Trip Summary

On a weekend when it seemed like summer had finally arrived, CUHWC returned to the George Starkey Hut in Patterdale. The last time we were here, it was unseasonably snowy, so the warmth and the sun this time made quite a change to the scenery! Most trip participants were in the hut, with some people camping nearby. Saturday saw glorious weather, which everyone took full advantage of. Folks on the scrambling course headed up Pinnacle Ridge (though they couldn't have been paying too much attention to their route, because they failed to find it again the next day...), while another group headed for a grade-4 scramble, and a third decided to get their feet (and sometimes their entire bodies) wet by going gill-scrambling! Others opted for less rocky walks of greater and lesser lengths.

On Sunday, the weather was still warm but a bit more overcast. A fair proportion of the group lounged around the bunkhouse for much of the morning drinking tea, before deciding to spend a lazy day on the lake, exploring islands via canoes and rowboats. Some significantly more energetic people awoke early and went swimming in a nearby tarn before heading out on their walks. Indeed, swimming was a popular activity this weekend, with some people diving in to Ullswater and various tarns at least 3 times! The Trip Leader, having thin Californian blood, preferred to just dip her feet in.

Trip Participants

Joe Hobbs, Becky Howard, Tom Leach, Peter Kirkwood, Kerrie Taylor-Jones, Paul Fox, Tom Owen, Andrena Ball, Greg Chadwick, Lucy Wright, Daumilas Ardickas, Mike Simpson, Fiona Petersen, Alex Elliott, Tom Dobra, Katherine Bond, Dave Mackenzie, Eleri Cousins (Trip Leader), Reuben Newsome, Laura Imperatori, Pete Florence, Matt Hickford, Jo Smith, Dave Farrow, Partha Patil, Laurent Michaux, Katie Atkinson, Franziska Rupprecht, Paul Brookes, Antonia Cuff, Valerie Ashton and Tom Ashton

Photos

• Jo Smith
• Dave Farrow

Trip Summary

We left from Queen's Road just after 07.00 and after some intrepid journeying up some motorway we arrived at Church Stretton before 10.00. After everyone made use of the 'space-age' facilities (they spoke to you AND the flush was a brick), we started to walk.

We split into 3 groups - 2 walked to the west/east of church stretton before progressing to the east/west (with one group stopping in the middle for Magnums). These walks encompassed such sites as Caer Caradoc, a 'wee' scramble up Gaer Stone and of course Pole Bank and Long Mynd. The other group walked nearly the entire length of Long Mynd admitting that it was 'a bit boring at the top really,' but that they got to meet a very pleasant gliding club.

No one can deny the weather was a bit of a surprise with the sun more than shinning (the author got a BIT burnt). Although the bugs left a little to be desired. Other bits of nature were gorgeous with some groups taking pictures of beautiful cantering horses and another group taking a picture of simultaneously peeing sheep. We all found the waterfall disappointing.

The walks ended in the King's Arm beer garden before heading back to Cambridge for arrival at 21.00 ish. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip (coming from someone who isn't a big fan of day trips) and was the perfect solution to the Easter Term mindset. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and apparently I hear that the 'back of the minibus' have planned to go to a pub quiz together this week despite not knowing each other before the trip.

I hope to see you all again soon :)

Trip Participants

Vicky Ward, Greg Chadwick, Becky Howard, Matt Hickford, Pete Florence, Haseeb Aneed, Tom Dobra, Aileen Cameron, Martyna Popois, Daniel Unruh, Raphael Sanchez, Katie Atkinson, Elisa de Ranieri, Mike Hastings, Ciara Cicarelli, Aga Wabik and Reuben Newsome (kinda).

Photos

If you have photographs of this trip that you would be willing to share on this page, please contact the Webmaster.

Trip Summary

The trip was a disaster — the Safety Officer was lynched due to forgetting the biscuits and the rioting hillwalkers then torched the bunkhouse (unfortunately, a fire extinguisher wasn't enough to stop it burning to ashes) and then joy-rode the minibus into a tree. In an effort to get home, they then tried to hijack the toy train that passes the bunkhouse before the police turned up and arrested them all. It appears the only thing they'll be bagging soon is categories of prison/lunatic asylum. The club has also been banned from North Wales.

