Hey Everyone,

We had a well attended trip to the Lake District this weekend just gone. It sounds like a bit of travelling was needed to find dry rock but dry rock was found (and climbed), and some walking was enjoyed too. Sadly we are now on the wind down for this year in terms of climbing trips, with one more club hut meet to go on the weekend of 8th/9th October. But if you fancy some winter sun why not head out to El Chorro with Tony and Anni Bishopp over New Year, the accommodation is nearly fully booked so if you want to go get in touch ASAP. Also big congratulations are in order for Tony for climbing his first 8a, Aberration at Chee Dale, at the weekend.

Now although the season for climbing all the time may be drawing to a close we still have plenty keep you busy in the run up to Christmas. Firstly we have our club annual dinner taking place on Saturday 19th November at the Belmont Hotel in Leicester. We'll be celebrating 65 years of the club so come along and help us make it a night to remember. Two weeks later on Sunday 4th December it is the annual Chairmans Walk and lunch, watchout for more details soon. This years club slideshow will be on Wednesday 7th December, 7:30pm at the Blackhorse Pub in Aylestone. And last but not least the annual Christmas bouldering competition will be on Tuesday 13th December at The Climbing Station in Loughborough.

Don't forget climbing this Thursday is at The Tower climbing wall in Beaumont Leys from 19:00 onwards. Join us if you can!

Andy

Hey Bowliners,

Well you have been a busy bunch over the past week. There I was expecting to start this email with a paragraph on the great time we had on our Family meet in North Wales this weekend. And we did indeed have a brilliant time with sporting climbing in the slate quarries, bouldering, playing in the woods, ice-creams, and games at the hut. But there has been so much else going on that I want to share with you as well. We had our cyclists battling the mud on the Peddars way over the weekend, thanks to Andy Railton for organising. Bowliners were in action at The Roaches and Windgather with Derek and Andy Richards taking on the fiercesome 'Sloth' (another great lead for Derek). Masa and Michelle have been getting into deep water, literally with an ascent of the Am Buachaille sea stack which involves swimming to earn your climbing fix. Meanwhile Simon and Alex have been making us jealous with pictures of beautiful climbing in sunny Italy. Fantastic!

It's been great to be back at our lovely club hut over the past coupe of weekends. Our hut meister, Paul Parker, has been very busy making improvements; we have a new fire escape door, improved surfacing for the parking area and track, a deep clean of all the rooms and kitchen equipment, well kept grounds around the hut, the list goes on. A big thanks to Paul and those club members that have been helping him. We have more improvements planned over the winter which we'll be asking club members to get involved with. In the meantime everyone who visits the hut can help us out by doing the following:

• Make sure you test the fire alarms, noting any problems, and sign the fire book immediately upon arrival. This is crucial for compliance with fire regs and insurance.
• Take time to leave the hut in a good clean and tidy condition. We've had a problem with a recent booking at the hut, where it was left in a very bad condition. As a result, the committee have decided that we will now charge a £50 cleaning deposit on any large groups making a first time booking.
• Let us know immediately if you have places booked at the hut which you no longer need (contact Dave Toach). And if possible try to avoid cancelling at the last minute. The hut is increasingly popular and people have been missing out on staying at the hut because places that had been booked were not actually used.

If you're heading to the Climbing Station for bouldering tonight I'll look forward to seeing you there. Climbing this Thursday is at The Tower climbing wall in Beaumont Leys from 19:00 onwards. Join us if you can!

Hope to see you all soon!

Andy

Hello Bowliners,

I've been looking into a Mountain Biking skills course and I thought this might make a good thing to offer to fellow club members. The date for this course is Saturday 3rd December and it would take place at Cannock Chase trails centre. The minimum number for the course to run is 3 riders, with a maximum of 7 per group. As I know we have a range of abilities I've lined up two courses, one aimed at 'Beginner->Intermediate', and one aimed at 'Intermediate->Advanced'. See below for the outline for each course.

You will need a Mountain Bike in good working order, plus a helmet and gloves. Plus the usual kit for a ride out such as spare inner tube, pump, some drink, lunch, etc. The course will last for around 4-5 hours and cost £50 per person. The course instructors are from Chase Skills.

I need to get back to the course instructors by this Friday to let them know if there is enough interest to run either or both of the courses. I can then make the bookings and pay the deposit which will be £10 per person, with the remaining £40 to be paid by the end of October.

If you are free that day and would like a place please reply to let me know (and which course) by this Thursday!

Beginner->Intermediate course:

• Body position
• Descending
• Climbing
• Braking
• Track-stands
• Wheelies

Followed by a guided ride on and off piste aligned with a skill level needed for a Red graded trail.

Intermediate->Advanced course:

• Body position
• Pumping
• Manuals
• Bunny hopppping
• Drops
• Jumps
• Steep trails

Followed by a guided off piste ride aimed at Red-Black trail grading

Hello everyone,

It's super to be reporting back after another great club gathering at our lovely hut in Snowdonia. The rock was a little damp in places on Saturday morning but we managed to find climbable rock in the LLanberis pass and enjoyed some brilliant routes. I'd definitely recommend Direct Route on Dinas Mott, a brillant climb with good jugs at the top just when you need them (but watch out for the slugs). On Sunday we split up to various crags, the Ogwen valley was where I headed and had a great time moving together up the Idwal slabs and the Cneiffon Arete. Now I'm looking forward to heading back to the hut this coming weekend for our Family Meet.

Our next meet with a few places still available is to The Lake District on the weekend of the 24th/25th September. We have a super group of club members going and we'd love to have more company so grab your places now via the website (there are only 5 left).

The latest minute of the club committee meeting from the 31st August are now available on the club website in the members area. The next committee meeting will take place on Wednesday 5th October, 7:30pm at the Blackhorse Pub in Aylestone. As always club members are very welcome to attend the meeting.

Tonight we have a double whammy of climbing for you. There is a group heading to Markfield Quarry for 17:45 onwards to make the most of what is probably the last outdoor climbing evening of the year. And some of us are heading to The Tower climbing wall in Beaumont Leys from 19:00 onwards. Join us if you can!

Hope to see you all soon!

Andy