28/02/06 I have a house for next year!

Was given the grand tour yesterday. It's a lovely three-bedroom house on Highland Road, about a mile from campus--that's twenty minutes on foot or five by bus (and only 80p!). The property comes with a TV license and is already being lived in by one of my future housemates (Dan), so it's in good nick ... unlike some student houses I've seen! The rent is £240 per month, which isn't too bad at all. Although I suspect I may have to get a job next year, given that the rent is exclusive of other expenses such as gas/electric/water bills.

Once I've filled in the registration form and paid the deposit, I'm sorted. The tenancy license begins on the 1st of July, so it'll correspond nicely with the end of the license term for my current place in Paston House.

My other housemate for next year is Frankie/Eeevie, who originally set up the Underground back in December. We became friends through the various forum socials since then. Mad as a hat full of rabbits, but we like her because she has cheese. =)

Going back home for a few days this evening ... going to take the chance to have a complete rest and recover from last week, I think!

Posted by Alex at 4:55 AM

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27/02/06 Coursework done

Pulled another all-nighter last night in a last attempt to get the evil coursework done. By my reckoning I've spent about twenty hours on it over the past two days--and the effort has paid off. The code may not work properly, but at least it will compile without errors, and all of the methods are in place.

Big thanks and hugs to Phoenix / Grace who talked to me over MSN messenger for about six hours, and did a great job of keeping me awake! Got a fair bit of work done in the small hours of the morning. Plus I was tired enough to sleep through half of my first lecture, which was a big bonus ... that's the most boring lecture of the week! Handed the coursework in with an hour to spare.

I really need to talk to Frankie about the housing thing. Apparently the landlord of the house in question really needs an answer by Thursday, which means we'll have to make arrangements for looking around etc. tomorrow morning. Since I'm going home for the rest of the week this is going to be a tight squeeze.

I'm going to sleep now, and probably won't wake up until tomorrow morning. *sleepy yawn*

Posted by Alex at 12:05 PM

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26/02/06 Exhausted!

Came back from the third forum meet in three days an hour ago. This one probably saw the biggest turnout of all: by the end of the evening we had at least fifteen people. I already knew most of them, but I met Dave ('inyoursuit'), Sean ('shamus'), Faith, and Phoenix--the legendary Ninja!--for the first time. Fortunately, she left her rice pudding and malt loaf at home ... Chris was scared, let me tell you!

Nah, you're lovely really. =) I have some good pictures of you up in the forum album.

I was also glad that Eeevie came along, despite threatening not to. But where was Fitz?? Meets aren't the same without his drunken antics!

Anyway, I didn't get drunk tonight, because I have coursework to do tomorrow. Limited myself to an IPA and two Guinness ... believe it or not they had run dry of Broadside! (probably my fault, that.) Totally knackered now. Definitely need to catch up on lost sleep over next week! The good news is I'm going home for a couple of days, because it's Reading Week and I only have four hours of classes. BAM!

Posted by Alex at 1:22 AM

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25/02/06 The mental fudge lifts!

Made some real breakthroughs with the coursework today. Despite not having gone to bed until 4AM (more about that in a minute!), I woke by eleven to meet my coursework partner. We spent about six hours going over the code, and finally we hit upon the solution, and it is far simpler than I thought! All that remains now is to actually implement it, which will take hours due to the amount of coding that needs to be done.

The big problem is that the labs are closed, and the library computers will not compile java from the command line. Worse, there have been widespread reports that the code won't compile on ordinary Windows machines either. The unit director says there should be no problem. I find it very telling that he uses a Mac, however. I can compile the code with no problem from the UNIX terminal in Mac OS X ... it seems to me that the director hasn't bothered to test it on Windows, which is stupid because that's what virtually everyone else uses! So at the moment I think I'm the only person in the entire group who can actually do any work.

Anyway, last night I went to the forum "uber-meet", as it was called. Originally dozens of people said they'd turn up, but as it turned out there were only seven or eight of us. I met up with Chris and Eeevie at the bus stop, and we arrived at the riverside by about eight. The plan had been to meet the others in Lloyd's Bar, but unfortunately the bouncers wouldn't let Eeevie through the door ... she hasn't got her passport yet and they don't accept campus cards. We ended up going to the Old Orleans instead. I've been there before and it's a pretty good place.