Trip Participants

Joe Hobbs, Becky Howard, Tom Leach, Peter Kirkwood, Tom Owen, Paul Cook, Chris Arran, Brian Vermiere, Katherine Bond, Eleri Cousins, Phil Withnall, Veera Panova, Antonia Cuff, Mark Nikolka and Hannah Stern.

Photos

• Phil Withnall

Trip Summary

The club returned to the Cwm Dyli bunkhouse at the foot of Snowdon for the third successive Easter. The trip was characterized by extraordinary and rare weather conditions. It had snowed heavily across the whole UK in the days leading up to the trip and the general advice was not to risk walking in the mountains. However, all five days of the trip were marked by beautifully clear skies, high cloud and relatively low winds, making it easy to keep warm on summits and ridges despite being slightly below zero. Luckily, most popular routes were passable without crampons and/or ice axes. Those that took the extra equipment could add some variations to routes but the rest of us still had plenty available.

Those who made it to summits and ridges were treated with exquisite and rare views of all of northern Snowdonia covered in snow and ice as well as Anglesey and Holyhead. Short views of snow drifts and weird ice-formations were also everywhere. Those who brought cameras were afforded the opportunity to take some of the best photographs of their lives. Over 1000 photos of the trip are already on facebook and they are nothing less than stunning. Some of them could easily be mistaken for the Alps in summer. I'm sure that everyone who came was aware that they had experienced something very rare and special this trip.

Morale was high for the whole trip and the socialising and catering were as good as ever.

Some of the notable incidents of the trip were:

• Worst footwear ever: smooth-soled gym-slippers are not a good substitute for walking boots.

• Worst ever April Fool's joke: screaming "Fire" leading to evacuation and fire extinguisher being primed.

• Failed attempts at lock-picking after being accidentally locked out of the bunkhouse.

There will never be another trip quite like this again. It was one in a million.

Trip Participants

Mark Jackson, Antonia Cuff, Shane Li, Laurent Michaux, Tom Leach, Chris Arran, Paul Cook, Rebecca Howard, Andrena Ball, Joe Hobbs, Maartje, Adam Majewski, Alex Elliot, Tom Owen, Constanze Hammerle, Marina Romanello, Paul Fox, Fiona Petersen and Eric Harshfield.

Photos

If you have photographs of this trip that you would be willing to share on this page, please contact the Webmaster.

Trip Summary

We left from Churchill just after 7am in the morning in one minibus and Helen's car. It was a cold morning and snow had fallen and settled overnight in Cambridge. The forecast for the Peak District was -4 to -5 Celsius on the peaks with strong winds, some snow, but good visibility. There were 17 of us in total, not including one person who was originally down to go but unfortunately did not make it there for the departure.

For the first time in my memory (not counting Edale trips) we had a minibus driver provided by the rental company rather than a Club member driving. The driver was very flexible and willing to go along with pretty much whatever we wanted to do, and drove the minibus safely and speedily.

We initially planned to meet Helen's car in a parking spot on the west side of Erwood reservoir. However, when Helen’s car arrived there, they found that the road was icy and difficult to pass in a car, let alone a minibus, so we changed our plans and decided to start instead from the Cat and Fiddle Inn on the A537 at an elevation of 505m.

There was a great deal of strong, very cold wind, and a fair amount of snow around the inn. The bus driver assured us that he was happy if we wanted to leave early, but we continued with our plans and split into two groups: one with 8 people led by Andrew and walking around the Goyt Valley in the anti-clockwise direction, with a nominal length of 15km, and another with 9 people led by Tom and Valerie A and walking the clockwise direction with a nominal length of 18km. Both groups started walking at 11am.

The route of the first walk went from the pub to wild moor, across the north side of the Erwood reservoir, then to up to Cats Tor, followed by Shining Tor and then back to the pub. They arrived back at the pub at around 3.30pm.

The second walk went from the pub, to the summit of Shining Tor, just a short 54m ascent from the inn. The view was magnificent with no clouds or mist. From there we continued to Cats Tor, then to Pym Chair, at which point there started to be less snow on the ground, to Windgather Rocks, then Overton Hall Farm, by which point there was no longer any snow on the ground. We stopped for lunch on a couple of public benches, then walked back through the forest on the west side of the Fernilee Reservoir, crossing between the two reservoirs to ascend the impressive Bunsal Cob at 332m, then across the snow covered Wild Moor to meet up with the road back to the inn. We arrived back at the pub at 5.20pm.

