Author: Dominic Oughton

The season finale will feature two thrilling tales of new routing in remote and extreme environments: Will Harris is a British Mountain Guide, based in Chamonix, a highly accomplished Alpinist, and a Rucksacker. He’s made numerous lightweight expeditions in the Greater Ranges and is going to talk about success and failure in alpine climbing in general – with tales and photos from lots of times when it went wrong as well as once or twice when it went right. Neil Chelton is one of the world’s most capable Big Wall climbers and the founder of the instructional website: https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/ He and his partner Maria Parkes have just completed an epic first ascent in Baffin Island, involving a ten-day approach and 20 days on the wall! If you can’t wait until March, there’s a sneak preview here: 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: The year of Founding of the Rucksack Club

If you missed last night’s zoom indoor meet (other priorities on Valentine’s Day?) you’re in for a treat – you can view the catch up video by clicking on “Virtual Meets” in the “Get Out There” menu (along with every other zoom show from the last 3 years). Alternatively you can go straight to the “High Risk” action by clicking here: And don’t forget, if you enjoyed Brian’s fascinating and forthright insights into the High Risk world of cutting-edge mountaineering, you can still get a signed hardback copy of his Boardman Tasker winning book. Only a few left and they’re now out of print – special Rucksack Club price of £22 if you can collect or £25 including postage. Email me at dominic@oughton.uk.com. Cheers, Dom

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!

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://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

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

Hard Trad and Heart Surgery with Adam Bowman and Georgia Alpinism with Molly Worth The indoor meets season continues with a thrilling double bill featuring two highly accomplished Rucksackers who are recent graduates from MUMC. Zoom “Doors open” at 7pm with the show starting at 7.30pm https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82807381553 Meeting ID 82807381553 Password: Year of Founding of The Rucksack Club. Adam Bowman has blazed a trail through some of the UK’s hardest trad routes (and sports routes for that matter) including the hardest line on Peak Limestone: The Final Round which weighs in at E9. His accomplishments are even more remarkable for the fact that he’s fitted them around a number of major heart surgeries. Tune in to find out how! Molly Worth shared the story of her Alpine Apprenticeship with The Club on Zoom last year, culminating on the summit of The Matterhorn! What next, you might ask? We’ll be hearing about Alpine excursions further afield in Georgia.

The 2023 Rucksack Club Charity Calendar in support of Climbers Against Cancer is on the shelves now! Thanks to the generosity of The Club, every penny of the purchase price will go to support Climbers Against Cancer in funding research around the world. That’s right – think of it as making a £10 charity donation and getting a free calendar! Fifty photos taken from the equivalent month of the previous year feature members enjoying the whole gamut of Club activities: climbing, mountaineering, bouldering, fell-running; ice-climbing and via ferrata among other things. From The Matterhorn to The Ben; Gogarth to Georgia; and Cornwall to Chamonix, there’s something for everybody! Through the worldwide climbing community, CAC https://www.climbersagainstcancer.org/ aims to increase awareness and raise funds for research in the continued fight against a disease that affects so many. Climbers Against Cancer is a non-profit organisation, with all proceeds donated directly to cancer research facilities throughout the world. Last year, with your support, we raised over £5,000 for CAC – let’s see if we can go even further this time! The calendar is available online directly from the CAC Shop: https://www.climbersagainstcancer.org/shop/rucksack-club-cac-calendar/ and from Climb-Europe: https://climb-europe.com/rockclimbingshop/rucksack-club-2023-calendar.html and will also be on sale at local climbing walls. A[…]