News and Announcements

... an awesome calendar of meets for 2016!

Yes that's right Bowliners, the gift you've all been waiting for has arrived. So grab your 2016 diary and get ready to enjoy a fantastic year with us!

• Weekend of 16th/17th January - Winter walking/scrambling in North Wales at our cozy club hut.
• Sunday 7th February - Charnwood Hills Race.
• Weekend of 13th/14th February - Sport climbing in Portland, Dorset.
• Wednesday 16th March (evening) - The Club AGM, 7:30pm at the Blackhorse Pub, Alyestone.
• Saturday 19th March - Peak district climbing.
• Sunday 20th March - Prusik knots and tricky situations training course for club members (Leicester).
• Easter weekend (25th-28th March) - Scottish winter walking/ice climbing.
• April 2nd - 9th - Fontainebleau bouldering trip.
• Weekend of 16th/17th April - Love the hut weekend.
• Tuesday 19th April (evening) - Spring bouldering competition at The Climbing Station.
• May bank holiday weekend (30th April - 2nd May) - Yorkshire climbing (Brimham Rocks).
• Weekend of 7th/8th May - Peak district climbing.
• Weekend of 21st/22nd May - Joint meet up with Barrow MC at The Roaches.
• Whitsun bank holiday weekend (28th - 30th May) - Lake District climbing.
• 11th - 19th June - Picos de Europa trip.
• Weekend of 25th/26th June - North Wales climbing at the Club hut.
• Weekend of 2nd/3rd July - Saunders Mountain Marathon.
• Weekend of 16th/17th July - Climbing + MTB and Summer Meal in the Forest of Dean.
• Weekend of 30th/31st July - BBQ at the club hut.
• August - Alpine trip, exact date TBC.
• Summer bank holiday weekend (27th-29th August) - Pembrokeshire sea cliff climbing.
• Weekend of 10th/11th September - Climbing in North Wales at the club hut.
• Weekend of 24th/25th September - Peak district climbing.
• Weekend of 8th/9th October - More climbing in North Wales at the club hut.
• Weekend of 22nd/23rd October - Mountain Biking meet in the Dalby Forest.
• Weekend of 29th/30th October - OMM Mountain Marathon.
• Weekend of 5th/6th November - Fireworks at the club hut.
• Saturday 19th November - Club annual dinner.
• Sunday 4th December - Chairmans walk.
• Wednesday 6th December - Club slideshow.
• Tuesday 13th December (evening) - Christmas bouldering competition at The Climbing Station.

Hey Everyone,

So the force was strong with us today, so strong that it chased away all that pesky rain and made the weather in the Peak appealing enough for a spot of climbing. Who'd of thought that I'd be enjoying trad climbing in the sunshine at Gardom Edge on the 20th December. Did you all get out and enjoy the unseasonably good weather, I hope so!

This will be my last weekly email for this year and so I have only remind you that we have bouldering at The Climbing Station on Tuesday. I'll be there for once and if you want to join me for bouldering that would be super. But if I don't see you Tuesday then I hope you have a fantastic Christmas and New Year.

Watch your inboxes over the Christmas period as my present to you will be an awesome meets calendar full of trips to make you wish that 2016 would hurry up and arrive!

Andy :)

Hi Everyone,

We had a good turn out for last nights Christmas Bouldering Competition, thanks to everyone that came along and enjoyed the evening with us. There was lots of frenetic activity in the climbing station and lots of fun had as our bouldering pairs raced to complete problems and grab points. Plus the added bonus of the time limited one handed bouldering challenge (thanks to Andy Richards). 

The coveted bouldering competition trophy was retained by last years winner, Tony Bishopp, with an excellent score of 144. And with Anni Ahonen-Bishopp taking the 1st ladies place it will be celebrations all round in the Bishopp household. 2nd place overall went to Andy Richards with a strong score of 113. The full results list is as follows:
 

Hello Bowliners,

So I was planning to make this weeks email all about the Christmas Bouldering competition which I'm sure you're all attending. However we have a rather more pressing matter which is that we are urgent need of volunteers to come forward and help with the catering (teas, coffees, cakes, etc) for the Charnwood Hills Race. The Charnwood Hills Race is a major source of income for the club and is the main reason we are able to keep the membership fee's and hut fee's for members low. Lots of club members are already involved in various capacities and we'd welcome any assistance you can give!

If you can help out please let me know and I'll put you in touch with the race organisers.

Thanks. And if I don't see you before, Merry Christmas!

Andy Potter
BCC Meets Secretary
07796 220055

Hey Everybody,

We had a lovely time on Sunday at our annual Chairmans Walk. It was great to be out enjoying the beautiful Peak district countryside even if it was a bit damp. Big thanks to our chairman Richard Freer for organising the trip!

We are now into the last few weeks before Christmas. But we've still got two more fantastic meets for you to enjoy. Firstly we have the club slideshow tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, 7:30pm at the Blackhorse Pub in Aylestone. Make sure you come along and get inspired by the awesome adventures that our club members have had this year. Why not bring a few photo's along and share your highlights with us all!
Hope you all had a good week and didn't get too wet at the weekend!

Then next Tuesday evening you need to be at The Climbing Station in Loughborough for 7:15pm to take part in the Christmas Bouldering competition.

And of course we have bouldering this Tuesday and climbing at The Tower on Thursday!

Have a great week!

Hey Bowliners and friends,

Hope you all had a good week and didn't get too wet at the weekend!

