Meet Report
31st December 2002 to 2nd January 2003 - Ratagan (New Year)
New Year has come and gone, for some it was Baltic Edinburgh, for
the lucky it was the cold frozen Arctic Tundra of Kintail. OK, so
there was no real snow to speak of, but there was lots of sunshine,
and enough frost to make it look like it had been snowing, so the club
trip for the annual New Year bash was enjoyed by all. Unfortunately
the exceptionally good weather had an adverse influence on the Hogmanay
festivities.
Most folk arrived on Monday night and Tuesday morning saw groups
heading all over the area. Many headed towards Beinn Sgritheall via
various routes. Some also took in the Corbetts Beinn nan Caorach and
Beinn na h-Eaglaise. Others chose the longer route of approach from
the North. The longest day was had by Tim who managed to take in Beinn
a Chapuill after the three above-mentioned hills on the way back to
his car in Gleann Beag!
The evenings festivities were kicked off with the traditional New
Year's Eve meal, which was kindly contributed to by many. Gallons of
delicious soup, great main courses and a load of different puddings
(I counted (and tested!) at least three trifles) were particularly
welcome after everyone's long day out, and we even had a selection of
mammoth cheeses to round things off. Best of all there was enough to f
eed most people the next day as well - great planning cooks! Thanks
obviously to all the cooks, but also peelers, choppers, washer and
drier uppers etc etc - it made a great evening.
The excess hill activity and feeding frenzy resulted in a relatively
peaceful Hogmanay. It may have been the promise of another scorching
day on the hills, or the choice of CD, but some of the group snuck off
to bed before the bells, and following the frantic kissing and mobile
phone calls many more followed. However, the fairies still managed to
supply several bottles of gin and whisky, so a brave minority managed
through till 2am with the hardiest souls heading off for bed at quarter
to four. Kenny put in two special guest appearances after the bells,
and even managed his first new year walk - apparently "you do not sleep
much when you get older"! By local standards our performance was poor,
reportedly Kintail Lodge finished at 7:00am, but they were upstaged by
the locals in Glen Elchaig who managed 8 am! Unfortunately they do not
see the sun between the middle of November and February and therefore
were probably in no fit state to read their watches.
New Years day saw the hangover Corbett parties leaving at a respectable
time of 10:30 (not quite Alpine) however the early retirees managed
some longer walks including the Saddle and other various bits and pieces.
In the evening it was the New Year's Eve meal all over again, and
Alistair did his best Anne Robinson impression hosting the quiz. There
were suspicions of insider dealing with the Quarter to Fourers team,
but in the end the Dream Team of Kenny, Alison, Lesley and Tim managed
to romp home in style. They were given a close run for their money
until the last round, which was all about the Alps so Kenny got all
the questions right! (apologies to other members of the team who may
have contributed to the answering of this round). The Dream team
contented themselves with the glory of victory as the organiser had
forgotten to buy any prizes - though it's the taking part that counts
not the winning