Present: Iain & Pam McCallum; Rick Davies; Dave Wylie; Christine Beeston; Trish Cranston; Chris Thickett; Alan Wylie.

Guests: Ben Smith; Alan's guests Janet and Ollie.

Alan and his guests only stayed on Friday night and early on Saturday morning they hot-footed away showing clear imprints on the ground in order to be the life and sole of the party at the Vibram Club dinner at The Heights where they were to stay the night to boot.

That left me and five willing workers. As soon as breakfast was finished I rushed down the field to check the level in the septic tank - 15 inches down. Consequently, at the May maintenance meet we will be looking for volunteers, preferably with diving experience in very murky conditions!

Continuing in inspection mode, I was joined by Dave whereupon we checked inside and outside, above and below. Following this, Dave did something wonderful with flame-retardant polystyrene before expertly repairing the roof of the Fuse House where eight replacement slates were required. I can tell you it was tough holding the ladder, especially after I had already set up a dehumidifier in a scientific experiment to determine the relative humilities of the dormitories.

Meanwhile, Christine and Trish painted the corridor between hall and lounge. They prepared the walls thoroughly, mixed two pots of emulsion to produce a delicate and tasteful shade of light orange, painted a first coat, then retired to clean the kitchen ventilators, returning later to give the walls a second coat. Furthermore, they cleaned up after themselves and but for the sparkling new paintwork you would not think that any messy work had been done in the vicinity - don't you just hate women!

Pam set about the first aid box with determination checking for deficiencies against a given list. Then with Iain she prepared the refreshments for the breaks and lunch, everything meeting their usual very high standards. Between them they cleaned all the shelves and cupboards in the kitchen area, the porcelain in the ladies, the upper dormitory floors and the stairs. Iain completed small areas of floor tiling.

So the small but industrious group made the maintenance end of the meet a raging success - thanks very much to everyone.

In the afternoon I had sneaked down the field and out of sight. Later, I managed to convince the others that I had been very busy repairing a section of the boundary wall that had developed a dangerous lean.

Somehow we managed to forget to catalogue all the books in the library. Gosh! The Committee will be cross!

Rick and Ben, after checking that the conditions in Point five Gully on the Ben were poor, decided to spend Saturday at Gogarth. They 'strolled along The Strand until Breaking the Barrier where they met The Brothers.' Later in the evening they both shared a strange dream when a excited and forgetful loon rushed into their dormitory to complete his experiments with potential damp.

In accordance with the tablet of stone carved by no less a sage than Uncle Bob himself, no work was allowed on Sunday so we all had to think of something to do mountaineering-wise.

After poring over the guide books, Rick and Ben returned to Angesey, this time to Roscolyn where they climbed on a 'sun drenched crag!' Routes climbed were: Savage Sunbird E2 5b; Icarus HVS 5a; Wild Rover E1 5b. Sounds like a useful weekend to me!

Iain and Pam walked in the Crafnant valley by lake and forest after meeting Christine and Trish heading up and over Moel Siabod.

Dave seemed to have possibly the best of the walks. From Gerlan, he climbed Yr Elen, continued on to Carnedd Llewellyn, then round over Carnedd Dafydd and back down along Mynydd Du. 'There was quite a lot of snow higher up, plus a bit of ice.' Sometimes windy or misty he was able to get some excellent views and was well satisfied with his efforts.

For my part I headed over to Moel Eilio and along the grassy ridge towards Snowdon. During the steep climb adjacent to the Vivien quarry back up to the hut, I realised just how hard I had worked the previous day.

Chris Thickett

The meet at Ty Powdwr on March 6th and 7th will be a maintenance and mountaineering weekend. Please let me (Chris) know in advance if you intend to do a day's work (for catering and organisational purposes).

***

The proposed KMC meet at the Braemar Telemark Festival has been called off. The Telemark festival will go ahead as usual, despite there being next to no snow at Glenshee for skiing. By the start of February the area was closed due to lack of snow and, even though the situation is improving, it is at a very slow pace. There is no base to build upon and currently only one run open (made from artificial snow). In the three weeks before the festival (traditionally a time of low precipitation), I cannot envisage there being enough of a change in the weather to bring enough snow and dramaticly alter this situation. Therefore without the prospect of good/any skiing and taking into account the distance, accommodation expenses, registration fees, lift passes and equipment hire, I have decided that would not be worthwhile for the KMC to attend the festival this year.

However, I must stress that even though the conditions are bad for skiing, there will still be some good winter climbing in the Highlands, especially in the gullies, so it is still worth attending any forth coming Scottish Winter Climbing Meets.

David K Lygate