BUCS weekend!

by Lewis Fisher

We set off on Friday for what was looking like a very long drive for a very wet weekend. James followed us up in convoy, being very good not to speed like normal, and we got there in good time. After some detective work to get into the bunkhouse, we were quick to raid the activities cupboards (meant for uni students and definitely not children) and got stuck into a frisbee / dodgeball war. Sara was the first victim with a high-speed plastic weapon (frisbee) to the face.
It was around this time that the guys realised Charlie’s car was very stuck in the sodden field behind the hut, but thanks to James’ special mix of climbing and engineering knowledge, coupled with Henry’s well timed static rope, Charlie’s mini was free to terrorise motorways once more. Cooking was very eventful, the chefs were very underequipped, cutting vegetables with a mix of multitools and butter knives until Zoé and Rosie puppy eyed their way into the neighbour’s cutlery drawer. The rest of the night was generally pretty chill, making sure the team were well rested in time for the big day Saturday.
An early alarm got the team fired up for their comp, after months of training and heavy hangar sessions, they were ready to give BUCS (50% of) their all. I snuck in with the team to grab some pics for gram whilst the non-BUCS gang had a chill morning, because what’s the point in climbing cool problems if you can’t post them for likes? The team all did so well, giving every boulder a good bash, but a special shout out must go to Joe, who placed 22nd! The second highest competitor from a Welsh university, meaning yes, we beat Cardiff!
After our session was over we all joined the others at awesome walls for, you guessed it, more indoor climbing. After staring in awe at Shauna Coxsey and her chiselled shoulders we attempted the mighty lead walls, with Cronnelly and Smith following her footsteps leading the mighty 7a up through the giant overhang.
The return to the bunkhouse came with ‘surfgate’, Hugo and Smith wanted to catch some sick waves at Oxwich Sunday morning but needed a full car to escape the perils of stormy Sheffield. After the promise of McDonald’s and some underhand tactics, Hugo prevailed and headed back to swans, forcing Smith into another night of club drinking. Smith soon took out his frustration on poor Andrew in a battle for a spoon, which he wont after bending it in half.
After a night of champagne and general celebrations, we made an early return to Swansea to recover from the trad filled weekend. Overall, another pretty sick weekend trip.
Lewis xo