Rannoch Mountaineering Club 

www.climbrannoch.co.uk

sister sister.....  bring 'em, along, or have 'em pop in....

By Non-Member Shaz, June 2004

Rannoch Dinner Part 2 (Pt. 1 By Rhona)

A timely non-member's account of the Rannoch Dinner Meet 2004.

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I think I have now worked out what those road works on the A9 with the traffic lights and the contra-flow were all about  - they've been making it longer.  Four hours up and seven hours down - they definitely must have added a bit on.  Or maybe it wasn't that at all.  Maybe it was the drive-stop-sleep-drive-stop-sleep-drive-stop-sleep method of travel that slowed things down a bit.  Who knows.  But it was a hell of a long journey anyway.  Many thanks to the nice lady in the coffee shop in Tore on the Black Isle who, on learning of my delicate condition, took pity on me and made me a plate of soup even though it wasn't on the menu.

Scarred for life as a result of past experience, I had opted to avoid the stress of being involved in everyone else's arrangements or lack thereof and decided to take my own car to the Dinner Meet in Ullapool this time.  Also decided to drop the pretence and admit that I was only there for the beer thus freeing myself from having to be involved in any epic hill events over the weekend.  Other people who are less in touch with their non-competitive side (or who don't have one) were forced to put on a show and participate in various hill activities which, as far as I can gather, included Seana Bhraigh (R, JD, Fiona), Ben Wyvis (Big Al, Wee Iain, PUD), a walk in the Suilven area (Mary, Andy), a run in the Suilven area (C's sister F) and climby stuff somewhere (C, Hutch, Gavin, Bish, and possibly others).  Those who were even more insecure had also done stuff on the way up on the Friday, notably R + Bish (Cioch Nose) and possibly others.  If I seem a bit vague, its because I wasn't really paying much attention when they were all yacking on about their various achievements.

I, myself arrived about 1pm on Saturday after a leisurely drive up.  After fulfilling my earlier fantasies of sitting in the sun looking out to Loch Broom sipping a G&T, I took a walk into Ullapool.   Bumped into Mary and Andy (must have been the G&T).  We went to the Ceilidh Place for lunch and while there we bumped into Colin's sister (must have been the wine we had for lunch).  Surprisingly, she seemed very nice and very sociable. Also in the Ceilidh Place, we met Mary's sister who just happened to be passing through on her way to Harris.

Got back to the Hotel about 5pm and found Mellow sitting in the lounge reading his book - I think it was called 'Climb'.  I mentally prepared myself for lengthy tales of his excessive weekend's activities but was relieved when he said he had been relaxing drinking coffee all day.  I asked where his sister was but he said he didn't have one.   It wasn't long before other guests (invited or otherwise) began to arrive - Gordon, Angela, Big Al, Wee Iain and PUD who got off to a bad start by asking if I was married to Bish (don't know what gave him that idea).  They were closely followed by Morton, Rhona, JD, Fiona, Bish, Gavin, C, Hutch, Wee Al, Carol, and so on and so forth. 

Rhona had the brass neck to ask if she could use my shower since she was camping.  I thought I'd better agree in case it was me that ended up sitting next to her all night.

Dinner was great.  A very good turnout and a good mix of both members and non-members.  There were even some children of members, wives of members, husbands of members and, of course, sisters of members.  All very sociable indeed.  I ended up sitting next to PUD who further blotted his copy book by asking if I was married to Gavin (don't know what gave him that idea).  In his favour, however, he did give me some very good cooking tips (not that I needed them) although he seemed to have some trouble grasping the fact that with three children and a website to look after, it didn't leave a whole lot of time for marinating stuff.

The staff coped very well with it all and managed to remain smiling all the way through to 3am when the last of the revelers decided to put them out their misery and take the party on elsewhere finally culminating in a very respectable 4am finish.  Big Al had come up with some imaginative suggestions for livening the party up a bit but there were no takers (Sorry to be a party pooper, Big Al.  Rhona's very nice, but she's just not my type).  But as we know, it's not enough to be last man standing - you also have to be up in time for an early cooked breakfast the next day in order to be able to hold your head high.  I think the team also did well in this respect - even managed a bit of banter over the eggs (sunny side up of course).

Some of the team departed soon after breakfast while others opted to hang around for the customary two hour planning session in the car park.  The two parties which finally surfaced were the Reiff Climbing Team and The Ceilidh Place Coffee Team - the Stac Pollaidh team had apparently been all talk and no action.  Coffee and (for some) a second cooked breakfast (JD how do you do it and still manage to stay so trim?) was followed by a walk along the harbour before setting off at various stages for the long, long, long road home.  Personally, it was at this point that it all went horribly wrong  (or maybe it was at the point where I had started drinking at lunchtime the day before.  Who knows).  Nightmare journey, hadn't thought it through, should have listened to advice about accepting lifts from strange men or women, will definitely be on the cadge for a lift for future events (if I'm invited).

Final resolutions:  fantasies are one thing, reality is another - lunch time is way too early to start drinking; planning ahead is BAD - better to turn up unannounced and sweet talk the leggy blonde owner into a free bed for the night; camping is GOOD - it costs less but you can always take full advantage of the facilities of the hotel without having to pay for them;  life is too short for marinating; accepting lifts from strange men or women is definitely GOOD.

An excellent event.  Thanks to JD for arranging it all and for keeping us fully informed of all the details and to the staff of the Harbour Lights for their superb efforts and service above and beyond the call of duty (again). And I believe there is already a volunteer to organise next year's Dinner Meet (Andy?).  Anyone going my way?

Shaz, 8 June 2004.