

15)Hannah

+ Andy
+ Kylie

Friday night:
- Everyone eventually turned up at Holme Farm Campsite, which was nicely overcrowded and full of rowdy chavs, but it sufficient space to pitch tents was found so all was well
- Much fun was had pitching the wonderful club tents (which coped suprisingly well over the weekend)

Saturday:
- 3 peaks people were up nice and early, ready for the long walk which was seemingly being attempted by most of the other people in the area!
- They departed promptly and completed the walk in 9.75 (?) hours
-Climbing peoples went to Crookside (?) Crag which was lovely and did lots of climbing and invented some new techniques for difficult starts on top rope!!
-We had a lovely BBQ, followed by an extraordinarily early night for some who were understandably very very tired

Sunday:
- Everyone got up quite early for a breakfast of nice cereals and loaded the buses, before heading off to Brinham rocks
- There was some leading, some top roping, some soloing, some abseiling and lots of general outdoorsy fun
- The car got back to Reading about 2230....hopefully soon followed by the bus!

(NB - Sorry if I missed anyone/forgot important details/etc - It really feels like months ago!)

Please add trip related memoirs, comments and reflections here

Re:

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:06:26 +0000

I am going to be visiting my parents on the friday of this weekend so it seems a perfect opertunity to go for a spot of southern sandstone - anyone welcome, the camping is donations based and very good though i may try for stone farm one day and harrisons t'other - dont have a guide and if no one turns up will be bouldering but if you fancy it then let me know (own transport needed though i can collect from stations)

edit: i will also be visiting friends on the sat evening so may not actually be camping depending on whether or not i drink too much / can get a place to stay... be about for climbing both days tho

Re:

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:55:36 +0000

This should be a date for your diaries - the Bristol Half marathon is on the 5th of September. This means that the A4 below the Avon crags is closed to cars, and turns this into an idyllic crag for the morning. This is the best time to climb in Avon.

Anyone interested? (Although, at this stage I have no idea if I will be free or not)

Re:

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:37:02 +0000

I just bought a new laptop and I need your help. It only loads low resolution images when I'm on the internet. Having done some research it seems it may be due to web accelerator software that laods the pages up more quickly by using lower quality images. You can change it using shift + A or shift + R but it's really annoying. The suggestion is that I should disbale the web accelerator software and then see if it works normally. But I don't even know what this is let along how to do that.

Does anyone understand? Can you tell me how to fix it? Preferably in very simple terms too.

Much appreciated. Ta x

Re:

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:42:02 +0000

I mentioned at Bobs last week that my sister was coming down to visit this weekend. For some reason this event seemed to attract a lot of interest!

Anyway for those of you still interested in coming out the plan seems to be an early(ish) dinner at Sweeneys and then a few drinks at some of Reading's finest drinking establishments. In all probability there may be some After Dark action as well but that is down to how the night pans out.

Give me a text if you fancy it
Heather

Re:

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:28:19 +0000

Who is around over the summer for some leading during the week? ...

Phil.

Re:

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:45:42 +0000

It's that time of year again and Fontainebleau is beckoning.

Is anyone up for a trip to Font Sep/Oct time. Lond weekend 1 or 2 days eiother side of a weekend.

Travel is usually £20-25 ferry plus £50-60 fuel.

Can buy supermarket food to take with you and then about £4-5 per night for a campsite with toilets/showers etc.

Phil.

Re:

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:15:39 +0000

Hi. Anyone used this? Is it any good/worth the money?

I'm tempted because you have to have a premium account to be able to use it on a mobile device..

Re:

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:40:47 +0000

all in all my veiws of dartmoor have gone up in the world since it was actually an enjoyable experience and though very tiring wasn't to the point of death - mostly helped by avoiding the marshiest routes i guess (though i did try )!

my stove i am deffinitely counting as a success - it is perfectly designed to cook couscous and porridge with just 30ml of meths and 5 min (the meths for this was actually bang on perfect every time), i didnt do so well with a sealed microwave bag of rice but perhaps thats to be expected - had i taken it out of the packet im convinced it would have worked much better! however the most notable success was managing a chicken and mushroom risotto in a gale with 50ml of meths in about 8-10 min and having it perfectly cooked also as a note it turns out that a second mess tin makes by far the best pot stand / wind shield as it also has the benefits of being: more stable, the right height, better protected from the wind, and shielding the grass in a druidic stone circle from being singed! No issues with explosion or spurting meths though unfortunately i shouldnt have taken spare meths as i really didnt need it so = wasted weight

roll mats... well... i used the "integral bivi mat" from my rucksack (very very thin and smaller than my torso!) i have however concluded that im more than comfortable enough in summer without

biviing - do wish i took the bivi-tent so that during the awake periods of rainy-ness i could have had somewhere to shelter (though andy sufficed seemingly very well with a poncho - so long as theirs a helpful stone circle) the alpkit bivi though was excellent and essentially condensation free all weekend gales, rain, mud, rock and wet grass were no match for the bivi bag!

