It was the Club's first visit to the Doward Park Campsite in Symonds Yat and despite the somewhat dubious weather forecast, the lure (dubious again?) of the World Cup Quarter-Finals and the prospect of slippery semi-hanging belays beneath the trees of Symonds Yat, attendance was good with arrivals throughout the weekend. Noticeable by their absence however were the now ubiquitous marquees, but considering the small area of the campsite that we were allocated, perhaps no bad thing.

A small group of early arrivals (Mark W, Russ, Marvin, Jules and Ed) successfully managed to find the worst pub in Britain but were unable to move to another as it was so close to last orders. The ambiance was so bad they were reduced to drinking outside huddled under an umbrella to keep dry.

Saturday
After some light overnight rain, Saturday morning dawned dull and overcast with Radio 4 forecasting patchy rain moving in from the West. Early arrivals on Saturday morning were Carol Coker and Andy Usher (first meet for 3 years) and Sarah Hails.

The lure of breakfast in Monmouth proved to be too much compared to the prospect of damp limestone and a wet, muddy walk-in. A leisurely breakfast ensued during which it didn't rain and the sky began to clear (another failure for the Met Office!). David Bowyer and Simon Armand-Smith resisted breakfast and decided to take a quick trip to Bristol to resolve a slight gear shortage.

Suitably fed and after a slight pause to watch some penalty shootout or other, there followed an exodus to Symonds Yat for a late start to the climbing. Following Mark's advice everyone parked in the car park by the river and staggered up the side of the valley to the crag, thus avoiding ten minutes of gentle downhill walking from the car park above the crag. It was handy for the pub on the walk out at the end of the day though.

Russ and Barry had already decided to pair off with a view to completing eight climbs in the day - an idea met with some disbelief and derision from the rest of the group. However, these words had to be eaten at the end of the day as the pair worked their way through Garlic (V Diff), Soderama (V Diff), Gibbon (HS 4b), Dwarf (HS 4b), Funky Gibbon (HS 4b), Stumper (V Diff), Hedgehog Sandwich (S 4a) and Cave Wall (V Diff). Could this continue on Sunday?

Mark W and Marvin decided to start the day on Kratatoa (HVS 5a) only to be well and truly 'sandbagged' after spending way too long failing to complete the route. Mark finally admitting that he had had similar problems on a previous outing before moving to the neighbouring E2 5b for an easier climb! Moving on to Funky Dung (HVS 5a) - which Marvin backed off after failing to find any gear placement to protect the first move. The day was not a complete failure as the pair went on to complete Phizzog (HVS), Hole in the Wall (HVS), Jackal's Wall (E1 5b) and Etna (S 4a).

Dividing Marvin's rack between them (that wasn't why I couldn't protect the move on Funky Dung though), Jules and Wendy, and Ed and new member Sarah Hails, paired off for climbing. Jules lead Wendy up Tea on a Rainy Day (V Diff), after which Wendy raised the stakes by soloing Red Ascent (V Diff) (apparently she couldn't find anywhere to place any gear!). Wendy then went on to lead Trundlebum Rex (S)(with gear!) with Jules seconding. Ed and Sarah also had a successful day with Ed leading Ambler (S), Vertigo (S) and Whitt (VS 4c).

Returning from Bristol, David and Simon parked in the car park above the crag and after climbing over several fences marked with the red danger signs (mustn't have the tourists falling on the climbers) they eventually found a steep and muddy path to the crag. Simon started off by leading Stumper (V Diff) to warm up with David seconding. Spurred on by this success he moved on to a neighbouring Severe (un-named). Unfortunately on reaching the crux of the route, a re-occurring neck injury forced him to abandon the route and escape by traversing to Stumper and finding relative safety. They then went on to climb some of Symonds Yat's finely polished V Diff's.

Carol and Andy decided to explore the riverside views by walking from the ferry crossing at Symonds Yat West along the riverbank towards Monmouth before returning to the campsite.

After spending some time encouraging the climbers, Tara, Zoe and Lucy decided to take Lucy's dog, Lemoni, for a walk along the riverside.

