A weekend trip to this popular (and easy to get to from London) climbing area that offers some fine limestone trad & sports climbing venues.

Camping at Beeches Farm campsite which is near to most of the crags and one of very few campsites that allows bonfire. BBQ is customary on Saturday night.

Details of campsite can be found at www.beechesfarmcampsite.co.uk/
Explore the ancient Forest of Dean and Offas Dyke which borders the campsite. The area also offers some great walks.

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Club member Richard Holdsworth is a qualified rock climbing instructor and will be running this meet with the assistance of other experienced climbers.

Participants will be shown the fundamentals of trad climbing including placing gear and building belay anchors as well as some skills, suggestions, habits that have been learned through Richard's 25 years as a climber. There will also be the opportunity to practice some supervised leading.

This weekend of instruction is aimed at those that are new to trad, as opposed to intermediate climbers.

To be eligible to participate you must at least be familiar with climbing indoors on a top rope and ideally have some indoor or outdoor lead climbing experience. Many indoor walls offer courses in this or if you contact the club's Membership Secretary he might be able to arrange for you to be shown how to do this at one of the club's regular Tuesday night indoor climbing sessions.

The course is on the Saturday and Sunday in the Peak District with participants travelling up on the Friday night and returning Sunday late afternoon/evening.

Accommodation is either camping or staying in The Climbers' Club hut near Froggatt (ALL 10 HUT SPACES NOW TAKEN).

Please let us know if you're driving by selecting the correct options when you sign up so that passengers can request lifts via the automated system on this webpage.

The cost of instruction is free but there will be a charge for the camping/hut of around £10 - £20 per person per night (2 nights). (The hut is £15pppn)

Ropes and gear (nuts, cams etc) will be provided but participants will need to bring their own harness, helmet, belay device and climbing shoes.

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LMC members have booked 10 of the available 16 hut spaces for this weekend.
Please email Hut Bookings if you want to book.
6 spaces remain.

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Going wherever the weather's best for grade pushing climbing and fair weather hiking.

Location to be decided a few days before the meet based on forecasts and accommodation availability. Likely to be one of the usual spots such as Snowdonia, Lakes, Wye Valley, Swanage etc. that all have good trad, sport and hiking options.

Accommodation likely to be camping.

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A meet for those members with young children keen to get into the great outdoors.

We have the 13 spaces for Saturday/Sunday night and will have all 16 spaces from Monday onwards.

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The semi-annual Skye meet returns for 2024. Join the intrepid LMCers heading to the Misty Isle for a hopefully midge-free week of sun, sea and maybe even a stab at traversing the formidable Cuillin range - the UK's premier mountaineering challenge.

The reserved accommodation is now fully booked, but you are welcome to find your own accommodation and join the meet. If you want to sign up please see the 2nd Skye meet entry below.

Accommodation:
9 beds booked at the SJMC's Coruisk Hut for 5 nights from Sun 26 - Fri 31 May, and one night in the YHA in Broadford on Friday 31st.
NB The night of Saturday 25th is not included in this and you'll need to arrange your own accommodation that night.

Coruisk hut is £15 per night, dorm bed in the YHA is £25. £50 deposit needed to take part.

Logistics:
I will be driving from London to Glasgow on Saturday 25th, and Glasgow to Elgol for a 12:00 arrival on Sunday 26th. I'll have space for 1 passenger from London.
Aiming to get the ferry at 2pm from Elgol to Coruisk pier on the afternoon Sunday 26th.

There's a 3.30 sailing for anyone who misses the first one, but later than that and you'll have to wait until the morning.
I've contacted one of Elgol's ferry services to arrange our tickets: if you want to book your Sunday ferry, you can do so at Bella Jane for £18 (https://www.bellajane.co.uk/boattrips.asp#).

For the more intrepid/self-punishing, there's an option to hike approx 10km from Camasunary if you drive there.

Activities:
More a question of what there isn't to do.

