Easter Term Bulletin 3

Hello Hillwalkers,

I hope you've been enjoying this week's taste of summer, whether that's meant taking your revision outside, increasing your ice cream consumption, swimming in the Cam (accidentally or otherwise!) or simply enjoying your walk/cycle to work a little bit more than usual. If it's all putting you in the mood for running to the hills, then it's time to get excited about our final weekend trip of the academic year (and if you want to catch up on what you missed on the last (Snowdonia) trip, the report is now online here).

1. Weekend Trip to Patterdale, 4-6 June, £34 (Sign-up: 0800 Monday 31 May)
2. Glen Shiel Camping Trip, 18-26 September
3. Summer Alps trip

1. Weekend Trip to Patterdale, 4-6 June, £34 (Sign-up: 0800 Monday 31 May)

We end the term with a weekend in Patterdale, at the head of Ullswater in the north-eastern Lake District. The Helvellyn and Fairfield ranges are just on the doorstep, with many of the Far Eastern Fells also easily accessible - it's a baggers' paradise! Not too shabby if you're not bagging, either. We'll be staying in the George Starkey Hut (PDF hut information) in Patterdale village.

We'll leave Cambridge at 1730 on Friday 4 June and be back by midnight on Sunday - see trip information for more details about how trips work and membership requirements. You'll need all the usual kit - see here for a list of stuff the club can lend you, and email Joe (jlh79) with any kit questions. If the trip is oversubscribed, camping is available at Side Farm just next door, so we should be able to take everyone who wants to come (transport permitting). Usual sign-up procedure still applies, so get to St John's well before 0800 next Monday to guarantee transport and a space in the bunkhouse. If you end up without a hut space but have no camping gear, you should be able to borrow some. The cost is the same whether you are in the hut or camping.

2. Glen Shiel Camping Trip, 18-26 September

In a break with tradition, our summer Scotland trip will this year be returning to Glen Shiel, but in September. Situated north of Fort William (but not too inaccesible!), Glen Shiel offers access to a superb range of mountains big and small, including the Five Sisters of Kintail to the north and The Saddle to the south. We'll be camping at Shiel Bridge campsite for about a week - though you can come for as many or as few nights as you like. It has all the usual facilities, including a shop and petrol station close by, and costs £5.50 per person per night. You'll pay both this and your transport costs on an individual basis, so there is no trip fee as such. If you'd like to come but don't have camping gear, you'll probably be able to share with someone. Transport is not provided by the club, but we will advise on public transport and attempt to coordinate lift-sharing nearer the time.

If you're thinking of coming, please email me at some point in the next couple of months telling me the dates you'd like to come for, whether you have space in a tent that you can share or whether you need a space in someone else's, where you would be coming from and how you are thinking of getting there (please include your phone number if you don't think I have it). You can obviously update these as your plans evolve!

3. Summer Alps trip

This is being organised on an unofficial basis by the individuals involved, so if you're keen for some alpine adventures your best bet is to come along to some of our social events and chat to people (don't be put off if you don't know anyone yet, but it's a good idea for that to change before the trip!) - or email me if you can't make any of them. At this stage, plans are fairly well advanced; the wiki will give you some idea of what various people are up to, but bear in mind that it may not be comprehensive or up-to-date. In addition, a few club members are booked onto ISM's Student Alpine Week at the end of June, an excellent introductory course on all aspects of alpine mountaineering. I did the course last year (and thoroughly recommend it), so email me if you want to know anything about that.

Have a great week, whatever you're up to!

Cheers,

Jo
President, CUHWC
St John's College