SuperMeet Auction Raises £2,500 Plus :-)

Last weekend's OUTDOORSmagic SuperMeet in the Lake District was a massive success, not least for local mountain rescue teams who benefited to the tune of £2705 from the Saturday night kit auction.

Around 54 OUTDOORSmagic members with 37 tents descended on the brilliantly hospitable Sykeside campsite near Brotherswater at the foot of the Kirkstone Pass and were rewarded with some of the best weather of the year so far. It was the biggest OM meet ever, topping even the very popular Buttermere gathering the other year.

It's to the credit of everyone who came along that the campsite owner said while he has - and we quote - "reservations about large mixed sex groups, OUTDOORSmagic will be welcome any time".

Saturday was spent walking, climbing and scrambling with people doing their own thing in small groups. It was stiflingly hot in the valleys, but up on the tops a gentle breeze took the edge off the temperatures and the OM editor took the opportunity for some extreme fern bashing at the foot of St Sunday Crag, the less said about which the better...

Going, Going, Gone...

The highlight of the weekend though, was the Saturday night kit auction. Big credit to OM members Dave Mycroft, Cara-Lyn Reynolds, Frank Adams and Stuart Thomas - 'the climbing bank manager' - who all put a huge amount of time and effort into making the whole event run like clockwork.

One of the lots was an original copy of The Times newspaper with the news of the first ascent of Everest.

The idea was that OM members would be able to auction off surplus kit with a proportion of the proceeds being donated to mountain rescue in the Lakes. In the event a number of gear companies generously provided gear for auction with 100 per-cent of the sale price going to the teams.

They included Montane, Alpkit, Mountain Equipment, Rab, Lightwave and others. The Alpkit guys, Julie from Montane and Adam from Lightwave even rolled up in person to lend their support. Jim from Alpkit even pledging to match the donation raised by the sale of an Alpkit sleeping bag - his face as it went for near retail price was a picture.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team rolled up complete with team Landy.

Thanks also to Barclays Bank who generously matched all money raised on a pound for pound basis, effectively doubling the amount donated.

There was some great kit on offer too and with Stu acting as auctioneer for the evening, some hard-nosed bidding wars as well as some fantastic bargains. At the end of the day, cashier Cara-Lyn totalled up the spreadsheet and a cheque for just over £2500 was presented to a representative of Patterdale MRT, the money is going to be shared with the guys from the Wasdale team.

Yep, we even had a proper giant cheque :-)

The amount's still rising though and is now at £2705, with additional items due to be sold off via the internet meaning the total may well top £3000 :-)

It was a great weekend with the bonus of raising a lot valuable funds for an excellent cause. I'd just like to thank everyone who came along, it was great putting some faces to names and, again, an especially big thanks to Dave, Cara-Lyn, Stu and all the other OMers who had a hand in organising the event. Nice one guys.