NPC Newsletter 51, August 2000 - Contents, Editorial and Club news

Note to the web edition - NPC newsletters placed on the website: As it is accessible potentially to anyone, certain items of purely internal club interest, and all members' addresses and phone numbers, have been removed. Links have been added to other web resources, where appropriate.

Editorial

During this year, two of the club's founder members, H (Budge) Burgess and Jim Leach have died. Their obituaries in this newsletter try to sum-up their significance to caving in Yorkshire (and elsewhere), and to the Pennine in particular.

Thanks to Tiger, Jack Myers, Iain Crossley and the late H (Budge) Burgess for their contributions to this newsletter.

Please keep your contributions to the newsletter (however small) coming in. The next newsletter is due out in November.

Tim Palmer

Winter Dinner 2001

The Winter Dinner will be held on Saturday 10th February 2001 at the Whoop Hall Inn near Kirby Lonsdale. A coach will be provided. The anticipated cost for the dinner and the coach will be 15-20.

Accomodation available is at the Whoop Hall Inn. They may be contacted on 015242 71284

To book a place or for further details, please contact Tim Palmer

Rain

There has been plenty of rain this year!! (see graph above)

Up until the end of May, all months this year had exceeded their long-term average at the rain gauge at Far Gearstones

Colorado 2001

Plotting a trip up to Colorado, 3 - Feb 2001, to go and play in the "Ice Park" in Ouray (west of Denver), was up there last winter for a long weekend and it comes highly recommended, there's nowhere else like it! If any of the NPC are interested in turning up get in touch.

After a week on good fat ice bashing granite in Scotland will never be the same again. The "park" is constructed in a river gorge on the outskirts of town, a 3 inch pipe brings water from an old mining reservoir and then sprinkler heads spray it over the edge of the gorge at the desired points. Most of the routes in the park are 30 - 40m high with nice fat ice and all are usually top roped! Surprising how easy overhanging ice is on a nice thick top rope. Don't need much gear, a group of 3 or 4 could get by with one rope and a couple of pairs of axes, all need helmets and crampons, only necessary hardware is a few 'biners and some long slings to belay off the multitude of bolts. Great place to learn to climb, just like an outdoor climbing wall. Around 60 - 70 routes (that adds up to an awful lot of ice), most in grades4 & 5, and its all free! (if they charge they would have to accept liability). I'm told that there are plans to increase the number of grade3's and 4's, 20 - 30, by extending the system up the gorge for this winter. Leading the routes is possible but only on the quiet days midweek (apart from around 6-8 grade 5's which are set aside for lead climbing only), weekend (particularly Saturday) the place is heaving.

There appears to be plenty of 'wild ice' routes within 1 hour's drive of Ouray and the folks in the gear shop in town are a good source of info, they also have for hire all the gear as well. Plenty of accommodation available, 6-7 motels, a few small hotels + B&B's. Two motels are within 5 minutes walk of the closest route in the park complete with hot tubs fed from a nearby spring, $65 / night B&B for two. Prime site for climbers so early booking recommended. Nearest place to fly into is Montrose (MTJ) about 30 miles north of Ouray, service runs from Denver. The link below will give a good idea of what the place is like (and the walk-in is only 10 mins!)

http://classic.mountainzone.com/climbing/2000/ouray/photos/photo01.html

Paul Atkinson


> Out of print publications list
> Indices to NPC explorations:
---> Listings by date
---> Alphabetical listing by cave
---> Author index to exploration and other articles
> Northern Pennine Club Home page