Category: Featured Meets

Joint Rucksack Club Meet with the Climbers Club at The Count House, Cornwall. July 10-16. The forecast for the week didn’t look great as we headed to Cornwall, but has this ever deterred us?! John and I arrived at the Count House to find quite a few CC members already there…the majority of the RC members arrived on Monday, with two hardy individuals arriving in pouring rain on Wednesday afternoon having cycled over a couple of days from Exeter, even managing to nab a route on Haytor [Dartmoor] and another on The Lizard on the way! Over the week, 11 CC members and 16 RC members and guests enjoyed a couple of wonderful sunny days, two more mixed days when it dried up late morning allowing good climbing conditions over the remainder of the days and two very wet and windy days…one being Friday when many decided to head home early. A highlight of the week was a communal pasty supper night, with a local supplier providing an excellent selection of meat and veggie pasties of varying sizes! Thanks to the CC for helping to sponsor this evening. A pesky little virus also visited, but the vast majority of people[…]

Phew, what a scorcher! This one might go down as the hottest Gogarth Meet since records began (not that we actually keep records!) A glorious Saturday morning saw legions of Rucksackers and friends gathered at the cafe, whilst various keen teams were already on the way to the crag and others were making an excursion via “Gogarth Far Far South” a.k.a. Cloggy. Action was spread around North and South Stack and onto the Mountain. Here are a few pics (let me know if you have more to share): Another noteworthy ascent was John introducing Rob to the delights of Yellow Wall with The Sind. Quite a Gogarth induction! Conditions weren’t exactly ideal for pulling hard, but then climbers are very fussy creatures – by any standards it was a stupendous day. Certainly great conditions for Helen’s post-climb “Stretch and Unwind” yoga session… … and others were clearly intent on a liquid post-climb pick-me-up, as the hordes gathered from all corners for beer-o’clock. Big thank you to all the burger-flipping heroes, including Karl, Neil and Mike, who kept all 65 BBQ diners well fed. … and to Stan for the excellent bonfire… The forecasted showers barely materialised, apart from a brief[…]

After a very productive six years as Hut Warden at High Moss, Boece has decided it is time to step back and let somebody else take up the mantle.   During this time Boece and team have driven through a series of major improvements, including changes to the upstairs layout, four new bathrooms and most recently a full set of new windows.  HM was 55 years old last week, and these changes have given it a fantastic refresh and put it in a great position for providing another 55 years of service to the club. HM works on a dual warden model with Steve Beswick handling the booking side of role and Boece handling the more practical side of looking after the hut.    Steve is happy to continue to handle bookings. So if you have ever fancied getting involved in one of our key club roles, this is your opportunity.   Please get in touch with either myself, Steve or Boece and we can arrange a call to talk through exactly what the role involves and answer any questions you may have.

Thanks to all who sent me Photos of individual and Meet activities during the first 4 months of this year. They are now collated and up on the website for all to peruse…click here for the link! Alternatively go to “Get out there” and scroll down to “Gallery”. A special thanks, once again, to Ian Helliwell who has ensured that the Gallery functions seamlessly. I am now collecting photos for the next 4 months, May through to the end of August, so please send me any you have! Andy  

John Patrick, warden of Craigallan, writes: Corran Ferry Following a recent stay at Craigallan Chris Dodd has sent helpful information about the long term problem affecting the Corran Ferry.  Anyone visiting Western Scotland might like to be aware that there is currently no vehicle ferry to Ardgour. Changes and updates can be found on The Highland Council website. It now sounds as though the relief vessel is no longer operating, there is a shuttle bus service – https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/20024/corran_ferry/812/corran_ferry_timetable_and_fares

In the recent survey we asked a series of leading questions Have you ever organised a Rucksack Club meet? If not, would you like to? And if you answered yes to the last question what is stopping you? The responses to this last question where wide ranging, but a number of people responded along the lines of ‘I don’t know what’s involved’ , ‘Nobody knows me’ or ‘I feel out of my depth’. So the purpose of this post is to highlight that there are no right or wrong ways to run a meet.  The outdoor programme includes all ends of the spectrum, from legendary Rucksack Club expeditions like Aber – Barmouth or Colne – Rowsley to local day walks.  From hugely popular staple meets like Gogarth and Marsden – Edale with over 50 attendees to my recent Laddow Bivvy meet with just 3 of us braving the famous cave.    It is this variety that makes our outdoor programme so good and one of the stand out benefits of the Rucksack Club. Helen, the outdoor organising will soon be pulling together the 2024 programme, so don’t be shy.   If you have never organised a meet before or you haven’t done[…]