So on a website about a MOUNTAINEERING club, why even mention a point merely 487 metres ? Well, there come days to the hills, when cloud and wind pushes onto western slopes, making it difficult to stand up at 700m, the summits shrouded in mist and rain. Against such a… Continue reading
In locations from Crete to Cape Wrath, and Slovenia to Corsica, my friend Steve W and I have managed a September walk these many years. Having previously met GR5 on its way north from Nice, we took a cue from the Chamonix to Geneva section. The intermediate valley of Samoens/Morillon… Continue reading
In Seville, they burnt alive two thousand people in one year. On Pendle there blazed a beacon. One of a network to warn England of the coming Armada. Pendle is an ideal beacon: although only 1831 feet, it has a great relative elevation, and dominates perhaps a thousand square miles… Continue reading
1. PINNACLE RIDGEJack left our Club some 23 years ago, emigrating to Australia. Our loss. I’ve been up Pinnacle Ridge many many times since then, and therefore, on a very infrequent get-together, it seemed only right to offer Jack the lead on the crux corner which (for most folks) is… Continue reading
Five of us, plus Steve Murrays dog Storm, made a two-day circuit around Eskdale with a wild camp under the feet of Scafell. Day-tripping the Lakes for a jaunt up such as Pinnacle Ridge or Blencathra is often done: but the western areas are just that bit further. So it… Continue reading
Cautley Spout was looking good. That is, as a waterfall in the warm summer-like days of March. As a winter climb, it had the reputation of coming into condition only at 10-year intervals. One of these was in 2010 https://www.yorkmc.org.uk/climbng-cautley-spout/ Perhaps the next stage of our disaster will see Cautley… Continue reading
Dominating the head of Loch Etive in the west, Ben Starav has two ribs off its summit. We went up the northern (right hand) rib on hard-frozen snow. Then across the summit area to a long narrow east ridge which rises to the subsidiary top. The first rib rears up… Continue reading
“And is no nook of English ground secureFrom rash assault ?”Gunnerside Gill off Swaledale was filled with burning, digging, banging, crushing and smelting lead ore, at the time Wordsworth was writing. Industrial buildings thrown up willy-nilly, plate-ways carved diagonally up hillsides. Today, a path climbs the narrow re-wooded valley, passing… Continue reading
The moon still shone, high above Loch Tulla, as we parked by Achallater Farm, a few miles up the road from Bridge of Orchy. The place and time, brought echoes of starting other days here:- for Y-Gulley, Central Gulley, and a few trips up West Gulley. This time, our objective… Continue reading
Bitterly ironic is not how I normally think of Steve M. However he smiled as he photographed me sitting with his dog, and I must wonder whether he was thinking “Should’ve gone to Specsavers !”. Alas, truth will out. We were on the rim of the Monadliath, some 200 square… Continue reading
