Over the past few years Andy Railton has been our BMC access rep for the East Midlands area. As of last month Andy has stepped down from this role, big thanks to Andy for all his hard work. This means that the BMC area committee (of which I am the Chair) is looking for a new access rep for the East Midlands area. This would ideally be a keen volunteer who is based in the East Midlands and would like to take up this important role to help ensure we can make use of the crags and access land in our area.

Voluntary Access Representatives are well established within the BMC and they play a vital role in the BMC's work with landowners and conservation bodies.  It is up to each BMC Area to decide upon how many Access Representatives are required and which geographical areas they cover. In the Midlands we have two reps, one covering the West Midands and one covering the East Midlands. It is important that Access Representatives attend Area Meetings whenever possible; local access issues are the main point of debate at many Area Meetings. 

The role of the Access Representative is to:

• Liaise with landowners, conversation bodies, national park authorities and others to maintain and improve access for climbers and walkers.
• Work closely with the BMC Access & Conservation staff and members of the Access Management Group.
• Negotiate and review of any seasonal restrictions (e.g. nesting birds).
• Provide information for Summit magazine, the Regional Access Database (RAD) and the wider outdoor media.
• Attend site meetings as appropriate and identify any site information needs, e.g. signage.

If this is of interest to you, or you'd like to discuss the role please get in touch with Andy Potter.

Despite the late time of the year there is still some outdoor adventures to be had. This Saturday we found that we could enjoy some bouldering at Stanage Plantation, and some indoor climbing at Awesome Walls in Sheffield (first time visiting this wall for me, have to say it deserves its name).

Committee meeting - Last Thursday we had our committee meeting as planned, thanks to Pete Bottrill for hosting the meeting. We'll publish the minutes soon; the next meeting will be on Thursday 23rd January, 7:30pm at Pete's house.

Hut Drainage - We are pleased to announce the the contractors have finished work on the new drainage system for the road outside the hut. This should prevent buildup of rain water on the road by allowing water to drain into the stream. Run off from the hut roof will also be routed directly to the stream. 

Refund policy - We've added a refund policy to the guidance for club meets. You can find the policy in the 'Important information' section below or in the Members area of the website.

Ski Trip - Having announced we were full we now have a place available on the ski trip. Details in the email sent out last week. Let Andy Potter know ASAP if you are interested.

Although we are into the pre-Christmas period we're still having our regular bouldering session on a Tuesday night at The Climbing Station (Loughborough), and our regular roped climbing session on Thursday evening at The Tower Climbing Centre (Beaumont Leys). Hopefully see you there!

Hi Bowliners,

Due to work commitments one of our Skiers is unable to make the club Ski Trip which is running from 11th -> 18th January. This means we have one place in the accommodation up for grabs. We're staying in Les Arcs 2000 right in the heart of the resort in a private apartment (see here for photos and details), the apartment has free access to swimming pool, sauna, etc if you like that kind of thing. The cost for the apartment is just £210 per person and we'll be doing out own catering.

We plan to ski for 7 days from Sunday 12th January until Saturday 18th Jan inclusive. You will of course need to buy a ski pass and hire equipment (unless you have your own to bring). We can offer transport from Leicester as well as we have a car travelling there/back, leaving Friday 10th Jan at 7pm and getting back on Sunday 19th January around 3pm. Return cost for the car trip will be around £125 per person.

We're offering first refusal to club members but we'd like to fill the place ASAP so please let me know if you are interested. 

Kind regards,

Andy

Following this evenings committee meeting we've setup a Bowline Climbing Club Members facebook group. This group is linked to our official Facebook page and is intended for social communication between club members.

The group is private and only for use by club members. Club members may join or leave the group at any time. As the group may not include all club members please don't assume anything posted here will reach everyone.

We've updated the Members Area with some guidelines regarding using this group. You can also find these guidelines in the 'About' section of the group info on Facebook.

We'd encourage all club members to join the group and make good use of it!

Happy posting!

We had a great time on the Chairman's walk at the weekend. The weather was good to us and unlike the annual dinner the food was good with a tasty breakfast at the Grindleford Station cafe before the walk, and thanks to Suzie delicious cake and hot drinks after the walk. Check out the photo's over on our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/BowlineCC/.

Committee meeting - We have a committee meeting this Thursday evening. All club members are welcome to attend our committee meetings.

Ski Trip - We are all booked up for our club ski trip to Les Arcs from 11th-18th January. The apartment we have booked is full however if anyone wants to get their own accommodation and join us on the slopes you'd be most welcome.

Scottish Winter meet - We need to release any places we haven't booked at the hut for our winter meet. Contact Andy Railton ASAP if you fancy joining us. We have a number of people travelling up to Scotland and lifts are available. Only £80 for the whole week's accommodation, bargain!

Tuesday and Thursday evenings - Don't forget that we have our regular bouldering session on a Tuesday night at The Climbing Station (Loughborough), and our regular roped climbing session on Thursday evening at The Tower Climbing Centre (Beaumont Leys). Next Tuesday (10th December) we are going out for Pizza after bouldering, let Zoe Pickering know if you want to join us for the Pizza.
 

Hi All,

It's not too late to join us for the Chairman's walk tomorrow (Sunday). The weather forecast is looking good. Book you place now via the club website.

Hope to see you there!

Hi Folks,

Just a reminder we are looking to finalise bookings for the Scottish Winter Meet by the end of this month. Any free places left I will open up to other local climbing clubs from this Sunday. If we don’t fill places I’m amenable to part bookings, but we must pay for the places by Dec 12th, so if places aren’t filled by then we will have to let them go.

So for winter fun don’t delay book today. That’s enough of the jingles, hope to see you on the Chairman’s Walk on Sunday.

Cheers

Andy Railton

 

Well it wasn't a great weekend for getting out climbing but a hardy crew of club members did brave the elements to spend some time maintaining our club hut. You've already seen the email about this but I forgot to include that they also cleaned the gutters. Whilst it's great to have some dedicated maintenance weekends there are always things to do at the hut, so if you are staying there why not take a moment to help with the general upkeep (if you're not sure what might need doing you can ask Ian Robinson our hut secretary).

Chairman's walk - Great to see people are booking their places already. Don't forget to book your place via the website now. As an added incentive Suzie Imber has invited those attending the walk to come back to her house (in Curbar) for tea and cake after the walk.

2020 Meets - We have a committee meeting coming up next week on Thursday evening. One of the items for the agenda is the meets list for next year. If you have suggestions for meets or something you'd like to see on the list now is the time to let me know.

Tuesday and Thursday evenings - Don't forget that we have our regular bouldering session on a Tuesday night at The Climbing Station (Loughborough), and our regular roped climbing session on Thursday evening at The Tower Climbing Centre (Beaumont Leys). Both are great ways to beat the winter blues by indulging a spot of climbing so why not join us!

BMC Youth Climbing Series - After Christmas the BMC are running the annual Youth Climbing Series competitions. These competitions are organised by BMC volunteers for young people in each BMC area. One of our club members, Claudia Sarner, is organising the competition rounds for the Midlands and Peak area. We need volunteers to come along on the day and help with the competition rounds. We'll send out more details after Christmas but in the meantime you can pop the round dates/location in your diary as follows:

• Round 1 (bouldering) - 25th January - Awesome Walls, Stoke.
• Round 2 (roped climbing) - 8th February - Green Spider Climbing, Hereford.
• Round 3 (bouldering) - 7th March - Social Climbing, Leicester.
• Round 4 (roped climbing) - 21st March - Nottingham Climbing Centre.