With the mighty Cuillin ridge looming over us, the opportunities for scrambling and climbing are simply out of this world. Gars Bheinn and Sgurr na Stri are two of the nearest mountains, with Bidean Druim nan Ramh and Bla Bheinn further from the hut. The hut is also an excellent staging post for an attempt at traversing the ridge - but make sure to get your climbing and topo knowledge up to scratch before attempting.
For people who prefer horizontal movement, there are hikes both up to the Cuillin and around Loch Coruisk next door; and the nautically inclined even have wild swimming in the sea or Loch Coruisk to hand. Even wildlife photography of the seals and sea eagles which live in the area is an option for anyone bold enough to bring a big camera...

NB: There are no power sockets at the Coruisk hut, so don't bring lots of appliances and remember battery packs.
We'll also have to bring all of our food with us and take any rubbish away at the end.

Looking forward to seeing some of you for a mythical week on the Misty Isle...

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The semi-annual Skye meet returns for 2024.

Join the intrepid LMC-ers heading to the Misty Isle for a hopefully midge-free week of sun, sea and maybe even a stab at traversing the formidable Cuillin range - the UK's premier mountaineering challenge.

THE RESERVED ACCOMMODATION FOR 9 IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.

This meet entry is for those that wish to join the meet and are willing to find their own accommodation on the island.

Looking forward to seeing some of you for a mythical week on the Misty Isle...

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8 spaces booked by the Alpine Club.
This booking runs Sat to Sat.

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Trad and sport climbing on the sunniest cliffs in the UK! Nice coastal walks available too.

Accommodation likely to be camping.

May go elsewhere if the weather's too wet, or too hot! to climb.

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The Vagabonds Club have booked Fronwydyr for Monday June 10th.

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12 spaces booked by Hinckley MC

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The LMC annual endurance weekend at Fronwydyr, 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.

Fingers crossed for good weather, I chose the weekend closest to the longest day, which I'm sure we will need every minute of daylight ;)

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Now in its 17th year!

Started by Ralph Hale back in 2008, the Gritstone Gallop follows in the great tradition of the Rock and Ice club who apparently used this event for their pre-Alpine training, in days of yore.

The 'Gallop' is about 12-14 miles in length, and is done entirely on foot (and hands!). It starts in the High Neb area of Stanage in the Peak District and ends at Birchens Edge, a route is climbed on every edge/crag on the way - 12 in total!

The full Gallop is a long day, finishing up in the Robin Hood Inn near Birchen and the campsite. But you're welcome to cut it short as you wish.

Your grade for the 'Gallop' is the lowest grade you climb in the day, and the more crags you climb, the more beers you are allowed in the Robin Hood Inn.... if you make it before closing time!

Staying in the Eric Byrne campsite (bring cash for your camp fees!).

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Sign up deadline: May 19th

Location: Fronwydyr (LMC hut in Eryri)

This meet is primarily aimed at those that will be attending the main Alps meet in Saas-Grund, but other club members that want to learn alpine climbing skills are welcome.

Some of the more experienced alpine climbers in the club will be offering informal guidance and demonstrating some of the specific skills and techniques that are required to climb in the alps.

This includes:
crevasse rescue
taking coils
moving together

Weather permitting, the majority of the time will be spent practising 'moving together' by climbing easy multipitch rock routes or hard scrambles in simul climbing fashion, placing and removing gear as we go. It is assumed that any participants wishing to do this element will already know how to place gear and build belays and are capable of leading at least VDiff. If not, and you're reading this in the spring, there's plenty of time to learn that before the meet.

Participants should bring a harness, belay device, approach shoes, climbing shoes, B2 boots if they want to practise climbing in these for the Alps, and a helmet. A couple of slings and screwgate carabiners are also useful to bring if people have them.

The experienced alpine climbers on the meet will bring ropes, gear and crevasse rescue specific equipment.

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12 spaces booked by Vibram MC

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A week of alpine pursuits in Saas-Grund, Switzerland — an ideal location for those looking to get one or two of the Alps 4000m peaks under their belt. Notable mountains include the Allalinhorn, the Nadelhorn and the Täschhorn.

The Saas valley is the ideal playground for the novice and intermediate alpinist with many classic routes ranging from PD to AD+ on 3000m and 4000m peaks. There is also sport climbing both down in the valley and up on mountain crags.

