Yep, will do, Rob. When you get a chance do a quick read through of 3.7.3, a bit of badinage is quite acceptable but we musn’t let it degrade the reflector. Off to do a trawl through the lower HF bands now if the Xmas lights aren’t too noisy tonight!
That spikey helmet fits you to a tee, Brian.
Hi Andy,
Sorry for the late reply, I got distracted, hi. You’re right - the first port of call when one has questions on these topics is the AM/RM - I have in the past not followed this route, so mea culpa.
I see the logic in factoring in the pretty extreme winter conditions we often have here in DL (I’m right in the middle of the DL region), and would agree with your decision, which was yours to make. As you well know, there are many 1-pointers in this and nearby DL regions which are very difficult to activate in the best of conditions, since they lack any trace of paths or tracks through ground so steep and heavily forested that even foresters don’t venture in there - in winter conditions, they would be virtually impossible, and one would have to place oneself in situations of very high risk of injury to get those bonus points. Other 1-pointers hereabouts can be less serious in winter, but may still require snowshoes or cross-country skis to activate.
I find the idea of others publicly admitting to be lacking the trust in your judgment as RM for DL/MF to be questionable to say the least. Further, I find the need to examine and analyze the weather conditions experienced by the association or region, to see whether your decision was in fact warranted, to be an insult to your integrity - others may of course disagree.
Cheers, Rob
I think you missed a fine distinction, Rob. I used the word “would” rather than “will”, indicating that I would not take that step.
When something appears to contradict the General Rules it is reasonable for any participant to query it. It isn’t a matter of disrespecting the advice AM/RMs give the MT in the process of forming an Association, it is simply a matter of trying to resolve the apparent dissonance between an ARM and the General Rules. The GR state that “A winter bonus shall only apply to expeditions to the higher summits.” Now in casual English “shall” and “will” are treated as interchangeable, but in legalese “shall” implies an obligation. This in fact prescribes that a winter bonus “shall not” apply to lower summits, yet here we are. It appears that about twenty years ago a special exception was made for the DL Association, your words suggest that it was because of a combination of climate and severe difficulties on the ground, though I think you express it so forcibly that it suggests to me that the WB on those one point summits is a foolhardy enticement to brave unreasonable danger! 
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Even the single point mid-summer is too much of an enticement for some of them… I kid you not.
Oh, I believe you, Rob. I assume they are outlying erosional remnants of the limestone “decken” - and I learned in my rock climbing days to not trust limestone! Well, any rock, really, but limestone in particular.
But you were possibly climbing in the VS and under grades? From the lower extreme grades upwards, the limestone is generally very solid wherever you go. E.g. Malham Cove, Dove Dale, Matlock High Tor, Stoney Middleton, to name but a few.
Oh, I wasn’t a tiger, but I remember a well polished hold on a climb at Wintours Leap suddenly becoming portable…
Wintours Leap? remember it well, close to Cardiff where I studied, and some fine routes. UK Climbing has this to say about the area:
The gem of the Wye Valley. Superb limestone, outrageous overhangs, technical faces, cracks, flakes, nice views, you name it.
Many of the routes at Severe to HVS are starred routes. I remember particularly one route (can’t remember the grade) which ended in somebody’s garden, which contained some rare species of trees - I had a long conversation with the owner, who was rather impressed by my ability to identify them all. Not just a pretty face, you see…
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Hi JB - Thanks so much for your QSL card! I will definitely be joining the groups you mentioned.
Thanks! Greg
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