Dogtanian.org.uk

The big easy mountain route club ... It makes sense for loads of reasons. It combines; a trip away, camping and stuff... getting properly into beautiful countryside ... climbing a route that while isn't technically difficult is satisfying anyway because of it's shear size and feeling like you're doing something proper.

Personally after about 12 years of climbing (though not much in the previous 3 or 4) I wanted to get a bit more enjoyment back into climbing. I'd become more of a walker than a climber. Don't get me wrong, I still liked climbing but it just scares the shit out of me these days. Even if I didn't climb for 12 months I could still on-sight a VS on my first trip out, but now after 3 years of going out loads I still can't lead harder than VS. And VS's scare me. Most VS's contain all sorts of hazards. When you can climb HVS, E1 etc then climbing is easy. Most climbs are pretty much vertical faces, if you fall off you don't hit anything you just bounce on the rope, lower off, chill out for a bit and have another go, and because you're able to climb at that level, climbs at lower grades are easy too. If VS is your hardest grade then many of the climbs you are doing contain all sorts of nasty things like ledges and boulders etc. Maybe I'm just looking at the past through rose tinted glasses, maybe it's just 'cos as you get older you have a greater understanding of your physical vulnerability and if I could still climb E1 that would scare the shit out of me too nowadays.

Anyway for me the big easy mountain route (whosever idea it was) was a great one. Yes I'd still go cragging, scrambling and walking but every so often the four of us would go camp out in the hills somewhere and spend a day climbing something big, easy and with a great view.

It was such a simple idea, how could we go wrong. BIG EASY MOUNTAIN ROUTE. Pretty self explanatory really.

BEMRC 4 Permanent members (in alphabetical order)

Andy - The has been
Age - 32
Hardest Lead - E2 (E3 on bolts)
Current leading ability - Severe (if it's Poor Man's Peutery at Tremadog)
Favorite phrases - 'Can we go home now' - 'I can't do this' - 'Where's Malcolm?'
Least likely to say - 'Does anyone fancy soloing that Diff?'

Ben - The sort of person my mother warned me about when I started climbing
Age - 27
Hardest Lead - HVS
Current Leading ability - HVS (on a good day)
Favorite phrases - The first thing that comes into his head - 'Where's Malcolm?'
Least likely to say - 'No Mark I don't think that's very sensible'

Malcolm - The competent second - aka the international man of mystery - aka the sidewinder
Age - 38
Hardest Lead - Unknown
Current Leading ability - Unknown
Favorite phrases - None that we've noticed
Least likely to say - 'I'll take this lead shall I?'

Mark - The one who can climb
Age - 27
Hardest Lead - E2 5b / E1 5c
Current Leading ability - E1 / E2
Favorite phrases - 'This is well within our capability' - 'stop gibbering' - 'where's Malcolm?'
Least likely to say - 'No ben I don't think that's very sensible'