ICCC oldies collide with Imperial freshers

Photo's cheekily stolen from Alby and Will as I forgot my camera.

One excellent weekend paddling in North Wales! 2 ½ new sections of river, not bad for an old stomping ground!

Some time ago Adam started organising an oldies trip to Snowdonia, as the date drew closer we discovered that the trip would coincide with Imperial College Canoe Club’s freshers trip. In fact we would be staying 100m apart in different bunkhouses in Tremadog!

Lots of my favourite people in the same place at the same time Perfect.

Leeman and I both had Friday off work, so after some nostalgic faff on Thursday night we set off, only 2 hours behind schedule. A cheeky wild camp in the Trough of Bowden saw us heading into Wales for an afternoon paddle on the Conwy with Texa, one of Tom’s Aberdeen mates. It rained overnight and levels were good for a lovely bounce down the usual middle section, before taking on my first new section of the weekend the section down to the Penmancho Bridge.

Both grade V’s  were looking a bit messy, so we set about portaging, however there’s still plenty of fun to be had on this section even with the portages. Texa had an unlucky swim shortly after The Gobbler and just as we’re pulling her boat out of the water Tom pointed out the yellow markers on the bank signalling the end of the section. I hadn’t even noticed. Fully aware of the stories about folks missing the take out and ending up on the rock above Conwy falls, we’d inspected the take out pretty carefully on the shuttle.  We paddled down a few hundred meters more to the final take out, it’s pretty easy to see how you could miss it.

We made our way down to our bunkhouse in Tremadog, having discovered the Freshers had had their accommodation plans screwed up by the BRMC, as so were invading the oldies in Eric’s barn, albeit we slept in the bunkbeds while the freshers were on the floor in the climbing barn (rather them than me!). Sitll at least it meant we got 8 ICCC presidents together for a photocall!

8 ICCC presidents in a row (Is that a record?)

Saturday morning rolled around and while the freshers went off to paddle Llugwy the oldies went to paddle the Fairy (Scary) Glen. Somehow I found myself joining the oldies heading for the Glen.

Getting changed at the put in was a bit of a surreal experience, I genuinely never expected to find myself attempting this section of river. Not that I paddled terribly well mind, a roll and a couple of swims in the first gorge persuaded me that I would be better off taking out at Fairy Falls, hence I’m only counting half of a new section. Thanks to the rest of the team for superb rescue efforts, especially Nick-good work on the throw line! Luckily Tom was carrying splits so I paddled down to the falls with some slightly oversized blades.

 Fairy Falls was attempted by some members of the group, Adams upsidedown line looked particularly painful, while others made it look all too easy.

Adam's upsidedown line- Ouch! (Photo:Alby)

I made my way down to the take-out to reflect, while the others faffed about in the lower gorge. I still have the rest of the glen to complete and a wee glen rock in my BA, courtesy of Patrick, as inspiration to come back and do better next time!

Patrick on the lead out (Photo: Alby)

With light remaining we went off to inspect some horrendous looking waterfall in Blaenau Ffestiniog. No-one was keen. I returned to the hut with Paraic and Wardle to make a head start on dinner before the freshers invaded our kitchen, while keen beans headed to the Glaslyn or on a booze run in Porthmadog. Nick and Derf had to be rescued by the minibus after some unexpected car troubles.

Saturday evening proceeded in usual club style, complemented by a firework display from Ally and Jake. Possibly the location of the fireworks had not been risk assessed, however fortunately no cars passed at an inopportune moment. Ferrero Rocher’s were provided via Rik, which has developed into a new game: how fast can you east 16 Ferrero Rocher, (“you may have one tiny sip of water at the halfway point”). I managed just sub 6 minutes. Hazelnuts, it turns out, are surprisingly difficult to swallow without water. After a late Friday night most people bailed for bed by 2am, with Derf (the hero) looking after one slightly incapacitated fresher.

Eating all the Rocher's! (Photo: Will)

Sunday morning began with a speedy breakfast in Eric Cafe and some extended faffing.  The Wnion was the name of the game for the oldies, and a whole new river for me. It was a superfun blast through the gorge and made for a very scenic end to the trip. October is definitely the best time to come to Wales, the autumn colours are very pretty and it’s not too cold (I’m easily pleased).

We all said our goodbyes and the cars sped off in all directions, returning to various parts of the UK, until next time. Many thanks to Adam for organising the Oldies, and to Jake for organising the freshers (I hope you guys enjoyed the Dee!).