Mid Wales Climbing

Present: Sabina Cosulich, Sheena Hendrie, Craig and Sue Marsden, Colin Maddison, Scott Sadler, Rob Allen, Robert Clark, John Dobson, Kevin Anderson, Bob Astles, Peter Schofield, Anne Sanderson.

Guests: Steve Powell, Roisin Maddison, Thomas Marsden, Ian Greenaway, Steve Bowker.

By a pure stroke of luck (not navigational skills), one of the meet leaders managed to find the campsite which turned out to be very pleasant and run by a very friendly (!) Welsh farmer. The other meet leader eventually (after a few phone calls) found the campsite and managed to time her arrival perfectly to be handed a piece of BBQ chicken and a glass of wine on stepping out of the car.

The two meet leaders had ordered uninterrupted sunshine for the whole weekend and that is exactly what they got. On Saturday morning, in beautiful sunshine, due to lack of planning, thought, navigational skills, general ability, etc, we managed to go climbing on the North (!) facing crags on Cader Idris, where we struggled through the scree (crux move) to reach the foot of the crag and find Bob Astles and Pete Schofield waiting for the youngsters to catch up. Wearing full winter gear (due to "cooling" breeze), we managed NOT to find a few routes, but climbed 'Obsession' and Cyrfrwy Arête. Young Thomas Marsden completed his first multi pitch route, whilst others on the meet were much wiser and enjoyed sketching and biking in the sunshine. More BBQ food and wine was consumed, and, thanks to Kevin having forgotten his guitar, we all enjoyed a beautiful evening.

The next morning, climbing was delayed significantly by the Welsh farmer chatting to Kevin (or was it the other way around?). Most of us decided to go and climb on Craig Cywarch, where at least some of the routes would be in the sunshine. More routes were NOT found, Sabina and Sheena creatively wandered up the crag to complete the best part of two multi-pitch routes (in one), whilst Rob and Robert tried desperately to divert the meet to a tearoom. Routes climbed included: Will-o'-Wisp, Bluebell Babylon, Mud Slide Slim, Acheron.

Many thanks to all those who came.

Sabina and Sheena