University Mountaineering Clubs

Well it's that time of the year again. The time when helpful people post on UKC that your favourite crag is going to be descended on by hoards of freshers being taken out by their university mountaineering club. Seems to me like it's the time to head a little way into the mountains or off the beaten track to avoid these groups of people, but are they really all that bad?

From personal experience yes and no. I've been in a UMC myself, which for my time as an official member and student wasn't that bad. We had our own indoor wall and I got taken out at least once and shown the basics of building belays. This has stuck with me forever, but for my part during my time at uni I wasn't very active in the club or in fact very helpful (I didn't pay my membership for the year I was kit secratary, then I lost a load of kit. It was in the years afterward that I realised what a great opportunity the club represented and it was during this time that I've been most active. I've been taking people out, running days out on freshers trips, trying to push the older more experienced members and basically trying to make up for my second year (when I lost all the kit). 

When I've been out with my old uni club they've been reasonably well behave. There have actually been no accidents, on offical club trips. There have been a couple of accidents along the way with members on non-official trips but these have always be dealt with excellently. When we've gone away to wales or a lakes I've always tried to pick crags that'll keep the club out od peoples way. 

Sadly this isn't exactly the case with all student mountaineering clubs. It just happens that I got to see Manchester Uni MC at Birchen Edge the other day. It seemed that the majority of the older members of the club, and what I can only assume was the chairman (as he was the loudest and most obnoxious) just sat at the top of the crag yelling down to everyone else. They just wouldn't shut up. I don't mind a bit of shouting and yelling at the crag, but this was excessive to say the least. Then the slightly more concerning parts occured. It was actually Rachel who spotted and lad who was leading a route. He wasn't on the route he wanted to be on, but he still got to the top but it was his second who turned up along the base of the crag, tied in wrong and then tried to set off without actually double backing his harness that really annoyed her (and me). She then had the chance to witness someone start climbing before the belay was even built, and the rope taken in. 

This might just be one group in a hundred but it give Uni.MCs a bad name. I see other mountaineering clubs at crags around the country, those not affiliated with a university and they seem to behave well, climb sensibly and look out for each other. I see groups of friends who I climb with, but other who are just brought together by thier want to climb who manage to be sensible, safe and have fun at the crag. 

(my old uni club, messing around at least 5km for anywhere else)