Author: Dominic Oughton

Here is the eagerly-awaited program for the 2022-23 Indoor Meets season. We will be holding a once-per-month ‘indoor evening meet’ from October through March on (not quite always) the 2nd Tuesday of each month. That’s 11 Oct, 8 Nov, 6 (not 13) Dec, 10 Jan, 14 Feb & 14 March. These have been scheduled to integrate with programmes by The Alpine Club (1st & 3rd Tuesdays) and the Mountain Medicine Winter Webinar Series on the 4th Tuesday so the whole outdoors community can set aside an hour or so on a Tuesday evening, safe in the knowledge of some quality entertainment. Details of the MMWW series can be found here: https://deathzone.7thwave.io/cgi-bin/renderpost.py?postid=2002 Three of these (Oct / Dec / Jan) will be taking place face-to-face at the usual venue at Heaton Moor Rugby Club, and these will also be available on Zoom for those who can’t make it in person, as will the Nov / Feb / March shows. Entry will be FREE for all members and Associate members of The Rucksack Club, with a modest charge for non-members for the December f2f event featuring a guest speaker. o Tuesday 11 Oct – Celebrating The Rucksack Club’s 120th Birthday with John Beatty[…]

Picking up on my last post, we’ve had to bring forward the deadline for submissions to END OF AUGUST – printing prices are going through the roof and we’re having to make a change for 2023, which means that the design will be an in-house effort from the Payne-Oughton team. We’ve already got a decent haul, but there are plenty of gaps to fill – especially in October through to January (but all good shots would be welcome!) so please have a rummage through your thumb-drive or facebook and send me your contributions NOW! – All of the many Club activities are fair game – mountaineering, climbing and walking of course, but also caving, ice-climbing, fell-running, cycling, kayaking, MTB etc… – Landscape format, full-resolution photos ideally featuring club members in action between Oct 21 and Sept 22 (I aim to have each month feature photos from the same month the previous year) – Extra bonus points if you are wearing a CAC T-SHIRT (haven’t got one – get in touch and we’ll sort that!) – Please indicate month – subject – photo credit, ideally in the file name eg “June – Andy Tomlinson on Black Slab, Stanage. Photo Tim Taylor.JPG”[…]

Last year’s Rucksack Club Charity Calendar raised over £4,000 for Climbers Against Cancer and we’re teaming up again with CAC for 2023. Closing date for photos is the end of September, but why not strike while the iron is hot and send me your contributions NOW! – Landscape format, full-resolution photos featuring club members in action between Oct 21 and Sept 22 (I aim to have each month feature photos from the same month the previous year) – Extra bonus points if you are wearing a CAC T-SHIRT (haven’t got one – get in touch and we’ll sort that!) – Please indicate month – subject – photo credit, ideally in the file name eg “June – Andy Tomlinson on Black Slab, Stanage. Photo Tim Taylor.JPG” – if that’s too tricky just include the info in an email – Please email to me at dominic@oughton.uk.com What are you waiting for? Get In There! Cheers, Dom

Huge thanks to Steve for organising another brilliant meet at Beudy – excellent catering and banter, as ever, accompanied by stunning weather (not always as guaranteed!). Also a great opportunity for a CAC / “Get Out There!” T-shirt photo-shoot – if you feel your wardrobe is lacking the essential garment for summer 2022 then get in touch with your size and colour preference – you don’t have to be a climber to wear a CAC T-shirt! Also great to explore a couple of new (to me and quite new to the world) crags. More pics to follow on www.rockaroundtheworld.co.uk

Dozens of well-decked-out Rucksackers are now proudly wearing their Climbers Against Cancer / ‘Get Out There!’ T-shirts. Looking good and DOING GOOD (every T-shirt contributes £10 to Cancer Research)! If you haven’t got yours yet, then you’re in luck – I have a few left. Email me at dominic@oughton.uk.com with your size, colour preference and postal address (or plan to collect in person) and I’ll get you kitted out. Price £20 if you can collect or an extra £2 for P&P Available in Blue, Purple or Green (see images below) Available in Unisex T style – Sizes: Small (34-36), Medium (38), Large (40-42) and Extra large (44-46) Remember – these Ts aren’t just for climbers, they depict the full range of Rucksack Club activities from Mountaineering and Hill Walking to Running, Biking and Caving, and they’re for Everyone Against Cancer! Most importantly, every penny of the profit will go to helping fund cancer research – think of it as a £10 T-shirt with a tenner going to a great cause and it’s a bargain! Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the Ts in action – it’s the only thing to be seen in when you ‘Get Out There!’ Talking[…]

