Climber’s kit raises money for rescuers
MOUNTAINEERING equipment bequeathed by an octagenarian climber has been auctioned to raise money in memory of Tim Newton and his girlfriend Rachel Slater who were killed in an avalanche on Ben Nevis last year.
Hinckley Mountaineering Club (HMC) member John Trow, who died just before Christmas aged 86, left his climbing kit to the club, of which Stapleton-born Tim was also a member.
Former Twycross House Schoolboy Tim, 27, and Rachel 24, who lived together in Bradford, died on Britain’s tallest mountain on St Valentine’s Day weekend 2016.
Their bodies were found and recovered the following month after weeks of searching by volunteer members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team (LMRT).
An auction of John’s kit, which included clothes and maps, held during a club fundraising weekend in Llanberis, North Wales, generated around £300.
The weekend as a whole raised £1,200 with sponsored walks and bike rides adding to the total, to be shared between LMRT and the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team in Wales where club members are regular climbers.
HMC president David Gair said that the club had needed help from mountain rescue volunteers in the past and was pleased to be able to support their vital work.
He thanked John and his heirs for leaving his kit to the club and said it was the veteran climber’s wish to do something in memory of Tim and Rachel.
John had been presented with the club’s highest accodade, the Don Ward Ice Axe, at an end-ofyear awards ceremony held just weeks before his death and several months after the Ben Nevis tragedy.
HMC meets on Thursday eve- nings from 9pm in The New Plough on Leicester Road, Hinckley.
Anyone with an interest in interest in hillwalking, climbing and scrambling is welcome to join, irrespective of previous experience.
The club organises summer rambles as well as climbing day trips and longer stays.
A recent midweek trip to Dartmoor saw members reach the top of High Willhays, the highest point in England south of the Peak District.
And a club week in Ullapool in Scotland included an ascent of An Teallach, a mountain with two Munros, Bidean a Ghias Thuill 3484ft and Sgurr Fiona 3478ft.
For more information visit the group’s Facebook page or go to www.meetup.com/HinckleyMountaineering-Club/