walking poles - the 90 degree elbows trick seems too much effort lifting poles over grasses and plants / hillocks all the time but much shorter seemed to work well... as for the actual benefit though i am unsure as it is hard to prove that i didnt suffer knee / back issues (which i didnt) due to their use although i can deffinitely say that my arms seemed to receive as much work out as my legs!

seal skin socks - very good after several days of wet marshy undergrowth and stream crossings i think i was the only one left with dry feet at the end

water - 1L worked pretty well with the ability to refill it along the route where necessary - turns out the water on dartmoor varies somewhat in suitability but i think we got better at picking suitable sources from the map as we went on

food - well i took a fair amount and ate it all (save for the last lunch since we arrived at the pub in time for food but i think i would have gone quite comfortably with less. also although i had a very lightweight and thought out, balanced diet it was rather dull by the third day! (ie porridge for breakfast, dried saussage, large pack of japenese snack buiscuits, couscous with pepporami for lunch, cashew nuts, soup (uneaten), and rice variation for dinner every day)

bag - i used a 35L+ for the whole weekend and mine is also very comfortable though im continually disapointed by the pure weight of the empty bag

spade - deffinitely need a more sturdy one next time as dartmoor has very stubborn roots!

unnecessary kit taken: small towel (to keep bivi bag dry - but wasnt needed), suncream (did actually catch the sun a little but essentially dartmoor doesnt really know what sun is!), spare clothes (one set of quick drying clothes plus an immunity to smell seemed to suffice), spare meths (my rationing of 30ml per meal plus 30ml spare worked very well so the extra 1/4 bottle i took was pointless), less food...

total weight - well i took a little less and lighter gear than andy (and considerably so than ex-army nick!) though very dispiritingly when lifting one bag in each arm there was very little perceivable difference in weight! it was undeniably much less than i had last time though

also we had a overly friendly cat accompanying us for the first night from Okehampton to our bivi spot (a fair few km) and then all through the rainy night (being very kind and making sure i wake up routinely by walking over the top of me!)... did get a bit worried itd try to follow us too far and get lost or require driving back on sunday!

Re:

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:00:15 +0000

Im guessing most people will have got the email but just incase this looks pretty good - free camping and bbq plus cheap kit hire if needed...

BMC Summer Outdoor Meet
Harrison
�s Rocks
Saturday September 4^th

Hello everyone,

The BMC London & South East team is hosting a gathering at Harrison's Rocks on the weekend of September 4/5. This event is open to climbers of all abilities and everyone is welcome!

Harrison's has many routes at all grades, so there's something for everyone. For climbers with no outdoor experience, Harrison's is all top rope climbing, and is an excellent place to make the transition to the outdoors. There will be many experienced climbers there who can show you the ropes. Kit hire will be available at a small charge courtesy of The Castle Climbing Centre.

There is a campsite at the crag, free to BMC members, so you can stay the night or you can just pop down for one of the days. Harrison's Rocks is located just outside Tunbridge Wells.

There will be a free barbeque for all hungry climbers at the event. The London & South East area meet will also be taking place that evening in a nearby pub, where everyone will be able to have their say about issues relating to the BMC, or simply find out more about the work of the BMC.

Any questions just get in touch. Hope to see you all there,

lsearea@bmcvolunteers.org.uk
07725 810 477

Martin Kocsis
BMC Volunteers' Officer
177-179 Burton Road
Manchester
M20 2BB
www.thebmc.co.uk
Direct Line: 0161 438 3336
Registered in England and Wales
A company limited by guarantee Number 2874177

Re:

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:21:12 +0000

Would anyone be interested in sharing a lift from Reading down to Harrison's Rocks (or similar) for some climbing on sat? Could possibly go down on friday night if people wanted to.

Re:

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:44:46 +0000

Term is approaching quickly, many of youme student types are bound to be in need of brushing up your skills and proficiencies afore the freshers can gape in awe... so as a remedy i'm suggesting the following:

17th - 19th September - Climb Time!

(older, more socially acceptable - and probly tax paying - types are approved as well!)

*please be aware that locations depicted are not necessarily identical to the contents and are subject to change without notice (due to adverse weather effects)