Journal Entries
Pen-y-Pass
Posted Mar 24, 2004
Well I'm back from training in Snowdonia, though the weather was fantastically terrible so another few days would have been great. 
On the Saturday I was scrambling on a ridge with some unpronounceable name in gale force winds and hail. 
There were times when we found ourselves flattened onto the rock unable to move and most the time I had no choice but to crawl because it was too windy to stand up. It was great fun, especially when the hail cleared and we could see a reasonable distance. Apparently the objective was to realize that scrambling in gale force winds is not a good idea. 
Then weather on Sunday was even worse apart from the early morning. Unfortunately those few hours of sunshine were spent at a Mountain Rescue base for a tour and a talk, though it was very interesting. After leaving to scale another unpronounceable mountain it started to hail again. We made it to the summit but by this point it was snowing and the winds were very strong. The trouble with that ridge was that there were no rocks to cling onto when another gust came across. Consequently we'd walk a few minutes and then have to duck down onto the ground to avoid being blown too far. It was in principle good fun but it was a very long way down and if you didn't duck in time you got blown over. Because of the snow and ice, being blown over meant sliding as well, which generally isn't a good idea when there's a drop of several hundred meters on either side, especially whenyou can't see where exactly the drop is due to poor visibility. Reluctantly we turned around, scrambled back down and practiced navigation.
It was quite late when we got back to the hostel but after dinner we were out again to practice navigating in the dark. Unsurprisingly this is very hard. It took a long time to get the hang of it so by the time we were heading back it was very late. Going back we took a wrong turn and ended up scrambling 
. I didn't like the scramble part at all, I like to be able to see where I'm going.
On Monday the wind had died down and it hailed less. Half the time was spent practicing navigation again while the other half was spent learning emergency rope techniques. At first I didn't like the idea of abseiling off rocks with no harness but it was great fun with a bit of practice. It was another occasion where I was very pleased that I'm not afraid of heights.
Monday night was described as 'mega recreation' on our sheets. Somewhat intrigued, we got on the mini bus speculating where we were going. This turned out to be Bangor, and we were somewhat disappointed when we were lead to a Wetherspoons. 
Fortunately, that was just the beginning of a pub-crawl, which finished in 'Time', a nightclub. 
It was the best night out I've had in a very long time. The music was cheesy but it was classic stuff and when 'Gonna be (500 miles)' was played we were perhaps a little over enthusiastic and I'll be interested to see how the pictures come out.
On Tuesday we were all very tired 
and quite a few people were also nursing a hangover . My knees had decided I'd bashed them against too many rocks and I was finding it very hard just to go up and down the stairs. However, we went on a scramble up Tryfan. It was brilliant, I was very pleased to discover that my knees hurt less with some exercise and with the clear weather it was a great climb. Near the top the snow was quite thick and I was leading the scramble at that point. I had to clear off the snow to try and work out where to he rocks were, covering the rest of the group in the process 
. At the top snow and hail had been blasted onto the rock in such a fashion that it looked like feathers.
There is some sort of bizarre tradition in Ramsoc to perform some sort of stunt at the summit of Tryfan. At the top there are two columns like rocks, Adam and Eve, about 2m tall. Last year the stunt was to jump from one to the other, which is certainly something I would want to do 
. This year however we put up a tent on top of the rocks and got the ramble sec in it. Other ramblers expressed some curiosity at why we were holding on to a tent between two rocks in strong winds with the ramble sec's face peering out rather tensely from one side. 
Now the pictures from that one will be very interesting. 
I've a horrible feeling I've just written an essay 
. In the words of a friend 'I feel like I've lived several weeks in the last few days' 
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Latest reply: Mar 24, 2004
Flummoxed
Posted Mar 8, 2004
This week has only just started and I'm already in a muddle. 
First of all my lecturers are very miffed. Extreamly miffed actually. Last week I got several emails to tell me that they would be on strike on Tuesday but this evening I'm getting lots of emails to say that they aren't. Instead they are saying that they are not going to carry out any assesments at all. That means they aren't marking any of my course work or setting any exams. I have a niggling suspicion that when I get to lectures tomorrow I'll find they've been cancelled again.
Unless the matter is resolved shortly, things could get really icky. 