The bus driver went to Bakewell to find a Bakewell Pudding (or possibly a Bakewell Tart), then went “for a drive”, had a roast lunch at the Cat and Fiddle, and listened to a rugby match. He said we were crazy to walk in the weather, and that he thought it was cold enough just walking from the car park to the pub.

We left for home at 5.40pm, stopped at a fish and chip shop in Buxton for dinner, and were back at Churchill around 10pm.

Trip Participants

Tom A, Valerie A, Andrew W, Andrew K, Helen P, Sarah S, Matthew M, Tom H, Mark N, Austen S, Mike S, Irina S, Hyungsun K, Benjamin W, Shane L and Aileen C.

Photos

• Andrew Williamson

Trip Summary

This trip took the club to the brand new bunkhouse (or should I say bunk barn?) of Torrent Bunk Barn in Dolgellau. This bunkhouse sported some of the comfiest beds in individually coded rooms, a cosy kitchen and a brilliant fire-pit. After a relatively short drive via the interestingly well-loved minibus (sporting a brand new dodgy handbrake and a door that liked to open occasionally while driving so that you could greet traffic) and a 9-seater van with an amazingly big boot!

The weather on this trip was phenomenal with blue sky and clear summits for all groups on the Saturday and for most on the Sunday. Winter is definitely over (although there was a notable heavy frost both mornings...). On the Saturday the majority of group headed off for the Rhinogs to attempt the ridge from both directions via climbing, scrambling and walking. One group even managed to fit in some casual kite flying! Another group headed off to admire the views and sunbathe on Cadair and the remaining group trekked off from the Bunkhouse to ascend Glaswym. Andrew went somewhere I believe on a 30km walk. The day ended with some gorgeous food – despite the difficulties of a small kitchen lacking an oven: but thanks to the bunkhouse owner’s Granny we managed! Before bed we sang by firelight — a perfect end to a perfect day!

With another promising day ahead one group set off on Sunday morning to watch the sunrise by walking along the estuary and were back to the bunkhouse at 7.30am. There was a large variety of walks on the Sunday with one group heading off to the Rhinogs where it was clear skies all day and two more groups heading off to Cadair Idris (where it was apparently slightly less sunny) to attempt it by scrambling for one and walking for the other. Other groups took walks from the Bunkhouse in the neighbouring area. Andrew went somewhere I believe on a 25km(+) walk.

The weekend ended like many before with a stop on the way home at Dyas for fast-food. Defintely a great weekend!

Trip Participants

Simon Williams, Peter Kirkwood, Jo Smith, Greg Chadwick, Andrena Ball, Laura Dempsey, Fiona Hughes, Marina Romanello, Philip Withnall, Tom Leach, Tom Ashton, Nick Gachowicz, Valerie Ashton, Andrew Williamson, Aileen Cameroon, Jon Peatman, Chris Arran, Vicky Ward, Feyruz Yalcin, Reuben Newsome, Becky Howard, Laurent Michaux, Chantelle Clark, Daumilas Ardickas, Gael Guetard, Shane Li, Nienke Blom, Tuomo Valkonen and Aga Wabik.

Photos

• Andrew Williamson
• Laurent Michaux
• Philip Withnall
• Jo Smith
• Peter Kirkwood

Trip Summary

written by Simon Williams (Trip Leader)

The club returned to the Eskdale Centre at Boot for the second trip of Lent Term with 23 people, several of whom were new members. The drive up took longer than it might have done due to an accident on the M6 holding up the minibus for 45 minutes, both cars however avoided this and arrived around 23.30, some damage was also done to the minibus on getting into the car park.

This bunkhouse was previously the home of the Christmas vacation trip many years ago and was most recently visited in Lent Term of 2010, it was functional if a little cold and slightly cramped in the kitchen and bunk rooms.

The weather proved to be cloudy but dry on saturday with fog from around 300m, little or no wind even on the top, and snow from about 300m. One walk visited Scafell where snow and icy conditions forced them to abandon their plan to continue to Scafell pike and instead descend back to the valley via the south ridge of the mountain; the icy conditions however did not prevent another group from completing a round of Bowfell, Esk Pike and Scafell Pike, which despite the lack of views proved an excellent walk.

