Hello and welcome!

If you haven’t already, please join our Facebook group as it’s the best way of contacting members and a means to send lots of useful information quickly. We do send normal emails too though so don’t worry. If you need to get in touch with any of the committee their details are on the website. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never climbed before or spend every free minute clinging to the rock, we’re sure you’ll have a great time here with us. We’re a friendly bunch, honest. We look forwards to meeting you so please pop in the pub some time and say hi. The pub is where we do all the trip sign ups so you’ll have to eventually anyway. Oh and we drink there too yeah.

Lots of Love
Leeds University Union mountaineering club committee

Here is the link to the BMC page which details the application process for the Alpine Conville Courses this year. Make sure you read all the information carefully, as it is extremely competitive, and making a mistake on your application will rule you out at the first cut!

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=2957

Hi all,
Don’t forget this Wednesday is Matt’s talk “First Alpine Adventures”. It’ll start at about 8:30pm in Meeting Room 4 in the Union (in the ARC) and is totally free! We’ll be off to the pub afterwards.

Hope to see you there

Will

(Don’t forget next week is the AGM! Ooooohhhh! New committee election time!)

The Roaches!

The AGM!

This is a big event of the year and starts the process of handing over the club to the next committee. If you love the club and want to have a position on the committee next year then you need to come down to the AGM on the 23rd March and formally run for the position. Same time and place in The Packhorse as usual.

Even if you don’t want to run for a position its a good idea to come anyway and vote on who is on the committee as it may affect how the club is run next year. People can also raise separate motions which can be about anything from whether we should introduce a new committee position etc. You can even raise a motion to shut down the club (but lets not, eh?).

If running for a position the basic format is this:

People running for a particular position all come and stand at the front. They take turns in giving a quick (no more than a minute or two) “speech” outlining why they think they’d be good for the position. A memorable speech from recent years was Nichols running for president (against noone but himself) and giving a great oration from on top of one of the tables. He’d had a few pints for some dutch courage beforehand and so at the end of the “speech” he promplty fell off the table. Sort of sets the standard really.

They leave the room and there’s a vote taken to decide the candidate to elect.

All candidates for the position come back into the room and the result is announced. Candidates can run for as many positions as they like and positions are elected one by one so if you’re unsuccessful in running for one position you can still run for another.

If you are interested in running for a position there is more information on what positions are available and what their roles are on this thread on the website:

http://www.luumc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=894

I would STRONGLY(!) recommend reading this if you wish to be on the Committee next year! Post up a reply if you fancy running for a position too.

One important note is that you don’t need to be a climbing hot shot to be on the Committee. All it needs is keen beans who are willing to give up a few hours each week to make sure the Club runs as best it can. For some positions it is important to be more up to date on the climbing know how (President and Gear sec in particular).

Matt’s Alpine talk!

On the 16th March, all things being well with the projector, then Matt (of the Ringrose variety), will be giving a “First Alpine Adventures” talk. This will be complete with beautiful pics and tall tales of his first forays into the Alps. It should be good entertainment for all and will be especially useful for those planning their first trip to the greater ranges this Summer. One not to miss to be sure.

The two big events of this week are the Roaches sign up in the Packhorse and the not-so-Christmas Ceilidh!
The Ceilidh is on Friday (the 4th) and if you still need a Ceilidh ticket get in touch with Duncan MacNeil. Its at the Cardigan Centre on Cardigan Road and doors are at 7:30pm and dancing will start around 8pm. Don’t forgetnyour fancy dress! I believe prizes will be awarded to the best and worst! House party after will be at Knowle Road in Burley. Just follow the tall Scottish person at the end and you’ll get there. Don’t fall asleep in a wheelie bin like Gareth did last year.
Roaches sign up will be the usual affair in the Packhorse this Wednesday. The hut is super cheap this time so the trip will cost a mere pittance at £25. Bring the dough to the pub on Wednesday or you ain’t coming Don’t forget sleeping bags for this one…More details on the trip closer to the time but its the usual format. Leave Friday night, climb Saturday and Sunday and be home in time for curry and medals at Nazams on Sunday night.

Psyching material here:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/item.html?crag=797

http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/item.html?crag=105

http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/item.html?crag=798

Hi Gang,

The Lakes trip is looming. Here are the details:

We’ll meet at the corner of Lifton Place and Cromer Terrace as usual at 6pm on Friday 18th February. We’ll drive up to Coniston (probable fish and chips on the way) and bed down for the night in the lovely hut. This ones a good one, I’m told it even has showers! Don’t forget to bring sleeping bags!

