The xmas 2017 bus meet comprised a walk along the Speyside Way followed by a meal at the Grant Arms hotel in Grantown.  Thirty seven members attended the meet, most of whom partook in some pre-dinner exercise.  Some might question what a “mountaineering” club is doing ambling along the Speyside Way.  Well, firstly, this is the xmas meet and so it’s all about the social; and secondly, this is winter, and the Speyside Way can pose a surprisingly tricky obstacle to the unprepared.  As was discovered when the first batch got off the bus near Tormore Distillery.  The challenge was the three metres of sheet ice that lay between the door of the bus and the luggage compartment.  No one was prepared… no ice axe, no crampons, NOT EVEN A ROPE (more on that later).  Some opted for a traverse along the side of the bus, whilst others opted for a momentum assisted slide from the grassy verge, hoping to arrive at the relevant luggage compartment.  The second challenge with the Speyside Way is navigation.  They always say that getting out of the car park is often the hardest bit, and this was no exception.  From the bus, the main group wandered along the verge of the A95 and promptly missed the footpath turning, opting instead for an icy farm track.  The slipperiness of which was confirmed by the local resident who had recently witnessed his “parked” truck slide off down the hill into the ditch all by itself.

The Speyside Way is a very pleasant walk, but after a while there were mutterings “…where’s the bloody river?”  There was plenty of forest, plenty of farmland (mostly boggy), and a fine old railway station, but no sign of a watercourse worthy of the name Spey.  It wasn’t until many hours later that the group crossed the mighty river near Cromdale… and then headed into the woods on the opposite bank, never to see the river again.

Not everyone disembarked at Tormore.  There was a small group that disembarked at Cromdale and a select few, including Brent and Shona, who walked downstream from Grantown and met the main group near Cromdale.  Fortunately, by late afternoon, everyone had arrived at the Grant Arms.  An excellent meal and a few drinks were enjoyed.

The meal was followed by a first-rate speech by the Club’s President, Simon Jacyna, which included presentation of the “President’s Award for Mountaineering Achievement” and “The Order of the Golden Boot Award”.  The former was presented to Ray Harron as follows:

Ray Harron is well known to all the Club’s members and it would seem that he is related to many of them too, considering how many affectionately refer to him as “Uncle Ray”.

Ray has enormous mountaineering experience from many parts of the world.  Climbs include Pisang Peak 6092m, Nepal 1994. Annapurna Circuit, Nepal 1994. Mont Blanc de Tacul 4248m, France 1999. Mera Peak 6476m, Nepal 2001. Mont Blanc 4810m, in 1996, again in 1999,  again in 2001 and most recently in 2006. Other peaks include The Dom 4545m, Allinhorn 4027m, Breithorn 4164m, Switzerland/Italy 2002, the Matterhorn 4478m, Switzerland 2005. Pollux 4092m, Switzerland/Italy 2008. Mt Toubkal 4167m, Morocco 2008.

He also climbed in the Canadian Rockies in 2003 and 2006, including Mt Athabasca 2491m, Mt Edith Cavell 3363m, Mt Wilcox 2884m, Eiffel Peak 3084m, Mt Temple 3543m, Cascade Mountain 2998m. His ascent of the Matterhorn of the Rockies – Mt Assiniboyne 3618m, was the first of the season. This is a technical peak with a grade 5.5, (EL Capitan in Yosemite is 5.9 for comparison). His attempt on Denali was unsuccessful but only after spending four days at the top camp in what Heavy Whalley described as ‘bonkers weather’.

More recently he has also tackled many of the great walks around the world. These include the GR20 in Corsica in 1995 and 2007; the John Muir Trail, California 2003; the Walkers Haute Route, France/Switzerland 2004 and the Stubai Rucksack Route, Stubai Glacier Route in Austria, 2005. This was followed by the Naukluft Trail, Namibia 2006; tour of the Jungfrau, Switzerland 2008; tour of Monta Rosa, Switzerland/Italy 2008; Ttur of Mont Blanc, France/Italy/Switzerland 2009 and the Alpine Pass Route, Switzerland 2009. 

He has been on three expeditions to Canada and the Himalayas with Heavy Whalley who says of Ray that there is “No one he would rather climb with”.

Being aircrew, Ray was not able to join the Kinloss Mountain Rescue Team but as a member of the Kinloss MC he helped trained up many who went on to join the MRT.

More recently he has undertaken some big tours of Europe – from the Nordkapp to Neuschwanstein and many places between and beyond. His postings on Facebook show him at Oktoberfest & the Moselle valley – there appears to be a theme there! His last trip took in something like 25 countries.

Ray has enormous experience and knowledge which he is always willing to share with others. No-one has ever seen him flustered or worried about anything and his quiet confidence is infectious. On weekend and bus meets he always ensures that no new or inexperienced members are left out, and goes out of his way to help people have a good day out and reach their objective. Many remember with gratitude how he helped them up a steep climb or along an exposed ridge or through bad weather. No wonder he is so often referred to as Uncle Ray.

He has also helped over many years with informal winter skills training, along with Heavy Whalley.

Ray is also an excellent photographer and his pictures have appeared in many of the Club’s calendars over the years.

Ray is a true gentleman of the hills and there was a lengthy round of applause when he was presented with the Trophy.

The final act of the meet was the presentation of the Boot.  There were a few nervous looking faces around the room as the list of contenders was read out, but it all boiled down to the two main contenders.  John Henderson (he took the chairlift to bag the Cairnwell) was narrowly beaten by Heavy “where’s the rope” Whalley.  The fateful event occurred on the Club’s May 2017 weekend meet to Coruisk and is well documented in the Book of Climbs, as per the extract below:

“…Scrambling up diagonally a steep, heathery, rocky face , approaching the F111 crash site from 1982 on Sgurr na Stri, that Heavy had attended on that deep mid winter night.  We rounded a huge slab which bulged out from the steep hillside and we proceeded along an increasingly precarious ledge along the near vertical face.  It was very exposed.  There were hand and foot holds, but nothing much more and a good dose of blustery, strong gusts of wind to knock the very soul out of your body.  I kept peering over the curved slab which disappeared into thin air.  Fear set in and would not leave.  Heavy went ahead to check the route ahead and reported back that it was just too windy to continue and he could barely stand up.  We reached a slightly wider shelf where we could rest and gather our thoughts before we had to return the way we had come.  I was absolutely petrified, clinging on to the Gabbro until my hands bled.  Apparently I went completely white.  Heavy suggested it might be time to get the rope out and I agreed.  Then he realised HE HAD FORGOTTEN IT.  Heavy carried on back where we had come to find an alternative route up the steep face and Ray stayed with me, helping me and keeping me calm, with his naturally calm demeanour.  Back on less exposed ground, I breathed a sigh of relief and we ascended to the summit past that crash site…”

Heavy was not in attendance, but Derrick Harman presented the Boot to him later.