Hobson Moor

Wed 14th Apr, 2010

A good turnout for the first KMC midweek evening meet of the year, including a few prospective members: Gareth Williams, Dave Wylie, Al Metelko, Josh Dynover, Ian Crook, Mark Ashley, Mike Reading, Katharine Bagshaw and Mike Freeman.

Some bouldering on the classic traverse round the quarry was the first order of the evening. Then various classic routes were climbed, including "Pocket Wall", "The Harp", "Epitaph Corner", "Amphitheatre Climb", etc. The weather stayed very fine, thought it did get a bit chilly once the sun left the crag. On to the "Waggon and Horses" for a swift drink and to decide where to go next week.

Anglezarke

Wed 21st Apr, 2010

Ten people, including another new prospective member, turned up at Anglezarke for a fine evening of climbing: Chris Williams, Gareth Williams, Katharine Bagshaw, Bob Kelly, Al Metelko, Dave Wylie, Andy Grantham, Mark Ashley, Carolyn Mills, Nick.

Most of the climbing were done on the "Walts Wall" and the "Lower Walls" next to the easy scramble down from the road. One team did venture through the jungle swamps to the other side of the quarry, though. Routes included "Whittakers Original", "Wedge", the eponymous "Nightmare" "Meanwhile" and "Alldreds Original"

Helsby

Wed 28th Apr, 2010

Attendees: Chris Williams, Nick, Andy Grantham, Carolyn Mills, Al Metelko, Dan OBrian and a couple of people enquiring about the club.

A beautiful evening, lots of sun despite it raining as people left work in Manchester. Lots of routes led up to HVS. Four went to the pub and after much discussion Pex Hill was voted next weeks venue.

Pex Hill

Wed 5th May, 2010

Attendees: Chris Williams, Bob Kelly, Josh Dynevor, Carolyn Mills, Koy oi Ding, Gareth Williams, Andy Grantham, Al Metelko, Mark Ashley.

A bad choice of car sharing hub ensured total confusion when a convoy of 5 cars hit the rush hour traffic on the A34, which was lucky for the mobile phone companies! The crag was warmer than expected as it was sheltered from the NE wind and the rock was in as perfect condition as it will ever be on a sunny evening.

Castle Naze

Wed 12th May, 2010

Attendees: Chris Williams, Bob Kelly, Josh Dynevor, Carolyn Mills, Koy oi Ding, Gareth Williams, Andy Grantham, Al Metelko, Mark Ashley.

A bad choice of car sharing hub ensured total confusion when a convoy of 5 cars hit the rush hour traffic on the A34, which was lucky for the mobile phone companies! The crag was warmer than expected as it was sheltered from the NE wind and the rock was in as perfect condition as it will ever be on a sunny evening.

Egerton Quarry

Wed 19th May, 2010

Attendees: Dave Wylie, Katharine Bagshaw, Al Metelko, Chris Williams, Gareth Williams, Carolyn Mills, Chris Hall.

Dave and Katherine arrived first and headed to the lower tier of the Empty Quarter. "Space Between my Ears" seemed quite a bit harder than the guidebook grade of Hard Severe, 4a. While Dave was still leading the route, other people arrived and chose the Red Wall/Cherry Bomb area. Joining them later, "Desert Dust" (allegedly at HS, 4b) seemed quite a bit more straightforward than the previous route!

A few other routes in the Red Wall area were climbed, with a fair amount of loose rock coming down in the process. Fortunately, none of this hit the belayers! Occasional faint voices were heard drifting through the heavily wooded quarry, but whether these were other climbers, or just passers-by, remains a mystery. There were also some rather noisy trail-bikers in the vicinity, plus at least one squirrel and a few midges. The quarry does have a few relatively clean and worthwhile routes, but doesnt seem to be popular enough for most of the climbs to stay in condition. However, it probably didnt deserve Katherines dismissal of it as "A bit of a cess-pit"... The lightweights left the quarry at around 9pm, but a hard-core group persisted, despite the lack of light, and finally made it to the pub at 10:45pm.