We were eventually joined by the off-campus types, and spent a couple of hours in the bar, which was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night. Eventually we wandered off to the Union Waterfront where we stayed until about half past two. My right ear was pretty much deafened by the volume of music and is still recovering (we were right next to one of the speaker towers). Despite this, it was loads of fun!

I am actually going out again this evening, even though I said I probably wouldn't be. Three forum meets in as many days is a record. Apparently this one is for all the people who didn't go last night, but I'm going anyway because there are still some people who I haven't met. And due to tales of my drunken antics night before last many other people are keen to meet me. =)

Good news is that I have at least one definite housemate for next year: Frankie (generally known as Eeevie). She gave us the official Quote of the Evening last night: "Well I look about twelve and Alex looks, like, ten, so there's no way we're getting into Lloyd's!" (over the phone to Gaz while waiting at the bus stop). Not true but hilarious nevertheless. ;-)

Posted by Alex at 7:15 PM

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23/02/06 ghehe

Back from teh Undergroundd meet this evening. Didnt discuss much in th e way of houins ing as I expected; most poeople were concentrating on chgatting and gettingn drunk. I myself have drunk six p9ints of Adnams Broadside and a double of Bells Scotch. Unforttunately teh bar closed at midnight.

I'd know most of the people there already, although last time I met Rachel I was completely and utterly wasted--luckily this time at least I was still able to speak. :S Nothing definite has been sorted out with the housing although I have beeen offered a place with Mikey, inc ase thbe place in Fits'z house falls through. Plus Frnakie (Eeevie) is looking for extra people to move in with sarah and herself. keeEping my otions open at the moment.

Posted by Alex at 02:20 AM

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I have lost a good portion of my work thanks to the unreliable UEA network. I'd been working on it earlier today in the PC labs, and saved the files on the network file system. This morning, at about 2:30, I went to the 24 hour IT area (which was crammed with students!) in order to pick up the files. Guess what? They'd gone!

Luckily I have a backup of some of the files, but I've lost all of the latest work. This means that this afternoon, in only eleven hours' time, I will be submitting significantly less than a third of the total assignment. I'll be spending the rest of this morning trying to recover as much work as I can.

So I'm guaranteed to fail this coursework. I'll admit that if I'd have done all the work when it was originally set I might not be in this situation now. I guess the trick is to work harder for the next project, and the exam ...

Oh, and on behalf of the Underground I have set up an Underground Wiki Project, a wikipedia-style website which anyone can edit. I've already put a few articles up there. Mostly they're semi informative, semi jocular in nature (especially my article!) There are already several users, so hopefully it will build into a decent extension of the Underground.

Fitz is also planning a collaborative Underground mini-novel, which I've volunteered to help out with, and even an official computer game! Great days for the Revolution are upon us, comrades. ;-)

I deserve a break after all this evil work, so this evening I'm meeting up with some of the Underground people for a drink in the bar at eight. It's actually an official housing meeting to find housemates for next year but I suspect everyone will end up getting drunk anyway. And on Friday a big meet is planned, the biggest yet, to take pace at a location in the city (most likely the Waterfront). I will probably be going if I'm still awake by then ...

Posted by Alex at 04:05 AM

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21/02/06 Some progress today

I've made a little progress on the interpreter coursework, but I'm coming up against walls. I've figured out how to add MIPS commands to the dataset, which I've now done: all the basic commands I'll need (except branch and jump commands) are now programmed. This is significant progress. I am also well on the way towards tackling the run(n) and step(n) methods.

However, I have two entire classes which I'm having real problems with: MIPSmem and MIPSword. These classes handle the processing of the instructions themselves. Although it's easy enough just to dump the instructions to the screen output, I can't figure out how to execute them! So far, this is all I've done on MIPSmem:

//
// MIPSmem.java
//
public class MIPSmem
{
static int[32] register;
static final register[0] = 0;
static int programCounter = 0;
public static void main (string args[]);
{
...
}


... and that's it. It may look excitingly technical but it does absolutely nothing--all I've managed to do is setup a simulation for the system registry. The task of simulating the entire MIPS instruction cycle is so huge that I've given up for today ... although I'll probably be working on it (and the evil java) for most of tomorrow.

A final word:

;-)

Posted by Alex at 16:46

Beware the rice pudding and malt loaf ninja. According to one of the oldest and most sacred legends of the Underground, one of the members (Phoenix) has a mythical ability to transform herself into a ninja and invade people's room at night. What happens next is rumoured to be horrendous. There are numchucks, malt loaves (the fruity kind) and tins of rice pudding involved, and there are also hints of other, more terrible devices, possibly including corkscrews.

