Crew: G, PTD, El Pres, Butty, Stunt
Pub: Slim, Eric
Route: BL, New Road, Chazza & Extension, Standing stone, Shutlingsloe slabs, 2 sided valley, wildboarclough track, standing stone, shutlingsloe bench, Kirsten Munt descent, path, reservoir, Sutton hall
Conditions: Cold, very wet trails, frost higher up, no moon
Stats: One chainring faff from El Pres
Notes:
A select band attracted by the lure of G’s recently (re)discovered whisky haul set off at almost race pace up to chazza, where the unclean unwashed mud caked El Pres machine requires pliers to sort bent teeth. Wet ar*e syndrome down chazza and 30 second rule in force for haul up to the shutlingloe gate. Brief pause before tackling the slabs – a bit slippy (and no clear runs) frost just forming on the odd slab on the tops, and care needed over the stiles. Very wet and slippery across the moor and down into Wildboarclough on wet/frosty grass or mud! Nice drywalling on the track back towards bottom o the oven, and no one is silly enough to try to ride the icy boards over the stream! More haul back to standing stone and then déjà vu back to Fred’s bench. Mini Glenfiddich stacked up – sadly the money off vouchers expired in 2002, but the contents now at least 29 years old – the sherry cask aging coming through nicely :-). Soon time to head downhill at speed and arrive to real fire at Sutton Hall, Welsh beer, fresh clothing and hearty food. Conversation ranges from drywalling – a celtic legacy in the Basque country, Gengis Khan’s impact on world history, land boundary marking in the UK – it’s not normal vs the rest of the world, and the mandatory total tosh based on TV and amusing stories. In other words a top night!
Flipping cold going home