First LMC hut meet of 2022.
Work off the Christmas excesses at the club hut.

**EDIT: Due to new Welsh Government Covid 19 restrictions, we can only have 6 people stay in the hut for this meet.**

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!" Traditional LMC Burns weekend in the Lake District. The Lakes are at their best at this time of the year with a good chance of winter conditions. End the day with haggis. Staying at the YMC hut in Coniston (https://theymc.org.uk/the-hut/).

Advance payment of £25 will be taken on booking, which will cover accommodation and a communal meal on the Saturday night.

The meet steward is co-ordinating travel etc and hoping for a Head Chef to oversee the meal :)

LMC hut meet in Snowdonia.

It's back!

Our now annual ice climbing meet to some part of the world with cold temperatures and waterfalls.

Cogne in the Italian Alps is the destination for 2022. It's one of the world's premier ice climbing destinations with fairly reliable ice and a great range of routes of all grades and lengths.

We've booked a couple of Airbnbs in Cogne that accommodate 10 people in total. Cost will be roughly £20 per person per night.

To secure your place you need to sign up and pay a deposit of £50.

The accommodation offers almost free cancellation up until a few days before the trip. If Covid rules make the trip unviable we'll cancel and deposits will be repaid (minus £5 to 10 p.p. because the service charge on one of the Airbnbs is non-refundable) . We can't refund deposits if the trip goes ahead and individuals pull out for personal reasons.

Travel

Best way to get there is to fly and hire a car at the airport

Milan Malpensa airport is about 2 hour 15 away from Cogne
Turin airport is about 1hr 45 away

We can sort car hire sharing nearer the time.

For more details on what Cogne has to offer as an ice climbing destination see below:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/cogne__icefall_climbing_in_the_italian_alps-12486

12 spaces booked by Polaris MC. The 4 loft spaces remain available for members.

A two day trip exploring the less visited Fforest Fawr region of the Brecon Beacons and waterfall country.

Semi wild camp on Friday and wild camp on Saturday. Due to the nature of the trip, this meet is limited to 8 people.

For further information contact the meet steward.

THIS MEET IS NOW FULL

Our annual trip to the snowy (hopefully) Highlands of Scotland for some winter walking and mountaineering. Who knows, maybe there’ll even be some ice climbing.

Staying at the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel, we will have Ben Nevis on our doorstep and the myriad climbing routes on its immense North Face. Also right on our doorstep will be the Mamores, full of winter routes at the easier end of the scale, including the classic Ring of Steall. It is also superbly located for other regions within easy driving distance, including Glencoe, the Aonachs, the Grey Corries and Creag Meagaidh.

We have 8 spaces, with a room of 8 currently booked. We have had to cancel the other room due to lack of interest so that the club did not lose money.

Accommodation is £138 in total, which works out at £23 per night.

Spring meet in Snowdonia.

All 16 spaces have been booked by LMC members for an event.

Sports Climbing meet in (hopefully) sunny Portland.

Accommodation is £15 per night (so £30 in total). We will be staying at a hostel on Portland.

I have only booked 8 spaces for accommodation, but if there is more demand (and the meet is full) please email me and I will see if I can add more people to the accommodation booking or if I can find a suitable campsite (Sweet Hill farm is usually available).

12 spaces booked by MPMC Group.
2 loft spaces booked by LMC members.
2 loft spaces available.

The best possible Easter returns after two years' absence, based at Kelynack campsite with the affable Francis. Twinkling granite in the sunshine above a turquoise ocean, climbs steeped in history and stature, clifftop paths and white sand beaches, Cornish pasties, palm trees, and maybe the occasional pirate about.

Caravans are now full however unlimited spaces under canvas.

Bank Holiday DIY weekend at the hut.

Bank holiday climbing on the finest limestone in the country. For those new to Pembroke, there is a good introduction to the area on UKC — https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/beginners_pembroke-10261.

Camping will (hopefully — awaiting confirmation) be at the St Petrox campsite (http://www.stpetroxcampingandcaravansite.co.uk).

You can download the tide times at https://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/wp-content/uploads/Pembrokeshire-Tide-Times-Tables-2022.pdf

12 spaces booked by Scunthorpe MC.
The 4 loft spaces have been booked by LMC members.

MEET FULL

Given the interests of those that have signed up, the focus will be very much on Trad climbing.

