Category: Featured Meets

Joint RC/CC Meet 10-16 July 2023, Bosigran, Cornwall It’s time to think about summer! I am running a joint RC/CC Meet at the Count House [with Rob Seymour as the CC host] for the week of 10-16 July. The RC has 17 beds set aside for members to book and, to date, I have 10 RC members booked, so the bunk spaces are starting to fill up. There is, however, a reasonable amount of space for both tents and vans. I have had a request from a member to bring 3 guests too, but have asked that, at this stage, we wait to see what the demand is from RC members. The Count House is superbly situated, being about a 10 minute walk to Bosigran, with many other excellent Cornish crags within walking distance or a short drive away. There is also excellent walking, biking, sea kayaking or just lazing around enjoying the sea air! The plan is to have a BBQ, which the CC is kindly hosting, at the weekend. As it’s two weeks after the Gogarth Meet, you’ll have your sea-cliff legs [and head!] well in tune! Come and join us for all, or part of, the week[…]

The Rucksack Club meets every Wednesday evening through the winter at a climbing wall in Manchester: Summit-Up, Oldham (25 Jan, 15 Feb, 8 March) https://summitupclimbing.com/ BlocHaus, Manchester (1 Feb, 22 Feb, 15 March) https://www.blochausclimbing.com/ Awesome Walls, Stockport (8 Feb, 1 March, 22 March). https://awesomewalls.co.uk/stockport/ Look out for the “Get Out There!” T-shirts and come and say hello! And keep an eye out for the start of our outdoor Wednesday evening meets at local crags throughout The Peak and the North West – starting as soon as the clocks go forwards!

John Patrick, Craigallan warden writes: Craigallan Winter Bookings I have a high occupancy rate at Craigallan this winter so I hope this update may be useful. We have three Rucksack Club meets to look forward to at the hut over the winter period so please contact the meet organisers directly to book in.  The snow is building up nicely. There is some midweek availability but weekends are pretty full.  When other clubs are using Craigallan I am always happy to ask if there is space for small groups of our Members so it might be worth checking even when a club booking is in place.  This arrangement usually works well.  Those in charge of external bookings often have late changes in numbers and they know that RC Members may ask at short notice. Please remember that our current health guidance requires booking in advance. Weekend Bookings are as follows January 28/29. Rucksack Club meet – Ros Murray February 4/5. MUMC meet (expected to be full) February 11/12. Five beds booked February 18/19. Merseyside Mountaineering Club February 25/26. Rucksack Club meet – Kevin Wheeler March 4/5. Climbers Club March 11/12. Austrian Alpine Club March 18/19. Rucksack Club meet – Danny Struggles[…]

Brian Hall is an internationally certified mountain guide, who’s numerous credits include the BAFTA award-winning film Touching the Void and founding the Kendal Mountain Film Festival. He will be sharing some tales from his book: High Risk, Climbing to Extinction – WINNER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS BOARDMAN TASKER MOUNTAIN LITERATURE AWARD 2022. (see https://test.rucksackclub.org/…/book-review-high-risk… ) The event is ONLINE ONLY. Admission is FREE for EVERYONE – Be sure to share the event with your friends Zoom Doors open at 7:15pm and the show starts at 7:30pm. Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82807381553 Meeting ID: 828 0738 1553 Passcode: Year of Founding of The Rucksack Club

Great to see so many of you at Heaton Moor and on Zoom for the Slideshow Double Bill – we had almost a hundred in the audience across the two! If you missed the show you can catch it here: https://vimeo.com/788234492 See you on 14th Feb on Zoom for the next installment – High Risk with Brian Hall. Cheers, Dom

Neil Goldsmith, our Journal Editor writes: When the 2022 Journal lands on your doormat sometime in February or March, you will notice that it is thin by normal standards.  That is simply because I received fewer articles than normal despite several attempts to engender a response from the membership.  With one exception, articles are from the usual suspects.  There are no women represented and only one author not of a certain age.  I am told that Club members are out there doing stuff, but they clearly don’t feel the need to write it down and let the rest of the Club know about it. When I raised the topic of the future of the Journal in the digital age earlier in the year, I was assured that it was valued, people like to have a book in their hands.  To exist it needs contributors.  I can only publish what I receive. It might be that it is simply that I am no longer very active in Club activities and this means that I do not encounter members (particularly younger members) who are doing noteworthy things who I can then badger to produce an article.  The fact remains that we need[…]