Several people also went on shorter walks around the valley visiting Harter Fell and Burnmore Tarn, and six people also participated in a navigation course led by a local instructor. Funding for this was secured from the BMC and an application will be made to the Andy Gibson Training Fund to cover the balance in due course. The members on the course seemed to find it interesting and useful, which is a marked improvement on the last such course in November 2011 when the instructor pitched the course at far too low a level and the participants learned very little. A full report of the course will (I assume) be submitted by one of the participants.

About half the trip visited the pub in the village in the evening for a drink and it may be worth noting for future trips that there are four pubs within two miles (two in the village itself) serving a variety of food, with the small size of the kitchen and limited cooking utensils this may be a good alternative to large cooking groups. As it was there was only one cooking group of a decent size and the kitchen proved crowded with lots of people cooking individually.

Unfortunately it rained steadily for almost the entire day on Sunday. Everyone got out eventually, however predominantly on lower-level walks. A large party went to Ilgill Head above Wast Water, one to Devoke Water and another to Muncaster Fell. Peter and Paul braved the weather and made it up Scafell.

The cars and minibus managed to leave early and despite fairly heavy snow around Birmingham arrived home without incident.

Overall a pleasant trip and one that will hopefully encourage several of the new members to come back in future. The only incident that deserves special mention is the damage to the minibus. A collision with a wall when pulling into the bunkhouse resulted in the door handle being smashed and a large dent in the side of the door. The cost of the damage remains to be seen, but as the door may well need replacing this could be considerable.

Trip Participants

Simon Williams, Peter Kirkwood, Jane Patrick, Greg Chadwick, Paul Cook, Antonia Cuff, David Pettit, Laura Dempsey, Veera Panova, Phil Brown, Alex Elliot, Nick Gachowicz, Elise Berisma, Brian Vermeire, Wenting Zheng, Lifeng Guo, Henry Miller, Fiona Peterson, Tom Glen, Anne Moindrot, Feyruz Yalcin and Philip Withnall.

Photos

• Philip Withnall
• David Pettit

While the rest of the country was struggling to soldier on under a blanket of snow, CUHWC went to the University of Leeds' Selside Centre in the Yorkshire Dales for the weekend. We managed to get there without too much problem, except for one car which ended up arriving at about 01.30. Pushing it free from the track outside the bunkhouse did make for an exciting start to the trip for those who were up late enough to be involved. While the weather wasn't exactly perfect, it was much better than the forecast. One group successfully completed the Three Peaks on Saturday (walk report below), while the rest of the trip participants ticked off each of them individually between them. Sunday saw similar conditions and a similar selection of walks.

Trip Participants

Andrew Williamson, Peter Kirkwood, Tom Ashton, Andrena Ball, Tom Owen, Paul Cook, Helen Phillips, Lilia Giugni, Philip Withnall, Thomas Leach, Rebecca Howard, Simon Williams, Jane Patrick, Joe Hobbs, Valerie Ashton, Paul Fox, Alex Elliott, Eleri Cousins, Hannah Lissaman, Thanatad Ruengsuksilp, Feyruz Yalcin, Reuben Newsome & Jonas Frey

Walk Reports

The Three Peaks (not quite) Challenge (PW)

Where we did all three peaks in around 9h40m, in the snow and the dark. We were silly.

Philip, Joe, Andrena, Peter, Becky & Reuben

The first thing to note is that Peter's Nuttall obsession led him to get lost on top of Ingleborough. The rest of the group were mildly concerned. The second thing to note is that Whernside, Ingleborough, and Pen-y-Ghent are all needlessly far apart. We did Whernside first, then Ingleborough, then Pen-y-Ghent. This worked well. The wind on the ridge on Whernside was 30-40mph and made sideways icicles on the fence/wall on the ridge (which we walked on the exposed side of for no good reason) and on our bags.

