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Lincoln cheats death on Everest

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30 May 2006

Mountain rescue helicopters face uncertain future

Britain’s search-and-rescue helicopter bases face closure in six years’ time.Tony Blair’s Labour government plans to privatise the service in 2012, with no guarantee that the current military and coastguard bases will continue to provide cover from the bases they now do.The new service will be run under a private finance initiative (PFI) which have been so successful in building up massive profits for companies providing hospitals with overpriced new buildings and landing the health authorities and therefore the taxpayer (ie us!) with decades of debt.

27 May 2006

Survey aims to tick the right boxes

Wanted: men in running shorts; hairy legs preferred.The Mountaineering Council of Scotland put grough on to a survey in which the ticks are more than the usual instance of just filling boxes.The Heather Trust – that’s a trust interested in heather moorland rather than named after a woman of that name – is conducting research into ticks, the annoying little beasts that attach themselves to various bits of our anatomy and feast on blood.The trust says there’s anecdotal evidence that their prevalence is increasing and wants to find out it that’s true.

19 August 2006

Take a grough trip to the underworld

This weekend sees the end of the winch meet for the Craven Pothole Club at Gaping Gill, Yorkshire most impressive underground attraction.

28 August 2006

Ramblers aim to get Britain on its feet

The Ramblers Association’s fifth annual attempt to get Britons off their backsides and on to their feet is approaching.Welcome to Walking Week is the national festival to coax people into taking up walking.

28 August 2006

Pakistan drops its fees for high mountains

Fancy a bargain? Check this out: a mountain sale.The Pakistan government has celebrated the designation of 2007 as Visit Pakistan Year by dropping its...

06 September 2006

Irish farmers demand cash for access

Farmers in the Republic of Ireland are demanding €5 per metre for allowing walkers on routes crossing their land.In a move grough can only hope doesn’t catch on this side of the Irish Sea, the farmers’ representative body, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) says its members should receive government money as compensation for having waymarked paths across their land.The IFA was also the only member of Comhairle na Tuaithe, the country council set up by the Irish Government, not to agree to a report which outlined a strategy for access and recreation in the Irish countryside.

15 September 2006

Marshals needed for fell championships

Calder Valley Fell Runners are asking for help marshalling a national event next month.The British Fell Relay Championships are being hosted by the Yorkshire club at Castle Carr.

18 September 2006

Council keeps control of fire-ravaged moor

Bradford Council has rejected calls to hand over Ilkley Moor to a trust, following extensive fires this summer.The fires, in the last week of July, devastated more than 500 acres of upland heath and led to the Moorland Association’s call to close every access area in England.

20 September 2006

Young Brits on top of the world

There were celebrations galore on the roof of the world as two teenagers bagged the record as the youngest Britons to top out on the planet’s highest peak.Rob Gauntlett, of Petworth, Sussex, and James Hooper, of Wellington, Somerset, both 19, reached the summit of Everest via the north route just after 8am local time on Wednesday.

17 May 2006

Terror suspects 'trained in Lakes'

Terror suspects have been using Britain’s national parks for their training, according to The Guardian newspaper.The English Lake District (above), venue for terrorist suspects' campsThe story by Ian Cobain and Richard Norton-Taylor in today’s edition claims the paper knows the precise location in the English Lake District where security services monitored the training, but cannot disclose it.The report says the men were not aware they were under surveillance, but they were not undergoing weapons or explosives training.

14 August 2006

Get on the edge for mountain rescue team

Edale Mountain Rescue team needs your help.If you’re a climber, a runner or a walker you can add a few pounds to their coffers by taking part next month in a 20-mile challenge.The Derbyshire team is running the Nine Edges Endurance – a course starting at Fairholmes visitor centre at Ladybower Reservoir and finishing at a pub near Baslow.The route takes in nine gritstone edges, hence the name, and costs £10 to enter, though the MRT is asking participants to consider sponsorship to boost funds.

23 August 2006

Hill runners need new officers

Scottish Hill Runners need nominations for the posts of convenor, secretary and treasurer in advance of their 2007 annual meeting on 11 November at Symington Sports Centre, following the Tinto Race.

27 August 2006

Mountain council needs a whizz kid

If you’re hot with a PC and know your databases from your dongles, there’s a job you may be interested in.The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is advertising a vacancy for an IT and database co-ordinator at it Manchester HQ.The post pays between £24,474 and £29,891, depending on your experience.

29 August 2006

Mountain marathon dates announced

Organisers of the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon have announced that the race will take place next year on 9 and 10 June.Cryptically, Martin Stone, in charge of organising the event, says he expects it to take place further south than this year’s event.

13 September 2006

Park planners want better access for Ennerdale

Planners in the Lake District have rejected the idea of promoting one of its remotest areas as a wilderness.Members of the Lake District National Park Authority say they do not want to see a ‘Wild Ennerdale’ brand created, but do want to improve access to the area.The authority’s recreation and tourism advisor Helen Houghton said: “Ennerdale forms part of the wider cultural landscape of the Lake District, which may be put forward for World Heritage Site Inscription.

18 September 2006

Underwater swimmers come to aid of mountain team

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) is £8,500 better off after its annual Kern Knotts fundraising weekend.The sum was boosted by the first ever full length swim of Wast Water, underwater.

20 September 2006

Harness recall notice and battery advice issued

Two manufacturers have issued warnings about their equipment.The first, and perhaps most urgent, is from climbing gear makers Black Diamond who have put out a ‘stop using until inspected’ instruction on some of their climbing harnesses.The models affected are the ‘Speed’ range – Focus Speed, Gym Speed, Momentum Speed and Vario Speed harnesses along with the Wiz Kid.

20 September 2006

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