Next up is the Ramsoc (Universtiy of Nottingham Rambling and Hillwalking Society) AGM on Wednesday. I'm standing for Publicity Officer which is proving a little nerve wracking. There has only been a Publicity Officer for one year and I have to go through two votes; one to decide whether there should be a Publicity Officer and another for which of the contenders (if any) gets the possition.
George is also an ex-
.
I don't even want to think about Friday just yet
Just to top things up I've gone and got 'Blaydon Races' firmly lodged in my head, so as soon as I sit down to get some work sorted it's
OOooooh me lads, ye shud only see us gannin' 
Discuss this Journal entry [259]
Latest reply: Mar 8, 2004
I can't keep up
Posted Feb 11, 2004
What is happening to this site? 
I'm online most days but not for very long and have been finding it hard (or more accurately impossible) to keep the back log under control.
Yesterday there was some sort of huge arguement (moving too fast for me to follow) about the digibox users not being able to get on site.
Today I find one of the clubs I set up (the United Bedroom Confederacy) on the front page! It's even got it's own sock graphic. (Not that I really mind of course )
Now I'm increadably confused. Is it just me, or are other people finding it hard to work out what's going on at the moment?
Discuss this Journal entry [88]
Latest reply: Feb 11, 2004
Exam result mix-up
Posted Feb 6, 2004
Some people already know but today I was meant to get my exam results. However, I didn't 
My personal tutor has left (though no one bothered to tell me). 
I have my first personal tutor back, but the university system still has me registered with the tutor who is no longer there.
My new tutor tried to sort this out, but couldn't as the more seniour people were stuck in a meeting on a campus 11 miles away. Consequently, as according to the system she isn't my tutor, she couldn't access my results for me.
I have to wait until the transcripts are released and the complications are ironed out before I know what my results are, although my coursemates (and indeed housemates) all have theirs.
There's no one to complain to, as my school no longer exists and though we've meant to have moved schools, the other one's on that campus 11 miles away and the course hasn't officially moved there yet. Just to add to it, the old head of school is retiring.
So bascially, I went out to get my exam results and just came back with a mess. However, there's nothing I can do until Monday, so I've got to stop worrying about it. Naturally though my friends and family keep asking me how it all went, so it's very hard to forget about it.
*sigh*
Discuss this Journal entry [101]
Latest reply: Feb 6, 2004
"Coaches don't work very well underwater"
Posted Feb 1, 2004
Friday night I set off to Aysgarth, Wensleydale, Yorkshire with a coachload of other ramblers. It was raining, this was to be expected. After stopping in Harrogate for dinner we arrived without getting a punture this time and were happy to discover that the local pub was only a few meters away from the youth hostel. It even had Black Sheep on tap .
Saturday it continued to rain, and did not stop at any point. With the snowmelt on top of the rain water, everywhere was very wet. Waterproofs only stay waterproof for so long and we were all absoloutly soaked. However, we didn't really mind and walked the whole 10 miles anyway. I was on a walk that finished at Aysgarth, while most the walks finished a few miles away. As we arrived back at the hostel, we saw the coach leave to pick the others up.
Two hours later the coach still hadn't arrived back at the hostel. We started to get a little worried and played a few more rounds of jenga. Half an hour after that we were beginning to get a little tired of playing jenga so decided to find out what had happened to the coach. A few phone calls later we found out that the coach was stuck in a meter of water 3km away. The engine had flooded, the breaks ceased and basically it was not going anywhere. Most of the others were wading along the road back to the hostel while a couple stayed with the coach driver in the river that used to be a road waiting for the tractors.
As the breaks had ceased, the tractors did no good and we had to leave the coach in the road for the night. Unfortuntaly, the Chocolate Box containing (unsuprisingly) our 
supplies was still on board. 
The next morning (this morning I suppose) we were coachless, and were a little stumped as to what to do next. Another coach was being driven up from Nottingham, but we had no means to be dropped off for a day of rambling. Instead two new walks were planned, one to Bolton castle and one to see the stranded coach.
Naturally I opted to go to the coach and join the rescue party for the chocolate box. The flood waters ha subsided but the coach was useless. However, the was rescued successfuly. The coach arrived when it was supposed to and we got stuck behind the wet coach as it was towed on the way back.
The point of this story? Well, nothing really, apart from perhaps not to drive into a meter of water when you can already see a dead Pergout floating in front of you.
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Latest reply: Feb 1, 2004
Laura
Researcher U216863
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