Christmas Meet 2017 – Report

Christmas Meet - 8th-10th of December 2017

The second weekend of December saw SCC heading to the Peak District for our annual Christmas extravaganza. Expectations were low on the climbing front, thanks to the forecast of heavy snow, but this was more than made up for by the anticipation surrounding the Christmas meal!

Those arriving Friday evening quickly set about the decorating of the main room, including suspending a Christmas tree from the beams. Chocolate coins were also hidden around the house, to be found using headtorches only!

Saturday saw people taking up a range of activities in view of the weather conditions. A small group left early to try and catch the sunrise (optimistic, hoping to see the sun in the UK in winter!), making it back in time for breakfast. The majority of people headed into Hathersage to take advantage of the fantastic gear-shopping opportunities, before going out for a walk in the afternoon. For me, a stroll up Mam Tor and then straight into a cafe for a cream tea was the order of the day - on the walk we were fortunate enough to bump into a group doing a sponsored walk while dressed as the knights of the round table (coconuts included), and we also had a go at some bivvy-bag toboganning. Some of the hardier souls amongst us actually went for a climb, with bouldering at Millstone being one of the venues.

On the Saturday night we were treated to a wonderful three course meal, followed by secret Santa, games, and drinks. Most people headed home earlier on the Sunday than usual, having seen pictures of the motorway and not wanting to be stuck up north (although there are far worse fates in life, of course).

Sadly, this was the last meet of the year - the next meet being the winter meet in February 2018.