If the rain kept you inside then you should definitely get out this coming Sunday and join us for the Chairmans walk in the beautiful Manifold Valley. If you haven't already booked your place for the pub lunch and coach transport then now is the time to do so! Hope to see you all there!

There is a club committee meeting this Wednesday, 7:30pm at the Blackhorse Pub in Aylestone. Just a reminder that any club members are welcome to attend committee meetings!

And before the weekend fun we have bouldering on Tuesday and climbing The Tower on Thursday!

Have a great week!

Hi Everyone,

A correction to my weekly email earlier, the new gutters at the Hut were installed by Paul Barrett and Pete Bottrill.

Apologies to Paul for the mistake.

Andy

 

Hey Bowliners and friends,

At the weekend we had a group of Bowliners in residence at the club hut for our REC Level 2 Emergency First Aid course. The course was delivered by Snowdonia First Aid and it was by far the best first aid course I've ever attended with a very practical approach to first aid in a mountain setting. We will no doubt be looking to offer a course like this again in the future.

Whilst I was at the hut I also got to admire the new guttering which has been installed last week by Paul Parker and Pete Bottrill. Thank you very much guys!

Our next weekend get together is on Sunday 6th December for the Chairmans walk in the beautiful Manifold Valley. If you haven't already booked your place for the pub lunch and coach transport then now is the time to do so!

Although we will of course have bouldering on Tuesday this evening you might want to check out the BMC Winter Skills Lecture at the University Leicester. Even though it will mean missing the bouldering you could always get your climbing fix with us at The Tower on Thursday!

Hey Everybody,

We had a great turnout for the clubs annual dinner on Saturday night. As well as enjoying the tasty food and fairly copious quantities of drinks at Le Bistrot Pierre, we were also treated to the customary speech by our chairman Richard Freer. Richard noted that it was great to be able to talk about the plethora of climbing related activities and achievements from this year. And of course we got to hand out a few awards to club members in celebration of some of these "achievements":

• The Futures Bright award (for embracing change) - Paul Parker
• The Ball Bearing award (for getting lost) - Michelle Aukland and Suzie Imber
• The Nightingale award (for getting benighted) - Loz Kisson and Tony Hextall
• The Wings award (for the biggest climbing fall) - Simon Perry
• The Adventurer award (the clues in the name) - Suzie Imber
• The Awesome Award (thanks everyone!) - Andy Potter

Don't forget we still have a place available for this coming weekends REC Level 2 Emergency First Aid course. 

As always there will be Bowliners everywhere at the Climbing Station for bouldering on Tuesday, at the The Tower for climbing on Thursday!

Hi All,

One of the club members who has already paid for a place on our REC Level 2 Emergency First Aid course on the weekend of 21st November is unfortunately now unable to attend. If anyone is interested in grabbing their place on the course get in touch with me.

Kind regards,

Andy
Meet Sec
07796 220055
 

Hey Bowliners,

Yet again our ever popular Charnwood Hills Race has sold out incredibly quickly. Last year was our first for online entry with all 350 places going in 22 hours. This year we had a set date and time for ticket sales opening which was well publicised in advance. And as a result all the places were gone in just over 1 hour, amazing!

So if you are not running the race on Sunday 7th Feb do come along and help out. The race is a big source of income for the club which helps to us to keep the costs to our members, such as membership fees and hut fees, to a minimum.

The club annual dinner is coming up this Saturday. But before that we have  bouldering on Tuesday and climbing on Thursday!

Have a great week everyone!

Hi Everybody,

Well who'd of thought the best days climbing I've had in The Peak District this year would be on the 1st November. Absolutely beautiful conditions for climbing, warm sun, great friction, gentle breeze and NO MIDGES!! Hope you all managed to get out and enjoy the nice day too!

On Wednesday 4th November at 7pm tickets for the Charnwood Hills Race will be available to purchase via our website. Last year the tickets sold out within 24 hours, and this year we expect they may even sell out the same evening as the race is very popular. We would like to be cheering on lots of Bowliners this year so if you want to enter make sure you get your ticket on Wednesday evening. And if you don't want to run the race we always need lots of help on the day so you can still get involved (and we'd really appreciate as much help as possible).

Don't forget bouldering on Tuesday and climbing on Thursday!

Hi All,

Apologies for the group email but during sorting out my kit this evening I've discovered that I have inherited an extra black dry bag with Montane written on it. If this is yours please let me know and I'll return it to you.

Cheers,

Andy

Hi Bowliners,

We had a super weekends mountain biking in North Wales. Despite the wet start on the Saturday we headed out into the forests and moorland around Llyn Brenig for a fantastic off road ride. We had a bit of everything with single track, fire roads, muddy bridleways and narrow forest paths. A well earned rest was needed after our 45Km, and the BBQ house dinner proved to be a unique and very enjoyable way to refuel and relax. Then on Sunday we headed to the awesome trails at Llangela with all the thrills of fast, twisty riding through the forest with plenty of 'features' to keep everyone on there toes. I expect they'll be some more MTB opportunities through the winter season so you can all come out and join us!

Our next get together is for the club Annual Dinner, for which the tickets are nearly sold out so if you want to join us book ASAP via the website it is going to be great fun!

And now we are into the winter lecture season why not check out the BMC's Winter Skills Lecture series which is coming to Leicester University on Tuesday 24th November. See the website for more details and to book tickets.

As always we will be bouldering on Tuesday and climbing on Thursday!

Have a great week everyone!