Editorial

Your membership expires on December 31st 1997. Send your cheque for £10, payable to HMC, to me at 506 Archer Road, Stevenage, Herts SG1 5QL.

Hi,

Welcome to the Christmas edition. Once again a full 12 pages for you to read.

There was a young man called Phil
Frequently spotted out on the Hill
Coming and Going
On down to the Pub
He wasn't satisfied till 'ad grub

Simon Yates at February Meet

Simon Yates will be giving a talk on the Saturday evening of the February meet at the Snowdonia Centre. Here is a brief introduction to Simon to help whet your appetite.

"Mountain Madness" 10 years in the life of an itinerant mountaineer.

Simon Yates is one of Britain's leading and most prolific younger mountaineers. He was first thrust into the limelight as a result of his epic rescue of Joe Simpson, after their first ascent of the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.

Undeterred by his experiences in Peru, Simon has continued to climb at the highest standard. Over the last ten years he has climbed extensively around the world, often combining climbing with his other great love, travel.

Simon has made eight visits to the Pakistani Karakoram, climbing numerous peaks. These have included first ascents of Leyla Peak (6300m) and Nemeka (6400m) in hushe. A second ascent of Lobsang 2 on the Baltoro and various 6000m peaks on the Hispar Glacier. He has also climbed and explored in more remote areas such as the Choktoi and the Nobande Sobanda glaciers.

In other parts of the world, Simon has succeeded with a team making the first British ascent of Khan Tengri (6995m) in Kzakhstan and for a time concentrated on big wall climbing in Patagonia and Baffin Island - the most notable achievement, a new route on the Central Tower of Paine in Chile. In October 1994 Simon made a rapid ascent of Ama dablam (6856m) in the Khumbu region of Nepal. He has since climbed Mount Denali (6194m) in Alaska and returned to Kazakhstan to make the first British ascent of Marble Wall (6400m) and a further ascent of Khan Tengri (6995m), this time from the north

Last Year Simon almost succeeded in making the first ascent of Makrong Cohish (6608m) on the Hispar glacier in Pakistan

Be sure to get to the February meet to here him speak of the "Madness" the lies behind our time in the hills

There have been accusations that this magazine is going downhill and becoming smuttier by the minute.
Well I agree, but what can I do, you will send  me the articles.  If you want to see articles from more upstanding members then I suggest you get those letters coming.

Since the last edition we've seen Charles White get married, and  three highly successful meets.  The Bangers and Mash seeing overcrowding and  Mike regretfully having to turn more away.  If you want to go on a meet make sure you get your deposit in early. See article on queuing theory, as the problem caused much debate.

You've probably  noticed  the format and sections evolving as time passes by.  If you have an idea for a new section and are prepared to sub edit it then let me know.  A few complained of difficulty following articles in the last edition. I hope this edition makes it even harder as we don't like to please our readership toooo much.

I'm still noticeable by  my  absence on Tuesdays, but if you leave a message on my answer phone I can get back to you either weekends or during the week (if I pick them up remotely). Email via hmc@post1.com also goes to my work email (don't worry it's a personal account)

A Letter From The Alps

Those of you sufficiently sober at the Christmas meet will have noticed the absence of Balders.  Well he's departed these shores to go skiing and occasionally look after the odd chambermaid and ski resort over there.

We had hoped to have had his Chairman's bits for this edition, but alas he is no longer on email and the Christmas posting dates have passed.

We hope to hear from him soon.

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