Meet our Officials and Committee

With the aim of making it easier for members and guests to recognise our leadership team when out on the hill or at the crag, or at a hut, here are some snap-shots and a a few details about the background of each of the members of the current Committee and our other Officials.

PositionNameMini-bio
President
Becca Humphreys
Becca cut her teeth navigating the moors of Saddleworth, moving on to expeditions to Knoydart, the Alps and Nepal. Recent trips with the Club have included ski touring in Norway, trekking to the Kanchenjunga base camps in Nepal and via ferrata-ing in the Dolomites. YRC Meets in the UK have ranged from scorching in the Peak District to freezing in the Lakes. There’s always something new to be seen!
Honorary Secretary
Mick Borroff
Mick started venturing underground at Loughborough University and then joined the Craven Pothole Club who introduced him to the pleasures of caving expeditions and climbing. He served an apprenticeship with the Avon Mountaineering Club in Glencoe, CPC mountaineers in the Cuillin and then in the Ecrins where he summited his first Alp. Caving eventually gave way to mountaineering, via ferrata, scrambling, trekking and hillwalking. An Alpine Club member, he joined the YRC in 2004 and served as its President in 2016-18. He has used retirement to “compleat” the Munros and to further explore many mountainous regions of Europe and the Himalayas through organising trips with like-minded individuals in the YRC. He is one of few Brits passionate about snowshoeing and has enjoyed trips for over a decade in the Jura, Chartreuse, Vercors, Bauges and other French massifs as well as Bulgaria as a way of enjoying the winter mountains without the crowds.
Honorary Treasurer
Martyn Trasler
Martyn has to thank his parents for introducing him to the hills at the age of 13 on a trip to the Lake District. He immediately became in awe of the place and even found himself enjoying the walking, having lived his life in flat earth country! Over the years he has walked and scrambled further afield in the Lakes, the Yorkshire Dales and many other parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and also the Alps. Many of these trips have been with the YRC which he joined in 1998, where he has enjoyed the fellowship of like-minded individuals with many stories to tell!
Vice-President
Conrad Tetley
Conrad has always had a keen interest in the outdoors from an early age. In part, due to being born near Haworth and having a grandparent who was keen on the outdoors. Early visits to Scotland, the Lake District and Wales cemented his love of walking in the hills. Whilst at university he took up climbing and caving, then latterly as a teacher has had the opportunity to introduce many children to the outdoors. A particular favourite place to take them being the scramble in Strans Gill. During this period he became a member of the Bradford Pothole Club and enjoyed many caving trips in the Dales, Derbyshire and Wales. At the same time initial experience of walking abroad was gained in the Canton of Valais, taking in routes in around Saas Fee and Tasch. This then led onto other walking trips in Norway, Iceland and Austria. Joining the YRC has been one of the best things he has done, enjoying both sharing experiences on the hills and the fellowship of like-minded individuals.
President-Elect, JointWarden Low Hall Garth and Tacklemaster
Ged Campion
Ged started rock climbing while still at school. His first adventures were in the Peak District and North Wales, quickly graduating to ice climbing in Scotland. Caving also became an interest and regular trips to the Yorkshire Dales prompted him to join the YRC. Ged has climbed in the Alps and made first ascents in the Himalayas. His caving exploits have taken him to many countries in the world including China, and the Middle East and South America. Ged is an active climber and caver based in the Yorkshire Dales. He is a member of the Alpine Club and the Climbers’ Club. He is a volunteer for the Lakes Area BMC meetings and is a past President of the European Federation of Speleology.
Membership Secretary
Helen Smith
A keen hill-walker, Helen has connections to the YRC going back to 1981. She finally joined the Club in 2014 and became Membership Secretary in 2016. She has participated in memorable treks to the Himalayas and Bolivia, joined overseas European meets in well known areas such the Austrian Stubai and lesser visited areas such as the Pirin in Bulgaria, and she is a regular attendee at club meets in the UK. She says the great thing about being a member of the YRC is the friendships made, the chance to try new activities and the opportunities to visit so many interesting places.
Meets
Secretary

Tim Josephy
Tim was introduced to climbing and caving at school in the Dales, joining the YRC soon after leaving. He has caved extensively throughout Britain, although mostly in the North. Thanks to the YRC and the RAF, to which he belonged for the whole of his working life, he has climbed, walked and trekked in many countries around the world.
Huts Booking
Secretary

