Poor old Ron only got one vote the whole evening!

It really doesn’t seem that long ago that I was writing a post to welcome in the old exec, but here we are, a year later, and as of last night we have a brand new(ish) bunch of guys to lead you through the next year at LUHC! There’s a good mix of old members and new, and a couple (including myself) that have been on the exec before. Oh and of course, there’s the compulsory proportion of physicists – although that only equates to three this year!

So without further ado, this year’s newly elected Executive Committee are…

President: Sarah Roberts
Held the position of Treasurer a few years back and is moving up the ranks!

Vice President: Xanthe Rann
New to the uni this year, ask her what she puts in flapjacks…

Secretary: Frances Garnsey
Second year now and a very active member of the club.

Treasurer: Calum Ross
A physicist! So he must be good with numbers, right?

Safety Officer: Steven Edge
It’s possible he was forced into this role, but he’s done it before so should fit in nicely!

Gear Officer: Matt Young
Social Sec last year and our second physicist. Watch out for a rather fetching straw hat during the summer months.

Social Secreatries: Frances Mayson & Simon Clarke
We’ve been reassured that a Ceilidh will happen this year!

Publicity Officers: Emma Woodrow & Alison Hardwick
Don’t worry, both have been tested in their sheep-drawing capabilities!

Web Officer: Me! (Sam Harrison)
Vice President & Web Officer last year, and whilst I loved being VP, it took up a lot of time and I’ve decided to focus more upon the computery side of things.

For the first year in quite a while the president’s position was contested, so special congratulations to Sarah, but commiserations to the other candidate Will Taylor. Also, huge commiserations to our club sheep Ron, who this year only got one vote. Poor Ron!

Don’t forget that our Annual Dinner is on Friday 17th February at Marco’s, and sign ups are open now at foyer.

Here’s to another fantastic year at LUHC!

A rather frosty Dalraddy Holiday Park

Trip report from the Avalanche Awareness and Winter Skills weekend trip to Aviemore in the Cairngorm National Park, which took place from 27-29 January. Trip report and photos by Sam Harrison.

We set off in slight drizzle from Lancaster at 5pm on the Friday, arriving at Dalraddy Holiday Park at just gone 11pm. The security gates to the campsite shut at 11pm and we were fortunate enough to be able to squeeze in behind another car that had a set of keys!

Saturday

Waking up with a thin layer of ice on your tent is a sign that it’s going to be a cold day! My gas stove refused to work it was that cold, but fortunately I had a petrol stove as well which soon boiled enough water for a rousing cup of coffee and some porridge. Soon after, we all piled on the bus for the drive to the ski centre at the base of Cairn Gorm, where we were to meet our instructor, Alex Willey from Mountain Circles.

After a quick introduction talk, we headed up alongside the funicular railway to Choire Chois, where we based ourselves for the remainder of the morning. The weather was fantastic and the snow in very good condition. We went through some basic snow belays such as the boot-axe belay and snow bollards. I think we were all surprised at how strong they were.

Practising snow belays in Choire Chois

Lunch was then had before we set off on a wander over Cairn Gorm, dropping down past the Ptarmingan station and fighting our way through the hoards of skiers. The weather was fantastic, and oddly from the Cairngorms, wind-free! The sun was starting to set as we headed down and the lighting was stunning over the snow-glistened mountains.

That evening we retired to the laundry room at the campsite – the warmest place we could find!

Sunday

The idea for day two on the course was to go on a walk and put some of our skills to test. The weather so good and there was a bitterly cold wind, so it was good that we weren’t standing around for ages! We headed into Coire an t-Sneachda and have a quick practice of belay people up slopes, before taking the famous Fiacaill Ridge onto the Cairngorm Plateau. Although we avoided the ridge direct, which is a grade II winter climb, there was still plenty of scrambling and it was good fun.

We didn’t hang around on the tops for long because of the wind, but instead dropped back into Choire Chois for a bit more practice, before descending down the ski runs and being soaked by a massive snow cannon.

I think I speak for everyone in saying that we had a great weekend. The snow was a bit too good to get much out of it avalanche-wise, but Alex made the most of what we had and I certainly learnt quite a lot.

Plenty of rime ice on the weather station at the top of Cairn Gorm

Fiacaill Ridge in winter conditions

That time of year is upon us again and it’s time for us lot, your current exec, to hand over the reins to a new exec that will take you through the next year at LUHC.

And that’s where we need you guys! Do you fancy being on the exec and help out running the largest and most active society at Lancaster? Nominations are open now at foyer, so come along to put your name down. You can find out more about each role on our Executive Committee page.

Why?

• Get more of a say into what goes on and how the club is run.
• Opportunity to put on events that you’ve always wanted to do, from ceilidhs to first aid courses.
• Free lifetime membership of the club.
• It looks great on your CV!
• Most importantly, as much as we may complain, it’s actually really good fun.

I can’t speak for everyone on the exec, but I personally have had a fantastic year being Vice President and Web Officer and have enjoyed every minute of it.

Elections

Elections will take place next Monday, 6th February, from 7pm in Faraday Lecture Theatre. Even if you’re not running for a position, come along to vote for your chosen candidates! We’ll be heading to County Bar afterwards for some celebratory drinks. Check at our Constitution for all the nitty-gritty details.