Dean (on his last meet before moving to New Zealand) and friend Brian (who had flown down from Scotland that morning) decided to investigate Shorn Cliff without the benefit of a guidebook. The lack of guidebook also meant that they had difficulty in finding the crag (resolved by phoning a friend with Internet access).

The day ended with one group enjoying a barbeque at the campsite and another ensconced in the pub en route from the crag to the car park (spending so long in the pub that the car park was padlocked shut with the cars still inside. Luckily the owner was still around to open the gate).

Sunday
Sunday dawned bright and sunny with the prospect of fine weather for the rest of the day. With this in mind a significant contingent headed to Monmouth for breakfast.

Sunday morning also saw the arrival of the 'down for the day' contingents of Steve Melvin, John Dowling, Simon Atkins and Ricardo Perales as well as Nick, Clare and Clare's parents.

There was a small contingent of cyclists to sample the routes in the Forest of Dean. Andy U and Carol completed a 'short' outing but left with plans to return to the area for a longer visit in the future. Andy E also spent the day cycling in the area.

Of the climbers, Russ led Zoe up Vertigo (S) on the Long Stone, before he and Barry added to Saturday's tally by climbing Tea on a Rainy Day (V Diff) and Bannister (V Diff), the latter route apparently being "very stiff for the grade".

Ed and Sarah continued to climb together, completing Trundlebum Rex (S), Tea on a Rainy Day (V Diff) - with Ed testing his first placement and disappearing unexpectedly into the trees, and Golden Fleece (S 4a).

Climbing together for the first time, Marvin and Rick completed Exchange (VS 4b), Tolk (HVS 4c), Albany (HS) and Matchstick Man (HVS 5b). Mark W and Mark R were also climbing in the same area and completed Tolk (HVS 4c), and possibly Strait-jacket (E1 4c) or Threshold of Insanity (E1 5b) amongst others.

Wendy and Jules were joined by Lucy, with Wendy leading a V Diff seconded by Lucy (having one belay device between them only caused a slight hiccup) and then setting a top rope on another V Diff for Lucy. Jules and Wendy then finished the day on the multipitch V Diff - Snoozing Suzie, with Wendy leading the first two pitches in one (thus explaining why she nearly ran out of gear) and Jules finishing off on the top pitch.

After judicious applications of Deep Heat, Simon recovered from his neck injury sufficiently for him to warm up by leading Crack and Slab (V Diff) with David seconding. Flying Machine (V Diff) quickly followed and the pair finished the day with Simon leading his first HS - Cascade (HS 4b).

Of the Sunday morning arrivals, Clare led Golden Fleece (S 4a) seconded by Nick and Peter, Clare's father. Nick followed this by leading The Russian (HVS 5a) seconded by John D and Ricardo. He then added Exchange (VS 4b) to the tally with Clare seconding.

Steve and Simon (Atkins) completed 'a miserable little climb' - Goblins Grumble (VS 4c), The Russian (HVS 5a), Red Rose Speedway (HVS 5a) (also seconded by Nick and Ricardo), Exchange (VS 4b) and Whitt (2 pitch VS up the pinnacle).

John D and Ricardo climbed Sentinel (S 4a), Golden Fleece (S 4a) - Ricardo's first trad lead (although there are rumours that it was actually soloed due to lack of protection!), Trundlebum Rex (S) and Jilted John (S 4a) after fighting their way through the nettles at the base and the jungle growing out of the rest of the route.

After Zoe's brief climbing foray with Russ on Vertigo, she and Tara decided to end the weekend with a gentle bumble through the forest before making an early return to London. Following the marked paths proved to be a mistake for both them and an equally lost cyclist they met en route. Apparently four or five different routes were all marked using the same signs (obviously a Forestry Commission conspiracy) and they spent most of the afternoon following different routes in different directions.

Quotes from the weekend (taken totally out of context).

"Yeah I think I could like this trad climbing - it's great if you're laid up with an injury and can't do any real climbing..."

"Don't follow the red marked routes through the forest. I've spent most of the day trying to find my way out and it wasn't until I met two equally lost dark haired girls from London with a map..."

"Don't worry if you can't get that piece of gear out, leave it behind and finish the climb."

"I'm sure that I remember failing to get up this climb before."