Richard Josephy
Richard is a lifelong hillwalker and sometime caver. He has ascended all the tops over 2000 feet in England and Wales, and done the Pennine Way, Coast to Coast, and the Grande Annello dei Sibillini in Italy. He joined the YRC in 1991 and has valued the opportunities it gives for continuing these activities with kindred spirits and for the good fellowship to be found among its members. He has served as Huts Booking Secretary for about 20 years.
Warden Lowstern Richard SealeyPrefers to work quietly in the background.
JointWarden Low Hall Garth Alister RentonPrefers to work quietly in the background.
Editor and Dinner Secretary
Michael Smith
Joining the YRC helped Michael move from a hillwalker to an enthusiastic mountaineer, a Munro compleater who climbs, skis and caves as required. The Club suits independent-minded people such as him and accommodates his penchant for finding unusual, out-of-the-way places for self-guided trips. He has organised for members and led: climbs and treks in Bolivia, pulking traverses on Svalbard, hut-to-hut scrambling in Malawi, climbing in Wyoming, ski tours in Norway, and ski mountaineering ascents in Greenland. His other mountain trips include the Himalayas, Australia, Hawaii, Morocco, and various parts of the Alps and Carpathians. Michael has served as Editor (a role he has just taken on again), President, and Assistant Secretary. Beware though, his planned routes on meets tend to take longer than expected.
Webmaster
Andy Syme
Andy’s love of the outdoors started on long walks with the family in the Yorkshire Dales, Lakes and Scotland, but he fell in love with mountaineering aged 12 on a family visit to Canada when he ‘wandered off’ up the Saskatchewan Glacier.  Over 30 years later, he is still an active climber and mountaineer.  He has climbed in the UK, USA, Africa, Alps and Himalayas.  Despite still seeing himself as a trad and ice climber, he probably spends more time bouldering, indoors and out, than anything else, though he does get away for a pure ice week abroad every year. He is currently serving as President of the BMC.
Auditor
Richard Taylor
Richard was enticed into YRC membership in 2012 and now divides his time with his love of sailing. In the distant past he was a regular rock climber at Manchester University and climbed in the Alps including the Matterhorn and Dom. He has been a participant on many club expeditions including Himalayas – Mera Peak (6476m), Kanchenjunga Base Camps, Bulgaria, Romania, Morocco (Jbel Sarhro). A keen downhill skier, he has been introduced to the ‘delights’ of cross-country skiing in Norway and snowshoeing in the Jura.
Librarian
Arthur Salmon
Arthur became interested in mountaineering, rock climbing and caving in his early teens. He joined the YRC in 1951, as what he believes was the first junior member of the Club. He caved mainly in the Dales, but also made two trips to China. He started climbing on the gritstone crags near Leeds, progressed to the Lakes, Scotland and Wales and, over the years, has climbed in Oregon, the Alps, Norway, Morocco and trekked in the Himalaya. He still doesn’t feel quite ready for his wheelchair!
Archivist
Alan Linford
Alan became addicted to mountains ever since his first rock climb, lower Kern Knotts Crack in 1950 and found there is only one known cure. He is eternally grateful to a schoolmaster who first took him to the Alps in 1955. He went again with the YRC in 1957, and again with two mountaineers who arranged a three-week trip. Much of his National Service in 1958 was spent in Nepal. He was well and truly hooked and still is, but now with lower and closer horizons. Life is all about people, so many valuable friendships and as Archivist, it’s now pay back time for the YRC.
CommitteeHelen Brewitt
CommitteeRobert CrowtherPrefers to work quietly in the background.
Committee
Harvey Lomas
Harvey has caved in Great Britain for many years in the Dales, South Wales and other areas. He is a member of the Cave Rescue Organisation. He has been on expeditions to Iran, China and has caved in many countries in Europe and made ascents of a number of alpine peaks. Harvey is the YRC representative to the Council of Northern Caving Clubs (CNCC).
Committee
Rory Newman
Rory has extensive hillwalking and scrambling experience and is a skier, kayaker, Munroist, occasional rock-climber and amateur botanist. He has made first ascents in Bolivia and Greenland.
Committee
Steve Richards
Steve was introduced to the mountains as a youngster. Scouting, followed by the YHA (where he met his wife, Wendy) grew a sense of adventure and a love of the mountains. Three years at Sheffield University saw him learn to climb and take his first trip to the Alps. Moving every few years with his work, Steve was able to walk with The Braes o’ Fife Mountaineering Club around the Scottish mountains and enjoy trips around the UK as a military Mountain Leader, as well as trekking in the Indian Himalaya. Latterly he enjoyed trips to Bavaria, The High Tatras and Mt Kilimanjaro. Living in the USA for 3 years, he walked in a variety of mountain ranges, with highlights of Mt Whitney in the High Sierra and Mt Elbert in Colorado. Steve joined the YRC in 2022 and was delighted to restart his rock climbing, alongside Wendy and like minded members. He hopes to qualify as a Summer ML and get out to the Alps and greater ranges with the Club.