Are you new to climbing? Have you been honing your skills at the wall but want to learn how to lead sport or trad safely in the big, bad outside world?

We're running a rock climbing tuition meet in the Wye Valley taught by professional instructors.

The cost is £200 per person and includes two full days instruction on a one instructor per two participants basis. The options are:

A. Introduction to trad climbing, including multipitch trad climbing
B. Introduction to outdoor sport climbing

When you sign up, please specify in the comments box which of the two options you'd like to choose.

Whilst sport climbing is offered, the intro to trad option is strongly recommended because:
- there's far more technical safety aspects to learn
- you can quite easily learn to sport climb at an indoor wall or off another member on a sport climbing meet
- it means you're not then limited to climbing in quarries in the UK!

Accommodation will be camping at a campsite in the Wye Valley (TBC). Campsite costs will be on top of course fees.

It should be possible to drive to the Wye Valley from London in time for the course and then only need to camp for one night. But if participants prefer, they're welcome to travel down the night before instead.

The course fees are non-refundable if individual members pull out as instructors need to be booked well in advance, but they're welcome to try and find another club member to take their place if they can't make it.

A walking meet exploring the beautiful rolling landscape of the Black Mountains.

Note: This is actually a social rather than a meet, but do to it acting, smelling, looking like a meet I decided to post it here as well.

Do you have pent up energy from Covid and this long winter season?
Do you have unresolved issues that you prefer to lock them in a box and burry them deep inside never to see the light of day ever again?
Do you find yourself with pent-up anger towards work? London traffic? the weather?
Do you wish you can enact revenge on your fellow belayer, Climbing, hiking, mountaineering partner?
Or even better a chance to shoot your friend or dare I say some committee members?

Then this is the event for you!
Join us for our first ever LMC "friendly" paintball social!

Complementary Pizza will be provided at the end of the sessions!

Please arrive at least 15 minutes in advance to organise the teams and to put on the gear
£37.50 (500 balls) Half day 09:00 - 12:00
£65 (1000 balls) Full day 09:00 - 15:00

Max capacity is 30 people.
RSVP to Mario Spiro Tabry
Payment required in advance! sign up as per normal meets and it will charge your direct debit

For more details on the gear, maps, and other details please refer to
http://www.mayhem-paintball.co.uk/
For extra balls it is £35 for 500 or 60 for 100. £10 for an upgraded gun, there are also other upgrades like flash and smoke grenades

Closest station is Theydon Bois stations, where you will either have to Uber it or arrange transport with people that are coming with their cars.
Will create a WhatsApp group closer to the date for better organisation and admin.

Address: Mayhem Paintball Patch Park Farm, Pryors Farm RM4 1AA

Unfortunately, there is no steward for this meet, so it has now been cancelled. If anyone wants to still go on their own accord, Nick Irons has three camping places available for £20 each at Tom's Field Camping.

South coast limestone Seacliff climbing in Dorset. Fantastic routes for all levels with most cliffs facing South.

If you are not keen on climbing then the coastline is beautiful and there are lots of walking opportunities. All this within 2.5hrs drive from London - a result!

**UPDATE**

6 of us have secured accommodation at the Portree Independent Hostel. Feel free to contact them directly to book a bed, or there are plenty of other options on Skye - just be quick as accommodation gets booked up quickly!

**UPDATE**

Celebrate the Queen's jubilee weekend in one of the best places to walk and climb in Britain.

Skye really does have the most dramatic mountains in the UK. The Back Cuillin are spectacular and rugged. Scrambling is required to reach many of the summits and a few require rock climbing, such as Inaccessible Pinnacle and the Bhasteir Tooth. The main ridge traverse is considered by many to be the finest in Britain.

For those less vertically inclined, there are a wealth of walking routes replete with outstanding scenic views.

There is now a new meet entry for the Skye meet as we require all those wishing to attend to pay a deposit for the hostel accommodation. Please see the new meet entry above (https://www.londonmountaineeringclub.com/meets/6248)

An ideal way to get fit for the Alps.

But what is this Gallop? The idea is to climb one route at each of the eastern edges walking between them carrying all gear and food etc.

Teams generally leave a car at the starting point and collect afterwards.