Be vigilant. Phoenix has been known to enter buildings through airvents and open keyholes. =)

p.s. I'm not actually drunk, but my sense of humour has become slightly warped this evening by some of the stuff people have been posting on the boards. In fact it's definitely time I went to sleep. Good night!

Posted by Alex at 01:19 AM

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20/02/06 Lows and highs

Last night I was feeling really down. The labs had been full, so I'd done no work, and the reality of looming deadlines was starting to become intimidating. I'd just drunk an entire carton of orange juice and was crashing on sugar. I was also starting to think about next year and the fact that I hadn't found a house yet (or even anyone to share with) when I found out that Chris, a mate of mine from my course, had already sorted out his housemates, house and everything. :S

I put up a "I'm depressed" message on the Underground, and within minutes everyone online was responding in an attempt to cheer me up, because I'm naturally a happy person and I guess a depressed Alex must have scared people =) . The low spell only lasted about twenty minutes, thanks to the fine people of the Underground. Someone found a modern re-creating of the original Hamsterdance song, which brought back nostalgic memories of dossing around in the IT labs many years ago:

Hamsterdance 2005

Fitz very kindly offered me a place in his house next year, although nothing's definite yet because another one of his friends might want the room. There's also a possibility that Frankie and Sarah may have a couple of available spaces. And an Underground meet is planned this week specifically for house-hunters to get together and find potential housemates. So all is not yet lost!

As far as the coursework is concerned, Java still isn't going too well but I've made real progress on the interpreter assignment, even to the extent of having written some actual code! I have two methods pretty much nailed, and I am well on the way to fully understanding the source for the main class.

The sun's shining outside and it's feeling much more like spring, so this morning I'm feeling happier and more enthusiastic than perhaps I have reason to, given the workload I'm having to deal with at the moment!

Posted by Alex at 13:14 PM

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19/02/06 Gloomy Wood Ordinary, 1 x 6m pitch, V.Diff*

I was back in Suffolk yesterday, so I decided to spend a couple of hours teaching James, my younger brother, some basic rock climbing skills which he'll need when we go to Langdale in Easter. A load of internet-ordered climbing gear had arrived the previous week: a helmet for him, a 35m single rope, five or six sligs, and a number of karabiners. I already have my own harness, HMS krab and helmet. James has decided not to shell out thirty or forty pounds for a harness, so I tought him the traditional method ... the painful process of belaying the rope directly around your waist.

There are a number of old pits around the forest nearby, where they used to mine sand, gravel and coprolite during the 19th century. We walked to the nearest one, about a mile away, and selected a likely "pitch" to practice the techniques. This pit was steep sided and very muddy, but was filled with trees so there would be plenty of points to set up runners on the way up. This situation was completely contrived, of course--in real life you can just walk up the side, so long as you don't slip--but it's the nearest thing we have to a climbable cliff in the locality.

First I showed him how to set up an anchor, tie himself into the rope, and belay from a fixed stance. I then tied myself in and started up our little pitch, which I jokingly christened Gloomy Wood Ordinary (after the name of the wood it's in), grading it V.Diff, and giving it one star, rather generously I thought. I proceeded up the pitch and added several runners. The final section, the crux of the climb, was a very slippery bank covered with moss and nettles--this is what justified the V.Diff grade! =) The final runner was also difficult to place and resulted in scratched hands from the thorn bush I was forced to use as an anchor.

Me clipping myself into the rope at the top of our "pitch"

James topped out on the climb, then we practiced abseiling. Firstly I tried abseiling using the Italian Hitch, and was quite impressed at how easy it was. Despite the rope being brand new, even a loose grip on the tail end was enough to stop yourself sliding down. I then showed James how to abseil using the rope directly, which is a bit more painful than the other method, but still perfectly servicable--and it has the added advantage that your rope is recoverable afterwards. Obviously if you use any gear to secure the top bight of the rope you'll be leaving that behind, which is why it's best to loop the rope directly around a spike or block.

The exercise was actually pretty fun, and I learned quite a bit about the best placement of runners, and how often to place them (I now know, for example, that I'll need a few more items before we do any serious scrambling). James came away much more enthusiastic about the prospect of roped climbing than he had been before. This opens up the possibility of a whole range of routes we wouldn't otherwise have been able to attempt: Harrison Stickle's main face over April is just the start! There are literally dozens of routes in Ogwen. I'm very much looking forward to our next Wales expedition in August.

