Edinburgh Mountaineering Club: Meet Report
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You can never have too much food! - Fiona C Beinn na-h-Eaglaise & Beinn Sgritheall - Fiona C
You can never have too much food! - Fiona C

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

Al and Steph