Upon meeting up with the other two vans in Telford myself
and Callum went on a girl shopping trip in Tesco. After an already extended
stop as myself and Callum stood at a checkout piled with Christmas crackers and
club alcohol feeling some pressure as I’d told everyone to be on the bus 15
minutes ago. However, as we’re checking out the rest of the bus piles back into
Tesco muttering something about a door falling off. We walked out to see
everyone attempting to stick the door back on, despite this valiant effort, it
did not fit back on. By this point Harry was already busy orchestrating a
recovery mission with the RAC, whilst we slowly began piling as many club
freshers into the other two vans and sent them on their way to warm the hut up
for us. After a quick cup of tea in Maccies we got a call for four strong
people to fit the door back on the van. 10 minutes later we were back on the
road! From my perspective this late arrival was preferable as the hut was
already set up and warm upon arrival. The downside however was that the general
atmosphere was one of drowsiness, and drinking was kept to a minimum.
The weekend from Jim’s
perspective
"Having actually gone to bed at a reasonable time Friday
night people were up and out the door pretty quickly Saturday morning. After
finally working out to fill the screen wash compartment [the reality was that Jim didnt know how to use the screen washer], we trucked up the A55
at an unbelievably low speed to allow Jack to stay in touch in the shit bus.
Having arrived at Castle Inn most people were reasonably psyched and got
climbing, with the starred Routes 1 and 2 proving especially popular. Needless
to say, massive mincing did occur, with Steve Howie spending most of the day on
a bouldering mat, Connor sleeping much of the day and Jamie also cuddling up on
the mat somewhat. Those who actually went climbing did well- notable ascents
included a 6c onsight from Jake, a first lead for Jane, several 6a/ 6a+’s for
Steve and Sam and some all-round good effort from Joel who basically ticked the
crag. As the day wore on people started to lose psych, so we packed up and
headed to Llanberis for some gear ogling where Anthony bought himself a tasty
downy J. 
Having got the nod from the committee, we headed back to the hut where
we were greeted by Frosty and a pretty giggly committee. After a literally
delicious meal (thanks James!), drinking got underway. Much of what happened
was recorded photographically, but suffice to say that high/low lights included
Steven Howie’s nob being given much airtime, Frosty getting super drunk and
breaking about 4 glasses, Marie feeling Frosty’s muscles, a horrendous game of
cards against humanity, much high pithed screaming, Anthony’s trousers being
pulled down while urinating, Caitlin throwing up, Connor almost dying after
throwing up….the list could go on, but frankly I have other things to be doing!
Everyone was highly reluctant to get up and the clean-up was suitably awful but
after a good session everything was clean (enough) and we were good to go off
for a day of climbing, walking or bouldering (mincing)."
Saturday from committee’s
perspective
On the Saturday morning I was in a rush to get everyone out
having some good cold fun, so that we could begin drinking in peace; my colleagues
on the other hand were reluctant to get out of bed until people had left. To
keep it short James drove Callum, Josh and I off to Llanberis to ogle gear and
for Josh to do some ‘van surfing’. After realising we actually needed to cook
some food that day we rushed back, cracked open the kegs and began chopping
veg. Perhaps due to the fact that we were becoming increasingly giggly, or due
to our comparative incompetence (most likely a combination of the two), James
refused to lets us do anything other than perhaps make some stuffing and check
that the gammon wasn’t poisonous, as he perfectly timed the preparation and
cooking of a Christmas dinner for 31 people! After a short speech and some
prize giving, people finished off their final bits of food before a rapid clear
up in order for drinking to commence. I won’t say much about that night partly because
fuzzy memory only contains images including Frost rolling round on the floor
and the return of Father Shotmass (cheers Steve), but also because I believe
that what happens on a meet should stay on a meet (I’m sure Caitlin wishes the
same was true) so I will let the photos do the talking.