The area has good public transport links from Geneva airport and up and down the valley so hiring a car is not necessary

Accommodation:

I will be booking apartments in Saas-Grund on the 13th May. The cost per person for the week is expected to be £230–£270. If you wish to be included in the accommodation booking please confirm by paying the Summer Alps Meet Accommodation Deposit (£150) on the website payments page before the 13th.

There may be the possibility of adding further accommodation at a later date, should participant numbers support it.

If you do not want to share an apartment, there are some very good camping options in Saas-Grund. I will share links in due course.

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12 spaces booked by Rockhoppers MC.
4 loft spaces booked by LMC member and guests.

This is a Monday to Friday booking.

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A weekend of family-friendly adventures on the beautiful Gower peninsula — Britain's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The area offers a mix of Trad and Sport climbing, plus lots of stunning coastal walks.

Camping is at Pitton Cross Campsite https://www.pittoncross.co.uk/

1 person tent - £17 per night
2-3 person tent - £32 per night
3-6 person tent - £38 per night

After you sign up to the meet, please book yourself into the campsite by emailing admin@pittoncross.co.uk and mention that you're with the London Mountaineering Club. Please don't use their online booking system as they won't be able to keep track of numbers and they've waived the requirement for us that larger tents book a min of 3 nights.

If you cancel before 26th June you'll get a refund minus £50 (i.e. no refund for one person tents). If you cancel after that, there's no refund at all.

They can only offer us a total of 15 spaces due to high demand on Gower at this time of year.

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LMC members and guests welcome at the hut in Eryri

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Trad, sport climbing and walking on the sea cliffs of Dorset.

Staying at Tom's Field campsite. £24 camping fee required on booking. Cancellations are not refundable.

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Bank holiday BBQ meet at the club hut.

Camping is available down the road at Ty Isaf if the hut is full.

The hut has BBQs, charcoal and firelighters. Just bring/buy some food to cook on it.

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A long weekend of climbing and hiking in the Lake District.

Accommodation TBC

Option to change the location if the forecast is terrible a couple of days ahead of the meet.

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12 spaces booked by Scunthorpe MC

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Sport climbing on the South Coast. Staying at the Portland Bunkhouse

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Enjoy an Autumn weekend at the hut.

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Follow in the footsteps, or rather handholds, of such greats as Yvon Chouinard, Royal Robbins, Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Andy Kirkpatrick and Leo Houlding by climbing the granite walls of California’s famous national park.

Or, if you're more of a walker than a climber, there are a tonne of wonderful hikes throughout the valley such as Half Dome via the Mist Trail, Bridalveil Falls Trail, Tuolumne Meadows and Cathedral Lakes Trail.

Climbers
If you think those walls are reserved only for the premier crew, you'd be mistaken — there are tonnes of climbs within the capabilities of mere mortals. In fact, there is this handy list on UKC exactly along those lines —

A list of climbs under grade E1 (5.10b US)

And a search on Mountain Project reveals an extensive list of routes between 5.4 (HVD) and 5.8 (HVS) —

Rock routes (Trad or Sport or Toprope) in Yosemite National Park. between 5.4 and 5.8+ with at least 2 stars

Accommodation

My hope is that we will be camping in one of the park's renowned campgrounds for the week however getting reservations is proving tricky.

I am trying to reserve two sites. Each site allows for up to six people, and at the time of writing this, there are seven of us signed up. However, although the sites allow for six, it does not mean they will fit six tents (they vary in size apparently) so to ensure we have adequate space for tents, vehicles and any additional joiners, I will book two sites.

I hope to get sites in either the Lower Pines or North Pines campgrounds in the valley. The total cost will be £70–£80 per person for the week.

If I am unable to get sites in May the options are to either a) take our chances on booking in Camp Four, which can only be reserved one week in advance (and is highly competitive), b) plan on using one of the walk-in camps a little outside the main valley. There are a number of Bureau of Land Management campsites near Midpines and El Portal that operate a first come, first served plicy for $10 per site per night.

Park Access

If we can't get a site in the park, we will need to make vehicle access reservations for the weekends unless we plan on entering the park before 5am or after 4pm. Vehicle reservations are for three days and cost $2. There are over 2000 reservations available for the dates we're there at the moment, but we should probably get them ahead of time when trip details are firmed up.

