News and Announcements

Hi Bowliners

North Wales never disappoints and my weekend spent at the hut was no exception. Even though the wind was in full fury on Saturday we still managed to head to northern coast and find some dry sheltered rock to climb (along with caves too explorer too). Great times were had back at the hut on Saturday night. And then Sunday was pretty wet so we played tourists and visited the Electric Mountain in Llanberis. I can confirm the hut is all clean and ready for those of you heading up for the first club hut meet this coming weekend. Wish I was joining you but this is the only one I can't make this year, have a great time!

If you follow our Facebook page you will have seen the news that Greg Boswell has put up a new super hard winter route in Scotland (possibly the hardest winter trad route around). The 2nd person up this new route was Bowliner, Masa Sakano, who belayed Greg on this epic new route. For Masa's perspective on the day check out his blog here (and Masa has also provided another update on happenings North of the border, see below).

The BMC have announced their Clubs Workshop Programme for 2015. Bigger than ever with new courses available. More details and booking information is available at  www.thebmc.co.uk/club-training-courses-2015. All the courses are subsidised by a grant from Sport England and include all instruction and self-catering accommodation on the Friday and Saturday nights.

We are also pleased to announce that the club will be hosting the 4th Croft Hills Race on Wednesday 29th April at 7pm. Full details will be on the website tomorrow and you will all receive an invitation via email as usual. This is a short fun race that anyone can enter (even I managed to run it last year), so come along and give it a go (or if you really can't face running it then come along and help with the marshalling).

And last but by no means least we've had some new faces down at The Tower last Thursday and at the Climbing Station on Tuesday. Great to see potential new members joining our merry band. Hope to see you all again this week.

Have a great week everybody!

Hi one and all,

Although I spent most of the weekend in fairly urban areas for a change, it did not escape my attention that there is a hint of spring in the air. And it got me thinking about the many weekends I hope to be spending at sunny crags in the company of my fellow Bowliners. So I'm crossing my fingers for good weather next weekend when I shall be heading out to our lovely club hut for some adventures.

And talking of adventures it seems the current conditions have got Bowliners in a frenzy of winter climbing with routes being climbed in Wales, Scotland and Norway. Makes me feel a little bit bad for wishing the spring to come soon. Perhaps in a future year when I've sampled the delights of winter climbing I may feel differently. But in any case I hope that if you've been out braving the cold, whether it be to climb, cycle, run or walk; you've been having some great times!

Looks like we've had a bit of a last minute run on places for the Mountain Biking meet which is great. Still a few places left if you want to join us (friends/partners/etc all welcome too).

And of course we have our first hut meet coming up on the 14th March. Get together with your Bowline buddies and enjoy the delights of Snowdonia knowing you've got a warm, comfortable hut to return to after the days adventures.

It was good to see a group of Bowliners down at The Tower last Thursday. We will be there again this Thursday so come along and join us. And of course there will be Bouldering Tuesday at the climbing station.

Dear All,

Attached is an order form for Club T-Shirts and Hoodies. We've put the club logo on the Front of the Clothing and the Legend "Bowline Climbing Club" on the back. The back of the form shows an example of what the T-Shirt looks like and I can promise you probably won't look as ugly as your club chairman. We've selected two colours Royal Blue for the Unisex T-shirts/Hoodies and Sky Blue for the Female fit T-Shirts and also as a second option for the Unisex Hoodies. I Hasten to add at this point that your club secretary chose the Female colour. Anyway I think that the form is fairly self explanatory. You can fill the form in electronically, in Adobe Acrobat click the Sign button top right and then the Add Text button. Then fill in the form, save it and send it back to me.

Andy Railton

 Dear All,

You should have now all received an invitation to the AGM on the 18th March. The AGM is your opportunity to influence how the Club is run and organised and also vote on important things like membership and hut fees. You can also let the committee know where they are going wrong if you so desire!  The committee is of course re-elected each year so you can influence who represents you on the committee.  If you can't make the AGM you have the opportunity to register a proxy to vote in your place OR directly vote for the motions that were sent out with the AGM agenda.  In addition you can propose people for positions on the committee. We would of course like to see you at the AGM. 

The motions that have been sent out relate to changes in the Byelaws of the Club that have been implemented during this last year by the committee, but are requried to be ratified at the AGM. 

We will also be discussing some proposed changes to the Rules of the Association (In effect the Club's constitution) and although we will NOT be voting on the proposed changes at the AGM. We would like your input as members before we draft up the proposed changes to the Rules of Association; we then intend to carry out a postal vote.

So I would like to add my voice to Andy Potter's and urge you to come to the AGM.  If you can't make it to the AGM please do register a Proxy Vote as set out on the Proxy form and let us have this (Zoe Pickering) at least 48 hours before the AGM.

Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM on the 18th March

Andy Railton

Hi Bowliners,

Apologies for the lack of update last week but I was busy sunning myself... ooops I meant climbing... in the South of France. Without rubbing it in too much we had a lovely time with lots of sunny days of climbing in the Ardeche Gorge, at Mount Saint Victoire, and also in the Calanques. There is so much great climbing to be had in France I think I shall be making many more return trips.

Whilst we were climbing in just shorts in the South of France I suspect Rob and Charlie were rocking a much greater number of layers for their weekend in Scotland. Our man in Scotland has sent us an interesting report on the activities north of the border, including news of another racing win for the unstoppable Zoe Procter. Check it out below (thanks Masa).

Don't forget we will be Bouldering as usual this evening (Tuesday) at the climbing station. And on Thursday it's climbing at The Tower. Hope you all have a great week!
 

 Hi Everybody,

Just a reminder to everyone that there is the talk at the Climbing Station this Friday at 8 PM;
Big Walls, Beards and Bagels.
There are quite a few Bowliners going, so why not join us.
Tickets available from the Climbing Station, Zoe Pickering or Robin Richmond.

Cheers

Andy Railton

Hi Everybody,

Great to see that Bowliners are making the most of the winter conditions. Simon Perry and Rob Goodman sampled the delights of Ice Climbing in Snowdonia earlier this week and I hear that Masa Sakano has had good weather (for ice climbing) up in Scotland. Personally I haven't been bitten by the winter climbing bug yet, so next week I'm off to the South of France for a week of warm sport climbing, can't wait!

What about you? Have you had any adventures yet this year? If not why not kick things off by coming along to our club hut meet in March or grab a place on our Mountain Biking (and climbing) meet at the end of March, places are going fast so be quick!

And to help you get inspired for adventure why not join us for a top lecture from Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker - Big walls, beards and bagels - At The Climbing Station on Feb 20th at 8pm. Get your tickets in advance from Andy Railton (07894 533629) or Zoe Pickering (07709 337976).

Don't forget Bouldering as usual this evening (Tuesday) at the climbing station. And on Thursday its climbing at The Tower.
 

Hi Everybody,

Well the first proper week back has absolutely flown by. Although the evening adventures were all in the warmth of a climbing wall or cozy club/pub; the weekend got us out and about. We enjoyed a fun whiz around the Mountain Biking trails at Cannock Chase on Saturday. But the main event was of course the Charnwood Hills Race. This was the first year I have been involved with the race and it was a great experience. Not being as fit as some of my brave bowline friends I marshalled on the course and cheered all those brave runners. Well done to Simon Perry for being the first placed Bowline man with a time of 1:48:35, and also to Zoe Proctor, first Bowline woman with a time of 1:48:50. And of course massive thank you to everyone who helped with the organising and running of the race. I hope to see lots of Bowliners running next year!

Since my last email we've made some refinements to this years meets list. Hopefully you have all received my email earlier about the Mountain Biking trip on 28th March (this is instead of 14th Feb). We've added a couple more club hut meets (one in July and one in September and potentially one in March). The date for the Dolomites meet has been changed slightly (22nd August to 6th Sept). The full meets list is now available on the website and I will be keeping this update going forward so you can always find the details here if you want to know what is going on.

This week we are Bouldering as usual this evening (Tuesday) at the climbing station. And on Thursday its climbing at The Tower. Hope to see you at one of these!
 

Howdy Bowliners,

Gosh it seems like ages since I was last writing to you all (not long enough I hear you say). I suppose it actually has been quite a while but that is what happens when you are lucky enough to spend 16 days in the USA. Yes that's right I've got my climbing year off to a cracking start with two weeks of climbing in the simply stunning Joshua Tree national park, including a little diversion to Red Rock Canyon for some multi-pitch climbing. Although I could very easily launch in many details of a totally awesome trip I will spare you all for now (keep an eye out for a writeup at some point), because I want to mention a view important things. Not least of which is what you've all been waiting for... yes it's the Bowline Climbing Clubs 2015 meets list.

But first just a little reminder that we have a very busy week with lots of things for you to get involved with. We are Bouldering as usual this evening (Tuesday) at the climbing station. Then it is the BMC Midlands Area meeting on Wednesday. We have a club committee meeting on Thursday. Then on Saturday you can join us for Mountain Biking at Cannock Chase and of course we have the Charnwood Hills Race on Sunday. Details of all these events are of course on our website and listed below in the 'Upcoming meets' section for your convenience.

Mentioning our website we will soon be changing the way we email you all. I will be giving you more details probably in next weeks email.

Right so without further ado if you look down this email (after the 'Upcoming meets' section) you will find a full list of meets for this year. I will be adding these to website with more details over the coming weeks. But get these in your calendar now, as I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible over the course of this year. And remember, fun and adventure comes as standard!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BOWLINERS!