Update on the February Lakes trip

I did think I might be going on a trip to the Lakes next weekend, but I didn't get on the final list--apparently the club only had 13 places this time, and since I'd already been on two trips and there were loads of members who hadn't been on any at all, I've been put on the Reserve list. It's for the best really. If I miss that weekend there's no way I'll be able to finish my coursework on time!

Posted by Alex at 12:30 PM

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17/02/06 Another all-nighter loometh

I only got half an hour's sleep last night--and that was after dawn. I made a real effort to get some work done, and I did make a little progress on both assignments ... but only in increasing understanding. I didn't actually write or type a single word. And although I feel slightly more able to tackle them now, I still can't escape the fact that I've done hardly anything.

From what I hear everyone else is panicking too, except a few who have already done all the worksheets.

Tonight I'm going to try and do some solid work. I'm not going to force personal deadlines on myself, because I'm tired and I don't think I could handle them. But if I've actually made any positive steps at all by sunrise, I'll be happy enough.

Actually I may pop down to Tescos in a bit for some more Lucozade ... and if I can't make myself work here, I'll do it in the library. We're lucky to have so many 24 hour facilities here in Norwich. Much more convenient for nocturnal people like me. =)

Posted by Alex at 1:40 AM

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16/02/06 Procrastination

Urgh, I've done hardly any work today. Didn't go to the Underground meet tonight despite promising I would; apparently there are a ton of people I don't know yet who are anxious to meet the famous "rodders". I'm not entirely sure how I've become so famous, but apparently I am one of the few people on the Underground who are considered "legends". :-)

I still have a hideously huge amount of Java stuff to get through. The majority of it, in fact. The deadline is 3PM next Thursday, which means I'll be pulling out all the stops next week to get it done ... I suspect I'm looking at several days of no sleep if I'm to finish both projects. Chris is already bleary-eyed and over-caffeinated from his coursework marathon. My sleep patterns are shot to hell anyway--I'm posting this at ten to two in the morning--so I guess it won't make much difference ...

The key is to stock up on Red Bull and Lucozade, I think.

I've spent a lot of time worrying about work today, but I've also started to plan some more changes to the site. As you can see I'm adding my avatar image to every blog post. Not sure how long that'll last but I thought it'd be a laugh. I'm also adding a "Posted by Alex at xx:xx AM/PM" message at the bottom of every new post.

The biggest new idea I've had is to add some favourite routes to the site, including detailed 1:25K or 1:50K mapping by OS. I have three in the pipeline at the moment: the Bowfell/Esk Pike round, Gable via the South Traverse, and the Bochlwyd horseshoe. Scrambling guides for Tryfan North and South Ridges, Bristly Ridge and Y Gribin are also in construction. Here's a sample map:

Given the amount of work I have to slave through at the moment, it will be a week or so before these new features appear! I may also be going on a trip to the Lake District weekend after next with Fell. I've signed up but I'm not sure if I'm on the final list yet.

*yaaaaaawn* Good night, all.

Posted by Alex at 1:50 AM

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14/02/06 Coursework is evil :-(

So on top of the java assignment, we've now been assigned a major piece of coursework in our S1C22 module (Computing and Computing Systems). We basically have to write a piece of software which interprets, dissassembles and compiles MIPS source code. In plain English, we have to first understand the basic low-level language which the processor of a computer uses, then build a program to implement it.

This is a huge task. We're given sample code, but it has already been compiled so all we can do is study its output. I'm working with a bloke called Anton, and he's just as confused as me ... as, I suspect, everyone is. I've managed to identify one of the methods we need to implement in the class MIPSword, but that's the extent of our progress so far. It's like trying to learn Martian.

I've just come back from an hour or so in the bar with some of the Underground people, minus a mysteriously absent Chris, who was witnessed vanishing into his room at a run moments before I left for the pub, and was not seen again. I would have stayed longer, but alas I had to content myself with two pints of Nelson's Revenge before returning to the evil coursework ...

I think another social is planned for tomorrow, although I'm not sure how many people will turn up. I'm looking forward to getting properly drunk. ;-)

Updates are continuing on the site. An in-depth article about basic kit for mountain walking will be coming online within the next day, followed by the promised scramble guides for North Wales. To help identify updated areas I'm also planning to add a "featured article" or "featured mountain entry" on the main page.