Galloping is not obligatory and there are plenty of other climbing or walking options

Starting at Stanage (high neb)
Stanage (plantation)
Stanage (popular)
Burbage north
Burbage south
Millstone
Lawrencefield
Frogatt
Curbar
Baslow
Gardoms
Birchen

A weekend of sport climbing on the South Coast. There is no camping on Portland so we will camp on the mainland a short drive from the climbing area.

Monthly club meet at our hut nestled at the foot of Snowdon.

A week of climbing and walking in the Vanoise region of France
Accomodation: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/3936379?c=.pi80.pkYm9va2luZy92MV9taWdyYXRpb24vcmVzZXJ2YXRpb25fYWNjZXB0YW5jZV9jb25maXJtYXRpb25fZ3Vlc3Q%3D&euid=7d1e9911-2358-20e1-73bd-202d53385b92&source_impression_id=p3_1651140096_YbYIEYmFCcJN0uOi

A rather last minute sport and trad climbing trip in the lovely (and closish to London) Wye Valley. Hopefully staying at Beeches farm campsite arriving Friday evening for two days of climbing.

It's back! The LMC annual endurance weekend, the Champagne challenge has returned.

Start and finish from the hut climbing all 14 peaks over 3,000ft in North Wales. It is a monster day out, but there should be plenty of daylight. And complete the challenge in under 15 hours you'll get a bottle of champers.

A successful Champagne Challenge also requires team support to rescue the exhausted. Anyone interested in assisting, please let the meet steward know.

Due to lack of participant I’ll be cancelling this meet and joining the champagne challenge crew. If anyone wants to go to the lakes please let me know and I’ll inform the campsite
Location Skye Farm Campsite

This meet will be based in Buttermere (Skye Farm Campsite). Great walking from the tents, including Red Pike, Grasmoor, Robinson and Haystacks - there are also plenty of ghyll scrambling and climbing options.

The deposit is for the campsite as we managed to book for 16 people in this busy session.

For our social event dinner we will be going on Saturday the 16th to The Buttermere Court Hotel, I talked to the venue and we should have enough space for 10 people (hopefully more)

Climbing on Grit - what could be better!

Staying at Bakersfield Farm Campsite

Enjoy a summer weekend in Wales complete with burnt sausages and burgers (vegetarian and vegan charred offerings also available).

A visit to the South Coast for long warm days of sports climbing on Limestone.
After a hard day on rock it is customary to gather around the BBQ on Saturday evening and share the stories. The evening finishes off with the delicacy that has influenced the name of the meet.
Staying at newly refurbished Portland bunkhouse.

Classic traditional climbing in the Borrowdale valley.

Some inspiration: https://www.adventurehunter.co.uk/the-best-of-borrowdale/

Staying at Seathwaite Farm Campsite. £7 pppn. Cars £7.

I'm planning to go up Thursday evening, but feel free to work out an alternative if you like.

All 16 spaces have been booked by LMC members.

Monthly club meet at our hut nestled at the foot of Snowdon.

See out the Summer with a weekend of climbing at Swanage. The Swanage area including the bolted quarries at Dancing Ledge, Winspit and Hedbury) offer a good variety of climbing for all abilities.

We will make bookings at Tom's Field campsite for every group of six that signs up. The campsite does not issue refunds, so please be aware that once you have signed up and the booking is made, you will not be able to get a refund of your deposit (except in extraordinary circumstances). You will need to find someone to take your place and arrange a refund from them.

A week of climbing in one of the most amazing limestone gorges in Europe. Walls up to 300m with plenty of long multi-pitch offerings. It's bolted, but most of the classic routes require a light rack (unless you are happy with long run outs!).

You will need to be confident leading 6a, comfortable placing gear and happy with long abseils to get the most out of the climbing. Some additional background from UKC https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/destinations/gorges_du_verdon-2076

Further information on logistics will be posted closer to the date. For all other information, please contact the meet steward.

New members of the LMC are especially welcome on this meet, which will give new and experienced club members a chance to climb together.

You don't need to be an experienced climber to come on this meet. Please get in touch with the meet steward (Eoin) so we can arrange suitable climbing partners, based on experience and interests.

The meet will take place at the LMC club hut in Snowdonia (see the page "Fronwydyr - Club Hut" under "About" for more details).

