Friday evening and the MMC were once again clammering to get out of London, this time to the Peaks. Some even travelled from as far as Prague! As members arrived the usual battle with the midges began but though DEET may rot your clothes, the midges seem to have developed armour for it.

Robin Mitton, as meet organiser, thought he would get an early start and arrived at a reasonable time despite traffic works but did he really think he would get some extra sleep? The phone calls and text messages ensured that he did not benefit more than anyone else.

Saturday morning saw climbers at the crags by 10am - must be a record! There was a spread of locations chosen for the day:

At Millstone, found Warren and Ben, bucking the trend by not climbing were anyone else was all weekend! They went to ‘beef it up crack climbing....’ Warren lead 'The Mall' VS, 4c. , 'Embankment 2' VS 4c, a good parallel crack climb, mixed leads on 'Covent Garden' VS 4b. Ben lead 'Great Slab' HS 4b and Warren seconded this but climbed the adjacent E5, 6a line!

At Stanage, Shane and Julie played on the rock down past Inverted V, although nut keys were in short supply. Robin and Cath climbed up to VS (Zagrete), although Cath was heard to remark ‘but I keep slipping off the VDiffs!’

AG led Narrow Buttress VS 4c, Nick K then led Leaning Buttress Direct HVS 5b and then John H led Queersville HVS 5a. Then AG led Via Media VS 4c. Nick K tried to lead Rusty Crack HVS 5c but failed ripping a bit of gear out in the process. Chuck and Stefan also joined in this mix. Stefan pealing gently off Central Trinity (VS 4c) at the end of the day. John Hilary’s most notable contribution was getting lost for over two and a half hours en-route from his new base of Sheffield, call yourself a local!

Jane and Claudia climbed amongst others Hollybush crack (Vdiff) and Robin Hoods Zig Zag (S). Robin Hoods Zig Zag is given 2 stars in the Rock Fax guide but let it be noted that they were not deserved, not unless you are a contortionist and enjoy banging your head against a rock wall!

As Jane crawled (yes, knees were involved) to get out from the overhanging rock onto a ledge a voice from below was heard saying "look she's having the same trouble as I did!". This was an awful start to a not so enjoyable climb especially when, in desperation to get it over and done with, Jane decided to disperse most of her remaining nuts on the ground below.

Once at the top and secure Claudia began seconding but it wasn't long before she started the new trend of Yo-Yo climbing. She climbed up, then asked to be lowered down, then she climbed up and then asked to be lowered down again, this went on for some time until finally Claudia shouted up that she was off for another second. Ironically Robin came to the rescue to retrieve the gear from Robin Hoods Zig Zag but not without issuing profanities along the route.

Margaret got the best of the day enjoying a walk along Stanage edge and reading the newspaper.

Mark K and Mark W thought they'd avoid the 'honey pots' (a.k.a. The MMC!) and try one of the lesser known crags in the Peaks. A long and steep walk-in led them to Crowden Great Quarry, which at first site appeared to be a decent crag (up to 100 feet), along the style of Millstone. They quickly discovered the reason for the apparent lack of popularity - the rock was less than solid, indeed had an 'Alpine quality to it. Ever the optimist, Mark K pointed out that the middle section of the VS he led was 'quite solid'. Several routes later, and the vicious local midges were homing in, so a quiet exit to the pub was made.

At 5:30pm the coffee addicts were off like a shot to catch the café at Outside before it closed and get their caffeine fill and warm up from the chilly breeze at the top of the crags. Once imbibed with coffee, warm and rejuvenated the idea of a BBQ did not seem so bad.

So, despite the midges the evening saw nearly all meet members gathering for a BBQ (a couple of hardy soles climbed on until late, or so they say, we reckon they were in the pub!). The standard of food ranged per disposable unit: corn cobs, veggies skewers, finest burgers and marshmallows to sausages and well, more sausages. There was plenty to go around and a reasonable attempt was made to devour everything. The BBQ's were then used to try and create smoke screens to ward off the midges who had not disappeared and were enjoying a human variation on the BBQ.

A lovely mild evening, the warmth of which was helped by a bottle of Absinth (courtesy of Chuck) allowed all to sit out and chatter the evening away, though Cath's mammoth 3 man tent managed to fit in the whole crew at some point during the evening before everyone retired to tents in their merry way.

Some merrier than others decided the middle of the night pee could be taken naked but at least they managed to find there way out of the tent first!

Sunday saw a more relaxed approach to the day with priorities being food. The food providers both did good business with Conran-Topley tent providing egg and bacon butties all around, plus toast whilst the Mitton tent provided venison and redcurrant sausage butties.

The day was an absolute scorcher and again climbers were dispersed around the various crags: On their way to the crag, Mark K and Mark W stopped at the campsite at 11:00am, just in case any MMC were still there, of, of course most of them still were, so they headed off to Burbage North with the crowd. Blisteringly hot, they managed a reasonable number of routes, including 'Big Black Un' HVS 5a (Mark W), and 'Hollyash Crack' VS 4b (Mark K). And yes Mark, the ‘Kitten’ comment was removed on the grounds of decency!

At Stanage Warren and Ben were seen red faced and tired, claiming with big bravado to be going to climb until 9pm! Ben lead 'Via Media' VS 4c and then they both lead ‘Leaning Buttress Direct' HVS, 5b, Queersville HVS 5a , Cave Arête HVS 5a. And presumably they both seconded them?

Shane, Julie and AG delighted on the HVS cracks of Millstone.

At Burbage Robin and Cath climbed Peter’s Progress (VS 4c) Big Chimney Arête (HS 4b)Right Twin Crack and Left Twin crack. John H and Chuck climbed VS’s and HVS’s Knight’s Move HVS 5a. Jane and Claudia also chipped in with several more leads. Nick K climbed with Stefan and did Mutiny Crack HS 4b, Pulcherine Vs 4b, Little White Jug VS 4c and Overhanging Buttress Direct S 4a.

Whilst some decided to continue to climb through the heat others thought better of it and at 4pm went off for an ice cream.

Fox House was the watering hole sought out for the end of the day with some heading back early and others trying to prolong the return to London as long as they could. The condiments tray at Fox House was full on but had to be as most of it was eaten by the time some of the food orders arrived!