Posted by Alex at 11:34 PM

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13/02/06 CourseworkMarathon.app (public beta)

The title ^^^^ ambiguously posted above signifies that the second Coursework Marathon, currently in public beta mode (lame joke!), is about to begin. The first piece of Java coursework has been set and it appears to be due sometime next week. It's basically random questions selected from the previous few weeks' worksheets. Unfortunately for me ...

a) I haven't done all these worksheets, because
b) I done understood them, and
c) Worse still, the required questions lean heavily on dozens of other questions which
d) I also haven't done.

All of which basically means that another Coursework Marathon™ is about to begin, this time even bigger than before, with more procrastination and (I suspect) more cans of Red Bull needed to see me through the long days and nights ahead.

And our Assembler coursework is also coming up, too, which also requires the use of java programing ... to create an interpreter for RISC assembly code. Fun.

On a lighter note, I bought a great book today: The Book of Bivvy, by Ronald Turnbull. It's a humourous and inspiring account of the art of mountaintop bivuoacs, part guidebook, part autobiography. I'm already itching to try out this most extreme form of wild camping!

I've ordered a load of climbing gear for James and I in preparation for the April trip. At the moment we're staying with ropes, slings and krabs, plus of course a helmet each (I also have a harness). We're hoping to have a bash at the Main Face of Harrison Stickle, which is a Grade 2 scramble ... but given the likely April condition in the Lakes, I'd be more comfortable doing it with roped protection.

I'm working on some scramble entries for the North Wales section now. The first few should be online by the end of the week.

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09/02/06 Big changes on the way

Several updates / pieces of news on the website front at the moment. First is that I see Holly has updated the link to this page--cheers for that, and I like the new look of your site! Hope you liked the new articles and photos I've put up recently.

I've also made a few changes throughout. First, this page will now refresh every 120 seconds and will no longer save a cached version on your computer. I'd had some reports of the latest blog posts not showing up on some machines. This modification should ensure that the page displays properly.

Most significantly, I'm currently in the process of designing and implementing a new page structure for the site, with a slightly altered colour scheme and wider windows. The index page has been finished, and now has a manually updated weather information service. The information is based on webcam images--I check about ten or so daily--and a number of other sources such as the Mountain Weather Information Service and walking websites such as the Lakeland Cam and WasdaleWeb.

There have also been a considerable number of new photos posted in the Personal Photos section.

Oh ... and this is also the 50th blog post I've made on this site.

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08/02/06 *Bleargh*

Hung-over this morning. Drunk far too much for my own good last night ... although it was a lot of fun! I met loads of Underground people, top lads and lasses every one. Apparently they all went to the LCR after the pub, but I was too plastered and decided to go home instead, semi-escorted by Mikey, who'd had quite a bit to drink himself. ;-)

I suspect I may have done and said regrettable things, but blissfully I can't remember. Never drunk that much before. By the end of the night, I'd drunk a pint of Nelson's Revenge (lovely stuff), three Guinness, a single of Bells Whisky and at least two doubles (it may have been three). Chris and Fitz were also pretty hammered by the end of the night.

The post below is rather rambling and embarassing, but I'm leaving it as it is: we'll have no hiding of the truth here!

Notice: The Aviemore trip report is now online in its final form.

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07/02/06 HAIAHAHAHA!!!!!l

GREAT O MEEAT ASDSO MANY OF YOU. EEEVIE YOU WERE DEIONAINETELY HT. SHT I'VE HAD ONE TOO MANY OF HTE BELL'S WHISKYU~

Later: come back from forum meet:<[>Just hcome baxck from a forum meet with the Unfrounground peoploe. Fitz and Cbhris anre the bet sffriends ever. They died pretty wll.. I met lots ot ft the other ofurm mpeople including,

_Blildo

+ Eeevie (injow you already but ehey)]]

+ Chri9as (Y97uou live yopposeite me!)

+ Fiotz! Fahahhahaha!!±@!@!!!

_Sionide

+ MIkeyM who exsocirrted me jback to Paston house

+ Rachel aka Extolment

+ some other people tooo

+ Lotw os peopole who work behind the bar

I wevrentualy dramk

+ 1 pint Nelson's drevernge,p> + 3 piunts Guinness GDragutht] + 1 single whisky bells

2 sdouble whisky belsl

Haghahahahah!*

Earlier:

Had a two-hour Assembly Programming lab session this afternoon. The assignment looked baffingly complex to begin with, and it took me half an hour just to figure out what the question meant, but to my surprise I managed to complete the entire assignment within two hours! This also means that my Java abilities are higher than I thought, because this particular worksheet was based on a program written in Java.