Wednesday Evening’s venue is Stanage Popular – looking like the perfect forecast, with temperatures moderating and a gentle breeze. I’m afraid I can’t make it but Wilf / Ian has kindly taken on the onerous responsibility of Meet Coordinator (a.k.a. choosing the pub) and it should be a fab evening. Here’s a couple of pics of a recce yesterday. Cheers, Dom

After the “virtual” zoom version in 2020, and the reduced capacity affair last year, the Gogarth Meet was back to it’s full octane, face-to-face fun this June! No more “you’re on mute”; no wait-lists and waivers; just a huge bunch of Rucksackers and friends assembled at the best crag in the world topped off with a gigantic beach BBQ. We had a bit of catching up to do so it was great to see around 75 Rucksackers and friends plus Pinnacle Club members on the beach! This was something of a triumph for blind optimism in the face of a somewhat dodgy forecast, but we were rewarded with wall-to-wall sunshine throughout Saturday and into the evening. Very blustery conditions made for a moderation of aspirations, but despite this people were able to enjoy wind-swept world-class climbing, not to mention choppy paddling, blowy pedalling and breezy sandcastle-building. Over on Castell Helen, the day started with a bit of a log-jam as some helpful Rucksackers rescued a young climber who had found a first taste of seacliff climbing to be a bit too atmospheric. Probably not a bad thing as it allowed a rather sploshy sea a bit more time to head[…]

With less than ten days to go before Gogarth 2022 we’ve already got over sixty Rucksackers and guests planning to join in the fun, but there’s plenty of room on the beach for more. Message me if you haven’t already reserved your burgers (veggie or otherwise) or want a climbing / biking / sandcastle-building partner. Also, a couple of minor updates: – The road between South Stack and the Porth Dafarch Beach / Valley of the Rocks campsite is currently closed. You need to make a short detour through Holyhead which picks up the road leading direct to the beach (Porth Dafarch Road). Only 5mins out of the way if you don’t get lost (no need to go all the way to Trearddur Bay). – The parking at South Stack is £5 per day (coins in the meter or pay in the cafe) or FREE to RSPB members – bring your card! – New for 2022 – Helen is planning to organise some Beach Yoga. Details to follow soon. … apart from that, all details as previous – see below. After the “virtual” zoom version in 2020, and the reduced capacity affair last year, the Gogarth Meet will (fingers crossed!)[…]

A big thank you to Jack Helliwell for organising a great Pembroke meet. Here are a few photos from a memorable trip. You’ll find more pics and a bit of a write up at

Building on our collaboration with Climbers Against Cancer which has already raised over £4,000 for cancer research through sales of the 2022 Rucksack Club Calendar, we’re now launching a range of T-shirts. These will feature the unmistakable CAC logo on the front and the Club’s ‘Get Out There!’ logo on the back (the perfect combo for when you can’t quite decide what to wear!) Price £20 if you can collect (eg at the Gogarth Meet) or an extra £2 for P&P Available in Blue, Purple or Green (see images below) Available in Unisex T style – Sizes: Small (34-36), Medium (38), Large (40-42) and Extra large (44-46) Most importantly, every penny of the profit will go to helping fund cancer research – think of it as a £10 T-shirt with a tenner going to a great cause and it’s a bargain! To order, please use the following form: Order Form if that’s too tricky, drop me an email to dominic@oughton.uk.com. You need to order by 31 May and the Ts will hopefully be available for collection at the Gogarth Beach BBQ on 25th June or for posting around that time. We managed to create a prototype T-shirt and ‘road test[…]