The Yorkshire Ramblers’ Club certainly has not been resting on its laurels since the centenary and notched up 130 years of activity in 2022. The Club continues to be highly active on a number of fronts driven as ever, by the interests of its members. It is still a friendly, sociable and supportive group of like-minded individuals with our membership steady at around 160, with new members about evenly split between the genders.

Meets

The annual Meets calendar continues to be a YRC strength. The Meets Committee plan an interesting, ambitious and varied programme each year with some 18-20 meets incorporating both UK and overseas venues offering a wide range of activities to get involved in. You can view the Meets Calendar for the current year’s events and browse past Meets lists to see what you missed.

Meets in the British Isles

The annual calendar of meets roughly every three-weeks invariably includes a trio of Lakes, Welsh and Sottish winter meets, a mid-year long walk, hut maintenance meets and an introductory meet, where newcomers and members’ children can get their first taste of climbing or caving and a Christmas meet with a feast to celebrate the year. Meets to other parts of the UK and at least a couple of foreign trips build onto this traditional foundation. In recent years, a midge-free week in May, usually with sunny weather, has been spent in Scotland or Ireland including: Skye, Rum, Harris & Lewis, Knoydart, Sutherland, Torridon, Donegal, Connemara, Kerry, the Mournes and the Wicklows (some with repeat visits). There are too many of these meets to list here, but recent accounts are available on the Meets Reports page as well as past reports in the Journal. 

Overseas Meets

The increasingly ambitious member activity seen as the Club passed its first century continues to today. Since the centenary, the YRC Journal records substantial numbers of treks, mountaineering and climbing trips and expeditions either as club meets, or published reports of members outings to all parts of the world, and of course, many other explorations remain undisclosed.

The Club continues to organise well-attended treks and longer trips to a very wide range of destinations, sometimes combined with mountaineering or caving objectives. The following list gives a flavour of the overseas Club meets since our Centenary and you can browse the Meet Reports, Overseas Meets Reports, Mountaineering Expedition Reports and Caving Expedition Reports for more details. These encompass mountaineering, rock climbing, scrambling, via ferrata, caving, canyoning, cross-country ski-tours, sailing and various studies of nature.

Besides members’ own trips to many parts of the globe including the polar regions, the Club’s own recent meets include:

HIMALAYA

• 1995 The YRC mounted another major Himalayan expedition to the Jugal Himal to attempt Dorje Lapka (6966m) in Nepal but were defeated by dangerous snow and poor weather conditions. A separate group trekked from Helambu into Langtang and climbed Naya Kanga (5846m) from the Ganja La.
• 1997 A group climbed trekking peaks Ramdung (5930m) and Pharcharmo (6273m) as part of a trek with mountaineering objectives to Rolwaling in Nepal. A second trekking group went to the Khumbu, climbing the more modest objectives of Gokyo Ri (5360m), Kala Pattar (5643m) and Chukung Ri (5559m).
• 2005 A trek with mountaineering objectives visited the remote Nubra valley in Ladakh. The team climbed Samgyal (5814m) and Dawa (5900m), two snow peaks above the Palzampiu valley in the Ladakh Range.
• 2007 Members enjoyed a little-travelled and spectacular trek through the Bhutan Himalaya to Chomolhari Base Camp.
• 2008 An expedition returned to Ladakh to attempt Lhakhang (6250m), a remote unclimbed peak in the Pakshi Lamur valley, but the prevailing snow conditions proved to be unsafe.  The approach from Himachal Pradesh and the walk out to the Indus Valley gave the team superb trekking as compensation.
• 2009 A trek in Sikkim visited the Goeche La and the Singalila Ridge and enjoyed fabulous views of the SE face of Kanchenjunga.
• 2012 A team successfully climbed Mera Peak (6476m), Nepal’s highest trekking peak as part of a combined trek and mountaineering trip.
• 2016 A group made a long and unfrequented traverse from Upper Dolpo to Mustang via the impossibly blue waters of Phoksumdo Tal and mystical Shey Gompa.
• 2019 Members enjoyed excellent weather for a long circular camping trek to the South and North Base Camps of Kanchenjunga.