Just to baffle you, here is a screenshot of the workstation I was using at the time:

Make any sense to you? ;-)

I also went into Norwich this morning and bought myself some climbing gear. Just the basics to begin with: a helmet, harness, and HMS karabiner. Since my brother still isn't sure whether he wants to invest in any climbing equipment, at this stage I've only bought personal things which I'll doubtless need for other purposes (eg. future winter mountaineering trips).

The harness was a little more expensive than I'd have liked, but it was the cheapest one in the shop and I think it's important to get it properly fitted. Hanging off a sling from the roof to get a feel for the harness was fun. :-)

Oh, and some of you may have noticed that I've posted part of the trip report. I know that only only the first day has been posted so far: sorry for the delay but I've had work to catch up on! I'm currently starting on the second day's report, and it should be finished by tonight.

(Actually it may not be, because there's a forum meet planned. A couple of my friends are entering the speed dating event in the Hive after an hour or so in the pub ... should be a laff! I've promised to come along for moral support ... and to make sure they don't get too drunk before the event!)

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06/02/06 I'm back!

It's nearly one o'clock in the afternoon and I've only just woken up. Got back to Norwich at about half past three this morning. I'm absolutely shattered! It was a wonderful weekend, though, and I've learned a great deal about winter mountaineering.

The course covered traditional mountaineering techniques on Alpine terrain, eg. steep slopes of hard snow. It also covered a lot of the ropework skills required for rock climbing and ice-climbing, which will be of particular use to me as a scrambler. I'm now convinced that a harness, helmet and rope would be a very sensible investment before Easter, when we'll start to move into the harder climbs in the Langdale region.

Anyway, I'm too tired to do a full account of the trip here; that will come in the form of the proper Trip Report, most likely to be posted tomorrow, along with a general clean-up of the site. So here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy.

Cairn Gorm mountain from the (rather busy!) ranger station at 620 metres

Lurcher's Crag being overrun by clouds

The brave mountaineers getting kitted up

Jenna in the process of falling over, to everyone's amusement

On the second day, at just under 3,000 feet: rime ice forms in the wind

The tools of the trade

The mighty Himalayan Explorer (me) strikes again!

Footnote

I notice that many more visitors are pouring into the site due to the link which has been posted on the excellent Lakeland website, Striding Edge. Many thanks to Sean for including the link! For visitors who haven't heard of Striding Edge, it's a photographic journal of walks in the Lake District, updated several times every week. The photography is amazing, and for someone like me stuck in the flatlands for much of the year, is a real inspiration.

And while I remember them, here are some interesting quotes from our instructor, Howard. I'm claiming the first one as a personal motto. ;-)

"There's nowhere to go but up; there's nowhere to fall but down!"
"There is no such thing as winter hillwalking, only winter mountaineering."
"I've lost four friends up here ..."
"The Cairngorms in winter are more dangerous than the Alps"
"... and all of a sudden three bodies on the end of a rope came flying out of the mist, and landed right in front of me!"
"We had a bit of an epic over t-Sneachda way last Thursday"

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02/02/06 Another "where I've gone and when I'll be back" post

All is now packed and ready for the Aviemore trip. I'm taking two bags with me this time: my usual '35 pack, plus an "expedition bag" with my sleeping bag, spare clothes, and down jacket. I don't think I've ever taken this amount of clothes with me on any trip before: I have three fleeces alone!

So here is the basic plan, as always subject to change:

Friday 6AM: Leave UEA.
Friday 5-7PM: Arrive at Aviemore; stay in Aviemore Bunkhouse overnight.
Saturday: Winter skills course, probably on the lower peaks of Meall a'Bhuachaille or Craiggowrie.
Sunday: Full mountain day. We may be climbing the Cairn Gorm (a 4000-footer) or Bynack More (a 3000-footer).
Sunday 4PM: Leave Aviemore.
Monday 3-5AM: Arrive at UEA.
Monday: Sleep. There is no way I'll be able to make it to any of my lectures!

I will post an initial report on Monday if I can, plus the usual extended report on Tuesday or Wednesday, including lots of pictures. See you then!

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