Dovestones Edge

Wed 2nd Jun, 2010

This venue was originally scheduled for May 26th. Unfortunately, afternoon rain in Manchester put most of the KMC off. Two people (Midge Castick and Katarine Bagshaw) did make it out to the crag that evening, but didnt manage to meet each other. The only climbing seems to have been a Moderate, soloed by Midge. However, as she did not suggest an alternative crag, Dovestones Edge was carried forward into June.

Attendees: Dave Wylie, Katharine Bagshaw, Roger Dyke, Midge Castick, Al Metelko, Chris Williams, James Williams, Carolyn Mills, Mark Ashley, Andy Stratford, etc., etc. The weather on June 2nd provided no excuses, so plenty of people turned up at the edge. So many, in fact, that the above attendee list is incomplete! Loads of routes were climbed in the glorious evening sunshine.

Again, as per the attendee list, not all the details have been recorded. Lets just say that several excellent classics and a few less well trodden climbs saw traffic. However, out of all the people who got out to the crag, only 3 went to the pub. Disappointing!

Wilton 1

Wed 9th Jun, 2010

Attendees: Andy Stratford, Andy Grantham, Carolyn Mills, Gareth Williams, Al Metelko.

Earlier rain and a cold biting easterly didnt stop 4 very keen climbers from climbing Eliminate VS 4c, 999 HS 4b, Fingernail VS 4c, Flywalk VS 4c, Bird Chimney S 4a. Al joined later in the evening, in time to tie on to the end of a rope.

Horseshoe Quarry

Wed 16th Jun, 2010

Attendees: James Williams, Andy Stratford, Carolyn Mills, Chris Hall, Al Metelko, Gareth Williams. Brilliant weather, fab climbing. Last off crag teams just made the pub.

Witches Quarry

Wed 23rd Jun, 2010

Attendees: Carolyn Mills, Gareth Williams, James Williams, Peter McNulty, Andy Stratford, Chris Hall, Penny Lewis, Al Metelko, Keith McDonald.

Another dry almost sunny evening ended with another mad dash to the pub for last orders. First timers to the quarry seemed to be most impressed and loads of routes up to E1 led. I guess as it wasnt quite the full moon and the witch free evening allowed us solve the mystery of the little red nut.

Running Hill Pits

Wed 30th Jun, 2010

Attendees: Dave Wylie, Andy Grantham, Al Metelko, Carolyn Mills, James Williams, Andy Stratford, Mark Ashley, Chris Hall, Rhian, Keith McDonald.

"Plumb Line" (VS, 4c) fended off many attempts, the only successful clean lead on it being by Carolyn. The "Midge Pit" at the bottom of the route was not a pleasant place to belay...

Hen Cloud

Wed 7th Jul, 2010

Attendees: James Williams, Andy Stratford, Andy Grantham, Penny Lewis, Chris Williams, Keith McDonald, Al Metelko.

A slightly damp and cloudy evening didn't stop the above from climbing well into dusk. Even so, they were not as keen as the group of 4 who'd been climbing since 11am, through the rain and where last off the crag.

Heptonstall

Wed 28th Jul, 2010

Attendees: Andy Stratford, Dave Wylie, Peter McNulty.

It was third time lucky for Heptonstall on the 28th, following bad weather which had put (nearly) everyone off for the previous two planned visits. The last of the day's showers blew past just as Andy and Dave arrived - but the rock was completely dry. Peter turned up soon afterwards and was pleased to see that he was not the only attendee this time - unlike on July 14th, when he was on his own and just got some bouldering done. Andy led "Fairy Steps" (HS, 4b) and "Curving Crack" (VS, 4c). Peter did "Trepidation" (VS, 4c). Dave just stuck to seconding. There were also three other, non KMC, climbers and a few locals out for their evening walks. An excellent evening's climbing, presumably the reason that there weren't more people in attendance was because all the other regulars are out in the Alps.

Alderman Rocks

Wed 4th Aug, 2010

Attendees: Dave Dillon, Mark Ashley, Keith McDonald.