Accommodation update, 22 Sept: the hut is full, but I have made a group booking for around ten people at the neighbouring Ty Isaf campsite, so you don't need to book yourself in. The campsite is basic, and costs £10 CASH ONLY per person per night (bring cash). NB: don't go to the other Ty Isaf campsite miles away. The correct one is beside Fronwydyr and The Vaynol Arms.

Long time in the Making! And after several Covid cancellations we finally have a date for the Greece trip!
We will be going to Leonidio Greece, for amazing multi-pitch, beach climbing, and all-around awesome rock climbing. Oo and lets not forget the Amazing FOOD!
Almost everything is Sport climbing with amazing and frequent bolt placement (at least the ones we did, some even felt safer than the the Castle).

I've booked a villa for 10 people but of course more are welcome (although will need to sort your own accommodation)
£100 for the 8 nights (9 days) per person. please contact me for direct payment as I don't want to add the payment option through LMC in case people want to book their own accommodations.

I will be booking a car and I would advise you to do the same or at least join someone that has a car.

FYI My flight with 20KG bag came at a cost of £125 but obviously prices would vary.

I would recommend a flight to Athens and then a 3 hour drive to Leonidio.

The return of a regular club classic.

This year's yomp will be over the Tors and through the valleys of Dartmoor.

We will be staying in the South Dartmoor Bunkhouse in the delightful town of Buckfastleigh which is at the South East of the National Park and is easily assessible. The cost of accommodation is £18 for two nights.

Saturday will be the main event covering roughly 24KM, hopefully on paths! Sunday can be more relaxing exploring the local countryside or some of the local crags if people want to climb.

More information closer to the date.

12 spaces booked by Scunthorpe MC.
4 loft spaces available for LMC members.

Monthly club meet at our hut nestled at the foot of Snowdon.

There's a few people planning to dry tool as winter prep. If you're keen to get involved, bring your winter gear - boots, axes, crampons (mono-point ideally).

There's a couple of dry tooling crags in the area.

The Mont Dolent of NW Europe, in the Ardennes Vaalserberg's summit straddles three countries and is the highest point of one. Yomping where the sun rises in one country, sets in another, and tickles Belgium's tummy along the way.

The meet is based in historic Maastricht. There will be a proper ;) yomp length i.e. 20+ miles so expect a full day on Saturday. When not walking in the Autumn colours there are plenty of sights in and around Maastricht, including Roman remains, and the caves at Valkenburg.

Ryanair flies to Maastricht from Stansted 10.30am on 4/11/22. Options for returning include a Ryanair flight on Monday 7/11/22 or there are several flights from nearby Eindhoven Sunday afternoon/evening. Return flights currently around £40

Self-book your accommodation. The meet steward will be at the Stayok Hostel.

This is the ideal meet to help you sharpen your navigation skills, whether you are a beginner or think of yourself as an 'expert'.

We will to cover many aspects of navigation, including a short night navigation exercise. This year I'm planning to spend more time focussing on maps themselves, and correspondingly a little less time "on the hill". Having said that when this meet last ran before Covid we did manage to spend nearly 14 hours on the hill after Saturday morning breakfast. We're going to try to avoid a repeat of that! A compass is obligatory, and we'll also talk about the use of altimeters and GPS-based devices.

The meet will be held at the club hut in North Wales.

I'm maintaining an off-line waiting list for this meet. If you are on that list please do not book into any spaces on this meet until I have contacted you.

Beat the late autumn blues with a few days of bolt clipping in the sunshine! There is climbing at all grades from beginner to expert.

Plan is to take an early flight to Malaga on Friday 18th (06:45 easyJet from Gatwick). We will hire a car or two and head up to the climbing. Return will be on the 21:20 easyJet on Sunday 20th.

There is plenty of accommodation nearby in villas. We have a villa booked to take 4-5 people and will book another if there is enough interest. Approximate cost is between £20-£50 per person for the accommodation (depending on numbers) and a similar cost for the car hire (depending on how full the cars are).

Villa:
Casa Encina

Flights:
EZY860 18/11/2022 LGW 06:45 AGP 10:35
EZY861 20/11/2022 AGP 21:20 LGW 23:10

There is an alternative Wizz Air flight from Luton at 07:10am in case getting to Gatwick that early from your part of London is a problem. We will look to coordinate cars to accommodate this as an option (but returning on the easyJet Gatwick flight).