Tuesday 10 Jan – Bill & Dom’s Excellent Adventures Episode 13 and John Lord’s ‘Other Corners’ – Heaton Moor Rugby Club (and on Zoom) A contrasting double bill (don’t worry, there’s only actually one ‘Bill’) of desert adventure and a huge human-powered undertaking Bill and Dom’s first post-covid adventure took place in the desert of south west Utah, famed for its sandstone canyons and towers – A tale of Big Walls, Vertiginous Towers and Excellent Microbreweries!   Following on from his successful walk from Land’s End to John o’Groats, John Lord (a glutton for punishment!) set out to travel between the other corners of Great Britain: Dover to Cape Wrath Admission is FREE for EVERYONE so be sure to bring your friends! Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 7.30pm. For those of you who are unable to join in person, you can also watch live on Zoom: Meeting ID: 828 0738 1553 Passcode: The Year of Founding of The Rucksack Club Google Maps Link for the Heaton Moor Sports Club: https://goo.gl/maps/wbwKG3UPTBsGuoPT6 …and here’s the address for those who own and can still operate an AtoZ: Green Lane, Stockport SK4 2NF

Last weekend [18-20 November] the 2022 Annual Dinner was held at the Cumbria Grand Hotel, Grange-over-Sands once again. As last year the hotel staff worked very hard and looked after us extremely well.  After dinner on Friday evening Jeremy Windsor gave a highly entertaining and educational talk around the subject of “It’s nothing serious…a tale of injuries and illnesses in the mountains”. For the second year running, Saturday was a lovely day and 22 members and guests joined me for a walk over Black Combe via White Combe, followed by a well-earned pub stop in Broughton on the way back!  Other members biked, walked, climbed, visited the Kendal Mountain Festival or enjoyed Grange itself. Guest speaker Finlay Wild kicked off the Annual Dinner celebrations in the evening with a talk entitled “Light, fast and loving it” giving the 107 members and guests present an insight into what is required to be one of the best mountain endurance athletes in the world. After dinner it was time to retire to the bar and catch up with friends. Sunday started clear and bright and 25 [generally more senior!] members and guests joined a leisurely stroll from the hotel to the top of[…]

For many years, Iain Cameron and his team of enthusiastic volunteers have carefully documented snow accumulations on the Scottish hills. Where once this might have been seen as a rather specialist hobby, it has in recent years fascinated a much larger audience who are seeking to understand the practical impact of the current climate emergency. In this webinar, Iain will talk to us about environmental change in Scotland and his new book, “The Vanishing Ice”. This talk is part of the British Mountain Medicine Society [BMMS]/UClan Winter Webinar Series, organised by Jeremy Windsor [who spoke on Friday evening at the Annual Dinner last weekend] and has been linked to our Indoor series too, so all RC members are able to join in for no cost. I think it will be of interest to a significant number of Club members. If you would like to watch, please use this link to their site and book a place by scrolling down to the appropriate link.

The Rucksack Club Expedition Grant The Rucksack Club is pleased to be able to award an expedition grant of £500 each year to support expeditions by members and associate members under the age of 30. To be eligible, expeditions must involve activities fitting with the clubs ethos, with preference given to mountaineering trips to destinations outside Europe with an objective that will be challenging or present a step up for the participants. By accepting a grant recipients agree to: Acknowledge club support in any reports about the trip Write an article for the RC Journal and allow any accompanying photos to be used on the Club Website and in other club literature. Provide a brief summary of their expedition upon its completion. Agree that if the expedition is cancelled that the grant will be returned to the club in full. The deadline for applications is 31 January, for expeditions taking place in that calendar year. In order to apply email a completed application form to: will.thomas.harris@gmail.com