Pen-y-Ghent with additional Snow-related Capers (HP)

Helen, Eleri, Andrew, Tom O, Alex & Tee

We walked to Pen-y-Ghent via a nice walk alongside the River Ribble, but more important than this were the entertaining distractions along the way, namely:

• Snow-Angel Production
• Eleri's snow sheep outline / Eleri floundering in the snow in a most amusing manner
• The Playing of Pooh Sticks in Horton. Alex had never experienced this before - deprived childhood much?!
• Snowball fights which never really turned into fights
• Icicle fun - Tom O: "do you want to hold it? ... Eleri: "yes," and proceeds to describe anatomy while we all titter [*it seems Helen likes this word 'titter' - AW] behind her
• Snow face impression in deep snow drift and persuading a random walker to place her face in deep snow (and make a snow angel)
• A deep discussion about why female humans have such enlarged mammary glands, which was repeated twice that day
• Buying loo paper (as soft as Labradors) from the café in Horton
• Revolting and leaving Andrew to walk on the road by himself
• Horse love - lots of horse love! Especially for Tom O

Clapham & Ingleborough (PW)

Philip & Tom L

Route: Selside - Clapham - Ingleton Cave - Gaping Gill - Little Ingleborough - Ingleborough - Selside

Clapham was a gaunt village with some arbitrary tunnels and a noisy church. It has a natural-looking man-made waterfall in the middle because the owner of the manor house felt they needed to compensate for something. (Don't know what - the Tourist Information board didn't go into details.) Gaping Gill and the gorge south-east of it were nice; the latter (whose name I've forgotten) had a large, frozen stream, (not) running down its head, which was cool. Ingleborough was as Ingleborough always is. Windy, windy, windy and stuck in a cloud. Nice views of snowy fields on the way up. Sideways views of Tom being buffeted around the path on the ridge. No views on top. Fun snow drifts though. We then pezzed it down off Ingleborough back to the bunkhouse and demolished lots of biscuits. Tom thinks it's acceptable to dunk custard creams in tea. We don't speak anymore.

Quotes

• Tom L: We saw a train! That was really exciting. I love trains!
• Joe: But were they the wrong strong feelings?
• Peter (on going around the 3 Peaks again the following day in the opposite direction): That's a great idea - why don't we do that tomorrow?

Photos

• Andrew Williamson
• Tom Owen
• Eleri Cousins
• Tee Rueng
• Phil Withnall
• Hannah Lissaman

From 2 & 3. CUHWC Selside Trip

From 2 & 3. CUHWC Selside Trip

From 2 & 3. CUHWC Selside Trip

We returned to Seathwaite for our New Year Trip 2013. It was quite cloudy, but people still managed to visit lots of fells between them. As is becoming traditional, we visited the Scafell Hotel in Rosthwaite for a meal on Saturday night.

Trip Participants

Joe Hobbs, Paul Cook, David Ponting, Jack Day, Greg Chadwick, David Mackenzie, Thomas Winther, Adrian Molder, Laura Burrows, Tom Cole, Lizzy Brickley, Helene Wolleb, Jo Smith, Anna Kendrick, Becky Howard, Tom Leach, Goody Gibbins, Vicky Ward, Laurent Michaux, Tom Owen, Tuomo Valkonen, Paul Fox, Tom Glen, Helen Phillips, Austen Saunders, Katie Atkinson & Andrena Ball

Walk Reports

Buttermere Horsehoe (HP)

Helen, Laurent, Tom, Tom & Jack

• Dry and clear(ish) in the morning for High Snockrigg (small titter for the name) and Robinson (named after the squash producer?)
• Diversion to the smallest cairn known to man [sic]
• A nice yomp along the ridge with a very cute (some may say curvaceous) Labrador
• Down to Honister - watched a cyclist fall off a bike — had lunch
• FOG - FOG - FOG - FOG (Brandreth & Grey Knotts)
• Minor navigational issues
• Haystacks - still don't know where the summit is! Baa-ed at some sheep.
• Descended in an unusual direction - Jack acquired a metal bar - sounds like Jacob Marley's ghost
• Headtorch-related fun & rain & 1st-gear car fun & chavvy music

A Long-ish Walk, much at Low Level (JH)

Joe, Andrena & Paul

We took off after I'd checked that everyone was on a route card, 7 minutes and 14 seconds after the planned time. The pace down the road to Seatoller was speedy and only abated a little as we headed first up Honister Pass, then up Dale Head. As we ascended Dale Head, the weather got worse, with wind and fine rain, so we had a short stop to don waterproofs, gloves, hats & other clothing. The weather was so miserable ... To be continued apparently — perhaps to add suspense

A Good Walk through the Fog to over 900m (LM)

