Page 9 - 2018 AMA Winter

THE AMA AGM & MEET
By Sean Mackey with contributions from Eric Fletcher
The AMA AGM 2018 was held at JSMTC Indefatigable and included a host of different events for members to get involved in. Over 60 people turned up and benefitted from quality instruction and a good social event.
As in previous years, a bonanza of workshops and courses along with the usual instructor led activities took place. The poor welsh weather didn’t help people get on the hills and go climbing, but people still managed to get some benefit out of the time away. Sam Leary MIC took several members and conducted instructor development training and Ryan Lang MIA also took some time to give back to our regular instructor attendees.
The following account of the weekend comes from first time attender Eric Fletcher:
serving members in the team). Eric Fletcher won the top prize from Paramo on his first AMA meet and was pleased to win a jacket combo of nearly £400!
when it came to our knowledge or lack off. By the time we had finished I was 100% more confident in my rigging skills and learnt so much more. On the other side (you know, civvy street) you and I would have to pay a minimum £75 per person for this kind of instruction from an RCI/ AMI, so thank you Ryan and all the other instructors who give their time to benefit the AMA, it is appreciated. In the afternoon we moved over to the Indy indoor wall and smashed a few routes before returning for a curry supper and onto the AGM and evenings events.
The evening’s events started with a curry supper and a pint followed by the AGM itself. The list of future trips and meets were discussed along with an update on the transition to Tahdah. We welcomed Kate Redfern onto the committee as Grants Secretary and Kelly Edkins as Treasurer, I have also moved into the Members Benefits role. The changes in the committee come as we bid a fond farewell to Tommo Thompson and Tarquin Shipley who have both served on the committee for many years in various roles.
My personal highlight over the weekend was the evening talk by Nick Bullock. The topics covered included soloing North Faces in winter and going off route, being attacked by bears and trying (unsuccess- fully) to sandbag Nico Favresse with some of the toughest routes in North Wales. His humorous talk was well received and he left us in stitches. He was kind enough to stay on after for a drink and to sign some of his new biography ‘Tides’ in conjunction with Vertebrate Publishing who offer AMA members one of the biggest book discounts in the outdoors.
I must thank all our supporters who turned out in force to the night. A special thank you to Helix Tactical and DMM for running a stall, giving advice and donating a kind prize to the raffle. Brigantes dragged Scarpa and Lyon equipment along with some of their newest kit offering for members to fondle and also in some case purchase. Cotswolds and Paramo unfortunately couldn’t attend, but did send vouchers and jackets as prizes in the raffle, which collected over £500 for Ogwen Mountain Rescue (a worthy charity especially military
Next year’s AGM will take place in May at the Army Festival of Climbing and is lining up to be a great event, with hopefully, better weather.
Between dinner and the AGM there was a chance to buy raffle tickets for some great climbing related equipment, yeh, like I ever win a raffle! but I bought some tickets anyway, and there was a chance to purchase some nice shiny kit from the DMM stand, as well as from other kit suppliers and receive a FREE DMM/AMA branded T Shirt. In the theatre the AGM took place with all the usual proceedings that you would expect and It was good to discover how much there is going on and planned for the future - events that we can all get involved in, no matter of your level of experience or qualifications held. Again, a friendly atmosphere and all were made welcome and encouraged to get involved. AGM Proceedings closed in 58 Minutes (or there about) it was time for a presentation from Nick Bullock the climber and author. He himself admitted he was here to sell his new book ‘Tides’ but his pres- entation was inspiring and entertain- ing and at that right language level and sense of humour for mountain- eers and climbers from the AMA.
Back into the bar and several additional stalls had popped up. Raffle time arrived and would you believe it! Mine was the first number called and I won the top prize, (a Paramo jacket & fleece). You couldn’t write a better script (apart from the weather) for a first timer at an AMA meet.
I have met so many likeminded climbers and mountaineers, some of whom were also first timers, all of which I now count as friends. So, if you are out there contemplating your first AMA meet, just do it! No matter your experience you will be made welcome and I guarantee you will wonder why you put it off for so long. I hope to see you at a meet soon.
I arrived at JSMTC Indefatigable early on Friday evening. As others started to arrive in pairs and groups I thought, “Oh no, I am the only one not in a group or with a partner!“ but as I started to introduce myself and chat I discovered many travelled together to ease the logistic burden on units etc. and that for many, like me it was their first meet too. Everyone, without exception, was friendly and welcoming. Later, we moved from the bar into the lecture theatre for a superb presentation on the Gurkha’s adventures on Mount Everest before returning to the bar and then settling down for the night.
The morning brief laid out the format for the day’s activities. There were some who had pre-booked onto the publicised activity workshops including mountain first aid taught by Mountain Rescue Instructors from Snowdonia First Aid, flora & fauna taught by Senior Instructor of Plas y Brenin, Mike Raine, and climbing psychology with Dr Rebecca Williams. The remainder, including me, were left to decide what we wanted to do. I requested an instructor for some guidance in my rigging skills and Ryan Lang kindly offered to do this utilising the new rigging room on site. A couple of others jumped in to join me and this completed our group for the day.
Ryan’s instruction was second to none and he was non-judgemental
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 9