We will also need to pay entrance fees. A single vehicle entrance fee covers all occupants and is $35 for three days (and maybe seven because the weekdays don't require reservations, it's not entirely clear). We might want to consider an annual pass at $70 as that may be more cost effective. We buy those passes on entrance, so don't need to worry about it now.

If we have campground reservations or Half Dome permits we will not need access reservations.

Travel

Other travel details still to be worked out, but I plan to fly into Los Angeles and pick up a hire car there as I will spending a few days either side of the trip in LA. I will update with my flight details once booked.

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Join the Bonfire night celebrations at the hut.

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Chance to sharpen your map reading and navigation skills - both by day and night. Suitable for novice navigators and wizard-like wanderers.

We will to focus on using maps, and then go out on the hill to practice navigation. We will all make use of traditional navigation (e.g. using a compass and looking around!), but also discuss the GPS-based devices people may bring along.

Bookings open on 1 September, and will be limited to ten participants. We will organise a communal meal on the Saturday night (I'll be looking for a volunteer co-ordinator). The meet fees will include an extra amount to pay for food.

{This weekend has been run since 1997 by myself and a dedicated band of seasoned LMC navigators. I am looking for two or three new people to join us to help run the meet in future years. Contact me directly if you'd like a chat about what that might entail.}

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Come and and spend a long weekend climbing unpronounceable hills in indifferent weather - a return of the Winter Munro bagging meet.

Bring axe. Crampons, warm clothes and your sense of adventure.

We’ll stay at the Ochil Mountaineering Club’s hut at Crianlarich, which gives loads of options for days out of of any length and any technicality direct from the doorstep.

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This meet is recommended for experienced winter walkers and wild campers only.

Winter backpacking hike in Scotland -
Tyndrum to Corrour via Glencoe.

Route is mainly based on West Highland Way with few munros to cross, 60km in total.

Train and bus as main transportation, then hike for almost 4 days- day and night most likely, wild camping.

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Escape the Xmas shopping with a weekend at the hut.

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8 spaces booked by Croydon MC.
8 spaces remain for LMC members.

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A wintry, dark time of the year - the perfect time to organise a trip to the Lakes for some walking, with a Burns Supper themed meal on Saturday night. Crampons dependent on weather but Kilts obligatory

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This meet it best suited to experienced winter climbers.

5 Nights at the CIC hut situated at the foot of the North Face of Ben Nevis. The UK's premier winter climbing crag and home to a huge range of routes including many classics!

The hut is booked from the Sunday (16th Feb) to the Friday (21st Feb) morning so it's recommended to travel up on the Saturday (15th Feb) and then use Sunday to walk up to the hut with food and gear for the week and ideally do a climb that day as well

The CIC hut is basic. It has a kitchen, toilets, running water and drying room, but no shower. For details on facilities, and the hut more generally, see https://www.smc.org.uk/huts/cic.

All gear and food needs to be taken up on foot from the Ben Nevis North Face Car Park which takes around 2hrs 30 mins and is a real slog. But once you're there, there are relatively short walk-ins to all the climbs on the North Face.

Late Feb is slightly earlier that previous years, however the hut is in high demand and already booked out. This time of year is typically a good time for ice routes on Ben Nevis so you're likely to get more out of this meet if you're happy on this surface and can climb at least Scottish grade III. This meet is not recommended for those that favour winter walking as options for that activity are very limited.

The cost of a bed in the hut is £26 p.p.p.n. The full cost of £130 is payable on sign up. Unfortunately due to high demand for the CIC hut in the winter season the Scottish Mountaineering Club cannot offer refunds in the event of cancellation. If you need to cancel your place then please let the meet steward know asap. They can help find someone else to take your place (who will transfer you the money), though replacements aren't guaranteed and you will be liable for the costs if replacements can't be found.

Guidebook: Scottish Winter Climbs - SMC (available in paperback or to download on the Rockfax app)

Scottish Winter Climbs West - Scottish Mountaineering Club

Travel to Ben Nevis: The drive is about 10 hours from London and can easily be done in a day.

Please reach out to the meet steward (Will Osborn) if you have any questions prior to signing up.

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12 spaces booked by the Alpine Club.
4 loft spaces available to LMC members.
This is a Sunday to Sunday booking.

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