Annual Dinner

The Annual Dinner is when the old exec officially hands over to the new. This year we’re going to Marco’s in Lancaster on Friday 17th February. You can book a place from now at foyer. The menu is online here, but we’ve also got a copy at foyer for you to look at. It’s always a great night so don’t miss out!

Exec of 2011/12 at the Annual Dinner last year in Merchants

Sgurr Mor

Trip report of the club’s annual Winter Trip, this year to Badrallach. Full set of photos can be found here. Photos and report by Sam Harrison (unless otherwise stated).

The weather couldn’t have been much more different to the last time the club visited Badrallach, two years ago. Then, we got snowed in and spent most of the week digging our way out. This time, we were greeted by rain, wind a-plenty and unseasonably warm temperatures. That’s not to say however that the trip was any less enjoyable, and everybody still had a fantastic time!

Day 0, Tuesday 27 December

After a rather bum-numbing 8 hour journey from Lancaster, the first groups of people starting arriving at the bothy, making ourselves at home and attempting to pitch tents in some pretty gusty winds. We got a fire going and soon cracked out the whisky (courtesy of Mark!).

Day 1, Wednesday 28 December

The intial plan was to head for Beinn Dearg, however upon seeing the strong winds and persistant rain when we awoke, our plans were soon changed to a damp stroll around Ullapool, including a bit of grocery shopping in Tesco and lunch in a chippy. We made a start on the vast quantities of cheese we all brought in the evening and had a few games of Happy Families.

Day 2, Thursday 29 December

Charles and Alex on the North-east ridge of Sgurr Mor

Fed up of being stuck indoors, a few or us decided to go out regardless of the weather and we headed for the Fannichs in hope of some good bagging. Alex, Charles and myself went searching for a climb and found the north-eastern ridge up Sgurr Mor. The others headed for Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich first but rather sensibly decided not to go for the summit in light of the weather conditions. The ridge was great fun – snow slopes interspersed with rocky steps meant you could pick a route as easy or as difficult as you like. High winds and plenty of (often painful) spindrift certainly made in “entertaining”. The rest of our party arrived in the evening and the bothy suddenly became rather busy – at least that kept it warm!

Day 3, Friday 30th December

No change in the weather really, so we decided to stick to lower levels and headed to the iconic mountain Stac Pollaidh. Although only standing at 612m, this mountain is one of the most visually striking in the area and offers an almost Alpine-esque summit crest.

Stac Pollaidh summit ridge

A large path took us up to a bealach on the summit ridge. Some of the group waited here whilst we carried on along the ridge towards the summit. There was plenty of snow on the ground with made what is normally a grade 2 scramble a little tricky.

Day 4, New Years’ Eve

By this point the weather was being somewhat of a recurring theme and we again decided to stick lower level and headed across Little Loch Broom to the Corbet Sail Mhor. The weather started out okay and a we had a pleasant ascent of Allt Airdeasaidh. However, half-way up, the heaven’s opened and the wind picked up. We were also struggling to find a place to cross the waters and eventually after dithering around for about half an hour, we decided to head back down! To celebrate New Years’ in the evening, we headed down to the beach on the shores of Little Loch Broom and set off some fireworks (again, courtesy of Mark!), which was particularly entertaining in the wind! Much whiskey was drunk.

Fireworks on New Year's Eve! Photo courtesy of Jenni Lynn.

Day 5, New Years’ Day

The forecast was looking somewhat more promising today, and Alex, Jim, Charles and Calum headed off to bag Ben Dearg. The rest of us (not so optimistic about the weather), stayed local with the Graham Beinn Ghoblach (aka Beinn Gobbly-de-gook), just north of the bothy. We had a few heavy showers of rain as we were walking along the track toward Scoraig, however as soon as we started the ascent up towards Beinn Ghoblach, these stopped and we were left with some lovely views out over the Summer Isles. The col just before the summit was rather windy, but weirdly the summit itself less-so. A rather steep grassy descent found us back at the bothy to, yet again, dry out! That evening we made a good stab at finishing the cheese, but there was still a worrying amount left. We also made a good stab at finishing the whiskey – there wasn’t any of that left!

View from the summit of Beinn Ghoblach

Day 6, Monday 2nd January

Most people headed home today but those staying an extra night went for a rather snowy walk over the Fannichs. Annoyingly it started snowing just as we left and our journey back was lengthened by a two-hour delay on the Drumochter pass.

Despite the lack of bagging we all head a great week and are all definitely looking forward to next year’s Winter Trip, wherever it may be!

Last Monday was our termly Planning Meeting, when we decide what trips we’ll be going on in the following term. You can see the trips that were voted for on our calendar, or download a printable copy from here.

We also discussed the club’s budget and some tough decisions were voted upon:

1) The cost of Sunday trips will be raised to £9

2) Bunkhouse trips always run at a huge loss (~£500). Hence we will have 3 camping trips this coming term and look in to alternatives for Social Weekend next year (the bunkhouse would need paying for from this years budget).

3) There will be a £12 cap on the subsidies drivers receive for weekend trips (Sundays will still be free).

4) We have applied for one off funding for help with the costs of the Roybridge weekend trip in term 1 and will know if we are successful in the next few days.

5) Members who didn’t attend the budget and planning meeting will be charged double  (not really).