Laurent, Dave M, Tom & Tom

We set off with the larger group towards Glaramara. Not far from the bunkhouse, we encountered a sheep injured on its side. The two vets Helen & Becky sprang into action to resolve the situation. Leaving the vets (& Vicky), we ascended out of the damp valley and picked up the pace, leaving the larger group behind. Many spectacular views of the inside of a cloud were had. We followed the ridge over several summits and sadly didn't see any other walkers or dogs. Passing by patches of snow in the rain on the way up to Great End, the wind picked up even more. Whilst having our lunch break in the shelter at the top of Great End, a guy in a bright green waterproof and with a Leeds accent asked: "is this Scafell?" to which we replied that he and his friend were about 2km away from where they were hoping to be. Apparently they had taken a wrong turn and scrambled up the north side of Great End. We then descended back down towards the warm bunkhouse with them following part of the way. On our return, we learned that the other group had found another sheep caught in a fence. It was therefore an enjoyable and wet walk, and a bad day for the local sheep!

Photos

• Tom Owen
• Tuomo Valkonen

This was quite a trip! In a first for the club, we ventured into Scotland for a weekend trip (yes, you read that correctly). It was well worth the 7-hour drive each way. We chose to stay in the Well Road Centre in Moffat, lying in the middle of Southern Uplands. It was perhaps the best place the Club has ever stayed in, complete with games room (with basketball and badminton court), table tennis table, piano, pool table and almost enough beds for each of us to have two of them! To call it a bunkhouse would be something of an understatement and terms such as ‘Mansion’ and ‘Palace’ were preferred. Aside from that place, this was a joint Duffers’ and CUHWC members’ trip, so we were joined by 15 older club members. Most people chose to walk on Hart Fell on Saturday, with a couple of groups doing linear walks and including White Coomb too. On Sunday, most people explored the Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall, some chose to tick off Grahams (Scottish hills >2000ft high) and others visited Broad Law. Saturday evening even featured the second CUHWC pantomime, Peter Pan, which was stunningly performed, written and directed. It seems like rather a lot happened on this trip — never a bad thing, of course, and this trip will definitely be one of the even more memorable ones.

Trip Participants

Andrew Williamson, Peter Kirkwood, Greg Chadwick, Tom Ashton, Paul Cook, Michael Fordham, Chris Sidell, Andrena Ball, Tom Owen, Jane Patrick, Constanze, Joe Hobbs, Chris Arran, Lizzy Brickley, Tuomo Valkonen, Simon Williams, Valerie Ashton, Helena Laughton, Lilia Giugni, Kim Moore, Paul Fox, Laurent Michaux, Daumilas Ardickas, Jo Smith, Tom Hadavizadeh, Alex Gabrovsky, Ruth Pettit, Helen Ashdown, Michael Ashdown, Bethan Gudgeon, Doug Hull, Ben Watts, Ben Daniels, David Gruar, Toby Speight, Alison Beresford, Lottie Bell, Peter Bell, Will Carroll & Matthew Graham

Photos

• Andrew Williamson
• Tuomo Valkonen
• Tom Owen
• Ruth Pettit
• Jo Smith
• Toby Speight
• Peter Kirkwood

Pantomime

To view the pantomime, you can go here.

From 49 & 50. CUHWC Southern Uplands Trip

From 49 & 50. CUHWC Southern Uplands Trip

From 49 & 50. CUHWC Southern Uplands Trip

Trip Summary (written by Vicky, Trip Leader):

The second weekend trip of the academic year was the first trip to Snowdonia this year and the first trip in 30 without our current President Andrew; it saw us staying in the Tan-Y-Garth Bunkhouse at Capel Curig, a new one for the Club. The first day saw a whole battalion of varying weather conditions from sunny, to rainy, to snowy with a light scattering of rainbows. Nevertheless, the majority of the groups ventured up Tryfan by all manner of routes, despite the rather interestingly slippery rocks. No one attempted the jump between Adam and Eve. The other group had baggers; I care little of what they did. In the evening, perhaps to avoid singing, one group went out on a relatively short night hike to set off some fireworks while the others sang along to Paul’s amazing accompaniment which consisted of him (relatively successfully) playing the guitar and blowing keyboard/harmonica simultaneously. The second day had beautiful weather consisting of sun and relatively clear skies for the majority of the day. A group of 12 took the pleasant walk up Moel Siabod, another up Snowdon and the others did something else. In summary the trip was not a disaster despite Andrew’s greatest fears.

