Present: 
Jim ‘where’s that blood coming from’ Smith
Beth ‘get in the crack’ Thomas
Alex ‘If this is the KMC I’m joining’
Kat ‘first time outdoors’ Lauer
Emily ‘no more than a metre off the ground’ Pitts (Member)
Stuart ‘brought my dinghy’ Hurworth (Member)
Dave ‘not a shot of me’ Wylie (Member)

A jolly group of five convened at around 11 around the tin of flapjack, deciding on the best place to start.  Although due to commence at the Two Step area, this was somewhat curtailed by the presence of a large body of water not present in any photos in the guidebooks.  ‘Do not fear!’ came a voice from the bushes… and there appeared a man with a dinghy – Stuart with his sidekick Dave W, also armed…. with a camera.  The group decided on a warm up in the Ash Pit Slab area, before proceeding to shallow water soloing off the boat towards the end of the day.

Work duly commenced on what can only be described as very high problems –  ‘These are trad routes?’ yelled the cameraman.  ‘Where’s my harness?’ screamed another.  After a few hairy, airy outings up pleasant gritty balancy problems, we moved on to the V0 and V3 traverse, high and low.  Much thrutching, rocking and grunting ensued and a pleasant day was had, with most of us completing the traverse in one way or another (mainly in small sections), leaving us with a project going forward. 

The day ended with a little light rowing across the waters where I soloed the short VDiff … off the dinghy, and Beth, Stuart and Jim ascended in style..

Pictures: Fun Rock Aqua Carbo KMC sports combo (aka fracking)

Brownstones

Brownstones is a highly recommended Lancashire bouldering venue, with a great many easy problems to get you started if you’re new to bouldering and a great many wonderful challenges for those of you already familiar with the beautiful art.  It is located between Horwich and Bolton, approximately ten minute’s drive from junction 6, M61.  

For all your Brownstones information requirements there is a splendid Wiki which should give you everything you need to know and help you to plan your tick list for this meet:  http://brownstones.wikifoundry.com/page/Graded+list  You can find a map and parking information on this wiki too.  

With the weather closing in, the idea behind our bouldering meets is to get outdoors without freezing to death trying to place gear.   There will be cake to help ensure we have enough energy to keep us going.   You’re always welcome to bring cake too.  

Bring rock shoes, chalk, a bouldering matt if you have one, as well as plenty of layers and a flask to warm you up if it gets chilly.  We’ll stay out as long as we remain compos mentis – it all depends on which conditions are thrown at us!

Meet leader will post at 9am on the scribble if the weather looks suspect.  Otherwise, meet at the Two Step Area at 11am.  

Any questions, please email meet leader Emily Pitts