AMERICAS

• 1999 A return to Bolivia to trek and climb in the Cordillera Real and Cordillera Occidental.
• 2004 California’s High Sierras for climbing on superb granite and hiking amongst jagged mountains and jewel-like lakes.
• 2006 California’s Sierra Nevada with spectacular climbing and backpacking on the High Sierra trail.
• 2010 Bolivia’s Quimsa Cruz range trek spiced up with the odd rock climb.
• 2010 California’s Yosemite valley for hiking and climbing with an ascent of Mt. Whitney.
• 2014 Peru’s Chachapoyas trek with its archaeological theme.
• 2015 Wyoming’s Wind River Range for the total solar eclipse, rock climbing and trekking.

AFRICA

• 2001 Morocco Western High Atlas trek with scrambling ascents of Imradene (3351m) and various other summits around the rim of the Titchka Plateau.
• 2007 Morocco Anti-Atlas trad climbing, scrambling and hiking based in Tafraout.
• 2013 Malawi’s Mulanje plateau’s “Island in the Sky” scrambling all but one of the main peaks.
• 2016 Morocco camping trek passing amazing rock formations in the Jebel Sarhro with some scrambling ascents.
• 2020 A return to the Morocco Anti-Atlas trad climbing, scrambling and hiking based again in Tafraout.

NORDICS

• 1998 Iceland camping trek partially on snowshoes with an ascent of Hvannadalshnoekur (2119m).
• 2010 Svalbard’s Nordenskiöld Land, traversed on ski with pulks while making a few ascents.
• 2017 Norway – Lillehammer cross-country hut-to-hut ski tour.
• 2020 Norway – cross-country hut-to-hut ski tour traversing the Rondane.
• 2022 Norway – a week’s hut-to-hut ski tour round the Langsua National Park, west of Lillehammer.

EUROPE

• 1993 Switzerland classic mountaineering and hiking from a base at Randa in the Zermatt valley.
• 1994 Bernese Oberland classical mountaineering and walking from a base near Lauterbrunnen.
• 1995 Picos de Europa climbing and walking in the rugged limestone mountains in northern Spain.
• 1996 Mallorca, Puerto Pollensa walking in the lovely mountainous northern part of the island.
• 1996 Dauphiné, classic mountaineering and climbing in the Ecrins from a base in Ailefroide.
• 1998 and 2009 Austria, Stubai Alps including the high-level Stubai hut-to-hut glacier tour climbing summits en route walking and via ferrata.
• 2001 Slovenia hiking and scrambling in the Julian Alps around Triglav.
• 2002 Pyrenees, Laruns for mountain climbing and hiking including the Pic du Midi d’Ossau.
• 2003 Ireland, walking and caving in the limestone Burren in County Clare on the West coast.
• 2003 Randa revisited for some Swiss classic mountaineering and hiking in the Zermatt valley.
• 2004 Sardinia walking among the delightful spring flowers in the hills and mountains of the island.
• 2005 Dolomites for climbing, via ferrata and hiking in the most beautiful mountains. A covering of snow in 2019 made for added interest on the higher summits.
• 2006 Aosta Valley hiking and mountaineering including the inspirational ascent of the 4000m peak Gran Paradiso by two members in their seventies.
• 2007 Ireland for walking and scrambling in the Blue Stacks and other mountains of Donegal.
• 2007 Corsica’s GR20 scrambling the famous test-piece along the island’s mountainous northern spine.
• 2009 A return to Austria’s Stubai Alps to complete the high-level Stubai hut-to-hut glacier tour climbing summits en route walking and via ferrata.
• 2011 Bernex for walking and climbing in the mountains of the Massif du Chablais.
• 2012 Ireland climbing and walking on the superb sharp-peaked quartzite summits and ridges of the Twelve Bens of Connemara.
• 2012 Pontresina in Bernina Alps for mountaineering and ski mountaineering.
• 2014 Calpe in the Spanish Costa Blanca for climbing, scrambling and mountain walking in the sun.
• 2015 Sierra Cabrera winter sun with caving and hiking in southern Spain and snow on the Sierra de Maria.
• 2015 Northern Ireland for a round of the superb granite Mountains of the Mourne, which do sweep down to the sea.
• 2015 Bulgaria for several hut-to-hut tours through the unspoilt Pirin mountains and along the impressive Koncheto ridge to Vihren summit.
• 2016 Beaufortain hiking, via ferrata and cheese in Haute Savoie.
• 2016 Snowshoeing in the Jura taking in ridges and summits on both sides of the Franco-Swiss border.
• 2017 El Chorro – spring sunshine in Spain with climbing, via ferrata, canyoning and hiking.
• 2018 A return to Calpe in the Costa Blanca for climbing, scrambling and mountain walking in the sun.
• 2018 Ireland hillwalking in the MacGillicuddy’s Reeks and including Carrauntoohil in County Kerry.
• 2018 Romania, Apuseni and Retezat mountains hiking, caving and mountaineering over two contrasting weeks.
• 2019 Sierra Nevada winter mountaineering, climbing and hiking in Spain with a two-day ascent of Mulhacen.
• 2019 Italy, Dolomites for climbing, scrambling, via ferrata and hiking – a covering of new snow gave added interest.
• 2020 Another trip to the Costa Blanca for for climbing, scrambling and mountain walking but this time in the rain!
• 2022 France, Eastern Pyrenees, Massif de Canigou for a five-day hut-to-hut tour in warm weather.
• 2023 Portugal, Peneda-Gerês National Park for scrambling and mountain walking.
• 2023 Ireland, hillwalking and mountain biking in the Wicklow Mountains.
• 2023 Austria, Kaisergebirge and Zillertal Alps for scrambling, via ferrata and hiking.