Breakfast will be provided on Saturday and Sunday mornings with a Saturday night dinner cooked by the wonderful committee. If you are a vegetarian or any other -an or have any food allergies you MUST tell us when you sign up so we can make arrangements for you.

We’ll be coming home late Sunday night and will most likely stop at Nazams curry house in Woodhouse for the usual post climbing curry.

The best climbing in the Lakes is generally all “multipitch” which is a little different from single pitch climbing. As such if you haven’t got any experience of multipitch then it would be a huge help to us if you could sign up with a partner who has and is comfortable leading on multipitch terrain. This may seem daunting but on sign up night all you need do is chat up a partner who will most likely be happy to go climbing with you! As always people of all abilities are welcome on the trips but we cannot guarentee you a partner to climb with if you don’t make the effort to find one beforehand.

We’ve done the budget for this trip and the figures have come out as £35 pound each. This is a little more expensive than the usual rate but it stems from the fact that petrol prices are on the rise and the hut is particularly nice. You get what you pay for!

Don’t forget:
A bit of money for fish n chips and curry.
Sleeping bag
WARM and WATERPROOF clothes
Climbing kit if you have it
Sturdy footwear – many Lakes walk ins are not suitable for trainers
Other common sense items
Food for lunches on Saturday and Sunday

Sign up will be on Wednesday from 9pm in The Packhorse. See you there.

Love

Will x

P.S. If you would like to drive a car on this trip and haven’t yet sorted out your forms with Rosie then you MUST do this ASAP. You cannot drive your car for trips without these!

P.P.S. Its the Outdoors Assembly meeting tonight. If anybody would like an issue raising with the Union Exec then please text it to me before 6pm and I’ll be glad to bring it up.

Alright gang?
The plan is now set for Almscliff on Sunday.

We’ll meet at BURLEY PARK station and catch the 09:59 to Weeton. Its about a 15 minute train journey and then it’ll be about a half hour walk to the crag. Don’t be soft and get there just as the train doors close. Its an hour till the next one and we won’t be hanging round waiting for you.

If its easier for you to get the train from LEEDS then that will leave there at 09:54 and you’ll see us at the next stop along.

Don’t forget to bring:
Climbing kit (if you have it)
Food
Water
Warm and waterproof attire
Your sensible shoes

If you don’t have climbing kit then you can get it at the crag. Daf or Ewan will be there with the club gear.

***Very important*** – if the weather is particularly poor we may have to cancel the trip or make alternative arrangements. I’ll drag myself out of bed super duper early and IF the trip is cancelled there will be a Facebook message sent out by 08:30 that morning so make sure you check your Faceache account before heading out.

You’ll also be glad to know that the website is now all nice and shiny and new looking! Check it out here:
www.luumc.co.uk
We’ll be posting all the content from these messages on the front page as we used to do before the old website became a bit of a mess. Check out the updated forums too. They’re a really good place to ask questions, shoot the sh*t and maybe pick up some cheap gear that someone is selling.

Farewell Club members
May your South flying geese return again

Hi everyone, it was great to see such a good turnout at the Packhorse, and the two weekend trips are now fully booked. There’s a few important things for you to know about in the next week, so here goes with another post full of information!

First off, we have the weekly wall session. This thursday, and every thursday from now, a few club members will meet at the climbing wall in The Edge (the university sports centre) between 8 and 10pm. Gear will be provided for anybody that doesn’t have it. The places are limited by the university’s health and safety regulations to 18 people climbing at any one time, so it’s first come first serve for today. In the future we will probably have some sort of sign up, but since it’s such short notice we haven’t been able to organise that for tonight.

Now for the trips: there are two trips this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday (obviously), Saturday to Stanage Edge, near Sheffield, and Sunday to Brimham Rocks which are closer to Leeds. Meeting at the steps OUTSIDE THE STUDENT UNION at 9am sharp on both mornings. In fact, if you could arrive a little early then that would be good for sorting out who is getting which transport. Please ensure that you bring appropriate clothing. It’s an exposed bit of countryside, and we live in England, so that means WARM and WATERPROOF. If in doubt, pack an extra jumper. Please find time to read the club’s code of practise beforehand, which deals with how to behave at crags and such.

Finally, we have the Varsity. There are Varsity matches in all sports between Leeds Uni and Leeds Met. This year for the first time we are organising a Bouldering competition between the two universities’ climbing clubs. We’re looking for 6 competitors, at least two of whom must be girls. The competition will take place on the 6th of October from 2-4pm at the Depot, a bouldering wall in Pudsey. Even if you don’t get on the team, it will be a fun afternoon, and there’s a pub across the road to celebrate or commiserate.

See you at the weekend!

Dave Smith, Press Secretary