Meet report Women’s focused meet, RO Downes Hut, 22-24 September 2023

The CC’s first women’s focused meet saw an enthusiastic group gather at the Downes hut on the Friday night, augmented by extra climbers on Saturday and more attending the evening event. Although not specifically billed as an aspirants’ meet there were six newcomers, all of whom said they appreciated the less-intimidating atmosphere offered by a mostly female group. As quite a few people were meeting us at the crag, we decided (along with hundreds of others) to go to Stanage Popular. I’ve seen that many people in the area round Christmas Crack on Christmas morning (it’s a Peak tradition to climb C.C. before going home to cook the turkey/nut roast), but that was multiplied pretty much along the whole crag! It was a fine autumn day, alternately warm when the sun was out and chilly when it hid behind clouds, so everyone got some satisfying ticks on this iconic gritstone edge, including guest speaker, Ferdia Earle, who joined us in the afternoon.

Back at the hut, we tucked into a feast, largely prepared the previous day by Debbie Marsh, before she retreated home with suspected (later confirmed) Covid. It was such a shame she missed this meet we had planned together. We had invited Ferdia to talk both about her climbing career (she has clocked an impressive tally of E6s and E7s, as well as the first ascent of The Certainty of Tides E8) and to introduce a discussion about nutrition (she is a registered Nutritional Therapist), all of which proved an engrossing and often intimate account of her life, which we felt privileged to hear.

Sunday was as wet as forecast, so people variously went to climbing walls, walking over Froggatt or home.
Hilary Lawrenson
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