Wavey Dave commented that "Alderman had lots of exiting and airy climbs". Mark provided the attendee list and reported that he'd managed to fall off one route (an HVS), so is this what was meant by "exiting"? Or was it perhaps "exciting"?

Pots and Pans Quarries

Wed 11th Aug, 2010

Crack teams in various stages of Alpine fitness ascended on Pots and Pans. Climbs a la climbing wall colour coded: Green for Greasy and Brown for Brill. Bounteous brill byways bashed while magnificent maelstroms mangled Manchester.

Also a spot of deep water soloing, or the moorland equivalent with head torch.

Wilton ThreeOne

Wed 18th Aug, 2010

Carolyn, Gareth, Mark, Nick, Al, Pete, Chris, Dave.

Teams rocked up from many mountain ranges around. Wilton One the venue because a red plank flew. Crag coding on this meet was a bit more discreet. Brown remained still for Brill, Green two grades more up hill. A further code Beasty added fun to the game. All in all a pretty good session on the grit.

Pule Hill

Wed 25th Aug, 2010

A record Wednesday night attendance for 2010 including 4 Daves(!) with Al Metelko, Andy Stratford, Gareth Williams, Wavey Davey, Dave Garland, Dave Shotton, Dave Bertalot, Carolyn Mills, Katherine Bagshaw, Kate Harvey, Mark Ashley, Nick Adamson.

All making it to the pub plus a couple of others who didn't. After being nearly eaten alive at a midgey Wilton One last week the voting was focused around getting to a crag that more or less was guarenteed "to have lots of wind". So Pule Hill was very still, very warm and very midgey last night! Routes climbed included on The Sentinal included Bed End (VD), The Peeler (S 4a), Traverse Not (HS 4c), No Exit (VS 4c). Routes on Flying Buttress included Minotaur (HVS 5a), and Flying Buttress (S 4a).

There were lots of others. Most agreed that the routes were typically Yorkshire in their undergrading and often thuggy! Midgeyness was once again a deciding factor in the convoluted voting and on the basis that limestone gets less beasties and we have only done one place with sport routes on a Wednesday this year, Harpur Hill Quarry was eventually settled on. NB according to those in the know HH does have a few excellent trad routes. A good session both on the grit and in the pub and a warm welcome to the newer faces.

Harpur Hill

Wed 1st Sep, 2010

Harper Hill devotees : Al Metelko, Penny Lewis, Andy Stratford, Gareth Williams, Carolyn Mills, Mark Ashley, Nick Adamson, Dave Dillon, Keith McDonald, Roger Dyke.

Nearly midge free, moon free, not bog free, almost trad free, sort of sun free. Plenty of whirling escapades. Only voting for four crags in the snug pub made an easy finish to the night out.

Troy Quarry

Wed 8th Sep, 2010

Present and correct at Troy Quarry : Andy Stratford, Dave Bertalot, Al Metelko, Mark Ashley, Chris Williams, Carolyn Mills, James Williams, Keith McDonald, Dave Dillon.

Climbs from Grane Wall on the left over to Little Sneak on the right with most in between. A few perfectionist accents. Some acrobatic. Some very illuminating and some by touch alone. Interesting voting in the pub, with Den Lane narrowly beating Blackpool Tower (including complimentary B&B in Lancaster).

Den Lane Quarries

Wed 22nd Sep, 2010

Present: Keith McDonald, Dave Shotton, Nick Adamson, Al Metelko.

Nice dry day enticed the above 4 (early rain stopped play on the 15th) to what could have been a beautiful evening but it started to rain lightly as soon as I arrived. I almost headed for home when Keith arrived followed by the others. Dave did a super lead on ‘Valeta HS 4b’ in what was now proper rain and was quickly followed by Keith and Nick before heading to the Church Inn for an early pint.

Lester Mill Quarry

Wed 6th Oct, 2010

Present: Nick Adamson, Dave Dillon, Gareth Williams.

