Who would have thought when we were making plans to be really active at the start of the year that the world would change so much, so quickly? Now over four months later, we’re looking at how to find a “new normal”. Your committee have been closely monitoring the Welsh Government legal regulations and guidance over the last few months, and the last few weeks in particular. We are pleased to see Friday’s announcement that groups of up to 30 can meet outdoors from this week and feel that it is now the right time to start climbing again.

As such while we are conscious the pandemic hasn’t gone away, with everybody’s care, evening and local day meets can now resume within the relevant social distancing guidelines, and in line with the points below:

• If you or anyone else in your household have symptoms you must stay home and self-isolate
• If you don’t feel comfortable or ready yet, that’s your call; you need to do what you feel safe with as an individual.
• To ensure the limit of 30 is kept to and we stay the right side of the law, and to assist with contact tracing should it be necessary, please post on the bulletin board if you plan to attend a meet.
• As it is not clear if the Welsh Government permits it, we ask you not to car share with anyone outside of your household (or extended household) at this time. This will obviously limit crag choice in certain cases!

We will continue to monitor the situation with regards to indoor meets later in the year.

In the east there’s quite a few people who were having difficulty with Wednesday evenings, and for all of August that now includes myself. So I’ll be proposing some meets on Tuesdays/Thursdays, but that absolutely doesn’t stop anyone picking up the mantle and organising something for a Wednesday either!

Club hut – Lletty Llwyd

Our hut in Snowdonia is our most valuable asset and one of our big membership benefits, providing affordable (often cheaper than camping) accommodation in the UK’s adventure tourism capital.

We are now partially re-opening the hut for members and their families on the following basis, until further notice:

• Bookings will be taken on a sole occupancy basis; that is a maximum of two households (an “extended household” counts as one) known to each other and booking as one, with the households using a discrete bedroom each.
• Stays will be charged at the normal rates, however there will be a minimum charge of £20 per night and a minimum stay of 2 nights, with payment strictly in advance.
• As we don’t have a cleaner, a clear window of 72 hours between bookings will be maintained by the booking secretary, and enforced through the programming of the electronic lock.
• Priority is for members, but members may bring their family/guests within the 2 households.
• Each household should agree which of the toilets/shower/washing areas (normally labelled as male/female) they will use.
• The named booking contact is responsible for checking the current Welsh Government regulations, and guidance on social distancing, and complying with the relevant laws. Until the restrictions on indoor gatherings are lifted, we would advise different households should not “gather” in the kitchen or lounge at the same time.
• Requests from non-members, at short notice (ie 1-2 weeks max) if there is a slot available, will be referred to the committee to approve.

In most years, after spending on essential maintenance, the hut turns a small surplus for the club, and for a number of years this along with sales of the old guidebook has been used to build up a “roof fund”, as we have known for a long time that the roof would eventually need re-slating, if not a complete new roof. We believe we are now at the stage where a full re-roof is imminently necessary and we are in the process of obtaining quotes from contractors for this work to be undertaken. Preliminary estimates have suggested that by the time VAT was taken into account we may not quite have the necessary funds, but we needed firm quotes before we could apply for grants to make up any shortfall. However I am pleased to report that the club has successfully applied for and been granted a £10,000 grant linked to business rates, which will cover the significant loss of income from this year’s lost bookings, and we hope go some way towards the rest of the shortfall.

A few weeks ago a very small work party (Al, Jeniy and myself) went to the hut as volunteers, to conduct an inspection, flush the water system to prevent against any build-up of legionella, and carry out some basic repairs (including a full unplanned replacement of the toilet fan which was seized up and failed on arrival!) – we also met with a roofer to undertake an initial survey and discussion about possibilities, but we don’t have any further news to share about this yet.