Only twenty-one members and guests made the bus meet to the Cairngorms this Sunday. To make bus meets viable we need to achieve a much higher number than this. With the coach costing nearly £500 and members and guests contributing £12 each in fares we had a shortfall of £248 on Sunday. Our average attendance for bus meets over a twelve month period is thirty, which still leaves us at the end of the day with an average shortfall of £130 per outing. The very fact that your club provides a coach on eleven meets a year is the envy of many Mountaineering Clubs. This in my opinion is well worth fighting to preserve, as it provides members with an affordable gateway to the hills.
A much needed boost to club revenues comes from the sale of calendars, thanks to Glen Moray Distillery. We also rely on the success of the Club Ceilidh, which will be on 15th February at 7.00pm in Elgin Town Hall. Be there and bring your friends!
This is your Mountaineering Club and it needs your support.
Well, it is thanks once again to Ray Harron for the Winter Skills Training. With conditions far from perfect – high winds, blizzards, snow either too powdery or too icy – it is amazing they achieved as much as they did. I would also like to thank club member Sandy Murray of Osprey Adventures for the loan of ice axes, crampons and helmets for the purpose of Winter Skills Training.
Taking part were Claire Proctor, Duncan May, Paul Chappell, Jake Wood, Dougal Black, Katie Griffiths, Tom Summerscales and Desmond Cormack. Training took place in Coire Cas and skills practised comprised of ice axe technique, kicking and cutting steps. With the weather going downhill they made their way up to the Ptarmigan Restaurant for a bite of lunch before heading back down to the bus.
Malcolm Campbell, Stuart Truluck, Paul Herickx and Dave Hinxman walked up past Glenmore Lodge to the Ryvoan Bothy and then uphill to Meall a’ Bhuachaille and along the ridge to Craiggowrie. They had a great day, with the wind behind them, and arrived back at Loch Morlich Café at 1600 hrs for a bite to eat. This was short lived as the bus arrived back early and there was a good pub to go to.
Stuart Watson and Ian Jamieson set out for Ben Macdui via Cairn Lochan but, after heading into Coire an Lochain, they decided that the weather was against them and so made their way back to the bus for a spot of lunch. With time to spare before the bus was due to leave they walked up towards the Ptarmigan to admire the skiers.
“A great day in full winter conditions.”
Also heading originally for Ben Macdui were Alan Clyde Duncan, Fiona Pitstop Duncan, Graeme Gillespie, Bill Lindsay and One Nighter Whitelock. As they climbed up to spot height 1083 the decision was taken to proceed instead round the Northern Corries, due to gale force winds and blizzard conditions. They continued over Cairn Lochan and round the rim of Stob Coire an t-Sneachda before descending Fiacaill a ‘Choire Chais. With conditions so bad that it was impossible to take lunch, only a handful of jelly babies were consumed before heading back for the bus. Ms Pitstop arrived back at the bus at 1400hrs – of course we have no photographic proof to corroborate her arrival. I can only presume that the Hooded Claw Lee is the main reason she has been late for the bus in past outings.
Don Larry Asher made a valiant attempt on Cairngorm and got as far as the Ptarmigan. Freezing! Would he continue to the top? Was he a Man or a mouse? Squeak!!!
The day was rounded off quite nicely back at the Cairngorm Hotel, chewing the fat of the day over a couple of Cairngorm Brewery’s finest ales.
Cheers Ray!
Dave Whitelock
