Category: Member Posts

The exclusive booking for 17 to 19 May is not now taking place, and Beudy is available. It looks like a reasonable forecast right through to the middle of next week, so if you want to go, let me know!

A few people have twisted my arm to add a vest to the range, so I’ve updated the order form with options for a blue (sapphire like the regular T) and black vest in wicking / tech fabric. Same logos, spec and pricing. Yes, I realise the photo is of a T-shirt – use your imagination 😉 If you open the link to the order form below you’ll find the two additional options at the bottom. No need to re-enter your previous items. I plan to close the order book at the end of the month so ORDER NOW FOR GREAT GEAR WHEN YOU “GET OUT THERE!” Link to order form

There are now going to be 10 of us on the Tatras trip. I have just booked 2 extra beds. So now the full list is myself, Andy Stewart, Gareth Williams, Ade Pedley, Dave Palmer, James Forder, Mark Jennison, Robin Illingworth, Jeremy Windsor and Richie Cameron. Had I known this trip was going to be this popular I could have chartered a coach from Manchester! 🤣🤣

Andy is off on a Greek odyssey at this time and has asked me to take on his island meet. My plan is to camp at Glen Rosa which is about 2 miles from Brodick on the isle of Arran. The camp site is cheap (£5pppn – cash only) and basic (toilets and cold water only). It is a do your own thing meet and there are lots of great opportunities to explore the island by climbing, walking, running, cycling, swimming, etc. I plan to have a communal meal Saturday night (and possibly Friday) in Brodick. I will be walking up Goat Fell and exploring the mountains north of the island on Saturday and possibly cycling around the island on Sunday. I will be on the island from Thursday (7th) until Monday 11th. There are regular (at least 8 sailings per day except Sunday) with Cal Mac from Ardrossan to Brodick at a reasonable price (assuming you are without a car) and I believe bikes are free. There is no need to book at the camp site, but it would be good to have an indication of numbers. Hope you can make it so please let me know your intentions –[…]

Many thanks for those of you who responded to my request with some input to the design / colour selection of our new ‘Get Out There!’ merchandise. The Rucksack Club has spoken (with a clear-cut winner for each) and it’s now time to ‘put your money where your mouth is’ 😉 Hopefully, if your ‘favourite’ didn’t make it to the ‘top of the pops’ you’ll be able to go with the flow with the majority.   As with the T-shirts last year, I’ll be placing an order based on specific requirements from members, rather than having a guess and ending up with a load of unsellable XLs or whatever, so please use the following order form to pick what you want: https://forms.office.com/r/TbTpNPp3SS  Pricing is £22 for the Tech T-Shirts and £35 for the Cycling Tops (plus £3 for P&P per order / not per item or you can collect for free)             Once the products arrive (I’m guessing mid June) I’ll be back in touch to arrange collection or delivery (you can select your preference in the order form) and also pester you for money! As with the T-shirts last year, every penny of profit[…]

Keith and I thought we’d found an excellent base for the meet at the Llanthony campsite adjacent to Llanthony Priory. Unfortunately, we’ve now discovered that the weekend of our meet coincides with the annual Llanthony Festival, which is held in the campsite field. So we thought we’d save Llanthony for another year and change the venue for this August to Cwmdu, north-west of Crickhowell and on the western side of the Black Mountains. There is a campsite here that appears to have good facilities (www.campingbreconbeacons.com ) that is within walking distance of the local inn. Cwmdu provides a good base for the western side of the Black Mountains, making it easy to include the highest point of Waun Fach. For those wanting to stretch their legs a bit, there is a 28km circuit with 1400m of ascent direct from the campsite, traversing Mynydd Llangorse, Mynydd Troed, Waun Fach and Pen Allt-mawr. There are several ways to cut this short or alternatively there is a most attractive round of the hills surrounding Llangorse Lake: Allt yr Easgair, Mynydd Llangorse and Mynydd Troed (21km/ 830m). The Bannau Brycheiniog (I’d better get used to that!) are close at hand also, so there should[…]

Just a follow up from Mark’s post about organising a meet, if anyone wants to use Beudy Mawr as a base, Steve Gregory and myself are more than happy to help. If you wanted it to be part of the Club’s Outdoor Meets programme, the best place to start is by contacting Helen Pritchard who can best advise on available dates within the programme. Alternatively, if you wanted to dip a toe in the water, just look at the programme to make sure there are no clashes, and then book with me. You can publicise the meet on the website, the Club’s Facebook page and through Meetstaff. Or you can get a few mates together and do it a bit less formally. If you haven’t been to Beudy before, I can ‘walk’ you through the place, although everything is pretty straightforward. You can decide how you want to run things – have a focus (walking, climbing, running, cycling, etc) or not (people do as they please), organise an evening meal (always good fun around the table) or not, invite families (or not, although the last couple of times I’ve been to Beudy there have been kids there and they have[…]

Jez Nasse is coordinating a summer Alpine meet in the first two weeks of August this year, based at the Ailefroide campsite in the heart of the Ecrins National Park. It’s a fabulous venue, with something for everyone: access to major Alpine peaks including Barre des Ecrins, the highest mountain in the Ecrins National park at 4,102m climbing and cragging on long routes and single pitch granite, direct from the campsite nearby world-class limestone sports climbing numerous via ferrata in the Briancon valley road biking and mountain biking to suit all levels and tastes stupendous walking in a fabulous setting Most of all, it’s a gorgeous campsite, spread over 17 hectares and perfect for families. Jez writes to advise that they don’t take group bookings but that you can reserve your space directly with the campsite here Get in touch with Jez directly (details in the handbook) if you are interested or want to know more information.

It seems that the meet at the Cairngorm Club hut from 1-6 October will be viable, judging by the bookings received so far.  I will need to finalise numbers fairly soon, so it would be very helpful to receive any additional bookings in the next few days.  The idea is to come along and do your own thing – there’s plenty to go at.  Within a 12-mile radius, there are 37 Munros, 8 Corbetts and a Graham.  There are many sub-600 m Marilyns (for those so inclined) around Aberdeenshire, Angus and Moray, and literally dozens of excellent low level walks.  There’s also climbing up in the hills, at the Pass of Ballater and at the coast, plus brilliant mountain biking on the hill paths and tracks and new purpose-built MTB trails around Tarland, going up onto Pressendye. Details of Muir Cottage are at https://www.cairngormclub.org.uk/muircottage/muircottage.  The location is OS grid reference 076896, 1.5 km downstream from Linn o’ Dee and 8.5 km from Braemar.  The cost is £12 per night, so the cost for 5 nights will be £60 per person.  It should be noted that everyone would need to stay in the hut, as the Cairngorm Club does not allow[…]