We’re all ready for the snow now, thanks to a party of about 15 members who made the trek up Raise today to finish off the winter’s tasks in some fairly grizzly drizzly weather.

The hangers have new bolts to replace the original pins, they’re greased and re-hung. The new safety cable to the stop buttons is installed in the trench up the pylon line, dug by sweat of member brow. 

There’s a new heater in the club hut, the water to the powder room flows freely again, the snow fencing is repaired and the Kubota  four-wheel drive flatbed canopy is lashed down below the tow hut to provide a temporary shelter for the portable ski tow.

(The portable tow goes out whenever the snow is particularly good and gives access to a significantly bigger ski area, including some tempting drifts down towards Sticks Gill below the usual way back to the tow from the Way Out West run.)

Just one improvement remains to be completed. Pylon five now boasts a wind turbine which will power two new web cams to be installed in the next few weeks. One will point down the piste and the other will look out past Greenside to Ullswater. Together, with the existing webcam, they should give a much better impression of conditions up the mountain.

Our further-flung members will particularly appreciate this feature to save themselves a wasted trip. We also anticipate that the latter cam will prove popular with a wide range of mountain users – not just club members – which should enable us to earn a few quid for club funds from selling ad space. Potential sponsors form an orderly queue!

Many thanks to members who have attended work parties this summer. We couldn’t do it without you.