Speaker Meeting 10-Dec-09 Speaker Mr David Bowler Mountaineering
Where does Ron Geggus get our speakers from? They are superb The speaker
Mr David Bowler was introduced by Rtn. Norman Ellenby
Speaker
Mr David Bowler On Mountaineering
A
fter a wonderful hot carvery
dinner, provided by
the Lodge, we wore it off in the excitement and adrenalin rush of mountaineering! The speaker began by passing around a 'vintage' climber's bag, big enough to carry the proverbial elephant, full of 'old' equipment items he had used for his many climbing experiences, the equip- ment was all
individually inspected by the members and we soon discovered it was a very specialised kit - one even looked like a tomahawk - being made from hard-
ened steel, and aluminium formed into special light- weight brackets, cleats & wedges, the wedges were so expensive, that our speaker told us that when he climbed with his friends he would leave them dangling and not give a helping hand until they were returned ha-ha. Some of the wedges were specially designed to pop out of their fixing if you fell, so as to slow your descent and - hopefully - to land you with only a small bump! (Wouldn't want to fall after the Carvery dinner that we had just had). Apparently, the more wedges that you used the more secure you become.
T
he kit he showed us also consisted of rigid winter
boots that cost around £200 per pair, as well as other types used in the warmer summer climate which were shaped like ordinary trainers.
A
s part of his talk David went on to explain the difference
between mountain walking and mountain climbing, which was much to the amusement of our Rtn David Fell who said that his climbing in Africa was usually preceded by "a long walk to the mountains", whereas our speaker
said he always climbs mountains that are near a road so he doesn't have to
carry his heavy bag so far. (think that Rtn David had a pall bearer ha-ha).
reason for the need for Mountain Rescue teams. One classic example of this was of two frightened and cold young girls in high heels and light clothing who had simply been left alone on a lower ledge whilst their 'boyfriends' climbed higher!
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shown, (I am confused why!) I assume it was because of the dangers shown of the heights that the speaker had climbed.
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M T
cliff edges
hen presumably as a result of the long but superb
carvery lunch our speaker unfortunately ran out of time.
Photos & story from Colin Davies….
14
any photo slides were then shown of vari- ous mountains, summits, glaciers and
here was much laughter when a slide photo of a rescue helicopter was
tupidity of some inexperienced people was explained as the main
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