Page 35 - 2019 AMA Winter

Evening Lecture
for the weekend. Morning was soon upon us and it was with great delight that I was met with glorious sunshine when I opened the curtains in my van. Gareth and Jo from the café were busy in the kitchen making all the attendees a Full English which was very well received. Soon after the breakfast we had the safety brief before teaming the instructors with the students for the day. We spread out across all the crags in Tremadog so as not to monopolise any one area. Teams went to Pant Ifan (upper and lower tiers) as well as Craig Bwlch y Moch.
I was teamed with Rich Turner and Angus Foster-Hall, we decided to climb Hail Bebe (VD) followed by Oberon (S 4b). Our plan for the morning was to introduce Angus to multi-pitch climbing and to help Rich with instruction techniques to prepare him for RCI. We managed to get up both climbs in good time before conducting an abseil descent back to the bottom. After a spot of lunch in the café, I left Rich and Angus to go and climb another route, whilst I paired myself up with Jamie McGrory. Jamie had
Rich teaching Angus
Outside the cafe
spent the morning at Pant Ifan upper tier delivering some single pitch training, so we decided to get another route in before dinner. We opted for Rienetta (HS 4a) which we ascended in good time before heading back to the café.
That evening all 18 of us sat round the table and enjoyed some of the best pie, mash, mushy peas and gravy we had ever had. This was helped along with a beer and ice cream for good measure. Afterwards we retired to the campsite where Sam Leary gave a fantastic lecture on her ascent of Mount Kenya whilst working with Jagged Globe. It is always an inspiration to hear someone tell of their exploits in far off places. It excites the mind and makes us all wonder if we could do that sort of thing too. If you are reading this and haven’t been to a meet yet, maybe now is the time to sew a seed or two. You never know where it may take you. A great piece of advice I was given is that we apparently will never regret the things we tried, but instead regret the things we didn’t do.
After the lecture had finished, our amazing hosts lit a huge fire in the fire pit for all of us to sit around and drink some beer. Their hospitality stretched even further as they brought out more pies for the group to devour. The day had been fantastic, everyone went to bed glad that they had attended.
The next day started in a very similar way to the first. Breakfast, brief then climbing. The teams all departed for various climbs prior to getting on the road back home. I hope that the meet will run again in 2020 and that it is every bit as successful as the previous two. Keep an eye out in the forecast of events for next year!
Fire pit
Rich teaching coiling
Shadrach gone forever
Jamie on Rienetta
View from the crag
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 35