This weekend saw the Mercians head up to the Low Hall Garth hut, in Little Langdale, for some outdoor adventures.

Getting there proved to be the biggest adventure as we slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid a couple of rocks which were blocking the road to the hut.  Had I  been travelling in a banger of a car, or with less heroic Mercians, we might have got there without getting soaked and crippled back but as I was in a very posh car with a couple of macho men I was in for a soaking.  The ‘these’ of the “We’ll just get these out of the way,” fame rapidly turned into a full blown landslide as the lads showed why the never win when we play Jenga.

Continue reading →

The walk-in

On January 2nd, Karl, Tom and Sarah L walked up into Stob Coire nan Lochan above Glen Coe to see if we could get some winter climbing done. It had snowed to quite a low level over night, and as we got into the corrie we were wading through two foot drifts, an indication as to just how much snow had fallen higher up. This put paid to our plans of checking out the gullies, as the risk of avalanche would have been too great, and we’ve have had to swim up the gullies, rather than climb them. Continue reading →

Okay, so we all chickened out of going on a dip in the Loch but in fairness it was bloody freezing – and that was inside the hut!

Instead, after seeing a number of Mercians off on their way home a group of us went on a stroll up to Inchree Falls.  It was still cold and damp weather wise but we did see a brief glimpse of the sun. 

After our soaking we retreated to the pub in Onich where we encountered a couple of waifs and strays.  In order to escape the attentions of Mr Boom (he’s from the Moon don’t you know?) we took ourselves into the games’ room where we were forced to play pool and giant Connect Four.  We forgot to take the muzzle though and we nearly got booted out for a certain member’s use of bad language in front on small children.  Suffice to say, her New Year’s resolution is to swear less. I’ve got a fiver on it not even lasting until tomorrow.

Having had enough of the bad weather, some of us decided to guarantee we had a dry day by heading over to the Ice Factor, in Kinlochleven, to climb.  Two different groups went and so I got to spend a very happy five hours there although I was forced to sit through two lunches which was, in my opinion, a waste of valuable climbing time.  

Back at the hut the food was being prepared for the evening’s feast and we were treated to a four course Mexican meal.  The chefs did a great job catering for the 20+ guests and became more and more creative with their presentation as the evening wore on and the wine started flowing. Continue reading →

The 30th of December saw a small group of Mercians attempt the Ballachulish Horseshoe but again bad weather forced a retreat and again the summit was not reached. 

Corbetteer tried to get up Tom Mheadhoin and Beinn Na  Gacaig but didn’t get up either because of the miserable weather and solid rain.

The only expedition which was successful was that of the party who ventured to Fort William and managed to accomplish buying fresh fish for the pie that evening.

  29th Mam Na Gualaine

A small group of Mericans attempted Mam Na Gualaine. The morning started bright and relatively dry but half way up it appeared that someone had turned out the lights and we were plunged into darkness as the blizzard descended. We made a brave attempt to push on for the top, and it was looking like we were going to make it, but then the gale force winds came in and just shy of the top we were all on our knees. 50mph winds knocked us to the floor and although we’d been keen to carry on it was obvious we weren’t going to be able to do so safely. Or at least carry on at anything other than snail’s pace on our hands and knees.
The descent seemed incredibly quick and before we knew it we were back in the car and heading off to the Ice Factor to scout out availability for climbs if we had more bad weather. Then it was back to the hut for tea and home cakes and to await the arrival of our chefs for the night.

The New Year meet gets off to an early start in Aviemore!

Alarms set for 0630, leaving the ski centre car park at 0800 we climbed Ben Macdui and Caringorm Mountain, we walked about 17km, returning to the car park by 1430 in time for some gear shopping! Continue reading →

With the promise of nice weather, and the need to keep away from spending money in the shops, a plan was hatched to take the bikes on a bimble. (Why should it only be people with cars who get to annoy people with Sunday driving?)
We set off from Hollywood and took the lanes and tow paths in the area. Ending up at the Peacock pub we had a rather disappointing lunch there after having been so impressed last time we stopped.
On leaving the pub the sun had started to dip and it was a speed cycle back for hot tea and hot baths.

Last weekend saw two intrepid Mercians tackle the ‘Follow the Dog’ mountain bike route at Cannock Chase. One whizzed round, barely getting out of breath, whilst the other battled around getting thrown off left, right and centre. Black and blue is the new black, right?