13/05/22 – 15/05/22
A meet to remember.
Numbers were low, but with high spirits we filtered into the historic coppermines valley of Coniston on a mild May evening, anticipating the fair weather to come. The ‘Old Boy’ contingent, Syd and John, having already enjoyed a saunter earlier, were met at the Barrow Mountaineering and Ski Club hut, looking a mite agitated. It had transpired that John had unwittingly locked their car keys in the boot of Syd’s car – oh dear! or ‘Shit and derision’, as Syd would put it. Having unloaded supplies and gotten the soup, cheese and beer supper underway, it soon became apparent that the low attendance would suit the unsophisticated but cosy nature of our lodgings. I was happy – the cooking apparatus were good and the mattresses comfy. A relaxed and jovial evening passed, punctuated by our chidings over Syd’s car key conundrum, John’s apologetic wittering and Syd’s nonchalant yet nervous deflections.
Breakfast enjoyed al fresco and a Mike P Speciality Lunch safely stowed we split neatly into pairs and set out into the steadily rising heat of the surrounding fells. After the AA key-retrieval expert had expertly bent Syds car door out of any recognisable shape and scratched the interior to shit with coat hanger wire, the car key conundrum had finally come to a close and Syd could now retrieve his walking boots. The ‘Old Boys’ were projected to complete the ‘Old Man’ circuit, with the Peppit brothers continuing their ongoing Bob Graham preparations, taking in a rather longer round trip.
Matt and I set out to climb the enjoyable slabs of Little How Crag and hoped to crest the ridgeline towards the end of the day so that Matt could hopefully Para-glide off whilst I strolled back. The crag is situated above the northwestern shore of Levers Water and soaks up a full days sun. We climbed at a leisurely pace on sunny slabs with fabulous rock to complete 3 routes; S, HS, VS, respectively. The last route was completed with all our gear backpacked in order we get to the ridge in good time. It was great to watch Matt come into view, or rather his giant Para-sail Pack, emerging from the airy depths below like a sun-kissed ninja-turtle hero. Knowing how rare and special it was to climb a Lakeland crag in a t-shirt and free of the midge blight, we were now feeling energised to get Matt in the air. We set off for the grassy western top slope of Savin Hill just north of the Old Man of Coniston where Matt hoped for favourable launch terrain and thermal conditions.
It was now 18:00hrs. I flew a monkey-shaped kite whilst Matt unpacked and prepped his wing for take-off. He had pre-warned me of the common phenomenon oft to thwart a successful take-off – good winds all day, then fuck-all when needed. This, as it happened, was just the case! Getting to keep Monkey-kite aloft in the dwindling evening breeze was becoming frustrating, so I packed her away and kept hope that Matt would make a successful launch. I was nervous and excited to get some great photos of this quietly dynamic fellow gliding gracefully hut-wards and also fully aware of my time constraints regarding the ever-delayed evening meal preparations I was required to undertake. A WhatsApp from Rob, “you alright Sampo? 18:26”, confirmed my meal prep agitations and I bid Matt farewell and good luck as I headed up to the Old Man cairn to complete the full round trip. I fully expected Matt to be re-packing his rig and following me down the Colt Crag footpath 30mins later. I anticipated an hours decent, pacing myself to preserve my knees.
It was an astonishingly brilliant feat of timing that I met Matt at a fork in the footpath much lower down. It took me a second to fully realise that it was actually Matt, as in my mind he was 30mins behind with his glider back in a sack. I was amazed to hear that he had successfully flown, and landed, repacked the wing, and rejoined me exactly at the moment I had reached a fork in the path. Brilliant! We strolled the short way back to the hut where I offered my apologies for the delayed mealtime, and thanked the ‘Old Boys’ for their forward thinking in getting the spuds chipped and in the oven and the carrots on the boil. We all enjoyed a good meal with the usual overindulgences of a DPC Saturday, concluding finally with the merry ambiance of the neighbouring wedding party celebrations late into the night.
What a day. What a win.
Sunday began with another glorious breakfast al fresco. Hut cleaned, we bid farewell to the ‘Old Boys’ and set out for a relatively easy couple of top-ropes down Hodge Close. Mike set us up atop a corner (Behind the Lines HVS 5a) and arête (Malice in Wonderland E4 5c). Dynamic Matt did some climbing/caving stuff in wellies whilst Mike and I ambled up the corner remarking how good it would have been to be leading. By this time Matt had joined us and the easy top-rope thing soon turned south. The arête was a stupendous route that took in a heroically juggy overhang leading into a steep crack and finally culminating on a fairly featureless slab and arête. Top-rope notwithstanding, we all three had a nervous and (for my part at least) sketchy journey up the finishing arête. Job done. We hugged Matt goodbye and left. Shit traffic home.
Feeling good about life.
Ed S
Saturday: Rob and Mike did a 34km round taking in Wetherlam, Crinkle Crags, Pike of Blisco, Old Man of C and a beer stop in the Old Dungeon Ghyll. A few outliers were also ticked off on the way. Syd and John did a 12km walk up the Old Man of C and round to Wetherlam via Swirl How.
Sunday: Rob explored about the quarry while the others climbed/caved, before valiantly driving us home through terrible traffic. Syd and John did a walk from the Walna Scar Road or may have visited a monastery.
Excellent food was provided by Ed all weekend, much appreciated, Sampo! John is no longer allowed within 2m of Syd’s car keys unless supervised.
Mike P
Derbyshire Pennine Club 