Guidebook:

Come and climb unpronounceable hills in indifferent weather - a return of the Winter Munro bagging meet, this time based near Newtonmore at "The Cabin" — the Edinburgh Mountaineering Club hut.

Munro and Corbett options all around, while for the dedicated rock climber, Creag Dhubh, perhaps Scotland's best roadside crag, is 3 miles away, while Binnein Shuas, home to the classic Ardverickie Wall, is about 15 miles away.

Mountain biking hire is also available nearby with plentiful options for graded trails at the Woftrax Forest Centre.

Weather permitting, daytrip to do some dry tooling at Saltdean (https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/saltdean-11148/ ).

You will need ice axes, mono-point crampons, 60 meter rope and (apparently) sunglasses.

There are trains from Victoria, London Bridge and Clapham Junction, although some people may prefer to drive.

If you don't fancy the chalk, you can always come along for a... hike?

Ignore the end date, this is a daytrip only on 27 November.

Weekend of winter climbing or walking in the Northern Cairngorms.

There is excellent winter climbing and walking to be had around Cairn Gorm and the Northern Coires. It's easily accessed from Aviemore by taxi, bus or even hitch-hiking!

A number of us have booked sleeper train tickets already, but the more the merrier!

The plan is:

Friday night - Take the sleeper train from Euston to Aviemore, arriving Saturday morning.
Saturday - Climb/walk in the Northern Cairngorms
Saturday night - stay in the Aviemore Youth Hostel (https://www.hostellingscotland.org.uk/hostels/aviemore/)
Sunday - Climb/walk in the Northern Cairngorms
Sunday night - take the sleeper train back from Aviemore arriving back in London in time for work Monday morning .

The seat sleeper train tickets are normally around £75 - £150 return (price changes considerably with availability)
book at : https://www.sleeper.scot/

The hostel is £15 to £25 per night depending on how many people we have in a room

If there's no snow, we'll likely cancel the trip but the seat sleeper train tickets are fully cancellable up until a couple of days before departure. The Aviemore youth hostel offer a 90% refund up until a couple of days before arrival so there's very little financial risk.

If conditions are very good it's normally easy to extend the trip by a day last minute. Availability in the hostel is normally good on a Sunday night and on the train on a Monday night.

I recommend buying the flexible seat tickets. Book early to avoid disappointment and to secure a cheaper price!

If you come with a buddy you can cut costs by getting a two together railcard. It more than pays for itself with one return journey.

If you definitely want to come please email me by October 31st and I'll add you to the list for accommodation at the hostel (assuming there is still some available). We'll probably be booking some rooms before that, so if you know sooner get in touch ASAP.

Weekend of winter climbing or walking in the Northern Cairngorms.

There is excellent winter climbing and walking to be had around Cairn Gorm and the Northern Coires. It's easily accessed from Aviemore by taxi, bus or even hitch-hiking!

A number of us have booked sleeper train tickets already, but the more the merrier!

The plan is:

Friday night - Take the sleeper train from Euston to Aviemore, arriving Saturday morning.
Saturday - Climb/walk in the Northern Cairngorms
Saturday night - stay in the Aviemore Youth Hostel (https://www.hostellingscotland.org.uk/hostels/aviemore/)
Sunday - Climb/walk in the Northern Cairngorms
Sunday night - take the sleeper train back from Aviemore arriving back in London in time for work Monday morning .

The seat sleeper train tickets are normally around £75 - £150 return (price changes considerably with availability)
book at : https://www.sleeper.scot/

The hostel is £15 to £25 per night depending on how many people we have in a room

If there's no snow, we'll likely cancel the trip but the seat sleeper train tickets are fully cancellable up until a couple of days before departure. The Aviemore youth hostel offer a 90% refund up until a couple of days before arrival so there's very little financial risk

If conditions are very good it's normally easy to extend the trip by a day last minute. Availability in the hostel is normally good on a Sunday night and on the train on a Monday night.

I recommend buying the flexible seat tickets. Book early to avoid disappointment and to secure a cheaper price!

If you come with a buddy you can cut costs by getting a two together railcard. It more than pays for itself with one return journey.

If you definitely want to come please email me by October 31st and I'll add you to the list for accommodation at the hostel (assuming there is still some available). We'll probably be booking some rooms before that, so if you know sooner get in touch ASAP.