UKC, Valkyrie, the BMC, Beer and Football
The UKC team were at Froggatt the other night. Mick wanted to continue his quest to tick off all the Peak classics he had missed during his earlier ‘UK climbing’ career in the 1980s. We had an hour and a half before the BMC Peak Area meeting started at the Grouse and the plan was to get a quick tick of Valkyrie in, then drop in at the meeting. As ever with routes like this, they tend to bite back if you underestimate them and the quick tick turned into quite a drawn out expedition. The sun had well and truely set by the time we eventually scrambled off the top of the pinnacle and stumbled down the the steep crag path to the lower parking area.
Still, the plan was on track even if the meeting had started about 45 minutes ago. As we walked past the BMC meeting room and entered the pub, Michael Owen scored - one nil! Okay, let’s have a quick pint and see how the football goes. Then Owen did the business again and we decided to celebrate the second goal with a second pint. The problem was that Andy, the driver, had really enjoyed the beer - better than that rubbish you get in the Lakes, and wanted to sample some more without the driving committment! So it became a difficult decision but in the end the BMC didn’t stand a chance against the Cobden View Pub, a pint of Moonshine and Owen and the lads. Sorry BMC.