Trip Participants:

Vicky Ward, Peter Kirkwood, Joe Hobbs, Jo Smith, Dave Farrow, David Pettit, Tom Ashton, Valerie Ashton, Laura Dempsey, Helene Wolleb, Katie Atkinson, Paul Cook, Jasper van Bruckem, Nienke Blom, Thomas Leach, Phillip Withnall, Phil Brown, Alex Elliot, Constanze, Yuchin Li, Aga Wabik, Carme Culdach, Pablo Hernandez & Josh Jones. Lewis Herbert helped out by driving on the trip, but stayed at an independent location from us.

Trip Reports

Tryfan & Back (JS)

Jo S, Dave, Joe, Laura, Helene, Jasper & Nienke

We drove to Llyn Ogwen and (deliberately) left the key in the bus for Tom to break into and steal later. Then we went up Tryfan's North Ridge. We had a Cannon faff. We found some iced rocks near the top and slipped off a few. We subsequently decided that it was not a day for jumping between Adam & Eve, or indeed for continuing up Bristly Ridge. Instead we traversed to the Glyders ridge, where a lengthy discussion ensued about whether we could be bothered to go up Glyder Fach. Joe eventually decided we couldn't, whereupon the rest of us mutinied and went up it anyway. Then we retraced our steps and continued down the ridge (via two Nuttalls, we were later reliably informed) to Capel Curig. A pretty good day all in all, with sunshine on Tryfan, snow on Glyder Fach and rain to finish Classic Snowdonia.

Tryfan and the Carneddau (TL)

Tom L, Alex, Phil & Phil

Having carefully arranged for the weather to be nice in the morning, we got the minibus to the foot of Tryfan, and had a great scramble up. Mostly clear skies gave great views. The gang was a bit slower near the top as the rocks were covered in a thin layer of frozen rain (or ice, as some people know it). This turned out to be slippery and to cause numbness of the hands. From the top of Tryfan, we descended back to the road, crossed over and went straight back up Pen yr Ole Wen. This was rapid and screeful. The sun was out for much of the ascent, so everyone stripped off (some of) their clothes. Somewhere between Carnedd Dafydd and Carnedd Llewelyn, it started snowing. This was not in the plan for the weather. It was quite fun. From there, we continued along to Penywaun-wen, then descended to the east of Ffynnan Llugwy resevoir. From there, we had a long and rapid descent along farm tracks to the A5. This was not so fun. The return to ground level may have been rapid enough to give people the bends. We got back at ~17.00, having only got lost between Capel Curig and the bunkhouse once.

Presidential Concerns

• This trip has been referred to at least once as 'The Trip Without Andrew' - i.e. the first of that type in 30.

• Question: How long did it take Andrew (see epitaph here) to text the Trip Leader after the trip had left?

• Answer: 3 minutes. This exceeded expectations of those on the trip.

• Bets had been taken:

  • Phil Brown: 5 minutes
  • Joe Hobbs: 15 minutes
  • Vicky Ward: 30 minutes

Notable Quotes

• Phil: Girls need to get some balls ... Vicky: We can't go to a ball shop you know ... Phil: Disappointing ... Vicky: You want girls to have balls?!
• Joe: Vicky, your butternut squash is very phallic ... Vicky: You've ruined my butternut squash for me now!

Photos

• David Pettit
• Philip Withnall
• Jo Smith
• Aga Wabik

Our first weekend trip of the academic year went to the Achille Ratti Climbing Club's Hut at Dunmail Raise. We enjoyed stunning weather for the first day of the trip, with most groups choosing to venture onto the Eastern Fells to make the most of it. Helvellyn was a popular choice. Sadly, the weather was less pleasant on Sunday, but we still enjoyed walks principally visiting the central fells, and most particularly the Helm Crag ridge. There was a good complement of singing on Saturday evening, including a few games. Hopefully we've started the year off as we mean to go on... "If you want..."

Trip Participants

Andrew Williamson, Peter Kirkwood, Tom Ashton, Paul Cook, Helen Phillips, Jane Patrick, Andrena Ball, Tom Owen, Constanze, Dave Farrow, Jo Smith, Eleri Cousins, Tim Newton, Vicky Ward, Becky Howard, Simon Williams, Greg Chadwick, Sung-Geun Hong, Gareth Ainsworth, Hannah Lissaman, Philip Withnall, Thomas Leach, Thomas Hall, Tuomo Valkonen, Nick Gachowicz, Mike Simpson, Phil Brown, Matt Hickford, Lilia Giugni, Kim Moore, Mark Nikolka, Laurent Michaux, Henry Miller, Katie Skeffington, Matthew Dalton, Daumilas Ardickas, Alex Elliott, Michael Fordham, Huiqi Wang, Kalin Vasilev & Ruth Pettit.

