Thirteen keen members attended the first ever Winter Scrambling Series meet: Gareth Williams (meet leader), Jess Bailey, Ed Courtnell, Will Fitzmaurice, Jared Kitchen (advance party), Paul Lonsdale, Phil Mitchell, Jess Pealing, Aaron Polley (prospective member), Harry Potts, Mark Rothwell, Andy Stratford, Mirek Steadman (advance party associate member).

Those who were able to get out a bit earlier formed an advance party, the rest of us met at the Dovestones Reservoir car park at 7pm. The walk in involved some frosty ground, icy river crossings and the odd hole that seemed to swallow feet, ankles and more. The only miscalculation was an icy river crossing, once all were safely across we found a bridge about thirty yards upstream.

Wilderness Gully wasn't in all its winter glory, but there was enough ice in it to require cramppns for a safe ascent. There was a variety of choices made for upper body contact, including zero, one or two axes. There were a few short steps with nice ice on them, and ovreall the route was just in condition to justify a winter ascent. Everyone made swift progress, ropes were carried but not needed and we were soon at the top. After walking back to the cars, the determined few made a stop at The Railway, Greenfield, for a quick drink.

Many thanks to everyone who came for an excellent turnout. Although titled "Winter Scrambling Series" I never imagined we'd be scrambling in true winter conditions, so I think we were incredibly lucky on this meet. Hope to see people on the next meet in the series, where I suspect it will be normal rock scrambling on a winter's night! 

Update 5th January

• We are aiming to meet 7pm either at Dovestones Reservoir Car Park or (if the Dovestones access road is too icy) Bin Green Layby.
• Primary goal Wilderness Gully, hoping it is fully frozen. Cramons and ice axe (ideally two axes) and helmet essential, harness optional.
• Backup goal Charnel Clough, for if Wilderness Gully isn't frozen, or if people prefer an easier objective. Either crampons or microspikes and axe essential.
• There is a dedicated WhatsApp group for this, please contact me (Gareth) if you would like to be added.
• Warm clothing (multiple layers and a change for back at the car) and headtorch essential, let me know if you need to borrow crampons/axes, can't promise to sort you out but may be able to help.
• Please contact me (Gareth) if you would like to attend but have never done any icy/winter conditions before.

The idea of the Winter Scrambling Series is to encourage people to get outside over the winter months, whatever the weather. All that strength you've been building up at the wall won't help at all! The idea here is to get out for a few hours in the cold, dark and likely wet evenings of the winter, building your resilience and character rather than honing technical skills. Excellent training for those coming on the Club's Scottish Winter Meets where you'll often be out in the dark in sub-optimal weather, or just a chance to try your hand at some type 2 fun if you're not sure whether mountaineering in more challenging conditions is for you. Plus you'll keep your legs hill fit and your trad head on ready for when the weather improves. We'll pick a route from the Cicerone guidebook Scrambles in the Dark Peak and walk, scramble, crawl, claw our way up it, finishing in time for a pint in a local pub.

If that sounds a bit much, don't panic. In reality many of the easier scrambles are barely more technical than clambering over piles of boulders and folk of any ability are welcome to come along, provided you don't mind being out in the cold and wet for a few hours. You'll need warm/waterproof clothing, solid footwear, a headtorch and a willingness to get stuck in, but not a lot more than that.

We'll decide on a venue/route once I know who is coming and what you're interested in doing, so please get in touch. You can register interest via the Add Me button but all the organisation will be done via the Club's Run/Walk/Scramble WhatsApp group, so make sure you're a member of that group - I won't be sending individual emails out to everyone who clicks the Add Me button.

Starting sometime around 6-7pm depending on who's coming/where we're going/what we're doing - details for each scramble will be sorted out closer to the time via the WhatsApp group.

Full, Associate, Prospective and Canine members all welcome.