Welcome to the April edition of Mountaineering Matters, Mountaineering Ireland’s monthly e-newsletter about all things mountaineering.

We hope you all had an enjoyable Easter and that you managed to seek out the great weather we had in some parts of the country over the weekend.

As you will see this e-zine has been a little late in arriving in your inbox this month.  We have been busy working on our new logo for Mountaineering Ireland, you will begin to see more of the new brand across the web site and our materials in the coming months.  The Spring edition of our in house magazine The Irish Mountain Log is currently in the printers and should be arriving in your letterbox next week.  I had a preview of the magazine the other day and there is plenty to whet your appetite with things to do and places to see in the coming months.

March saw the 2009 series of Area Focus Groups take place around the country.  Many thanks to all of you that came along and participated.  The next stage of Area Focus Groups will take place in the Autumn.  These will very different in that they will be run at a regional level by clubs themselves and it is hoped to engage club and individual members in activities around the regions.  It is hoped that walks or climbs will be arranged in each region where clubs and individual members can come together.  More information on these events which will be activity based will be circulated later this year.

April 23^rd marks the 10^th Anniversary of the Countryside Access and Activities Network who have been done some fantastic work over the last 10 years in terms of the development of Access and Activity providers in Northern Ireland, we wish them the very best on their big day which they will be celebrating in Castle Ward in County Down.

Mountaineering Ireland’s Summer Alpine Meet takes place this July in Innertkirchen, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.  There are still some places available on our walking and climbing courses, if you are interested please get in contact with us in the office.   If you don’t want to do a course you could also join us on our camping only option where you can come along and join in the fun of this great event, again please contact the office.  Full details and booking forms are on our web site.

Our Autumn Gathering takes place from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October in Dingle / An Daingean in County Kerry.  An action packed programme is currently in development and many thanks to the members of the Dingle Walking Club Cumann Sléibhteóireachta Chorca Dhuibhne for all their hard work.  More details are on the web site and will also appear in the Summer Edition of the Irish mountain Log which will be out in July.

If you have stories of your exploits, we would be delighted to here them, please email your stories and photographs to the Mountaineering Ireland Office.

And finally, as some of you will be aware this is my last edition of Mountaineering Matters that I will be writing as I will shortly be leaving Mountaineering Ireland to move onto pastures new.  I would just like to thank all of you whom I had the pleasure of working with for all your support and your hard work for your organisation.

You belong to Mountaineering Ireland and you are our future.  We are a member based organisation.  You are not just a part of it; you’re at the heart of Mountaineering Ireland.  Without your support we couldn’t continue our valuable work.  Be active and be part of your Mountaineering Ireland.

Kind regards and best wishes to you all for the future

Stuart Garland

Mountaineering Ireland – working for and representing hillwalking, climbing and alpinism

This edition of Mountaineering Matters is sponsored by the 53° North Store in Blanchardstown and Carrickmines. For more information visit: www.53degreesnorth.ie