Not too much climbing to report on in September as it’s been wall-to-wall festival season! Nope, not muddy field, bleary eyes and banging tunes (though there’s been a bit of each!) Instead we’ve had a back-to-back torrent of BMC and CAC events throughout the month. Worth persevering for a few climbing pics and a glimpse of what’s happening across our communities…
Wilton Fest
First up on the programme was the country’s biggest gathering of climbers, with over 500 participants in the North West’s favourite festival. Helen brought the sunshine in time for the first of the two yoga-for-climbers sessions she ran…
The BMC big red tent was at the centre of proceedings and the CAC stand took well over a grand from generous festival goers.
… and the evening was rounded off by a gripping slideshow by James “Caff” McHaffie.
Masson Fest
Running throughout the same weekend as Wilton Fest, I actually dropped into Masson Lees on Friday to set up a CAC stand, before returning on Sunday to fully enjoy the event. It drew over 300 “toolers” from across the country for the biggest concentration of Dry-tooling routes in Britain.
Hosted by father and son team Nick and Sam Lister, it’s a brilliant event and credit to the welcoming approach they’ve brought with their ownership and development of the quarry – part-funded by a grant from the BMC’s Access and Conservation Trust.
More yoga from Helen, and I got to MC the premier of the film Axes and Orchids, charting the renewal of the quarry, plus another grand taken on the CAC stand. Sadly too busy to sample the climbing – it does look fun, but quite hard work. Next time!
Basecamp
The following weekend, the BMC took over Castleton Youth Hostel for the Basecamp festival and annual Awards presentations.
A chance to catch up with many of the volunteers that keep things running behind the scenes on Board, Members Council and the various Specialist Committees.
Before a fairy-light outdoor ceilidh…
Saturday saw a triumph of optimism over drizzle, as a dozen of us braved the forecast…
… for what turned out to be a surprisingly successful session at Horseshoe…
All a bit tame compared with the extraordinary feats being celebrated that evening as I had the privilege to MC the BMC’s first Inspiring Adventure Awards. Six finalists, each of whom would have been worthy outright winners. Happily I was off the hook for the final decision as it came down to a “People’s Vote” to split the pack, with Lorraine McCall and Jesse and Molly Dufton the overall winners. In terms of banter it was possibly Rob Matheson and Franco Cookson who stole the show with their different takes on extreme trad.
Every bit as inspiring were the Volunteer Award winners, from guidebook writing, new routing, and crag access to opening up participation and encouraging youth, it’s overwhelming to see how generously people give their time to the benefit of the climbing, mountaineering and hill walking communities.
After a morning limber-up with another of Helen’s Vertical Yoga sessions, a big team of Basecampers was swelled with a Rucksack Club contingent to explore Secret Stanage.
Those arriving early had the opportunity to witness a “Beached Whale” masterclass as I was left broken by Broken Groove, Severe 4b (LOL!)
Others put on a better show, somewhat inspired by the possibility of featuring in the forthcoming Stanage guide…
There’s a highlights reel here:
ABC Conference
The Association of British Climbing Walls conference has become a fixture in my calendar over the last five or so years. It’s the biggest gathering of “the Industry” if that’s what it is, with people from brands, walls and voluntary organisations coming together from across the country and across Europe and beyond.
With my CAC hat on, it’s a great opportunity to gently encourage players across the sector to support the charity through donations, product and fundraisers. Flying the BMC flag, it’s a chance to meet partner organisations and hear the news and views from the front line of indoor climbing.
Big excitement this year was the launch of our special edition Pink Drago in conjunction with those lovely people at Scarpa.
… and looking ahead to the next phase of Climbing Beyond Cancer with ten new programmes around the world…
… and the launch of the documentary BEYOND.
BMC Fixed Gear Conference
Hot on the heels of ABC, we were back at Castleton YHA for the BMC’s inaugural Fixed Gear Conference – bringing together over 60 experts from across the country and beyond to put their heads together to share best practice in equipment, installation, monitoring etc to help keep our sports crags as safe as they can be. It was planned before the Kalymnos tragedy but those events certainly helped to focus minds.
Watch this space for outputs and actions but there’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm to keep moving things forwards.
Throw in an all-day Saturday BMC Board meeting at the Didsbury HQ (no pics or recap you’ll be pleased to hear!) and it was quite a busy month!
In a brief interval snatched on the hill, a personal highlight was the very gentle resumption of my running career (or jobbling as I’ve christened it – jogging with a hobble). Whilst neither stylish nor speedy, it did get me to the top of Mill Hill, a personal “Happy Place” and a nice spot to blow out the cobwebs.
Sorry for the lack of “Rock” in this RockAroundTheWorld installment – I’m writing this on the plane to Chile, where the blog will be making it’s long overdue first steps onto a new continent, so normal service should be resumed shortly!