Trip Reports (well, sort of...)

IMPs (SW)

Saturday saw the birth of:

IMPs

An IMP is an Insignificant hill of Minimal Prominence. They exist for two reasons. Firstly to form a list of hills that fulfils the objective of classifying every convex surface in the country not already covered by the lists of Munro, Wainwright, Dewey, Nuttall and infinitum. In doing so this list provides the final and ultimate challenge for all those inspired and aroused by the prospect of climbing hills solely for the purpose of list-ticking. The second reason they exist is because geology dictates that the countryside cannot be flat and that some undulations will inevitably exist. Sociology dictates that some person will express a desire to catalogue such undulations to the point of complete flatness and thus the IMPs are the inevitable consequence.

The End of an Era (AW)

Well, there we have it, 29 trips later and sadly the time has come when I’m going to have to conclude my run of consecutive CUHWC trips, which began all the way back on my first Club trip as a meagre fresher to Edale in 2010. It feels distinctly like ‘the end of an era,’ even though in reality that is probably pushing it a bit. After all, I’m not going to be stopping my involvement with the club anytime soon – but I guess things may start to quieten down a bit now, and perhaps will do so most particularly when my Presidency ends in February and impending Finals take over a little more. I’ve enjoyed every single one of those 29 trips regardless of weather, company or number of peaks I managed to bag. It’s going to be weird for me knowing that CUHWC people are away spending a weekend on the hills and I won’t be a part of that. I know it’ll be hard since this wonderful club has come to form such an important part of my Cambridge life. Nevertheless, I should be back on proper form for the Moffat trip and we’ll take it from there. Long may it continue.

Notable Quotes

• Gareth: We've got a peelerphile here.

Photos

• Andrew Williamson
• Philip Withnall
• Jo Smith
• Peter Kirkwood
• Tuomo Valkonen

From 48. CUHWC Dunmail Raise Trip

From 48. CUHWC Dunmail Raise Trip

For the third year running, we enjoyed great weather for our Freshers' Day Trip to Edale in the Peak District. The trip was as popular as ever, so 52 of us headed to Edale, where another 8 club members joined us to help lead walks, probably making this one of the largest Edale trips for a while. As usual, we all walked from Edale to Hayfield by a variety of routes, making a thorough exploration of the peat groughs, rock formations and other features of the wild Kinder plateau. Many people chose to conclude the day with a drink in the pub in Hayfield before heading back to Cambridge fully refreshed after a day on the hills.

Trip Participants

Andrew Williamson, Peter Kirkwood, Vicky Ward, Helen Phillips, Laura Burrows Phil Brown, Goody Gibbins, Tom Ashton, Valerie Brandt-Ashton, Mike Simpson, Dave Farrow, Jo Smith, Simon Williams, Jane Patrick, Michael Fordham, Andrena Ball, David Pettit, Ruth Pettit, Laura Dempsey, Tom Weir, Elise Biersma, Sung Geun Hong, Sam Ashcroft, Sam Lochead, Laura Bellamy, Sam Jackson, Nick Gachowicz, Hannah Rose, Katie Skeffington, Josh Jones, Catherine Gu, Rachel Bingham, Elizabeth Brickley, Daumilas Andickas, Yu Chin Li, Kshitij Sabnis, Laurent Michaux, Thomas Leach, Constanze, Catherine Walker, Tom Hadavizadeh, Yugun Lin, Timothy Tay, Paavo Parmas, Helene Walleb, Michael Masciandoso, David Dunning, Jocelyne Sze, Laura Imperatori, Philip Withnall, David Wallis, Benjamin Wallisch, Lilia Giugni, Olivia Taylor, Fiona Hughes, Holly Gurling, Pierre Clairambault & friend, Nienke Blom & Sara d'Agati.

Photos

• Andrew Williamson
• Philip Withnall
• David Pettit
• Elise Biersma
• Yuchin Li

From 47. CUHWC Edale Freshers' Day Trip

From 47. CUHWC Edale Freshers' Day Trip