Climbed Walk Up, above Evil Wall and the water features on sun dried rock and then Lester Rib as the darkenss descended. Set Back area looked interesting. (car park: pay and display, closed at 5pm). Voting in the Yew Tree pub.

Windgather

Wed 13th Oct, 2010

Present: Katherine Bagshaw, James Williams, Nick Adamson, Dave Shotton, Helen Maunders, Dave Dillon Al Metelko, Chris Williams.

Pretty good turnout considering the distance and climbing continued until well after sunset. The vote for next week’s crag was decided on the toss of a coin with Wilton 3 losing out. The coin was not checked to see if there actually was a tails side!

Ramshaw Rocks

Wed 20th Oct, 2010

Attendees:James Williams, Katharine Bagshaw, Nick Adamson and Chris Williams

Fantastic evenings climb by the light of the silvery moon, and where thermal underwear was definitely the attire of choice! A good selection of routes including The Arete and Phallic Crack were ticked, some with more diligence to the line than others.......!

Vigorous discussion followed in the Winking Man for next weeks crag which was finally decided to be New Mills Tor. Top roping will be allowed!

New Mills Torrs

Wed 27th Oct, 2010

Attendees: James Williams, Katharine Bagshaw, Nick Adamson, Al Metelko, Helen Maunders, Cathy Gordon, Louis Martin, Dave Dillon.

A warmer experience than last week. Lots of lovely cracks, some illuminated and others on the dark side. Bonus free abseil with every route ticked. Voting in the Pride of the Peaks. Decided to continue through the winter, going to a wall if it rains on the day.

Stockport Wall

Wed 3rd Nov, 2010

Present and chattering: Nick Adamson, Dave Dillon, Gareth Williams, Al Metelko, Mark Ashley.

Dark by 4.30. Clouds cleared about 6. Wonderful clear night, shooting stars. Boulder problems and solos (to keep moving). Prolonged voting in the local (to get warm again). Various illumination from mob phones to small box with candles inside.

Hobson Moor Quarry

Wed 10th Nov, 2010

Present and chattering: Nick Adamson, Dave Dillon, Gareth Williams, Al Metelko, Mark Ashley.

Dark by 4.30. Clouds cleared about 6. Wonderful clear night, shooting stars. Boulder problems and solos (to keep moving). Prolonged voting in the local (to get warm again). Various illumination from mob phones to small box with candles inside.

Wilton Three

Wed 24th Nov, 2010

Present in body: Al Metelko, Gareth Williams, Nick Adamson, Dave Dillon.

10 routes bagged on the north faces while moonlight bathed the south faces. Sub zero alpine training with loose stuff frozen in place. Wilton Arms for warmth and evil brews.

Kinder Downfall

Wed 1st Dec, 2010

There: Carolyn Mills, Gareth Williams, Nick Adamson, Al Metelko, Dave Dillon.

Interesting evening. Busy roads. Base camp where tyres lost grip just above cake shop, Hayfield. Foresight: The Sportsman for beer & voting before trek. Trees & snow highlights. Kinder res liquid. Very white & snowy. Al body surfing a snow wave. Gareth (secret weapon) sent from team high point to rub nose with The Downfall. Rather deep 'stuff' in the The Downfall maws. Forgot snorkels. Empty roads. Warm dry beds. Dreams of gateaux.

Hobson Moor Quarry

Wed 8th Dec, 2010

Quarry: James Williams, Nick Adamson, Al Metelko, Dave Dillon.

Dismayed by lack of rain. Made do with cornices leering over walls. Some routes on lesser corniced parts. Star light. Snow. Stunt doubles. Abseil practice over larger cornice above the Harp. Pub visit at half way point to get warm and regroup.

Bridgewater Bouldering

Wed 15th Dec, 2010

Bouldees: Gareth Williams, Dave Shotton, James Williams, Nick Adamson, Al Metelko, Dave Dillon.

2 venues, 2 traverses, 2 new routes 'Elephant Crack' and 'Gateaux Men'.

Hobson Moor Quarry

Wed 29th Dec, 2010

Present: James Williams.

Hard voting in the pub.