Attendees

• Joe Prinold
• Thomas Coyne
• Alwyn Elliott
• Lisa Alhadeff
• Alex Skinner
• Daniel Boocock
• Edward Poore

Day 1

Although each of the seven tour members were departing from different locations about the country, everyone managed to get to Gloucester for around 1pm on the 2nd January. From here we packed up the cars and headed off to North Wales and the St Mary’s hut. The roads were fairly icy and snowy and so going was fairly slow. However, everyone managed to arrive at the hut around 8pm. A fire was started as quickly as possible to heat up the ice cold hut!

Day 2

The first day of climbing and the group split into two with Al, Lisa, Alex and Ed heading off to explore the local trad crags, while Danny, Tom and Joe drove up to the much famed ‘cave of justice’. Although there had been some rain and snow the days before both groups had good dry rock and lots of good climbing was done.

Day 3

Conditions were a bit dryer the next day and everyone headed off to a nearby crag to try some multi-pitch climbing. That is after the hour or so of pushing the cars up the snowy and icy track outside the hut, with the landrover racing ahead! After a good while scrambling around and discussing (or arguing?!) where the routes started everyone managed to get going. For Lisa and Alex this was their first multi-pitch experience and they coped very well with Lisa leading the final pitch of her climb. After everyone was down in one piece Al and Joe decided that with an hour of sun left they would attempt another route. What at first looked like a route in fact turned into a gardening expedition! However, only one piece of gear was lost and both returned down in one piece, albeit in the darkness.

Day 4

Rain hit overnight and so it was decided that bouldering was the safest option. A quick drive to Llanberis pass revealed the boulder field snowed under. That’s when the mayhem began. Snowballs began flying from every direction as climbers found cover behind the problems they were planning on attempting. Some beautiful head shots were achieved by throwing blind over cover until Ed returned with lunch in the Landrover. The decision was then made to drive to a fairly far off crag on the coast where it was hoped that the weather would be better. It wasn’t! Still some of the beginners managed to get their first experience of bouldering in the snow and a couple of the older members had a nice swim in the sea!

Lisa and Alex left this evening

Day 5

Again conditions were better and everyone headed off together. The first problem struck when Danny realized he was driving on a flat tyre! So the tyre was replaced and we headed back to the hut. Then on our way back out Al’s car came a cropper on the ice and one tyre was slashed! With two cars hobbling we decided to head to the nearest city and replace all the damaged wheels. With lots of frustrated climbers itching to get on some rock it was decided to go back to Parisella’s cave and attempt some night bouldering! This worked great with a land rover parked facing the crag with the lights on and some excellent climbing was had. After getting home to the hut the traditional roast dinner was started… four hours later at about midnight dinner was served! After everyone had woken up and eaten, a fair system was implemented to decide whom should wash up – the loser of a game of forks. The president, Tom was so keen to avoid the washing up, that he stabbed Al with the fork in order to ensure his safety from the greasy pans. Finally everyone went to bed tired but cheerful.

Day 6

On the final day we decided to try and get some more climbing done in the morning and headed to the local bouldering area in the Llanberis pass. Most boulders were topped with snow but a few bits were under cover and some decent climbing was had by all. Then we all headed home and everyone got back without incident.

In conclusion, the tour was a success. No fundamental changes to the trip organisation are recommended although perhaps a greater appreciation of the weather conditions could have been useful, both in the areas of travel as well as climbing conditions.

Financially, the trip made a marginal profit (£7!). We spent no money on accommodation, we spent £259 on food and a total of £250 on petrol. We received £167 in grants from the union and changed £50 for the trip

Climbing was done every day and an excellent time was had by all.