Tayside Mountain Resue - Training Sunday 26th April 2009

Training Day at Glen Clova. Three search Scenarios, two with SARDA; and Cas Care training. All in all a very productive day.

An Caisteal/Beinn a'Chroin - Sunday 19th April 2009

What a fantastic day! With a Group of 9, we ascended An Caisteal via the aptly named Twistin' Hill, along with a multitude of others. The weather was amazing - Summer had come early - T shirts and sun cream the order of the Day!!. View over to Ben More and Stob Binnean was clear and the walk became a great day out for all those involved.

Climbing - Benny Beg, Crieff - Saturday 11th April 2009

Great climbing area for all abilities, bolted grades from 3 to 6, with great sunny aspect all day. Dave and I had the place to ourselves pretty much from 9 in the morning and the climbing was good and challenging - good , large holds - but quite smooth and a lot of thinking needed.

Navigation Day - Beinn Dearg - Sunday 5th April 2009

Navigation day around Blair Atholl and Beinn Dearg. Eight particpants from a local Walking Group, we looked at pacing, timings, bearings and map to contour interpretation.
Good, clear day, if a little cold, but gave an excellent day on the hill practising very important skills.
Still a little snow hanging about in high pockets, but not enough for any 'fun and games'.

Yorkshire Dales Weekend - 28th/29th March 2009

Starting from Horton-in-Ribblesdale on a windy Saturday morning, the first peak to ascend on our 23 mile journey was Pen-y-Ghent. The team of 6 quickly ascended and after a short stop at the cairn, started the log walk through a great deal of boggy ground to the second peak of the day - Whernside, via Ribblehead viaduct. After a long drawn out climb then following the ridgeline we summitted Whernside.

There was a little snow on Whernside's ridgeline and the wind was begining to get stronger. The views to the Lake District and beyond were extensive and it made the long, hard slog a little more worthwhile. We dropped off the ridge, and moved onto the last of the Three Peaks - Ingleborough. This climb was by far the hardest, especially at the end of a tiring day. The summit was reached and it was then the long hard slog back to Horton within the 12 hour time limit.

Paul and Kevin completed in 9 hours 55 minutes; Martin and Richard in 10 hours 38 minutes; Mick took a little longer; and sadly Scott dropped out after Whernside. All in all, a difficult but pleasurable day.

Sunday was a great, clear, sunny day with a little breeze. We spent the day wandering around Buckden Pike and the Ribble Way.