CHINA

• 2000-2016 YRC cavers have been very active in exploring caves in Tian’e and Fenshan, Guangxi Province as part of the China Caves Project – a product of an ongoing highly successful relationship between British cavers and the Institute of Karst Geology in Guilin which has resulted in numerous joint Sino-British expeditions over more than 20 years to these magnificent karst areas of southern China.

MEMBERS TRIPS

Members are also very active outside of the formal meets programme and whether its ice-climbing in Norway, backpacking from Cape Cornwall to Cape Wrath, summiting Munros, hiking in the Spanish sierras, climbing in Kalymnos, via ferratas in the Dolomites, mountaineering in Norway, hut-to-hut tours along the GRs, or snowshoeing in Bulgaria and the Alps, or ski mountaineering in Greenland, there are YRC members out there enjoying themselves. The knowledge and experience gained during these explorations often lead to subsequent club meets.

Huts

We continue to operate our two well-equipped club properties which have recently been upgraded: Lowstern, our headquarters in the Dales, near Clapham and Low Hall Garth, a traditional cottage in Little Langdale in the Lake District. Both are popular with members and their families, as well as visiting clubs. 

Annual Dinner

The Annual Dinner has now taken place for over a hundred years and members of the Club have been entertained by some of the leading climbers, cavers and explorers in the world, including the later generation of John Cleare, Peter Boardman, Sir Chris Bonington, Chris Brasher, Simon Yates, Tony Waltham, Alan Hinkes MBE, Kenton Cool, Andy Eavis, Knut Tonsberg and John Porter to name but a few in the past couple of decades.

Journal

Club members continue to publish accounts of their activities in the annual YRC Journal, which has recently been updated to an all-colour format. Back issues of all our Journals can be viewed in the Archives. 

“The very reason for the Club’s existence is the comradeship engendered by the gathering together of kindred spirits and the fellowship of the outdoors.”

J. Geoffrey Brook. The Seventieth Anniversary. YRCJ 1962; 9(31): 117-126

Despite times changing, the essential rationale for the Club remains a constant.