Climbing trip to the Lake District. Staying at Lancashire MC Hut, Little Langdale

Climbing trip to North Wales.

Some of you may have noticed that the weather hasn’t been particularly clement so far this winter, but Snowdonia gives us a good chance to make the most of whatever conditions we do get – big-boots mountaineering routes, quick drying sport cragging, proper winter climbing, south-facing multipitch trad, bouldering and good old-fashioned stomping around the hills are all possibilities. So we should find something fun to do whatever the weather does.

We’ll be staying at the LMC hut, Fronwydyr, at Nant Peris. This is particularly handy for the Snowdon and the Llanberis Pass, the slate quarries and (importantly) the Vaynol Arms. The accommodation will cost £15 per person for the weekend. Bargain!

Places are limited, so get in as soon as possible!

Clouds in the evening light.

Winter walking and climbing trip to Scotland. Staying at Fort William Backpackers Hostel. Weekend 1st-2nd of March plus a few extra days. Winter Skills courses could be arranged for winter newbies.

The Scottish mountains are an amazing place to visit in winter, with options ranging from technical ice and mixed climbs and exciting scrambles to big snowy mountain walks and multi-day bothy expeditions. Fort William is a great base, with loads of walking and climbing options: Ben Nevis is on the doorstep, offering generally reliable winter climbing plus the option of ticking Britain’s highest peak, the Mamores and the Grey Corries are close at hand for big ridge walks, while the peaks of Glencoe, winter climbing at Creag Meagaidh and the remote mountains around Loch Quoich and Ben Alder are also within striking distance. There’s even the possibility of skiing at the Nevis Range.

Climbing trip to Swanage.

The Swanage area features a range of limestone sea cliffs, many of them south-facing sun traps that make for good early season venues. The real classics here are the big, scary adventure routes – generally at VS and above – but the smaller crags have some more accessible stuff, and even some low-grade sport options.

We’ll be camping at Tom’s Field in Langton Matravers.

Cornish belay

Traditional Easter climbing trip to Cornwall.

West Cornwall is one of Britain’s great climbing areas, and this is normally one of our most popular trips. The area is famous for big, serious multipitch adventures in dramatic locations, but there’s also a lot of excellent climbing at amenable grades in less committing situations. On top of that, there are plenty of extracurricular options including walking, surfing and the ever popular pasties and cream teas.

We’ll be staying at the Seaview Holiday Park, near Sennen on the Land’s End peninsula

Early May bank holiday. Bouldering trip to Fontainebleau.

Probably the best bouldering area in the world, set in a beautiful forest south of Paris.

Pembroke cliffs – lifetime worth of climbing.

Bank holiday climbing trip to Pembroke.

More big adventurous trad, this time on the superb limestone sea cliffs of South West Wales.

Novice climbers’ meet in the Peak District.

This is what rock climbing is like

This trip provides an opportunity for total beginners to get their first taste of real rock, for people with a bit of seconding under their belt to have their first go at trad leading, and for inexperienced leaders to build their confidence with some more practice under supervision. This is a really good way for beginners to get closer to being self-reliant climbers, and is normally a good day out for everyone involved.

Climbing trip to Gower.

The Gower Peninsula is ringed by limestone sea cliffs and sandy beaches. It’s sometimes seen as a baby version of Pembroke, but unlike Pembroke the approaches to the routes tend to involve a short walk across a beautiful sandy beach rather than a committing abseil onto a tidal ledge. This easy access combined with a lot of good low and mid grade climbing (there are even a few easy bolted routes around!) generally makes for a fun and relaxed trip, although gluttons for punishment can still find some classy harder testpieces and mini-adventures (from caving squeezes to swimming pitches) to push themselves on.

We’ll be camping at Nicholaston Farm, which is right next to the beach at Oxwich Bay, and within easy walking distance of the climbing at Three Cliffs Bay. Their pricing structure is a bit complicated, but it should work out to less than £15 a head for the weekend.

Climbing trip to North Wales.

Most people won’t need telling how good North Wales is for climbing – if you do, then you basically just need to know that it’s one of the best and most popular climbing areas in Britain, with top class mountain trad, bouldering, walking and scrambling options and even a bit of sport climbing if you know where to look.

We’ll be camping at Dolgam campsite in Capel Curig.

For the Bank Holiday weekend, 22nd – 25th of August, we’re heading off to the South West Lake District. This area has some of the best big mountain crags this side of Scotland, plus spectacular walking and scrambling options. People who own more beanies than shirts might also be interested in the top-class bouldering at St Bees and in Eskdale.

We’ll be staying in the Parkgate Farm Campsite in Irton. This gives us easy access to both Wasdale and Eskdale. It’s fairly basic, but allows open fires (wood can be bought on site) and, according to their website, has the largest herd of donkeys in the area!

Climbing trip to South Devon (Dartmoor / Berry Head)

We’re staying at Churchill Farm Campsite in Buckfastleigh. This is well placed for:

• superb finger shredding bouldering and classic granite outcrop climbing on the high moor
• sheltered, low lying cragging at Chudleigh and the Dewerstone
• meaty coastal limestone around Berry Head and Torquay (Moonraker at Berry Head has been called the best HVS in England)
• loads of bleak moorland, cute ponies, historic clapper bridges, cream teas etc so we should have something to keep us entertained whatever the weather does.

Buckfastleigh has a good collection of pubs, curry houses, chip shops and so on. Any neds in the club can also make a pilgrimage to nearby Buckfast Abbey, the home of Buckfast Tonic Wine.

Beginners: there’s a decent range of fairly approachable climbing around South Devon (although the sea cliffs tend to be a bit serious and committing) so there’s potentially good stuff for you to have a go at, but the usual disclaimer applies: while we’ll do the best we can, there’s no guarantee that anyone will be available and willing to lead you up stuff unless you’ve planned it with them beforehand.

Trip to Sicily. Flights are cheap at the moment. A few people have already booked Stansted to Palermo. Accommodation will be sorted soon.