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| A picture that sums up the night. A bottle of tequila and a lack of clothes. |
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| Not sure if this is before or after Ellie spat water all over Jack |
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| note Marie feeling Frost's arm muscles |
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| and my personal favourite.... |
Ellie’s Sunday Slate Story
"Sunday inevitably dawned
and needless to say we all sprang out of bed bright and early feeling like
fresh spring daisies! No-one moaned or groaned or felt chunderous...especially
not Caitlin, no she was loving life! All the cleaning was done in a flash and
we left in record time... Or something like that! Anyway moving swiftly onwards and we find ourselves speeding off to the slate quarries. Bring on the totally-NOT-horrendously-hungover hard sending day! The gently inclining walk-in was accompanied by most copious amount of moaning I have ever encountered, Sam N-e took gold (everything about the steps was wrong) closely followed by Joe McGuire (small physical effort = moan loudly about it) only for them both be overtaken by James when he realisedhe was flagging (life = moan harder). But once we got started at Plateau slab everyone had a good time. 6a after 6a sport routes were dispatched with ease and soon a crag ticking enterprise was well underway. Jane did a great lead of a 4a, Connor and Remy led multiple 6a's and Sam quietly flashed 6b before succumbing to post-alcohol inertia. Joel after watching Jim and Steve work the moves on a 6c+ calmly did it first go! Meanwhile I went off to try Bella Lugosi is Dead. E1..! I'd been waiting to trying this route for so long and breaking the all-import E1 barrier felt both terrifying and unbelievably exciting! Safe to say I was psyched! All round it was a successful day I think, climbing it turns out is actually a pretty good hang-over cure!"Charlie's Cromlech Boulders Vignette
On Sunday morning those psyched to boulder (and those psyched to lie on bouldering mats all day) headed off to the Cromlech boulders. Jack, Emily and Chris got to sending The Ramp, 5 on the main wall with Callum motivating them, whilst Katie, Marie and I started the day with Easy Flake, 3. Meanwhile Yas and Howie camped out on a boulder mat in their sleeping bags, and Connor and Anthony slept in the bus!
Emily and I then moved onto Browns Crack, 5 which Emily eventually managed after Chris pointed out that we were in fact going the wrong way at the top, and Jack, Frosty and Chris had a quick gander at Jerry’s Roof before deciding it was near impossible. The mince levels grew as everyone quickly got cold from all their sitting around, and after lunch we all decided to sack it off and head into Llanberis for a nice trip to Pete’s Eats. After some more mincing around V12 we headed back to the pass to meet the others before the long drive home.
Harry’s Walk (as
written by Peate)
Just to make it clear, Ellie’s description of Sunday morning
was all bullshit. After everyone was politely awakened by a pan and a ladle, I
ran around (still somewhat drunk) attempting to get people (including
committee) moving. Knowing fore well that slate would involve zero achievements
in my current state, and that bouldering would involve failing a few times, mincing
on a bouldering matt getting cold, and then sitting in Pete’s Eats I asked
Harry to organise a walk for us. Despite some messing around that morning on my
behalf Harry set us off up in the direction of Glyder Fawr. The initial boggy
section soaked Jake’s feet as we circled the cwm, before steadily trudging up
hill, which was interspersed with regular breaks so that we (Caitlin) could sit
down. The weather was pleasantly mild until we summited, where it was utterly
freezing. After some ‘hard winter ascent’ selfies we dropped off the summit in
the direction of the pub in Nant Peris and huddled in between some boulders
trying to get in touch with the van drivers so that we could be collected. We
took in the views and appreciated the fleeting moments of sunlight as Harry
took us the scenic route back to the pub, which seemed to take us through
someone’s Garden, in which Jake fell knee deep in to a stream. In the pub we met up with the boulderers who, as expected minced pretty hard and enjoyed a warm brew in Pete's Eats. All in all the
walk was an excellent way to beat a hangover (despite a battle with an upset digestive
system on my part) and cap off what had been an amazing weekend.
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| a familiar sight |
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| Mountain Leader Harry |
