Page 42 - 2018 AMA Winter

CLIMBINGMEETS
AMA LAKE DISTRICT MEET
30 JUN – 1 JUL 18
By Mark Gregory
“Why does a man climb mountains? Why has he forced his tired and sweating body up here when he might instead have been sitting at his ease in a deckchair at the seaside, looking at girls in bikinis, or fast asleep, or sucking ice-cream, according to his fancy. On the face of it the thing doesn’t make sense” (Arthur Wainwright)
And so, the Lake District meet dawned a bright and beautiful day with all the iconic desires sought by the flocking crowds of holiday makers descending our beaches on those rare occasions when the sun shine. England was in the middle of a heatwave unlike any I can remember. The conditions were perfect for mountaineering. What started in my mind as a ‘mountaineering for all’ concept surprisingly turned into an instructor development weekend as the volunteers came forward. There was no shortage of RCS, RCI or ASL which opened the meet to all possibilities. Better still, the odd novice that did attend had boundless opportunities to receive quality instruction at an impressive ratio of four- to-one. To draw out every bit of value from
the meet, two civilian MIA/MICs were also employed. In doing so, the development of our own instructors (some approaching assessment) was possible.
Throughout the meet, we worked in three groups; two climbing and one scrambling. The climbers were organised and re-or- ganised over the weekend to ensure that all aspirations were met. On Saturday Tom Grady with Simon Brockelbank, an MIA based in the North West, took the other Simon and James for a day of single pitch climbing on Raven Crags in Borrowdale. According to UK Climbing, this venue offers 42 climbs ranging from grade III to E3. As the day progressed, lead climbing was introduced with coaching offered by Simon to further develop the more experienced in the group. Classic Borrowdale climbing continued over on Black Crag as Jon Coutts with Russ and Sally focussed on developing their lead climbing on routes including Troutdale Pinnacle (routes from S to HVS). Black Crag comprises two buttresses and further to Troutdale Pinnacle, the crag has approximately 50 routes suitable for
most abilities from grade III to E4 including classics such as The Shroud (VS), The Mortician (HVS), Troutdale Pinnacle Superdirect (HVS), Raindrop (E1), Prana (E3) and Grand Alliance (E4).
At the Sunday change-over, Tom took a mixed group with Nick Cannon-Jones (an MIC operating in the Lake District under the company name of More than Mountains) back to Borrowdale to climb Castle Crag with James and Sally. Castel Crag is another exciting Borrowdale venue with easy access and 68 single and multi-pitch routes up to E4; although UK Climbing are currently advising climbers to steer clear of routes to the left of the ironically named May Day Crags. This is due to reports of a widening crack ‘above and left of finish of Overhanging Bastion’ potentially leading to severe rock fall. While this was going on, Jon with his team of Russ and Simon headed to the Langdale valley to tackle White Ghyll Crag. More than Mountains describes the ‘breathtakingly beautiful Langdale valley... [as possessing] some of the best rock climbs in the country’. With easier grades complemented by
42 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER
Looking Down Combe Ghyll